MEL

Hehe back from LeeSerbit. Not just. Friday afternoon to be exact, but had no time to say anything about it till now. Actually nothing much about it also, except that I did not manage to get the Silver that I desired for IPPT, so had to settle for a Pass. Pretty slack, the whole week, but anyway for people who passed IPPT we got to Out-Pro early on Friday afternoon so that was a bonus for Ka Yoon, Luis & I.

Well it was a pity that no cameras were allowed, else would have been able to post some pictures of us taking canteen break, eating snake in the bunk, playing board games or some pictures of the barely-edible food that we had to endure the entire week. If they had allowed cameras there wasn’t much danger about us unwittingly revealing secrets anyway because there wasn’t much for us to reveal in the first place except wardrobe malfunctions maybe.

Anyway with LeeSerbit came the mandatory haircut. So that’s how I looked like before reporting to camp.

OK enough of pictures, especially when I have none to show from Reservist.

And yes, about the James Bond movie thing from my previous post, I think anyone who had watched the movie would probably have noticed the very blatant product placements by Sony. Among those featured were the compact camera, the Vaio, Sony Ericsson phones and I somehow think I saw a Bravia somewhere but I can’t confirm that unless I decide to watch it again. Well I just think that was kinda misleading, because Sony products are well-known to not work anywhere as well as they did in the movie. At least when contrasted against customers’ feedback during my course of work and also some terrible experiences I had with Sony products, their portrayal during the movie was a far cry from reality.

First, Bond didn’t have his Vaio’s battery exploding in his face while using the laptop. Neither did he experience a battery recall or was the British secret service bothered by the fact that Vaios are probably not the best laptops to use for such important tasks as protecting your nation’s secrets and removing threats to national security. What can you really expect from a line of laptops whose advertisements highlight how well it looks and how bright its LCD screens are? Wouldn’t you want to communicate other benefits to using your product if you had a choice? That speaks for itself on Vaio’s quality. Granted, Bond may want something stylish, but bright LCD screens? So that the person at the next block can see what he’s typing? Conclusion: Bond is not much better than a bimbotic blonde. He goes for looks and knows nuts about specs. James Blonde.

Next, the Sony Ericsson phone. Bond does not encounter problems that plague almost every Sony Ericsson user that I know of, including myself (in a few months I shall never use a Sony Ericsson phone again till they stop manufacturing in China). The toggle button (or the joystick as they call it) does not refuse to work 6 months after every visit to the service centre. The software does not keep hanging once the warranty is over. Bond does not have to join the long line at the Sony Ericsson service centre to use his warranty and spend hours waiting there because of the sheer number of people who are there for the same few problems. Neither does he have to resort to using his old Nokia phone from eons ago that he had stopped using because it had become outdated but not spoilt– using for an entire week because that’s how long the people at the Sony Ericsson service centre take to resolve problems; again, due to the looooooong lines. Then, his mobile phone does not refuse to charge up three months after each visit to the service centre.

Next, his gal’s Sony compact camera does not refuse to start up at temperatures below 10 Deg C because of its weak battery. Neither does the picture quality turn out bad or show inaccurate, digitalised and unnatural colours when the photos are printed out. Imagine Bond taking a picture with it during work and realising on the photos the suspect is wearing pink but to the naked eye he is wearing red?

OK enough of the description of common problems to Sony products that somehow Bond does not experience at all. Maybe he’s just luckier that Made-in-China products o not fail him at inopportune moments. Going to get back to my work. Merry Christmas to all!   ;)

Nah, this is not a spoof on Charles Dickens or something. Just relating something that happened today and hopefully some of you may be kind enough to comment/advise.

Was supposed to have a project group outing today, after the other group members’ last paper. So the plan was to meet at Clementi at 12 noon for lunch after their paper ends. I thought that since the paper was supposed to end at 11am, they might not need such a long time to get to Clementi from school, so I arrived at 1130. Then I received a message about 1145 saying that the paper had ended late, I had to wait for them. Fair enough. Paper ending late is not their fault. It was a legitimate reason to be late so I just had to sit at the coffeeshop, order a drink and wait.

Then, at about 1210, another call. "We’ve decided to change the location of the meeting. We’re trying to hail a cab now to go to town. You just take the MRT and meet us in Orchard Rd OK? The train ride doesn’t really take that long lah, so it is definitely not a problem for you."

Well, first thing: Why change their minds at the last minute? Secondly: my opinion was not sought- I could either join them or go home (for the record I chose the latter) Third: I was supposed to be working but after one of them had persuaded me I had given up one day’s income just to join them. Fourth: Why ASSume that it was definitely not a problem for me to take the MRT to Orchard Rd by myself while they all went in a cab.

Well, the earlier points were not my biggest grudge. The thing is that I never really enjoyed the company of at least 2 people in this group because they are known to do stupid things like this, even in the course of doing project work. Turning up late for meetings then setting up at another place that was not the agreed location and insisting everyone else moved to their newly-chosen site although everyone else was punctual and had already started work at the previously-agreed location. But the thing I was most disappointed about was that a person I had always treated as my buddy in school was among them and apparently my rights were not brought up.

