MEL

Well it’s Budget Day again… So here I am doing this while listening to the Budget Day announcements at the same time. Before I continue, Happy Budget Day, Happy Total Defence Day, Happy Valentine’s Day, Happy Chinese New Year Day, Happy Thurs Day!   :P

As most of my friends would probably have already found out, I sprained my ankle while playing soccer on Sunday. Still walking around with it bandaged up. Think must be retribution for having sinned terribly on Saturday. On Saturday:

I was at the community centre near my place to donate blood. While queueing up to register, someone approached me and asked if I could do them a favour by wearing a T-Shirt that was normally worn by the members of one of the clubs. The reason: The guest of honour (someone pretty senior in our government, that is all I would say) was coming and the journalists would be here to take pictures of him chatting with the donors. The idea was that in the pictures of the journalists, most of the blood donors would APPEAR to be members of the commmunity club. In short, I was involved in government propaganda and wayang.

So why did I agree to do something so sinful and bluff potentially an entire nation (or rather people who will happen to be looking at those pictures)? Simple. The person who approached me said that the guest of honour was arriving soon, and I would be allowed to cut queue so that I could be lying there with the needle in my arm when he arrived. I saved 1 hour of waiting time…

OK enough of that sinful thing. Not too much details also. After all everything will be my word against theirs and we all know what will happen if I kena sue by a government representative…

Anyway, so I broke my ankle the very next day. Got swollen and I had to bandage it up. Still can’t walk properly now. But the best part was what happened on my way to school today.

While I was on my way up the NUS internal shuttle bus at the Central Library to get to Business School (I don’t ordinarily take the bus, but I guess I had to, for these couple of weeks at least). Before I got on the bus, there was this girl who kept staring at my ankle like I was some kinda medical exhibit or something. OK nevermind, ignore…

Then while I was getting on the bus, with one foot (the injured one) on the first step, the very same girl literally shoved me aside so she could get on the bus first! That was not the end. After we had both got on the bus, she spotted her friend who was seated right in front of where I was standing and shoved me AGAIN so that she could stand beside her friend and talk to her LOUDLY… At the next stop, the someone seated near where I was stood up to get off the bus and that very same girl again pushed me aside to get to the vacated seat before I could! 3 times very rudely shoved, by a person who had been staring at my ankle like I was some medical exhibit and therefore could not have been unaware that I had an injured ankle. And the way she talked (LOUDLY, with a very strong Cheena accent) simply gave away where she was from. My impression of PRCs has definitely not changed for the better after this incident!

OK enough of this complaining. Going off soon. Think our Finance Minister is almost done with his speech. So almost time for me to pack up ad go. Anyway some interesting links, first one for people who, like me, do not believe in Valentine’s Day. The other might be interesting for those who do know the significance of the Super Bowl ads…

Oh yes, I have also uploaded some pictures in a newly-created photo album in my blog (no prizes for guessing which one). By the way, please do make use of my chat box if you are reading this k? Anyone and everyone is welcome! Don’t let this one die like the previous one, please…

myblackvalentine.com

http://www.ifilm.com/superbowl/18373?sublisting=editorPicks

During today’s Labour Law lesson:

