Currently Playing : Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Acherly hor, i tink i heck care my useless Chinaman Technicians' University degree and become contractor... oso quite goot lah.
Becoz why? becoz nowsaday hor, just walk-walk abit from M-R-le-T, i will pass by THREE construction sites leh! 1 at the M-R-le-T station itself, they dunno building wat. then across the road in under HBD block, they hacking up old but still can use walkway... i mean, walkway as long as no big big lobang, no earthquake, peepur can walk, can liao mah! so the bad thing is peepur dunno the cemen wet, then step step... now the walkway kena sai lor!
then walk somemore, another 5 min, got empty field kena dig up, flattened, and they leave one square square lobang, at first i thot why swimming pool so small? put koi let old peepur feed ah? then one day i pass by, i saw one those type of plastic plastic prayground cha down there with sand... so orh.... it's prayground and park lah. even got those ah pek stone benches around... only thing no grass only.
then ah pek stone benches are just purfect for writing poems or leaving numbers on them... good to play cander also!! wat wat cander? tsk, cander lah! u know the one... on top got fire cha the cake sing happie birthday one... cander lah!!
yah lor... see now contractor business so good... think i fark care engineer, become contractor! i plan liao! 1st 2 yr i work as kah kia lah, like the bhangera and thai... whole day just hold the stop-go sign by the road... so senang! then next 2 yr get promotion become supervisor, jaga how they work, learn wat to do. then by the 5th yr, can set up my own business liao!!
5 yrs goot leh... coz i notice hor, every 5 yr got construction business boom one. u see the 5th yr, the old old ah pek flat, hwa, suddenly got estra lift one leh! then suddenly got roof from bus stop to HBD block one! new praygrounds... new ah pek bench... so i will be just in time for the boom lor!
then hor, during the 5th yr, also got a lot of Meet The Rite Peepur sessions. goot lah... i heard hor, always got this guy, wear white shirt white pants, give contractor a lot of work during the boom. maybe he is a Rite Person lah, so can go meet him, give name card, get his business.
think that time can work until tan chia for another 4 yrs ah!! can stay home shake leg liao!! then when no more money, then the 5th yr come out again, go Meet The Rite Peepur. work 1 yr rest 4 yr ah!! so shiok, who do'wan?
yah.... i think be contractor, oso quite goot lah.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Slingshots
Uncle farkers who use slingshots to shoot down colugos and other small wild animals shd be tied to trees by their limbs, 5m above ground, and subjected to slingshot attacks carried out by indignant nature lovers.
All 52,918 of us.
(estimated number)
All 52,918 of us.
(estimated number)
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Poor Gary Goh!
Currently Playing: Holiday by Green Day
On the previous Monday. 2nd yr MPE student from NTU Gary Goh sent a mass email to 8,000 students about wanting to form a committee to deal with problems he felt that were plaguing the university, which the staff of NTU do nothing about, and to supplement the almost useless students' union.
This, in the wake of full-page advertisements in newspapers encouraging "A" level sch leavers to join NTU with positive, albeit ambiguous statements like "I can enrich the world with my creativity", "I can change the world with innovation" and "I can bring the world to speed" fronted by smiling, good looking young ppl in lab coats and business suits. (i must add that to their credit, they found a really chio female model)
On Thursday, 23 March, TNP ran "Protest at NTU? What for? - Most students ignore undergrad's call to fight for their rights". It started with
On the same day, ST ran the more objective "Foreign lecturers' English riles NTU student". ST actually put in enough effort to track down and interview Goh himself, with quotes from 2 students who agree with him, and 2 students who don't. for good measure, the president of the students' union was reported to have said something to the gist of
but still, the article ends with someone from the union saying that the Speak Good English Problem "...has become a non-existent issue. It even helps when I go overseas on attachment programmes to multinational firms." So it helps that students have experience not understanding foreign accents?
In response, a vice-dean from NTU wrote a letter to ST Forum published on Saturday, 25 March, "Constant tabs kept on language proficiency" which I summarise below:
1st paragraph: NTU embraces a globalised world, and has multi-culturalism and has a multi-linguistic environment.
2nd paragraph: Students should go thru "chain of command" when complaining. (sound familiar, guys?)
3rd paragraph: there is also a white elephant tramping around campus named "students' union", which "...was already working with the university administration on ways to improve the situation." (there's that statement again! always a work-in-progress. so is he admitting the situation needs improving?)
