There goes the holiday

While we were bombarded with all the in your face messages about security and the consequences in lieu of it ever since 9/11. However, we should wonder that if we actually gave people a blank cheque to pump up their own ego or puffed up their own importance in what could be a mundane and boring routine at the expense of others.

And all you take is to hear someone say bomb, make them repeat it and you can turn their life hell and screw them to no end.

The following is a real event in Singapore and its even reported in the news

Subject: A FAMILY HOLIDAY RUINED BY ILLOGICAL SECURITY OFFICERS

Dear Mr. Foo,

My name is Sandra. It is with great
disappointment and distress that I am filing a complaint to you with
regards to my situation.

My family (including myself, my husband, my daughter, and my son) planned a
Darwin holiday for the March school vacation period and was supposed to
depart on 09 March. Unfortunately, we were put in a situation by the
security officers at the departure terminal, that was way beyond our
control and we were not able to make our trip. The following is an account
of what had happened : -

I entered the Immigration gantry at about 7.15pm with my daughter to have our passport scanned and our hand carry luggage checked whilst my husband stayed behind with my son at the ticketing counter to sort out my son's visa. After
having mine and my daughter's passport scanned, we proceed to the security
gantry to have our hand luggage and our bodies scanned. My daughter passed the
security gantry first, whilst I followed right behind her. A lady officer
asked me to remove my boots for scanning, and I did as told immediately and
put my boots inside the basket provided, for it to be scanned together with
my hand luggage. I then proceed to the metal detector of which I cleared
without the gantry beeping or detecting any metal objects. I was then asked
to collect my luggage and my boots. In the mean time, my daughter was throwing
away a sweet wrapper and retuning to me and saw me putting on my boots.
my daughter then asked casually "Mummy, why do you have to remove your shoes?"
Whilst putting on my boots, I replied her and said that "they (the security
officers) are afraid that we might keep bombs in our shoes (which is why I
need to take it off to have it scanned)"

Immediately, a security officer standing at the conveyor belt (Stephen S
Naidira) who was standing in front of me said with a very rude tone "repeat
what you just said". I clarified with him what he meant - is it for me to
repeat what I had told my daughter? He said loudly again, to repeat what I
had just said. So I did exactly what he told me. I said to him that "my
daughter asked me why I need to take off my shoes, and I told her that you
guys (the security officers) are afraid that we will keep bombs in our
shoes." He immediately asked me to stand aside and said that he had to
report it to his superior that I said the word "bomb" twice. Then an Indian
lady (Sivamalar) at the customs started hurling at me and my daughter and
said that I said the word "bomb" twice and it is against the law and I can
be sent to jail and they are calling the police. She (Sivamalar) was so
loud and rude and she shoved us to the side, and refused to listen to my
explanation. In fact, she got so aggressive that another officer Ricky Lim
(I guess it's her supervisor) had to come forward to stop her from further
attacking me and my daughter verbally, and specifically asked Sivamalar to
"shut up". I told Ricky Lim that I would like to know the names of his
staff because their attitude and rudeness were simply beyond any acceptable
level. Immediately Sivamalar got so angry and aggressive that she started
charging at Ricky Lim and hurled "What?! What?! What?! She (she meant me)
said the word "Bomb" twice, so what is wrong with arresting her (which is
me) and we were told that if we heard the word twice, we will arrest!!" At
that time, Stephen S Naidira came to me again to intimidate me further by
asking me to repeat what I said earlier to my daughter again. I refused to
repeat again then because I believe he was deliberately asking me to repeat
so that he can count the number of times that I mentioned the word "bomb".
I also believe that that the officers were deliberately provoking me by
being rude and intimidating, in the hope that I will retaliate in kind,
thereby making their unreasonable actions justifiable.

Despite my anger and the fact that my daughter was scared to tears by the
situation, I knew I had to keep my cool. I sat aside with my daughter
taking down names of the personnel involved on my mobile phone. I was told
to wait for another officer of a higher rank to decide on the matter, and I
was still hoping whoever the higher ranked officer that was coming will
have the logical thinking to acknowledge that what I had said to my
daughter was a simple, harmless private conversation taken completely
out-of-context.

At about 7.30pm, the Sergeant-in-charge, Amran Buang came. After I
explained the full context of the incident to him, he refused to make a
decision and decided to escalate it further to the Auxilary Police and
State Police. He said that the word "bomb" is very sensitive and I should
not have mentioned it twice. I explained to him that I did not know saying
the word "bomb" is against the law, and I further explained that I did not
say the word "bomb" in a threatening context to the officer, the word
"bomb" was taken completely out of context as part of an answer to my
daughter's question. Despite my explanation, he said he cannot make the
decision and my case has to be escalated to higher authorities.

Meanwhile, at about 7.40pm, my son's visa cleared and my husband and my son
came in through the customs. After knowing what had happened, my husband
tried to talk to Sergeant Amran Buang, further explaining to him that we
are just a family going on holiday and what I have said to my daughter had
been taken out of context. Again, no one was bothered to listen. And again,
we were told to wait for another officer with an even higher ranking. With
time ticking away and at 7.55pm with no sign of the higher authorities
appearing, we knew then our hope of boarding our flight had diminished.

Whilst waiting, Stephen S Naidira (the security officer) gathered with a
few security officers at the side, including Sivamalar to discuss how they
should present their statement to the police when they arrive later to make
sure that they are adequately covered, and that they are just following the
rule and doing what they were told to do. They said by insisting that they
are taking actions "by-the-book", they would be ok.

I hope by now you have a clear picture of the situation. My kids were both
crying then, with more and more policemen arriving which scared the living
daylights of them, and with no hope to continue our holiday plans. I
believe every action inside the terminal is recorded and I would insist
that your review the CCTV recordings on that night to know that I am only
stating the truth without exaggeration. You can also see that during the
entire episode, I was not at any point defiant or rude or refused any
further check by the officers, despite the infuriating situation that me
and my family were put through.

I know it is important to stay vigilant to protect Singapore. I have young
children, I know how important it is, which is why I complied without
complaining when I had to remove my boots for scanning. However, here is an
obvious case of the security officers trying to get away with their
rudeness and aggressiveness by taking things way beyond what was necessary,
in the name of following the security protocol. They were really angry when
I asked for their names from Mr. Ricky Lim, and they knew very well then
that they can abuse their power to make things very difficult for me and my
family.

At around 8.05pm, we were informed by the Tiger Airways personnel that the
plane will have to depart and they will off-load our luggage from the
plane. At around 8.10 p.m., the State Police and other policemen arrived to
take our statement.

In the entire episode, the State Police and the SWISS PORT personnel were
the only ones who conducted themselves professionally and offered us
consolation and meaningful advice. They have also at some stages
expressed their personal views that they acknowledged this incident was
gravely mis-handled on the part of the security officers. The State Police
further confirmed that there is no case against us, and they would just
need to complete the paperwork.

The Budget Terminal manager came to meet me and said that whilst he
empathized with our situation, it is an airport security protocol and
frankly, it's "just too bad" that this happened to us.

My statement and my daughter's statement only completed at about 10.45p.m.
The counter service staff, Ms Nur Aisah Bte Ali Hassan was very helpful and
advised us on our next steps. She was kind enough to ask us to return the
next day to change the traveling dates and advised the additional charges
involved.

I am not given a report for this case, but my case number with the State
Police is P*. I was already told by the State Police that the
case is closed without further action.

For the ordeal that my family had been put through, I would want an
official reply from CAAS and all relevant authorities addressing the
following : -

Whether the security officers were trained to handle passengers with such
bad attitude and rudeness and if such actions by them are condoned by
authorities. I would insist you to refer to the CCTV recordings during
the period of the incident.

What actions would be taken by CAAS and all relevant authorities with
reference to both the security officers, Mr. Stephen S Naidira ad Ms.
Sivamalar, for their unruly behavior and attitude? Surely, characters as
such do not belong to a national airport that aspired to be a world class
traveling hub.

What actions would be taken by CAAS and all relevant authorities with
reference to Sergeant Amran Buang, who had the authority to end this
episode promptly, but instead decided to prolong our ordeal for no
justifiable cause? Is it a protocol that even after establishing the
facts that we, as a family poses no security threat, there is still a need
to escalate the matter to the authority and have the State Police and other
policemen carry out a full investigations only to end up in vain? Why is it
that even at level of Sergeant, whom I reckon is better educated,
experienced, and able to make logical sense of the whole situation, refuse
to make a simple decision and end our ordeal quickly? Is this a Singapore
civil service practice where decision making is pushed and shoved from one
level to another no matter how obvious what the final decision should be
from the very beginning?