Prof: An employee who is unhappy with his employer sets fire to his premises. Is there a breach of contract?
Class: Yes
Prof: Is this a civil or criminal case?
Class: Both
Prof: What can the employer do about him with regards the contract?
Smart Alec: Fire him!

~~~

Wonderful poetic justice I would say. He sets fire to your shop, you fire him in return. Hehe. No wonder we all think law lessons are interesting…

Anyway something totally unrelated. Has anyone else taken the new SBS single-deck buses? That which has a couple of steps up after the exit door?

Was on one sometime last week. Happened to be sitting on the outside seat at that row just behind the exit door. The top of those two steps were just beside me. Then the bus started getting crowded and people started standing along the aisle since there were no more seats. Got pretty crowded.

Just then, it happened. Something which got Qin all cracked up again (she was on the same bus as me as our destinations were along the same way, after class). This lady stood just at the top of those two steps and it was really awkward- her crotch was literally just beside my face! No joke! I dared not fall asleep during that ride and I was damn afraid the bus driver would take a sudden turn or something.

I wonder who designed those buses…

Talking aout buses, has anyone also realised that the SMRT (formerly of TIBS fame) buses are getting infested with cockroaches nowadays? In the past couple of weeks I have made at least 5 trips on buses which had cockroaches (note: not cockroach, but cockroachES) running around avoiding passengers’ footsteps. And the 5 trips during which it happened were on at least 3 different routes so I don’t htink they were the same bus.

Well maybe that is what the first-world public transport is all about. You get the zoo (or whatever else you wanna call it) literally brought to your footstep, and with the demise of the Crazy Horse you get similar entertainment in another form on the buses too! Remind me never to sit/stand right behind the door on a new SBS bus again…

Hehe looong time no blog. No time + starting 2 lose interest I guess. Interest has been lost among my "readers" as well since nobody responds, except for Judy who was the last one in a long time to do so.

Anyway, we have successfully defended the ASEAN Cup! Abit of luck in the process, must be admitted, but must also give credit to the team too! Many of them worked really hard for the title. Well worth the numerous trips I made to the stadium to watch the matches in the past few weeks, right from the very first match against Vietnam! However was quite disappointed that I did not manage to get the tickets to the finals against Thailand. The many fair-weathered fans gto there before I did.

Anyway this morning was an experience that I felt I die-die must blog about. Went with John to eat brunch at the kopitiam where the Punggol Nasi Lemak is at. Near Kovan MRT for those who are not sure where. Anyway nasi lemak stall closed, so we had to settle for the bak chor mee, which was the only stall open at that time. It was only after we had got our food that we realised why the whole coffeeshop was so empty when the bak chor mee stall is the only one open.

Anyway I think it was called the AMK Bak Chor Mee stall or something like that. Can’t really remember. Anyway John made his order first. Then he took out a $50-dollar note to pay for his noodles because he did not have small change with him. Next thing he knew, the uncle started asking after his ancestors up to the 18th generation and started literally throwing the food on his tray.

Next, the uncle just turned to me and shouted," Stand in the queue keep quiet, don’t wanna order ah? Eat what?" That was in Hokkien, and what came after it may not be a nice thing to say here, and I am not sure how I had infuriated him. Well I just had been thinking I would let him finish throwing all the food on John’s tray first before I tell him about my order of bak chor mee without ter kwa (any resemblance to persons or things, whether living or dead, is PURELY coincidental, sumpa!), especially when the bowl of soup was coming up next. I just thought he might need to concentrate on getting it nicely on the tray, preferably with abit less force.

Anyway after that I deliberately returned my 4 x $1 coins into my wallet and took out a piece of paper currency, just to make him dig for more change and ask after my ancestors too. Just for the heck of pissing him further. Just for the record, I think some 40-cents instant noodles dipped in sea water at room temperature might have tasted a tad better than his cooking.

So, if you are looking for a good way to get a great start to your morning and wake yourself up and get your engine all warm and running, please take your breakfast at the AMK Bak Chor Mee stall at the Punggol Nasi Lemak coffeeshop. You will not be disappointed. For an enhanced experience bring along your $50 and $100 notes!

Anyway another thing that i got from John. Source of info not verified but sounds pretty convincing. He said that he recently discovered that on top of the torture that the PRC government metes out to the Falungong members (who are caught and upgraded to the status of prisoner), they literally sell their organs to buyers/patients and dig the organs out for an immediate transplant when required and leave the poor fellows there to die. For more details kindly refer to John.

Well that’s enough for now. Till when I have more time. Happy Chinese New Year in advance to my friends!   ;)

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…

http://miyagi.sg/2006/11/fit-the-bill/#comments

http://www.pistolwimp.com/media/53551/