4th & 5th paragraph: how lecturers are hired, eg. interviews, presentations, peer feedback, assessments, orientation blah blah blah
6th paragraph: students do nominate foreigners for "best teacher awards"
7th paragraph: there are measures in place to monitor the spoken english and presentation skills of staff.
8th paragraph: what some of these measures are
9th paragraph: "Finally, the matter should not be blown out of proportion as most lecturers are fine. For the small number who need assistance, there are faculty development programmes."
So, let me summarise:
1) Gary Goh is moved to action, and he calls on other idealistic fellow-students to come together and change the environment for the better. He does not hide behind the computer screen, as his name and contact number are found in the email. Now his photo is on ST as well.
2) Newspapers follow up. One tries to be objective, another mocks his efforts.
3) As always, the students' union jumps in and says they knew abt the problem and are currently in talks with the administration in dealing with the matter. Of coz, they will be in talks until the whole thing blows over. perfect example of NATO.
4) Meanwhile, Goh gets some supporters, some detractors, and many, many others who talk about it but take a wait-and-see approach. (NATO again!)
5) The administration, responses with a perfect TYS model answer letter:
a) give the larger picture in positive light
b) mention procedures that are in place
c) give assurance that complainants do have a say in things
d) acknowledge that there MAY be some situations which are not up to par, but there ARE measures in place, and anyway, whatever problems there may be, they are small compared to the vast majority who are hardworking/talented/doing a good job/etc.
e) ask everyone involved to go past the issue and "move on" (hahah ok i added that myself)
The state of affairs seems to be that if there is a problem, let those higher up the ivory tower know, they will deal with it eventually, or sit on it until the problem goes away. If you do bring it out to public, you will be ridiculed by the media and we, high on the ivory tower, will say "look at the big picture! this little runt is just making a mountain of a molehill".
So now u know why so difficult for opposition to get good candidates for GE all these years? Coz those higher up always stifle dissenting voices. So much so that there are those who have become adverse to dissenting voices, that have the mindset that those above are always right. There are also those who watch these episodes unfurl and tell themselves to conform, and stay out of trouble. And of coz there are those so intent on living out their silly little lives that they pay no attention to the comings and goings outside their hobbitons.
Such are Singapore's instituitions of higher learning.
===================================================================
On a related note: during the Speak Good English Campaign some years back, then PM Goh sent Phua Chu Kang for BEST English Lessons. so shdn't NTU follow the example, and get the dean to send those lecturers who need it for BEST English Lessons as well? Or does the Speak Good English Campaign only apply to native Singaporeans and our native Singlish? An extension of the Foreign Talent (ie. Foreign? must be Talent!) Scheme
Why, oh why do we always belittle what little heritage, what little naturally-evolved cultural practices we have? Must our natural-born flavours always be hidden behind hideous, manufactured, meaningless hybrids like the Merlion?
===================================================================
Personal Thots: Gary Goh has my respect for trying to change things for the better. Idealistic, perhaps... but at least he has enough drive to be moved into action. I hope he does eventually make things better, and can take personal pride in it. At the very least, I hope his flame does not get extinguished by the drowning of official voices.
Gary, if I would have joined you, had I more time in NTU. I wish you all the best.
On the previous Monday. 2nd yr MPE student from NTU Gary Goh sent a mass email to 8,000 students about wanting to form a committee to deal with problems he felt that were plaguing the university, which the staff of NTU do nothing about, and to supplement the almost useless students' union.
This, in the wake of full-page advertisements in newspapers encouraging "A" level sch leavers to join NTU with positive, albeit ambiguous statements like "I can enrich the world with my creativity", "I can change the world with innovation" and "I can bring the world to speed" fronted by smiling, good looking young ppl in lab coats and business suits. (i must add that to their credit, they found a really chio female model)
On Thursday, 23 March, TNP ran "Protest at NTU? What for? - Most students ignore undergrad's call to fight for their rights". It started with
"His lone call for students to get together and "fight" for their "rights" looksand ended with a student saying
doomed to fail"
"Singaporean students will not bother and foreign students are too busywhich kinda summarises the dismissive, even scornful tone of the article at Goh's actions. Students were quoted as saying Goh was "brash, like he was ranting", "trying to hide behind the computer screen" and "The way... is rude and wrong".
studying. We are all apathetic."