Whether all the officers concern are properly trained and competent to
handle such situation. Besides hardware ( i.e. the protocol book), are they
taught to apply the software (i.e . common senses)? Is it really a protocol
that as long as the word "bomb" is mentioned twice by a person (once being
asked to repeat by the officer) ??then no matter what context, tone,
situation and profile of the person who said it, it would not be taken into
consideration? What if my
daughter instead of asking me a simple question about my shoes,
decided to say: "mummy, according to news report, there are speculations
that the recent Indonesian air crash may be attributed to a bomb inside the
plane." Would your security officer would come up to her and ask her to
repeat one more time, and she would be put under arrest? Your staff kept
telling me that saying the word "bomb" in the airport is illegal and I can
go to jail. They quoted newspaper examples of how people have gone to jail
because of that. I think your staffs need to be trained to understand and
differentiate situations and circumstances. As far as I knew, the people
that went to jail had VERBALLY THREATENED staff members in the aviation
service or had DELIBERATELY caused public alarm using sensitive words. My
case was clearly none of the above. Even if, I am saying if, indeed its
illegal to mention the word "bomb" in the airport no matter what context,
the person involved need to be warned ahead of time. You cannot arrest a
person for committing something illegal when the person has no idea that
the word is illegal in the first place. Your staff could have given me a
verbal warning to say that such sensitive words should be refrained in the
airport and I would have walk away remembering the warning. But instead,
they decide to let the matter escalate further.

Who is to compensate for the expenses that are already incurred and
forfeited for this trip, and our emotional stress and duress during the
entire episode? The total cost incurred, including air tickets,
accommodation, and land tours amount to about $4,200. We had to put up with
hours of humiliation with more than twenty policemen and officials
surrounding us, questioning us, checking our luggage through and through.
We had put up with never-ending questioning from different departments, and
best of all, repeated checks on my same pair of boots. My kids were
terrified, puzzled, disappointed and exhausted from this entire ordeal. My
husband and I are left with one week of applied leave and no vacation and
holiday to look forward to.

I would like to state that not everyone that we came across in this episode
had been unpleasant. I wish to take this opportunity to express my
gratitude for the empathy shown by the State Police and the SWISS PORT
personnel.

I will be waiting for your reply. Please let me know when to expect it in
email. In the mean time, I may seek legal advice for my rights and
entitlement in this incident.

Yours sincerely


Sandra

Well, that was long but I guess that only shows how much suffering and humiliation they were put through. I am just wondering how many more suffer for all those pompous bastard out there whose 1 entertainment in their daily routine is to make your life hell for the simple reason that they can. I just hope that 1 fine day, they will be put through a strip search, a full cavity search and be interrogated in nothing more than their briefs just because.....they should be...And to Sandra, I do hope that your family get at least some sort of compensation out from the whole ordeal.

They crack me up

I have a new distraction recently, they are in the form of a blog.
This makes an interesting reading if nothing else. They are extremely well written and I seriously enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy reading Dilbert.

Some of my favourites

My Thoughts In Hougang

"One cannot claim that he is a taxpayer and should benefit from the likes of those in a PAP constituency when he voted for the opposition."
I am sorry, but what does being a taxpayer has to do with what the fucked he/she voted. And in fact, does this means that all the foreign talent, those expats, tourists, children, voted?? I don't think so. In case you forgotten, those in Hougang are Singapore citizen staying in a part of Singapore, not the federal republic of hougang. Just simply because they have different political inclination robs them of the same entitlement compared to the rest of the nation? They get punished collectively for that? Last I heard, we are still having a voting democratic republic, no???

The Green Eyed Monster

Said that we are pissed with the pay rise of the ministers because we are envious. I had say this once, and I will say it again, I am definitively envious when I have a pay rise that will just slightly offset the GST increase, I know some others out there does not even get paid because they don't have a job. We have some people here who can set their own benchmark and decide their own pay and raise it not by 1 or 2%, not 10 or 20, but 100%.....
I am not really worried about what talents we retained, but rather, what kind of talent we will get. I know of teachers who got into the teaching profession not because they have the passion to teach, but because it is one of the highest paid job with excellent benefits in the civil service. They might pass for the good in the head, but some have nary any fire in the heart. It is nothing more than a job and the parents and students nothing more than customers and products and they will do anything to churn out good grades, holistic education, building characters, let the other suckers worry about that.

Which the next one is really a clincher
Bill Gates+George Soros+Mother Theresa - How Much $$
That got me worried....
In case you are a mac fanatics and have never used a Windoze machine, Bill Gates is one of the wealthiest man in the world by creating a product that has so many security and performance issues that it needs security patches before it is officially released. MSFT's monopoly is also earning it tonnes of lawsuit all over the world. Now, that makes sense why we got shit load of problem when we talk about Shin corp. Soros? Yes, a fantastic investor which also brought about the Asian Currency crisis. Hmmm.....so we have people that goes about taking profit while the rest of the world burn...how nice....And Mother Theresa, it couldn't get more wrong....she devoted most of her life taking care of the poorest destitute in the world.....for free....

And yes, I can go on and on.....

But hell, you go read it and draw your own conclusion, have a good laugh if you find it funny. If you don't like it, just click that x at the top right hand corner and you will be done. And if those from youngpapblog dislike what I like, you can click off from this page.

And just so you know, I have had a terribly enjoyable read and please do keep up the good work

When the food taste bad

Dont just swallow it down, tell it to the world. That's exactly what I plan to do with the other blog http://bohojia.blogspot.com.

What it means, Bo Ho Jia is just another hokkien phrase for not nice to eat. Or Not for human consumption.

When you tasted food this bad, it is not just an affront to your taste-bud. It also make those money you spent...well, wasted.

If the next tim someone serves up something unpalatable, don't jst swallow it, disgust and all. Send me a picture and how bad the damn food is, I will just try to make time to find it out or take your word for it, and reportit. That's all.

Just pay them more

It seems like there is some discussion lately about the impending increase to the minister of this fair island. I guess that as far as they are concern, this is warranted and in fact, in due time to prevent an exodus of talent.

However, in the word of his generation and by a civil servant no less, I would like to quote, “If people don't have a sense of value, they're worse than mercenaries...My generation has a value system. We hope the present generation does too. People who don't have that, we better forget them and hire more hungry non-Singaporeans to come here and add to our value system.” So, If the exodus of the top talent is largely due to the mercenary nature of theirs, it is probably better that they be replace by the top foreign talent that do have a good value system that can be added to ours for cheap.

For those who talked about envy, that is something that is very true and natural of that of a human being. In fact, while Gordon Gecko had you believe the driving force of the modern civilisation and economy is greed, it has been help by its twin sister, envy. And envy is what gets me green in the eye when I hear the annual pay check in tunes of 1.2 mil being drawn. To top it off, this amount will be raised to about 3 mil if they were to have their ways (which they normally will). Imagine this, you might have a chance about once or twice a month to get that amount (about a 1 in 45mil odds), but someone with the help of his peers will have this every year and most likely for 5 continuous year at a go. There is no reason not to envy that.

I admit that thus far the job have been rather well done, but unfortunately it is slipping in standards, and with fair proof to say that.

We have just recently pass a budget which by own admission, most of the minister and cabinet members would score an “F” in its comprehension. Now, if such is the level of comprehension of just another annual budget, woes behold to us commoner with nary a phd in economics to comprehend it, and how can we be assured, that the government will be able to execute it?

Our Foreign ministry seems to be doing a good job in setting on all the wrong footings with out neighbours, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. FDAs be damn if we get no sand and now no granite and we are not even able to even coexist peacefully with our neighbourly states.

Not to forget that our Airport have slipped in the International standing from 1^st to 4^th and since we are on the topic of aviation, how the heck does a country which prides itself in its Tri-partite relation with the Employer, Union and employee having to resort to litigation between our Silvery Kris Wing and its pilots?

But end of the day, they will get their raise while we will be contended when not getting any due to the stiffer global competition, the slacking in our productivity compared to other country and that my Chinese and Indian colleagues worked harder and cheaper and do not have to waste 2 week of the employers time in green uniform languishing in Tekong feeding mosquito.

Well, give it to them and I will just try to see if I can spread out the handout this year to offset the rising cost and competition.

For the lacking of values

I read and felt compelled to defend a generation that I may or may not be associated with. And its only through a quick Google and a Wiki entry that did I realized that I might have been part of the generation branded Generation X.

First off, I realized that there is a need for the media to label and categorize certain age group to a certain generation, generalizing and drawing them with one broad stroke the definitive character and predominant attributes. I am fine with that necessity and to make the editors’ job easier and more sensational to sell more prints. I just find that all these labels being stuck on me a bit stifling. The question which I enjoyed posing is, can you see past all those stickers and labels to even know who I am, what is my belief and the values that we may or may not have?

In case you are wondering the impetus to all these, you might like to read

This

And

This

Which was sparked off by this

Which is largely believe to be from this debacle

(Another 1 here)

I have nothing against the one who questioned our values or the lack of it, in fact, I would respect him as I would respect anyone that is older and more learned than me and also contributed to a great dead to the prosperity of this island nation which I called home.

I am as you might be saying, attempting to defend a charge against a generation of which I might or might not be a part of and that the best representation is nothing more than anecdotal findings and first person encounter that I see as well as bits and pieces this ill-informed individual read.

First off, we might not have a value but I do know the value that your generation is true and tangible, to the tune of 3 million a year your peers are getting in the private sectors. That is probably enough to last me a few retirements provided that I am entitled to retirement, that is.