Hehe some random funny sites to share. Must open and see!

Anyway the usual ramblings about being busy etc, so might as well save it. Maybe just share some pictures of what has been going on in my school life (which has almost taken over every other part of my life too).

Start with some of the ads we had created for the 3M project. Kinda feel pretty proud of the. Unfortunately we didn’t win, but we did not feel that we had lost to a better team though. But well, you be the judge, take a look at my latest blog photo album! Just a preview:

Anyway, a silly picture I took on a bus recently. It’s a real bus ad…

Some people have privately commented to me that my blog has been seeing quite abit of negative stuff recently. So in order to assure everyone that I have not turned into a malcontent I shall change tact for this post and say something mroe postive. This is also to assure The Wife and a very special friend of mine, both of whom had recently commented that I seem to have a shorter fuse recently and seem to be less patient with people. So here it is:

I think I have mentioned this before, but suddenly I was reminded of a quote I had seen sometime before. Although I can’t recall the exact words it went something like "Marriage is like having your other half over on an indefinite sleepover". If that is the case I think I’m getting more open to the idea of getting married…

Well it’s really almost all perfect when The Wife comes over for a sleepover. I get hugs and kisses before getting tucked in bed. Occasionally there’s a massage too to help me sleep better. (No, it just stops there. We haven’t gone much further than that in case your filthy minds are speculating!)

Same with waking up in the morning. Waking up with her sitting on top of me & whispering into my ear (even though usually they are threats that my breakfast will be gone if I don’t wake up) and being greeted with a wake-up kiss beats the ear-piercing alarm clock anytime!

However not to say that everything is so perfect of course. There are other hazards during her sleepovers. One is that my blanket and bolster etc will get stolen from me in the middle of the night. Occasionally I get shoved off and end up sleeping on the floor too. But other than that it’s almost always pleasant when The Wife comes over.

There’s the late night strolls to enjoy too; the supper pigging sessions; the occasional drinking sessions when we mix random stuff into whisky, wine, beer etc; the night runs; soccer matches and even those times late in the night when we just lay there in each others’ arms and do nothing but enjoy each other’s company.

Well enough of that in case hearts get broken Hehe. Really thankful that her ex boyfriend gave her up to present me with the opportunity to have such a wonderful girl in my life- and probably for the rest of my life for that matter.

Ok enough of my ramblings. Just thought that I would post something here to assure those very good friends of mine who have been worrying about me. Don’t worry, I am still getting some positives out of my life and at least one aspect of my life is wonderful enough to make me unable to give it up to jump in front of an MRT train or something… For those of you who don’t understand what I’m doing here, probably you do not come under that category of people I’m writing this to reassure…

Oh well have a great week ahead people. I promise to pick myself up quickly enough and make myself more tolerable…

It seems that showing respect for others’ time by being punctual is a thing of the past. Punctuality is no longer a virtue but a premium. Why do I have so many people around me who like to be late?

My estimate is that by projection, by the end of this sem I would have spent a total of about 3 days just waiting for project team mates to turn up for work. No shit! About 70 hours! And out of which at least half can be attributed to one single person. Tell me what I should do about such people, especially that particular character? Maybe they all just think I am too fucking free, no work to do. Sparing 3 days of my life doing nothing but fuming is nothing to me because I’ve got too much time on my hands. My life is too long that I need them to decide on my behalf to waste my time away!

This is the last straw: being 1.5 hours late and not even bothering to call; till we decided to call her after she was 1.5 hours late. Then she had the cheek to say she’s just stepping out of her home, and has to go somewhere else first before meeting us. And best part, her part of the work is not completed. After she arrives about 2 hours later, we have to wait for her to finish her part in front of our face. Couldn’t she have just had the decency to call earlier and tell us all that instead of wait for us to get frustrated of waiting & calling her? What do I do in such a situation? Better keep quiet of course instead of shooting my mouth off & making her cry & be accused of doing shit to her!

Sorry for that, people… Just extremely frustrated by some irresponsible people. Just for the record, the meeting time was 2pm today. She has just completed her part of the work about half hour ago, at 10.45pm… Talk about respect… She has absolutely none for us!

To add on, our mutual friend(s) is/are putting the blame on me for getting pissed with her and getting them stuck in the middle. My fault! The perpetrator gets sympathies while the victim gets hell for showing displeasure… Please continue to blast me here, won’t you?

Just to announce, I have managed to get on a Chat Box for my blog. Go on, try to spot it! Hehe. This is to satisfy those of you who are not Friendster members but wanna post comments all the same. Have fun, but please do not abuse it!