On the same day, ST ran the more objective "Foreign lecturers' English riles NTU student". ST actually put in enough effort to track down and interview Goh himself, with quotes from 2 students who agree with him, and 2 students who don't. for good measure, the president of the students' union was reported to have said something to the gist of
"...acknowledged that there have been complaints. But it was not true thathmm. where have i heard that before, again and again?
nothing had been done to address the issue. The union met the administration
last month and was assured that the matter would be looked into."
but still, the article ends with someone from the union saying that the Speak Good English Problem "...has become a non-existent issue. It even helps when I go overseas on attachment programmes to multinational firms." So it helps that students have experience not understanding foreign accents?
In response, a vice-dean from NTU wrote a letter to ST Forum published on Saturday, 25 March, "Constant tabs kept on language proficiency" which I summarise below:
1st paragraph: NTU embraces a globalised world, and has multi-culturalism and has a multi-linguistic environment.
2nd paragraph: Students should go thru "chain of command" when complaining. (sound familiar, guys?)
3rd paragraph: there is also a white elephant tramping around campus named "students' union", which "...was already working with the university administration on ways to improve the situation." (there's that statement again! always a work-in-progress. so is he admitting the situation needs improving?)
4th & 5th paragraph: how lecturers are hired, eg. interviews, presentations, peer feedback, assessments, orientation blah blah blah
6th paragraph: students do nominate foreigners for "best teacher awards"
7th paragraph: there are measures in place to monitor the spoken english and presentation skills of staff.
8th paragraph: what some of these measures are
9th paragraph: "Finally, the matter should not be blown out of proportion as most lecturers are fine. For the small number who need assistance, there are faculty development programmes."
So, let me summarise:
1) Gary Goh is moved to action, and he calls on other idealistic fellow-students to come together and change the environment for the better. He does not hide behind the computer screen, as his name and contact number are found in the email. Now his photo is on ST as well.
2) Newspapers follow up. One tries to be objective, another mocks his efforts.
3) As always, the students' union jumps in and says they knew abt the problem and are currently in talks with the administration in dealing with the matter. Of coz, they will be in talks until the whole thing blows over. perfect example of NATO.
4) Meanwhile, Goh gets some supporters, some detractors, and many, many others who talk about it but take a wait-and-see approach. (NATO again!)
5) The administration, responses with a perfect TYS model answer letter:
a) give the larger picture in positive light
b) mention procedures that are in place
c) give assurance that complainants do have a say in things
d) acknowledge that there MAY be some situations which are not up to par, but there ARE measures in place, and anyway, whatever problems there may be, they are small compared to the vast majority who are hardworking/talented/doing a good job/etc.
e) ask everyone involved to go past the issue and "move on" (hahah ok i added that myself)
The state of affairs seems to be that if there is a problem, let those higher up the ivory tower know, they will deal with it eventually, or sit on it until the problem goes away. If you do bring it out to public, you will be ridiculed by the media and we, high on the ivory tower, will say "look at the big picture! this little runt is just making a mountain of a molehill".
So now u know why so difficult for opposition to get good candidates for GE all these years? Coz those higher up always stifle dissenting voices. So much so that there are those who have become adverse to dissenting voices, that have the mindset that those above are always right. There are also those who watch these episodes unfurl and tell themselves to conform, and stay out of trouble. And of coz there are those so intent on living out their silly little lives that they pay no attention to the comings and goings outside their hobbitons.
Such are Singapore's instituitions of higher learning.
===================================================================
On a related note: during the Speak Good English Campaign some years back, then PM Goh sent Phua Chu Kang for BEST English Lessons. so shdn't NTU follow the example, and get the dean to send those lecturers who need it for BEST English Lessons as well? Or does the Speak Good English Campaign only apply to native Singaporeans and our native Singlish? An extension of the Foreign Talent (ie. Foreign? must be Talent!) Scheme
Why, oh why do we always belittle what little heritage, what little naturally-evolved cultural practices we have? Must our natural-born flavours always be hidden behind hideous, manufactured, meaningless hybrids like the Merlion?
===================================================================
Personal Thots: Gary Goh has my respect for trying to change things for the better. Idealistic, perhaps... but at least he has enough drive to be moved into action. I hope he does eventually make things better, and can take personal pride in it. At the very least, I hope his flame does not get extinguished by the drowning of official voices.
Gary, if I would have joined you, had I more time in NTU. I wish you all the best.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Watch Out, Europe!