We are alleged to be blatant job-hoppers and bond breakers and do not subscribe to the term of loyalty be it to the company we work for and the nation of whom provide us a stable and secure place to grow and also give us money every year when the economy is doing well. Well, in defence to that, I can dare say that not a single time in my life did I dare to tell my employer that I will become corrupt and accept bribe if I am not paid in accordance to my peers. If I find jobs that are more challenging, I will by the procedures tender my resignation and do something else in order to better oneself and contribute to the economy. Neither do I ask for handouts or safety net. All I ask is that, if I were to give an idea, I expect it to be reviewed with an open mind, and if it is that great an idea, I do not expect to be thanked by not giving the first shot of that idea but to offer it to the highest bidders behind ballots in the name of fair-play.

I do not pretend to be political aphetic as you claim but when I am in disagreement with what you propose and your scheme, please do not ask me to go form my own political party. If you really want to hear our voices, we will speak. If you want to hear only good things, try FM91.3.

And with all due respect, we are certain that you will defend what you say and what you belief staunchly, we will never teach you how to do your job. And that I will try as much as I can, never threaten to sue people just so to shut them up. I will only do so if they fail to proof what they say are correct. Neither will we categorically deny what is true and only to sweep it away as an inconvenient blurb later. I will be a man and apologize. I am also not afraid to put down what I say in words and if someone feel uncomfortable in my presence to have their friends, father, mother, brothers and sisters to join me for a cup of tea (I prefer coffee actually) or chocolate, I never need to worried that I am being interrogated if it is just supposed to be a chat.

And seriously, I do agree that if one was found lacking in terms of values and moral fibers, they should be replace by talents from abroad, we should probably get more of those that blanked off their wife's Degree and stencil their own name to get a job, they are a talent and a steal, and also those who managed to run a few stalls in foodcourts without even a valid visas. And also foreign managers that tells us that NS is a liability to his department and he will always pick up a foreign talent over a local male with NS liability as a NSman. Those are indeed values, in fact, real value for money.

What I feel is that, a person or a generation’s legacy is the values imparted to the next generation, the failing of a generation that has no values, in the Asian’s context is the failing of the generation before for not inculcating it. As what they say (Pardon the poor translation)

养不教，父之过
Fathering a child without proper upbringing is the fault of the father

教不严，师之惰
Teaching without educating in the right way is the fault of the teacher

And also, while I am not a father yet, I would take it upon myself when I become one to make sure that to teach them not as I say but also as I do. I will try my utmost to make sure that they be set on the right path and hope that along the way that they pick up the right values from me and that I am not too dysfunctional as a parent rather than to blame them, the society or the system.

Stray thought for the day

Some stray thought that went through my head…..

One morning, a young college girl went to see her counselor, before she even sit down,

She declared,” I have decided that I am going to be a les….”

The councilor, almost choking on her glass of water asked,” Why?”

The girl said,” Well some old guy just told me on TV.”

This got the best of the councilor and she asked,” Which old guy?”

The girl said, ”If you must know, its Col. Sanders”

The councilor was really holding back from either rolling on the floor or tearing her hair, “What did he say that gave you the idea?” “He announced that finger, licking, good!” exclaimed the girl.

It is entirely possible that the girl is blonde….. but we are certain that the counselor has been warded in IMH.

Not about GST

I seriously have had it with the buzz about the GST increase. I much rather share with you some of the things I heard from a few people I overheard when commuting

1). From 1 that looks like a teacher

My student is really driving me nuts. Yesterday, I was teaching about percentage. I asked them when the percentage of increase when number of apple is increased from 5 to 7. 1 of them tell me that it is 2%. When I tell him it is wrong, he retorted that the mathematician on TV say that 5 to 7 is 2% increase only.

2). From a Houseman

Yesterday I had to perform a few stomach cleaning on some old folks. Seems like recently there are these bunch of people that tried to take their medicine all at one shot. And when we ask them why, they just say that some guys on TV says that it is better to take the medicine at one go.

3). Outside a toilet

Dunno why recently a lot of people are looking around for toilet, and some even start to hog the toilet stalls. I guess it must be the recent awareness created to get people to start looking for toilet and not wait until they feel like shitting.

4). From a young executive

My boss yesterday just told me to increase the price for the retailer channel by 2% and say that this is to help the bottom-line and also to help the consumer channel redevelopment while cutting the price in the corporate channel by 2% citing competition. I guess he heard it from a certain big incorporation that is recently having problem with their oversea business.

Well, there, I did it, 1 entry and no talk on the impending GST.

Yes, I feel so good about myself

Now I need to go buy those big ticket items before the increase kicks in

My Visual DNA

Rather accurate description of who I am

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

All Hail the once and future Nerd

Got this from Montofori,

Yes, all hail the ultimate Nerd GOD

Sample of a tragedy

Saw this in a Chinese Forum and so I decided to translate it. Hope its still funny

*Disclaimer : I am not a Bush Basher*

One day, George W Bush visited an elementary school somewhere in Maryland. In typical Bush fashion, he begins to ask the grade 8 students, “Who can give me an example of a tragedy?”

A little girl raised her hand and said, ”When my best friend is run down by a car when walking down the road, that's a tragedy.”

“No, that's an accident, not a tragedy,” replied Bush

Another boy responded, “ It's a tragedy when my friends in a bus are being run over on a field trip.” To which Bush replied,” No, that's a terrible lost. Not a tragedy.”

Johnny raised up his hand to the chagrin of his Homeroom teacher, and quipped, ”When you and the first lady are on Air Force One and the Air Force One is shot down by a missile.” “Why so,” enquired the bemused and slightly puffed up President. To which Johnny replied, “ Well, it sure ain’t no accident and it’s certainly no fucking terrible lost to nobody.”

Back again

I was being asked occasionally if this blog has come to an end. To everyone’s disappointment, the answer is no. I enjoy taking a break, a long break at times just so that I can come back and write a bit more before fading further into obscurity. I come to realized that there will be time where there is a lot going on in my head, thoughts fleeting through synapses faster than I can pen them down. And there will be time where I am just plain lazy to go to the keyboard and type it all out.

Well, 3 month into the new year and this is as good a time as any to renew this blog.

Yes, I am back, for how long? I don't really know.

恶搞MSN

Some interesting MSN status message

• ‧帥...有什麼用...還不是被卒吃掉!
• ‧平生不識朝河蘭，就稱痴漢也枉然
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• ‧薏仁做事薏仁湯,小叮做事小叮噹
• ‧我可以為兄弟兩肋插刀，但是我會為女人插兄弟兩刀
• ‧無心插柳柳橙汁
• ‧兄弟如手足,女人如衣服,誰碰我衣服,我砍他手足,誰碰我手足,我穿他衣服
• ‧大便的離去,是馬桶的追求?還是肛門的不挽留?........‧鑽石恆久遠 一顆就破產
• ‧乳搖知馬力-日久變人妻
• ‧君子坦蕩蕩~小人長雞雞
• ‧人生自古誰無屎 有誰大便不用紙 若君不用衛生紙 除非汝是用手指
• ‧飯後一跟煙，快快上西天
• ‧山不轉路轉...路不轉你迴轉阿...
• ‧聾子聽到啞巴說瞎子看到鬼
• ‧本草綱目有記載~腦殘、白目沒得醫！！
• ‧本人拒絕任何一夜情的邀約, 否則請妳馬上滾......滾到我床上
• ‧汝父久未贊汝，汝不知吾足著幾番
• ‧您已在其他電腦登入Messenger，請按一下這裡重新登入。
• ‧遠眺望山....看山小... 登高視水....真水小...
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男人不是天生就壞的(轉)

看到这一篇，觉得它也言之有物。
与所有好男人，坏男人 和那些感叹找不到好男人的女人分享

作者： yang1234567859(拿鐵)