I don’t know, I may be committing the same mistake that the philosopher J.S. Mill had highlighted in one of his works: That we tend to judge and expect other people to behave like how we ourselves would behave. In other words that our judgements and expectations are based on our own arbitrary standards. That is why I am writing here to seek out opinions on what the rest of you would think and feel in such a situation.

For me in such a case, no matter who the person being played out is, I would have reminded everyone else that we had pre-agreed on a location and we should go there to meet that person first even if we want to go somewhere else after that. We owe that obligation to him, who made an effort to turn up on time. It is just not fair that we all took a cab and tell him to make his own way down on his own.

If it were a good friend or a buddy, I would be even more proactive in that. if the rest really insisted on going somewhere else without meeting up with him at the stipulated place first, I would tell them to go ahead while I went to meet him at his location. Then we would decide there whether it is worth our time to go meet up with those people who have no respect for other people or we just found some alternative source of entertainment. That is what I would do, and I think what I would expect of my good friends. Is it unreasonable?

Well to be fair to her, I think she does not have any bad intentions. It was not deliberate I think (or hope?). I think one of her biggest weaknesses is that she is overly conflict-avoiding. If she had done what I would have done she would have run the risk of getting into an argument with the rest of the group. She is one person I know who avoids such situations at all costs. I am more thick-skinned, and like I have said before, I am past caring what most people think about me. Only that few people matter to me nowadays and for those few people I am willing to go to such lengths for them, including standing by them at the cost of my relationship with other not-so-important people.

So that is her weakness. It is not a fault, because it is not intentional. It is just perhaps she lacks the courage to stand the ground for a cause or for a good friend (or maybe I’m not her good friend?) because I have noticed that such things have happened before. She seems to want to give herself reasons to agree with whoever is speaking at the moment to avoid conflicts. So in private she can agree with what a group of "friends" say and later she will agree with another group on things which are obviously in conflict. This way she makes herself appear hypocritical, though I know it is not her intention to.

Well the point here is that I’m beginning to wonder if she is really reliable and should I continue to trust her like how I would a buddy? Like I said, I believe she is a nice person with good intentions in general, but her weakness makes it hard for me to trust her in a figurative "life-and-death" situation. Because I know it would be very hard for her to find the courage to put her foot down and stand her ground and stick with her friends. The loyalty comes into question. What should I do about such a friend?

On the other hand, another school buddy of mine saved the day by offering to keep me company upon hearing of my plight. She was having a facial near my place and although she was reluctant to show her face after facial, she offered to jio me out for dinner and then accompany her to town to run some errands. That is a good buddy, because I know for women to show their faces in public right after facial is a sacrifice. Wanna say a big thanks to this buddy here who has shown me time and again that she can be counted on when I need someone. Of course there is also The Wife, but she is even more than a buddy…

Talking about reliability, this reminds me of the James Bond movie. But this is a sufficiently long post, so I shall continue another time…

Yes, it’s true! It was tucked away in a corner of the papers today, so it is not surprising if you missed it. Unfortunately it is not for Singapore, but for Hong Kong… The reason quoted was that the government decided to heed the wide-spread condemnation of the tax from the people. They therefore decided to scrap the implementation of the tax in order not to go against public sentiment.

Unfortunately I do not think this will happen to Singapore. The government is not likely (or should I say it is impossible?) to scrap the GST increase announced, definitely not because of pulic sentiment even if they were to do a ke belakang pusing later on. No, I DARE NOT say our government is not consultative, not especially when they claim to value the opinions of the ruled (ie, all of us). It is just that they happen to always know what is best for us, even though we may not see the point. Sounds familiar, like what parents always tell their kids? No, neither is our government paternalistic…

With this I think the MOE and NUS also need to sack all the teachers who have ever taught me economics. This is because even after passing Economics I still fail to see how increasing the GST and reducing income tax can benefit the poor more than the rich. Maybe after this they will say increasing the Ministers’ salaries can help the poor even more! But the point here is that probably the Ministers have really seen some logic behind how all these can help the poor which my limited economics knowledge finds counter-intuitive. So my econs teachers should take the blame for having failed to teach me well. After all, the Ministers know what’s best for us even if we intuitively feel otherwise!

Well guess I’ve said enough again. Better toe the line. Else our consultative government might haul me up for some "feedback tea session" or what. Anyway since the government’s stand is that with the new measures the poor will be better off and the rich will be worse off. So it’s a major sacrifice for them since they are all so highly paid. Who said that it’s easier to rule a country? But my point here is not that. Just want to say that any rich people out there who feels they are victimised by the new policies just because you are rich, you may give part of your money to me so that when you are poorer, you become better off. I will bear the brunt of this for you, since I’m in such a self-sacrificial mood. Quick, before I change my mind and take back my offer!

Damn, I’m so kind to make such an offer. Bearing the suffering on behalf of others. I think I have got the makings to be a Minister…