Currently Playing: Holiday by Green Day
well the song doesn't exactly fit... if u know wat's the song abt. i like it so much, i might post the lyrics up at a good time.
i tokked abt going to NZ last yr, but it didn't happen. so when i tokked abt going europe this yr, i was thinking maybe it wldn't happen too. maybe bird flu wld get worse and i wld go NZ after all, finally another solo again. then the fren i'm going with also started to hv doubts...
so it wasn't really until i was in natas this afternoon, hammering out the flight itinerary with a very harried STA staff who had to cope with our many changes and constant enquiries from his colleagues, when it hit me. soon after he handed me a piece of paper which i summarise below:
26 May Fri
SINGAPORE-BANGKOK TG402
BANGKOK-FRANKFURT TG922
13 Jul Thu
FRANKFURT-BANGKOK TG921
14 Jul Fri
BANGKOK-SINGAPORE TG403
then it hit me just like when u accidentally bite into a previously undiscovered tiny piece of chilli padi amongst ur beehoon soup. (i.e. "!!!!!!!!!!")
I'M GOING TO EUROPE!! WOOHOO!!!
thereafter, i was thoroughly drowning in that adrenaline and excitement only an upcoming adventure can bring. rushing from place to place at top walking speed, sending sms-es furiously. making urgent, urgent calls to check on the status of dinner at home. i was high.
yup, I'M GOING TO EUROPE!! WOOHOO!!!
another adventure coming up. :) i can't wait.
well the song doesn't exactly fit... if u know wat's the song abt. i like it so much, i might post the lyrics up at a good time.
i tokked abt going to NZ last yr, but it didn't happen. so when i tokked abt going europe this yr, i was thinking maybe it wldn't happen too. maybe bird flu wld get worse and i wld go NZ after all, finally another solo again. then the fren i'm going with also started to hv doubts...
so it wasn't really until i was in natas this afternoon, hammering out the flight itinerary with a very harried STA staff who had to cope with our many changes and constant enquiries from his colleagues, when it hit me. soon after he handed me a piece of paper which i summarise below:
26 May Fri
SINGAPORE-BANGKOK TG402
BANGKOK-FRANKFURT TG922
13 Jul Thu
FRANKFURT-BANGKOK TG921
14 Jul Fri
BANGKOK-SINGAPORE TG403
then it hit me just like when u accidentally bite into a previously undiscovered tiny piece of chilli padi amongst ur beehoon soup. (i.e. "!!!!!!!!!!")
I'M GOING TO EUROPE!! WOOHOO!!!
thereafter, i was thoroughly drowning in that adrenaline and excitement only an upcoming adventure can bring. rushing from place to place at top walking speed, sending sms-es furiously. making urgent, urgent calls to check on the status of dinner at home. i was high.
yup, I'M GOING TO EUROPE!! WOOHOO!!!
another adventure coming up. :) i can't wait.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Some Memories Never Die
Somehow this date never gets forgotten. When it comes along, so do plenty of memories. but feelings, mostly.
And another year passes by. sigh.
And another year passes by. sigh.
Time Runs
Currently Playing: Did You Get My Message by Jason Mraz
Quite a while nv blog. and actually got deep stuff to say, but been tired lately.
Working really saps ur time and energy... before i know it, a week has gone. frankly, i was quite shocked that it was 20something march liao... even though i see the date everyday at work. didn't i JUST come back from sipadan on march 6??
i guess time passes really fast at work coz there's always so much multi-tasking to be done... even the sleepy no-one-around parts pass rather quickly compared to in sch.
then when i reach home, all i wanna do is stone in front of the tv/computer and then go sleep.
on my off days, i also just nuah and don't do as much as i wanna. except meet up with frens... hahah. but bo pian, coz i work so odd hrs, can't meet anyone for dinner if i'm working that day.
but i still very much prefer work to sch... at least work is fun! in fact i look fwd to mondays more than thursdays and fridays now... usually a wkend and/or monday i gotta work... but thurs and fri confirm gotta go sch... sianz. tml is a fridae... dreading 3-hr-long lessons with lecturer with shiny bald head.
so... working got good got bad. i wanted something productive and fun to do with my time, but now that i got what i wanted, time no enuff. energy also no enuff. no juice to write abt the ntu mass email to protest and more observations abt the upcoming GE. hopefully i got energy to write abt them tml...
anyway. cleaned the hamster cages todae... since i started working i still feed them and make sure they got enuff water, but dun really play with them anymore.
so i realised that ah pui and ah ger are getting old... ah pui no longer pui... looking a little gaunt as compared to his fat-until-cannot-turn-over-when-on-his-back days... ah ger no longer goes crazy and climbs the cage ceiling when food comes. ah pui no longer likes to be picked up, ah ger doesn't seem to mind anymore. but their characters still shine thru. ah ger still scampers ard investigating a new place, ah pui tries to clamber back into his familiar cage and drags his lower body ard.
so i lowered ah ger's 2nd floor of the cage... make it easier for her to climb up. hamster population aging, also must hv upgrading to be elderly-friendly mah... haahhaha
Quite a while nv blog. and actually got deep stuff to say, but been tired lately.