十歲以前， 他什麼都不懂，就不說了... 十三、四歲的時候， 開始對女孩有好感，但是那時候他離女孩遠遠的，並且以討厭女孩自居，生怕被同伴嘲笑 十五歲的時候，聽到大人們說某某男人好花，把女朋友甩了，女孩自殺了。 他覺得這人真狠毒，自己將來一定要做個癡情的男人，一定要一生只愛一個人。 十六歲的時候，他喜歡上了一個女孩，但是他不敢和她說。 仍然和往常一樣，臟兮兮的在灰土飛揚的操場上踢球。 只在女孩走出校門的時候，躲在二層的窗戶上看她的背影，他覺得她一定是個天使。 十七歲的時候，有個女孩喜歡上了他，但是他離她很遠，心裏面只有自己那個女孩，他覺得看別的女孩都是對她的不忠。 十八歲的時候，看了一個MTV，感動得想哭； 他想，如果自己的女孩失去了雙眼，他一定會像男主角會毫不猶豫的把自己的眼睛給她，讓她能看到光明。 十九歲的時候，高考了。 終於和自己暗戀的女孩分別，坐火車去學校的時候，感覺自己離她越來越遠，心像被掏空了一樣。 還在想自己一定不會忘記她，等到自己成功以後一定要 二十歲的時候，聽到有人講黃色笑話，覺得這人真可恥。 二十一歲的時候，她的回信中告訴他，自己有了男朋友。 他為此偷偷的哭了一個晚上。, 二十二歲的時候，他向一個女孩表白，女孩說：「你是個好人，可是我還小。」他想，我的確是個好人，然後他說：「沒關係，我可以等妳。」 心想，我不會像那些花心的人一樣，三年五年我也能等。 二十三歲的時候，聽說自己還小的女孩跟一個帥哥戀愛了。 他很納悶，長大原來可以這樣快。 二十四歲的時候， 他又向一個女孩表白，女孩說：「你是個好人，可是我並不適合你。」 他納悶很久，我是好人，妳怎麼還不適合我呢？ 二十五歲的時候，他又追求一個女孩，女孩接受了他。他開始很幸福的為未來拼搏，他想，一時的開心只是暫時的，只有努力拼搏，他和她才能有快樂的未來，但是，半年以後，女孩和他分手了，只是因為另外一個男孩會說讓她開心的話。 女孩說：「你是個好人，是我對不起你。」` 至此，他似乎明白了問題所在－－他是個好人！ 二十六歲的時候，他開始墮落。打扮得時尚而酷，而且漸漸的學習著討好女孩的話。 不久，他有了個女朋友，雖然他對她也很好，可是，他心裏知道，自己並不愛。 二十七歲的時候， 他和女孩分手了。 他對女孩說：「妳是個好女孩，是我對不起妳。」 二十八歲的時候，他嘗試了一夜情，發現別人能做的，自己也一樣。 二十九歲的時候，他學會了講黃色笑話，並且以看旁邊的女孩子臉紅為樂趣。 三十歲的時候，他忽然發現自己變得很有能力追求到女孩，但是卻沒有了愛的能力 其實每個男孩，本來都是想做一個感情專一的好男人的。 其實每個男人，本來看女孩子都是看臉而不是身材。 其實每個男人，本來都是不會講黃色笑話的。 其實每個男孩，本來都是渴望愛一個人直到永遠的。 只是，沒有任何女孩愛這樣的男孩，她們覺得這樣的男孩太幼稚，太古板，沒有情趣。 於是男孩開始改變，變成女孩喜歡的那種 嘴角掛著壞壞。 開始學會說甜言蜜語而不是心裏想說的話。 開始學會假裝關心，學會給女孩送小飾物討好她，學會如何追求，如何把握愛情。 或者看破紅塵，遊戲情場，成為女人厭恨的那種男人。 他們可以很容易俘獲女孩子的心，但是他們也會在黑的夜裏叼著煙流淚。 心裏有愛的時候，沒有女孩；有了女孩，卻永遠沒有了愛的感覺！ 當男人聽到女人抱怨世上沒有一個好男人時候，他們不會再去努力做個好男人，只是微笑著擦肩而過

Room With a view

And nothing much else…
This entry is done in the hotel which we will stay for the night.
When talk about ocean view, they were not kidding. In fact, I suspected that every single room in this hotel will probably offer a certain degree of sea view which I suspect, every other hotel will or at least try to offer. Seeing Meridien Hotel on my way just proves that, I have step into the land of continental vacation.
However, the room leaves much to be desired as it has a faulty remote, faulty tap and no working internet connection.
What caught my attention was a sail boat out there. It is completely white and from what I can gather from the weather, is probably out for a slightly bumpy ride. Of course I snap a picture of it as I would like to immerse completely into my role and responsibility as a tourist.
What caught me is the connection of the picture and what Mr. Tomato75 uses as his slogan as someone slogging it out in this ultra competitive world. The world, or rather the business environment today, even more so than it was previously, is getting more and more competitive. It is not unlike a choppy sea which is just about to get even choppier. As such, to see a small sail boat sailing in such a weather when even the bigger ships fears to thread, is something that shows that the captain of the ship truly have gumption (Or severe intoxication of 1 kind of substance or another). As such, while we might not be able to fathom the reasons, or for that matter, we might even think that the person undertaking it is doing a fools errand. But lets just give it that, the one that actually do it, has true courage and deserve at least a pat on the back for that, if not our moral support.
Well, so much for this entry, but I do hop that I have more to share in this 2 weeks of sabbaticals which I will while enjoying it, reflect on what was, what is and decide what will be in the days to come.

Getting there

It took ages of planning and just when we thought that its months away, we are now on our way to Malta to catch our cruise.
As things panned out, we are now on the forth leg of our second plane with 2 transfer each. Loads of fun but we are now close to freaking out and is just less than a hair’s breath to getting into our little air rage mode. And seriously, we are wondering if the whole thing was a diabolical experiment to test the limit of human endurance on how much a person can take, sitting and stuffing their face out. We had 1 supper, 2 breakfast and 1 light meal each and its only 3pm when we arrived.
So far, after taking off from Changi terminal 1, we went passed Colombo, Dropped off at Dubai, saw the impressive airport which is huge and we will have some picture to share after we sorted the,. We just took off from Lanaca, a port of Cyprus and very soon, we will reach Malta, spend the night and board Superstar Libra tomorrow night...

OT is better than Sex

Just came up with 10 reasons why OT is better than sex

1). It is never finished

2). You get shafted royally and sometimes, you dun get paid.

3). You will be too shagged to think about sex

4). Your spouse will be too pissed to think about sex

5). You dun have to fake a headache

6). You dun have to fake an orgasm during OT

7). There isn't a right mood for OT

8). You dun have to come for OT, just stay

9). Your boss still sux even after all those OT

10). Watching all your colleagues goes back while you are still at it totally blows

Putting them at their right place.

Coutesy of some kind soul in SPUG

Which I found quite amusing

http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=BGB1wXnZNFI

his reminded me what my primary school chinese teacher once told me.

In a nice way to remind his friend that he has overstayed his welcome, a poet wrote
下雨天留客天留我不留

What he meant was
下雨天留客,天留我不留.

But what his friend interpret was
下雨天留客天,留我不?留!

So his friend stayed on

The moral of the story. Put them, put them right where you want to be...

And if you still have no idea what I am talking about, I meant punctuation.....DUH!

男人不坏，女人不爱

有的时候，一些至理，总是会藏在一些不为人知，甚或风马牛不相及的地方。
好比以下这篇，为男人不坏，女人不爱这句明言作出其精辟的论点。
而这篇竟是从一篇原载在网上的一篇武侠小说，

在此与大家分享。


萧瑟《霸王神枪》
第八十章　情之所锺 的一段

为什么“男人不坏，女人不爱”这句话能够成立？它的基础便是立在女子的好奇和争胜的两种心态上。

　　一般稍有姿色的女子，总认为自己魅力非凡，胜过别的女子，如果让她结识一个花名在外的浪子，起先她会因为好奇而接近这个男子，因为她想要弄清楚他究竟有何魅力，竟能不断的玩弄女性？

　　当这个女子接近这种花间浪子时，眼看他身边聚集三、四个，甚至七、八个女子，她就会生出争强斗胜之心，施出浑身解数想要将他攫获，让他拜倒在自己的石榴裙下。

　　她总认为自己不会像别的女子一样，被这个花间浪子给玩弄之后抛弃，总以为自己的魅力惊人，一定可以让这个男子“改头换面”，把全部的身心都奉献给自己。

　　这种事自古以来层出不穷，它的结果只有两个，一是那个坏男人终於回心转意，从此金盆洗手、不再留连花丛，情归妻子，永爱不渝。而第二个结果则是这个充满自信的女人，仍然和其他的女子一样，被风流浪子玩弄之后，弃如蔽屣。

　　放眼望去，前者居於极少数，后者要占九成以上。

　　所以“男人不坏，女人不爱”这句话，害死了世上多少有自信的美丽女子，所谓“一失足成千古恨，再回头已百年身”，到时候后悔莫及就晚了。

　　奉劝天下美女，迈入情关之际，千万三思，切勿中了“男人不坏，女人不爱”这句话的毒，一个风流浪子永远是坏男人，绝不会因你而变好的……

雨一直下

雨一直下 - 張宇
曲︰張宇
詞︰十一郎

雨一直下　氣氛不算融洽
在同個屋簷下　你漸漸感到心在變化
你愛著他　也許也帶著恨吧
青春耗了一大半　原來只是陪它玩耍

正想離開他　他卻拿著鮮花
說不著邊的話　讓整個場面更加尷尬
不可思議吧　夢在瞬間崩塌
為何當初那麼傻　還一心想要嫁給他

＊就是愛到深處才怨他　捨不捨得都斷了吧
那是從來都沒有後路的懸崖

＃就是愛道深處才由他　碎了心也要放得下
難道忘了那愛他的傷　已密密麻麻

雨一直下　氣氛不算融洽
在同個屋簷下　你漸漸感到心在變化
不可思議吧　夢在瞬間崩塌
為何當初那麼傻　還一心想要嫁給他

重唱　＊,＃

不要再為了他掙扎　不要再為他左牽右掛
今後不管他愛不愛誰　快樂嗎　都隨他

重唱　＃,＊,＃

IE, Who's your daddy?

This is one of those case that might go down in marketing history as the largest coup.

IE7 website asking people to go get firefox.



Saw it first from ZDNET

and if you are wondering where the website is,

its at

http://www.ie7.com/

Beep away the complains

I have wondered if we are now officially the whine hub of Asia if not the world. Our World class Main Stream Media is always quick to tell us ingrates how we should be gratefull and grovel at our feet with all the goods our government does for us.

Its not all serious worships and grovelling, there are times whereby people use the MS and/or online forum to air their grouses and unhappiness towards the government, the transport company and each other.

Thanks to Mr Apollo of Spug, we now get to see 2 sides of the stories at the same time, no need to wait for a reply or robust rebuttal. If this carries on, we will definetly take our Everitt Road culture to its next step of evolution, online.

For those too lasy to read in SPUG, here it is :

Dinner spoilt by beeping fellow diner
THE other day, I was having dinner with my wife and daughter in a coffee house. It was like any other day when we go to enjoy some good Singapore food, and we were having a fine time until another couple came in and sat a table away.
It wasn't their conversation that caught my attention but the loud non-stop electronic beep sounds that came from the man's PDA. It wasn't that he was playing computer games and he may well have been entering or retrieving some legitimate information from his PDA. However,after the non-stop high-pitched beep sounds went on for what seemed like 10 minutes, my nerves were frayed.
My wife is not the confrontational type and did not want me to speak to the man, preferring to avoid any incident that has even the slightest chance of turning into an unpleasant exchange. I did not expect an unpleasant exchange so I politely flagged the man to get his attention and asked him if he would mind turning the sound down on his PDA.
Imagine my shock when he replied: 'Are you telling me to turn off the sound on my PDA? This is a public place. I can do what I like.'
I composed myself and said: 'You're right, this is a public place. And I am not telling you to turn the sound down but I'm requesting you to.'
This man would have continued polluting the environment with his shrill PDA beeps had his food not been served. By this time, my wife was feeling self-conscious, all the while listening to the man and his companion complaining to each other about us.
What would you have done? Would you have suffered in silence or spoken out? Was I wrong to point out to the man his actions?
I went through the process from thinking he was ignorant, to inconsiderate, to downright rude. Perhaps I should have asked a messenger to take the message, and perhaps the waiter would have told him of the effect of his actions on others around him - but would he have cared what other people thought?
I find it hard to believe how much further we have to travel to arrive at what the Prime Minister has called a gracious society, when we cannot even extend consideration to others by reducing the stress level caused by noisy electronic gadgets. It saddens me that rather than be considerate, this man justified his actions based on his right to do as he pleases.
Indeed, courtesy is uncommon and we have a long way to go before we can call ourselves a gracious society.
David Neo Lian Kong


http://www.mycarforum.com/forum/TO_...528064/#1528064
http://straitstimes.asiaone.com/por...000430a0a0aRCRD

This evening, I went to Great World City for my dinner at the Vietai Restaurant just outside GV Grand Cinema. I was led to a seat which was about 1.2-1.3 metres away from a couple (late 30s) and their 6-7 yrs old daughter.

While seated, from the side of my eyes, I could see the wife beckoning the waiter to come over. When the waitress came over, she questioned... 'Why is the Laksa not clear?' She went on to flip open the menu and said it is not what she wanted. I went on with my nonchalant conversation as the waitress LPPL cart away her bowl of laksa and replaced it with Phad Thai. Less than 5 minutes later, I heard her summon the waitress again. This time, the wife complained why her daughter's Pad Thai has chilli? I took a cursory glance and was bemused as her daughter has devoured almost half her food already!

I just ignored them and ordered my food with the next available waiter. While waiting, I thought I will check on my calendar and do a little house keeping on my PDA mobile phone. While clicking here and there on my HP, I heard a loud voice.. 'Excuse Me! Excuse Me!' Oh, this time, the husband at that table is calling out to me.. in my mind, I was thinking.. now what do u want? He went on to say, 'Stop using your PDA. The beep is irritating me!' I was like, who the fcuk do u think u are? Just cause I am dressed in a polo shirt and look a little shabby doesnt mean I am a push over. I replied, 'This is a common area, I am free to do what I want. How does this affect u?' He went on to say.. 'It is irritating...' I told him off that I don't owe u a living and I have the right to do what I want. *** is wrong with these people? *** is this blatant display of snootiness? Why didnt this asswipe go ask the management to shut the loud music blaring from the speakers of the restaurant? It really pissed me off big time to have met such people who thinks we should pander to their whims and fancy. What would u have done if it happened to u? I am really ashamed to be Singaporean especially one who happened to be a family of complain kings!

http://www.mycarforum.com/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1523020#1523020

Tradeshow and me

Here I am, on my way to Sim Lim Square, and I just can’t help but to reflect on what brings about this journey and the events leading up to it. It all boils down to one of those things that had been there throughout my formative years, Trade-shows, and to be more specific, Comex.

Ever since I was first shown a home built Apple II by my uncle, it wooden housing, cassette tape drive and all, I have always been fascinated by computers. So much so that it is one of my greatest obsession and career. While others will be happy to just own a computer and use it, I probably can’t be happy until I get around dismembering it and figures out how to tweak and coax an additional ounce of performance out of it all because, I could.

For the longest time since getting the family notebook with little thanks to Starhub, I have wanted to tweak it and make it work even better, this is all because that even with a respectful 512mb of ram and all its purported 64bit processing powers its still running slower than a turtle with 2 shells. The cause of it, Ram not enough as it has to share its 512MB between applications and graphics. For  the uninitiated, while ram sharing is serious infringement to casual computing, it is considered cardinal sin for any performance computing if that’s your cup of tea and a definite death sentence with eternal purgatory after which if you are a serious gamer (No, I don’t mean a mean game of bejeweled). As such, what better reason is there to lug myself out of my cozy Saturday morning bed, kiss my sleepy wife before heading out across the entire island just so I can jostle my way with thousands of people in the sea of computer, gadgets, offers and other peripherals? No, I don’t think so.

Comex is now in its 14 incarnation and with every passing years, I weep for its lost and unfortunate soulless existence.

Comex, as with PC shows and other computer events in Singapore owes its existence to a bunch of computer companies to showcase their latest offering and a bunch of computer enthusiast and practitioners of the arcane art of computing for them to pay homage and make offerings with their wallet so that they own the latest piece of computing must have which they coveted for so long, also allows them to grope and gawk at those shinny blink blinks which they could have only drool at on the pages of magazines. In fact, I always suspected that without all these tradeshows, geeks might not even step into places like World Trade center then, Suntec City for some time, and Expo for now. In fact, you can even consider it a form of conspiracy with the owners of these places to attract the geeks to spend.

However, as time that flows, change ensures, and computing evolved from the arcane to the mass market and eventually to the mundane and while I still believe that it is mandatory for people who wants to use a computer to be trained, pass a test and gets a license before they are allowed to even touch a keyboard and mouse, I have to say that the mass-market ownerships of computers allows me to stay gainfully employed and to also allow me to even contemplate to start a business on computing.

Soon, the computer fiestas became that of a printer bonanza, seems like in every show, there will be a great many mindless minions tat deemed that their printer is too slow, too colorless, too big or just plain too last year that they need to buy a new one. As times changed, the minions of printers gave way to the minions of Notebook, the minions of LCDs and today, the minions of MP3 Players. Yes, how time has changed and you will now go into a tradeshow with choke full of credit card pushers, MP3 dealers and cartridge replacements. Seems like computer is now nothing more than an afterthought instead of the main attraction in a computer trade show.

Well, as long as there are still good deals to be have in a computer trade show, I shall still be the sucker that is being drawn to it like a moth to fire.  I did get a pretty good deal for another 512MB for my notebook but unfortunately it did not fit, and I was just told at the shop that they are not able to help me today as their technicians will not be in until Friday. Well, anyway, I just got the namecard and the logo for my new business ready (That will be another entry). And I will now dutifully rush home to meet the people that is suppose to fix the main gate of the house, just hope that they can get it fix.

One Liners (Part1......I Hope)

I realized that for the longest time, I have been sprouting one-liners. Not sure if they are unique, but I guess I will just put up a few that I remember and add to it as I go along:

On what started this Blog
Well, let me put it this way…..

On Technology
Technology is only meaningful if they are applied; otherwise, they are just plain BuangKok

On Price of services
Its never too cheap when you want it, and never too expensive when you need it.

On Service Charge
Why is it mandatory that I pay for service that is either abysmal or non-existence when the best services I get are for free.

On Holy Mistake
As far as I am concern, there is only 1 holy mistake and we are it; thank GOD its never being corrected.

And thats all for now, folks........

Men's rules for women

Thanks to Minky from SPUG and I copied the entire thing from this thread, we now have rules to help our better half(ves) to understand us better

We always hear "the rules" from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side.

These are our rules:
Please note... these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!

1. Breasts are for looking at and that is why we do it. Don't try to change that.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Saturday = sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
JUST SAY IT!

1. 'Yes' and 'No' are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both.
If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colours, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine, Really.

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as:
Sex,
Sport, or
Cars

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round is a shape.


Thank you for reading this; Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight, but did you know men really don't mind that, it's like camping.


Pass this to as many men as you can - to give them a laugh.
Pass this to as many women as you can - to give them an education.

I am 70% boy

Saw it from HWZ

You Are 70% Boyish and 30% Girlish

You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch. Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes. You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don't actively fight them. You're just you. You don't try to be what people expect you to be.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

Singapore Mee Siam

Singapore Mee Siam
The word of my prime Minister inspired and move us, as such, I shall try this feeble attempt to update an age-old dish to make it uniquely Singapore.

The original recipe can be found from
http://www.makantime.com/meesiam4.htm

My apologies to Siva for screwing up this great dish

Ingredients:
1       pkt mee hoon
300g    bean sprout - remove the tail
250g    fresh prawn - if you wish
100g  fresh cockles –you must

100g    dried chilli    }       blend
50g     dried prawn     }       these
4       nos. onion      }       four
4       nos. garlic     }       together
200g    tau-choo
12      oz oil
2       pcs tauhu - fry it
20 cents koo-chye
20 cents lime
little bit of salt and aji no moto

Method

1   Heat the pan and fry the blended mixture till crispy or well,
    then add in water and stir
2   When its thick, add in prawn, salt and aji no moto
3   Add in the mee, bean sprout and koo-chye and fry till it
    cook or dry

MEE SIAM GRAVY

Ingredients:
100g    dried chilli    }       blend
3       nos. onion      }       these
4       nos. garlic     }       four
200g    tau-cheo        }       together
3       pcs. small tauhu - pressed little bit of salt, tamarind seeds,
        sugar and aji no moto

Method

1       Heat the pan and fry the blended mixture till crispy or well,
        then add in water, and let it to thicken
2       Add in the tauhu, sugar, tamarind water, salt and aji no moto,
        let it to cook

Serving

1. Prepare the dish with the fried mee siam.


2. Put the raw cockles on top


3. Add gravy to it


4. Or you can always serve it as mee siam mai hum

Kids not paying enough

Kids not paying enough

For their seats that it.


Disclaimer :  This  post is a satirical polemics aimed at voice my demused observation. If you are not happy with it, you are welcome to leave your comment. If you really need to quote, thanks to quote the entire post.


Due to a certain disappointment that I felt towards our freely distributed Today, I now almost stop picking it up and declined the offer of a quick peek by my well-intentioned colleagues.

However, as I broke my self-imposed sanction today, I found that even the casual writer to the papers had started to not just whined about how the system and this fair island is not getting it right, but offered interesting solutions to the problem.

I would say that the words by our dear Ms Bhavani of MICA were neither taken lightly nor forgotten. The problem at hand has to do with the age-old problem of the allocation of seats on the bus. It seems that as usual, seat today were allocated based on a first come first get basis, seniority, time due for delivery, laden load of passengers and for that matter fare paid were not part of the equation. This is truly a problem that despite many decades of courtesy campaign and the many revision to the signboards on our world-class public transport failed to address.

Fear not, our people traveled far and wide and have one of the brightest minds, if we cannot invent new ways to solve the problem; we merely borrow them from other places. While their law is unsuitable as a reference despite both sprang from the common of the crown, their method in ensuring fair seating might prove a good reference.

How that goes you might ask. We simply reinvent the sign and remind our young impressionable students that as they pay only a percentage of the fare that is subsidized by the rest of the commuters, they would do well to not hog the seats and give it out. If there are elderly and pregnant ladies or for that matter, full-fare paying adult with bunches of durian in tow, they do very well to give up those seats to the more deserving ones. Brilliant stroke I would say, unfortunately, there are a few minor flaws to this ingenious line of reasoning.

First off, we are having the reasoning that as students paid concession fares, they are less entitled to a fair concession of seats. May I remind one that senior citizens are also paying concession rate fares and if such a rationale to be used across the board, the senior citizen should be standing during off-peak hours. If we expand on this rationale a step further, people below the height of 0.9m should basically only be allowed on public transport when there is empty space as they are traveling for free. Pregnant ladies should also give up their seats when there are more deserving people in need of the seat as they themselves are paying one fare where in fact, 2 or maybe more are traveling.  This minor inconsistence can be overlook as the rule of fair seating based on fare need not apply as they are deemed more deserving of a seat. Well, we might need to have means testing of seats for people that takes public transport and those who fails should just get off the nearest MRT station or Bus-stops right this instance to make way for the more deserving.

Next comes the judgment of more deserving of the seats, we are herewith, entrusting the judgment of the neediness of seats to students which among others are not worthy of seats. We might need to ensure that they be trained and be qualified through testing to ensure that they are able to judge on who is more in need of the seat instead of them. During which, we might also need to train them professionally so that they are able to do it while dozing off in the train/ bus and/or reading and/or engross in their PSPs, Nintendo DS and their PMPs.

While those were just some of the minor inconsistencies which I believe our well intented Ms Tan should have some great ideas from some other far off land whose law we need not follow or apply, there are merits to this. This will be the ability to spot fare cheats that are using concessionary passed undeservingly. Meaning working (or for that matter non working) adults using student passes or senior citizens that is yet 65 using senior citizen pass. As concessionary pass holders are now required to give up their seats to deserving full paying commuters, those who are neither student nor senior citizens who gave up their seats can be labeled hence as fare cheats and be bought to the nearest police station for questioning.

I do think that this lady is indeed a genius and is worthy to be a minister (except law) and I will be observing her career with great interest from henceforth.

Back and needing some bashing

Back and needing something to smash

Did a quick check and realized that it has been slightly more than a month from my last post. It seems like I am not yet forgotten.

It was not a particular busy month for me but it was a month that sees my level of tolerance and temper sliding southwards and feeling that anger rising up with greater ease at each passing day.

I was under the belief that people tends to mellow and are slower to temper as they age, I guess it is not applied universally. I just feel that I need to reach out and trash something.

In the meantime, to ensure that I do not actually causes physical harm, I have taken up a new online addiction called “Conquer Online” Simply put it is Diablo Online with a Oriental twist. You get to bash people up with 2 weapons being a Trojan, Wear thick armor and take awful lots of damage as a warrior, kill from afar being an archer or cast magic being a Taoist.  

The graphics is well but a bit dated. IT is the mindless bashing that interests me. As the game allows players to settle their grievances by killing each other, the lower level character gets to die a lot. This adds on to the impetus to level up, becoming more powerful to be able to hit back at those that tries to PK (Player-kill) you.

The pixilated killing helps to take some of the edge off but I feel that even that, might not be sufficient. Just hope that this whole spell of slow spiraling madness can dispel soon enough.

Anyway, the bottom-line is that, I am back, and I do hope that I can post more often without so much of a block.

Not Today, Mr. Brown

I looked at the last Friday’s edition of Today with a bit of longing, regret and spite. I know that the column which I find solace and a good laugh is no more. As a sign of support and solidarity, I will now fly the ribbon high on this blog to show that yes, I support Mr. Brown and I am not afraid to show it. And I also just received confirmed news that his good buddy and fellow blogger, Mr. Miyagi has also quitted his regular column on Today as well.
All these are but the latest events in the series of events that has taken place after a witty column titled “Singapore are fed, up with progress” which among others, bring a light hearted look to the latest series of price hikes that are going or had taken placed.
Apparently, MICA does not think so and their press secretary came out with a rather strong rebuttal on the column. Soon after, Mr. Brown’s column is being suspended.
Till date, there is still no comments on whys and specifics of the suspension and all enquiries by the interested public to Today’s Editors has been answered with nothing more than a short reply that all enquiries should be directed Ms Bhavani of MICA instead of Today.
In fact, the lack of published letters on the matters just goes to show how the matter is now considered taboo and should be white washed as far as possible. This time, the entire Brown affair has spoken in volume when it says nothing at all, from the voices of concerned public.
Serving public office has its many perks, one of which is that you can say things and make it the official and only voice on the issue (and this case the only voice as the other side has been silenced). This purportedly makes it sounds like Mr. Brown caused a number of unhappiness when he talks about the rising cost and how they coincide with the timing of the elections. The unhappy part was right on the dollar, but more with how everything followed the patterns so described by Mr. Brown.
You asked for people to make comment to stand up and prepare to defend their position when you remove their voice. You talked about the rights to state your view as long as I am responsible for it. Well, now we want to be responsible, we want a voice and we are silenced. Unlike 10 years ago where information can be fenced inside a border, today, information demands its birth right to flow freely to where they are sorted and they will. If the local MSM deems this something to be whitewashed, the blogger will take it upon themselves to make their voice heard. Already, I hear the low roar of the distant wave that will sweep us. We ask not for a revolution, we ask not for strife, riot or to displace the establishment. All we ask is for the silence to be lifted and for our voice to be heard. Hear us while we speak rationally and understand that we take to task not just the words said at the rally but for their actual manifestation for all to see. Failing that, it is nothing more than words. Well, If not today, maybe tomorrow or the next , or the day after, but as long as we start and strive, we will have our voice and place.

Evaded by sleep

It is probably one of those nights again where sandman failed to drop by to blow some dust on me to send me into lala land. No, I do not fault him for that as I am probably the one at fault.

It probably started off with the hours I kept while in Europe. With the day long, night short and the long schedule, I spent no more than 4 hours a day asleep while I was there. The meetings and drinkings did not helped either.

While I stayed away longer, I can't help but felt surreal the moment that I came home that I felt a sense of detachment. It does seems like there is a think veil between the reality and myself. Nothing seems real anymore and the sense of detachment while abated slightly, is still there nagging at me.

I cannot really tell what is wrong with me, or for that matter, what is wrong with those around me. I do hope that I get to the bottom of it and soon.

Some associate it with the sense of fatigue, but I do know that there has to be a second wind somewhere and I do hope that I catch it soon during this 2 weeks of ICT.

I really do not know what is wrong, or maybe, just maybe, I know but I am just blocking it out as repression is a way the mind deals with problems that it does not wish to cope.

Either way, I sure hope that I can get all these fixed and real soon.

The Five Love Languages

Just came across this test Ifind it interesting

The Five Love Languages

My primary love languages are probably
Physical Touch and Quality Time.

Complete set of results

Physical Touch:		7
Quality Time:		7
Acts of Service:		6
Receiving Gifts:		6
Words of Affirmation:		3

Information

Unhappiness in relationships, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don't understand our partner's requirements, or even our own. We all have a "love tank" that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others.

Take the quiz

But what I feel is that, there is a need always to communicate and feel love which make us who we are. What have we here is the tools to cut the distance and time which were boundaries to communicate to work as a jail rather than a tool.

As we get more connected, we get ever more lonely

Gomezgate

Seems like it is tough being James Gomez.
First off, he did not hand in a form on National TV.  Neither did his apologies managed to soothe the angry mo out there baying for his blood. Being called a liar by our founding father and losing the election at 12-percentage point (some call it landslide in some countries). And now, it seems like he might just very well lose his job and that either a big chunk of money or his freedom for a couple of year and even both. This indeed is a dark time for him.

For those out there following this case, some might just reckon that he is finally served his comeuppance and that he deserved to be thrown into the darkest corner of Changi and with the keys thrown away.

Now the fun part was that, all along, his detractors called him a liar and a one-man wayang. However, instead of pressing charges like misleading the Election Board or for that matter, lying and cheating, he has been slapped with criminal intimidation. Which is interesting to see that someone pointing a finger at an official and swearing that there will be consequences have hell to pay while his lying and cheating ways and the gross disregard for the whole election process, the act of misleading the public is being looked over.

While the jury is still out on him intimidating someone with criminal intent and that if he is truly a liar and a cheat despite what the founding father said. One thing is for sure that he will not be going anywhere far and that his political career is being impounded as with his passport.

And the vote is cast

And the vote is cast

With the last count of the vote done and all the result announced, it seems like the distribution of power did not change with the passing of the election.

However, an obvious trend that did not go unnoticed was the increase in the percentage of votes garnered by the oppositions had gone up noticeably. While the Prime Minister walked away to what he claims to be a strong mandate, the opposition probably celebrated their baby step towards a long road to having more voice in the opposition.
For Mr Chiam, what it meant for him is that the people in Potong Pasir wanted him to stay and while Mr Setoh and Mr Low (Eric) would need to work harder to hand out even more goodies till the next election, either that, or their chief might just have them replaced as they made little headway to winning back the 2 seats after 10 years of hard work.

What I am looking forward to would be:

1). Would Steve Chia make good his word and exit politics altogether?
2). Who will be the new NCMPs and will we have 5 instead of 1?
3). Would Potong Pasir be drawn into a GRC in the next time?
4). Or would Mr Chiam be SERS out of another victory?
5). Will SDP finally become a opposition party that walk into the history
6). Will it be 200 Million dollar carrot for Hougang in 2011.
7). Will Gomez be sent to jail?

Anyway, it has been an interesting election and as we go back to life as usual, I do hope that the oppositions take this as a shot in the arm to spur them on and does not trip over themselves, falling flat and disappoint the people anymore.

And I do hope that those being put in power understand the underlying sentiments the numbers in the poll, the slight swing and knows that while carrots and candies are nice, but we prefer not to have a drumstick only to return a chicken or 2 even.

Why my vote matters and why I don't give a damn

Why my vote matters and why I don give a damn

In another 10 hours, all the talks shall see its culmination into the number of votes each side. If there is a common underlying message from all aspiring and veteran politician taken to stage for the last 2 week, it will be that the people’s vote matter. 1.22 million Votes will be cast with 37 seats being the prize.

Take a step back to a week earlier, where son and father take to the media and engage the people. While the Prime Minister had a good time taking on people from all walks of life on a feel good session, where with a few quick promises were made and delivered quickly.

His father and mentor took on a younger generation which consist mainly of first and second time voters, some never see the inside of a voting station ever since walkover becomes a term as popular as elections. While they try to ask tough question to the battle-hardened old battle-axe, they seems to be more trying to step on themselves and each others. They came across as a bunch of uncouth, camera hogging ingrates trying to act like adults asking childish spoilt brats. In fact, my own take is that someone has just put a bunch of sheep into the den of a lion and all of them spoiling for a fight and hoping that they can win; not a prayer. However, if they are to be used as gauge for the sentiment of this generation of voters, it is obvious that there exist an extremely wide gulf, more of a chasm in the thinking between the old and the young. While the old guy assumes that we want a fight and a more lively parliament at the cost of political and hence national stability, I feel that what we are hoping is for once, to have a voice that check and balance the system; a parliament that will not gives you an answer that what is decided had been decided and there are reasons, full stops. All we want is in simple truth, to have a government that not just delivers, but willing to stop and listen for once before shoving what they feel is right down our throat. We can only bite so many bullets before 1 slip past and blow our head out. That is not really a tall order for a world-class government, is it?

As the time draws near, one opposition party unfurled its party manifestos quietly at its website leading to criticisms from the incumbent and asked the opposition to withdraw its manifestos citing its dangerous thinking and seditious nature. And it is this expose from the incumbent that the rest of the populace heard and learnt of the manifestos.

Moving ahead in time, as the incumbent shows its hand and introduces new faces while retiring old ones, they were taunting the oppositions to do the same and that the oppositions, probably wiser as they are now experienced, choose not to answer the taunt and hold their card close. But while the new faces from the incumbent goes to show that they are serious about self-renewal, the oppositions’ new faces are considered wet behind the ears, unknown and lack of a proven track record, so much for consistencies in definitions. While we have people in the parliament that stays on even past 80s, some opposition parliament members have served too long and should leave making way for younger members of the incumbent.

Even nomination did not go on without much fan fare and hullabaloos. There were surprises as some supposedly hot constituencies were given a miss while some were challenged. One surprises was the challenge by young first time opposition against the Prime minister and his team. This however, pales in comparison to an opposition candidate, a form to prove that he is of minority origin, a video that proves that he put it back into his bag and a phone tapping which he told of the consequences to the ELD officials. This took the center stage in the entire campaign till 2 days before the polling date while everything else took a backseat. Every single member of the incumbent took up arms and had a jab demanding for apologies and at a latter stage, a withdrawal. So much so, that the Minister of Home Affair even made a statement that 4 member team can run in a 5seat GRCs, which is only later being refuted by the Minister for Foreign Affair. It really does leads 1 to wonder if there really is a rule to the game or that one side can make it up and change it as they goes along. Of course, one can always claim that the Election Department is independent and neutral. But the Gomezgate issue leads 1 to wonder how independent it is and that promises made on certain constituencies will stay as single seat instead of being merged into neighboring GRCs leads one to consider that the electoral boundaries can be influenced.

IF there is another name for the time of rally, it will be called the time of wonders whereby for contested constituencies, their MPs suddenly appear everyday to shake hand, and if you have a problem, you can talk to them and they might just simply whisk it away with a little magic wand. This is also the time where other than abalone porridges, they get million dollar upgrade and estate improvement plan if they happens to be an opposition ward and that they will only get it if the incumbent’s candidate gets voted in. Our Prime Minister once commented that money politics and pork barreling had been the scourge of Japan politics. While here, the 100 Million dollar carrot is nothing more than improvement plan for the estate and that progress package is nothing more than to share the fruits of the nation’s success despite the obvious coincidence that the payout is done a week before the nation goes to the poll. Besides fielding candidates where some put the party and the leader’s integrity to question, the oppositions, if elected in greater numbers will also become a problem of which requires our Prime Minister’s personal attention and fixing (ok, should read countering after the secretary correct it a day after) and that they are a great distraction which will hinder the countries progress. The thought of oppositions in the parliament getting spayed and neutered was a bit disturbing.

One of the issues that were scantly mentioned was the NKF debacle. This could well be because of the recent high profile defamation suite bought against the infamous Chee brother and sister as well as the rest of the SDP. The possibility of sub judice could play an important factor in making it a taboo subject.  The issue is not about the government but more of transparency. While the Minster for Health managed to sort it out in 1 afternoon as the old NKF management seek him out and resigned en-mass and left him to appoint an interim management which went about cleaning up the mess. The question that failed to answer was that, with a few whistle being blown in the past, why wasn’t the issue being bought out in the open and that do we have enough check and balance to prevent a similar incident to happen and in its worst possibility, a government agencies. We had seen the passing of Sarbane Oxley in the wake of Enron and MCI but yet little is being done here in the matter of legislative measures being taken in the wake of NKF.

If there is one thing I agree with, it will be that the whole election is and will always be about the future. While it is important to know who brought about the success this nation has enjoyed in the past, it is even more important to consider what we want for the next 5 years and the 5 years after. Is it stability that we want? Check and balance? Uncertainty as we vote in the unknown? I do know that despite the great turn out in the Opposition’s rally is by no means a given that they will be voted in. But I am heartened to see that the oppositions are slowly getting its act together and they are now on their long road to getting their credibility a boost. However, as not all oppositions are created equal, I do hope that this election will see some clowns making curtain calls and bowed out as it is way overdue for them to get off the political stage of Singapore. As for me, polling day is truly a vacation as I am in a GRC that is a walkover. Which is why, despite all these, I don’t really give a damn…. I am sure the MPs of this constituency don’t care as well, at least for the next 5 years.

For those that are voting, have a care and vote carefully.

A Hiatus too long

The events the months past went by a bit too quickly, more like a blur when looking back. Quite a bit was done and it seems like I am just catching a short breath before being caught in another furor of events later in the year.

What transpire since the last entry till now you might enquire? A few, getting called up for my first in camp since the farewell to arms 7 years back for one; Getting the new nest all set up to move in as another; To get the Chinese customary between my wife and me over and done with, to top it all off.

Not a lot to say but believe you me, it was quite a handful. It is getting harder and harder to sit back and write it all down and harder to get back to the habit of posting thoughts and putting it this way, putting it my way as I keep slacking. Try I did and endeavor I shall to carry on to regale you the deeds of men (women) and the passing of the events as I put it. I shall try until the next series of events makes me take my leave.

A new cycle of moon

Despite being only a mere change of the lunar calendar, heaps of activities took place that depleted me of any energy and will to blog for the two short weeks past. That and a need to ponder on the topic to blog on was also part of the hindrance that presence itself. That and the fact that I am now blogging to you from the latest addition to the family of adopted computer in the family while the other two desktops decided that they want a new installation of their operating systems did not helped improve the situation.

Despite being a bit late, I still would like to wish the readers, supporters, detractors and all visitors, a happy year of the Fire Dog and may the year even more bountiful than the last and all ill fortunes dissipate like the last page on the previous calendar.

新年快乐，万事如意。

Little Pavin

While the furor over Mr. Tan’s return has finally boiled over and that the law of the land has passed its first reading, there seems to still be background noise of those who decided that National Service is beneath them. One of them, which I read with utter distaste, was a letter by a little runt who decided that his motherland is nothing more than a nuisance.

The letters is as follows:

Jan 18, 2006Let those who intend to emigrate opt out of NS I REFER to the Insight article, 'Doers & dodgers: Time to heal the rift?' (ST, Jan 14). I share the same sentiment as Mr. Paul Wong, feeling no allegiance to Singapore and not being able to assimilate into Singaporean culture even though I was born and raised here.As a child, I grew up watching classic American movies and cartoons, and listening to American-genre music like country, southern gospel and classic American oldies.My paternal aunts and uncles are Ivy League students and speak with a slight American accent and use American grammar in speech. I was influenced by them.Because I am the child of a Thai father and a Singaporean mother, I am a citizen of both Thailand and Singapore. I hold a Singapore passport and will have to serve national service next year.I do not intend to live in Singapore and, in fact, have made serious plans to emigrate to the United States in future.Many friends of mine who have gone overseas to study intend to settle down in their host country after serving national service. I do not support the evasion of national service but I appeal to the Government to make some changes to the policy.For those who do not intend to live in Singapore, there is no purpose in serving national service. It is a waste of resources for the Government and a waste of time for those affected. In my case, I will renounce my Singapore citizenship at age 21 and take on Thai citizenship. The US will be my home in future and if a war breaks out between Singapore and the US, God forbid, obviously I would help to defend the US and fight Singapore if need be.Therefore, I do not see the purpose of training men who might 'turn against' their country in unforeseen circumstances.Perhaps the Ministry of Defence could come up with a policy to permit those who intend to emigrate to opt out of national service but if they do not leave by a certain age, then they would be drafted. Patriotism and loyalty cannot be forced. It is ultimately up to an individual whether he wants to serve the country.Pavin Limanont

Little Pavin, There is only 1 thing that I give you, that is you actually have the gall to say such things. You are probably outspoken and truthful but really, I hope you are not out to just get your 15 min of fame.
Well, if its infirmary that you want, you had achieve it. In fact, while some corners of Singapore might honor Mr. Melvin Tan for his return and his accomplishment in music, we really have nothing but scorn for you. First off, for 17 years of your miserable life, you have been given a somewhat safe environment to grow up in, your parents need not fear that you have been kidnapped nor worried that you have either take too much marijuana or shot yourselves in the stupor that follows. Neither was there fear that your skin color might not be accepted among equals and be relegated to being second-class citizen.

Your education, while might not have been the best in the world and perfect, had allowed you to write a letter that is legible despite its distasteful content. Unfortunately, you are still a failure of the system, as it did not inculcate a value of honor and patriotism to the country that you grew up in. It could be by your very nature vile and lack of a sound morale fiber. As such, you are more a liability than an asset to any country that you pledge your allegiance to. If 17 years did not leave a single shred of belongingness to a country which did you no wrong, woes to the 1 that you are disgruntled or might eventually be disillusioned to as you will not hesitate to sell your gun to whomever that caught your fancy. The lacking in principle likens you to a snake, which has no spine and bends. (Sorry to all the snakes that I offended, ok, worm…. sorry to the worms too)

I was born in Malaysia and am now a Singapore Citizen. The path that I partook was not easy and that I always remember the difficulties that my mother and I went through just so that I can be a Singapore Citizen. It was more of a struggle that took 15 years and I always look back with a tinge of pride when I received my pink IC. While I might not agree with some of the policies and the rationale of the Nation, but if asked to, taking up arms and laying down my life is something that I would not hesitate to do.

I in fact feel sorry for your mother and your paternal aunts and uncles, which are probably good people capable in their own rights, to have someone like you associated with them is probably tarnish to their good names. Having relatives that are Ivy League graduate does not qualify you automatically to greatness. You probably have to prove it and work at it rather than just coming here and bitch about it.

Little Pavin, if you are not happy with being called up to serve the nation, just go. You are free to go to that Ivy league colleague of yours and study and get your little head-start in life like so many who did. In fact, some of them were sponsored by this nation, which you spurned and while not all, a great many of them do come back, served their time for this nation. That in a word is called gratitude, the meaning of which might be alien to one such as you.

The only reason that I see you writing this letter at this time is that, you do not cut it for Ivy League, In fact, I even wonder if your O level was anything to write home about. Which is why you are writing this letter in a hope that they will let you get away with it without your parents needing to pay a bomb for an oversea education that will be lost on you, not to mentioned the 30K bond that they will need to put up of which you will surely caused it to be forfeited.

All in all, I would say that you are lost cause, while you come out and say what you feel, you just reaffirm that you and others like you are nothing more than some self-centered pukes that I despise.

Really, if you want out, go now; just get out, right now.

Food (Dis)tasting

This is the first and the only time that I am doing this, so there is alot of things that I am doing for the first and I do hope that as the only time, it can be just ok.

However, I seems to keep getting spanner into my plans, having problem with the photo studio, interior decor company and now the restraunt.

By all meaning and intend, food tasting is for us to know for sure and be confident of the dishes that will be served during the wedding banquet. Unfortunately, the food tasting left me with distaste and abolute despair about the food served.

The whole food experience can be summarised with just 1 word: Bland.
the vegetables are just raw vegetables cooked. Something that even someone that doesn;t know how to cook will probably do better if they follow a cookbook. It all tasted like the cook never bothered to put in the right sauce.


The fish tasted weird and out of all the comments, everyone either thought that it is over or undercocked or just plain weird.

In summary, the whole experience made me look forward to the wedding dinner with dread.

I would hope that they can come out with some miracle to salvage the whole thing.... But hope, like miracle is a denial of truth.

A new year, a new profile

Seems like it is high time for a makeover. As such, I have change my

profile picture just so that you can try to find our how I look like

(close enough). As you can see..... I have 2 hands and you can try to

ID me base on my left hand. In case, you are wondering, the laptop is a

Compaq nc6220.........





Anyway, those who know who I am.....knows how I look like....for those

that doesn't.... I guess it really doesn't matter...(Does it???)