Working really saps ur time and energy... before i know it, a week has gone. frankly, i was quite shocked that it was 20something march liao... even though i see the date everyday at work. didn't i JUST come back from sipadan on march 6??
i guess time passes really fast at work coz there's always so much multi-tasking to be done... even the sleepy no-one-around parts pass rather quickly compared to in sch.
then when i reach home, all i wanna do is stone in front of the tv/computer and then go sleep.
on my off days, i also just nuah and don't do as much as i wanna. except meet up with frens... hahah. but bo pian, coz i work so odd hrs, can't meet anyone for dinner if i'm working that day.
but i still very much prefer work to sch... at least work is fun! in fact i look fwd to mondays more than thursdays and fridays now... usually a wkend and/or monday i gotta work... but thurs and fri confirm gotta go sch... sianz. tml is a fridae... dreading 3-hr-long lessons with lecturer with shiny bald head.
so... working got good got bad. i wanted something productive and fun to do with my time, but now that i got what i wanted, time no enuff. energy also no enuff. no juice to write abt the ntu mass email to protest and more observations abt the upcoming GE. hopefully i got energy to write abt them tml...
anyway. cleaned the hamster cages todae... since i started working i still feed them and make sure they got enuff water, but dun really play with them anymore.
so i realised that ah pui and ah ger are getting old... ah pui no longer pui... looking a little gaunt as compared to his fat-until-cannot-turn-over-when-on-his-back days... ah ger no longer goes crazy and climbs the cage ceiling when food comes. ah pui no longer likes to be picked up, ah ger doesn't seem to mind anymore. but their characters still shine thru. ah ger still scampers ard investigating a new place, ah pui tries to clamber back into his familiar cage and drags his lower body ard.
so i lowered ah ger's 2nd floor of the cage... make it easier for her to climb up. hamster population aging, also must hv upgrading to be elderly-friendly mah... haahhaha
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Same People, Different Topics
Currently Playing: Everybody's Changing by Keane
this afternoon i sat down with 7 other odackies to tok cock and catch up... something i hvn't done in a while.
but it was SO WEIRD. everyone was talking abt jobs. well, the usual cock was still there... but the topic was so different compared to those talk cock sessions we used to have... abt odac... abt past scandals... abt gossip... abt ppl's backs... hahahah
but it was akin to these same ppl talking in a different language... just that i could still understand them. it was that kind of weird.
and the world continues to turn...
*damn tired after 2 consecutive night shifts and early sch tml. gotta sleep.
this afternoon i sat down with 7 other odackies to tok cock and catch up... something i hvn't done in a while.
but it was SO WEIRD. everyone was talking abt jobs. well, the usual cock was still there... but the topic was so different compared to those talk cock sessions we used to have... abt odac... abt past scandals... abt gossip... abt ppl's backs... hahahah
but it was akin to these same ppl talking in a different language... just that i could still understand them. it was that kind of weird.
and the world continues to turn...
*damn tired after 2 consecutive night shifts and early sch tml. gotta sleep.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Me Doing Night Shift Is A Bad Business Decision
why?
coz i'm into my 2nd cup of thick milo and polishing off half a roll of ritz, after a kopi-kau and a kitkat. tml for breakfast i'll be having cereal and kopi-kau. that can of coke looks tempting too... too bad the pringles are running low... else wld hv opened one liao.
the "policy" here is staff can help themselves to whatever food they want. the office has old, old food but this includes stuff that are on sale as well. of coz i try to take not-for-sale food, but sometimes they just can't suffice. like my chocolate craving rite now... or just wanting to feel little coke bubbles popping away on ur tongue.
i shdn't have talked abt all that. arghz...
on a more scary note: getting even more fat and still unfit. hvn't jogged since Episode: Dengue. will start again this wk. latest by friday.
coz i'm into my 2nd cup of thick milo and polishing off half a roll of ritz, after a kopi-kau and a kitkat. tml for breakfast i'll be having cereal and kopi-kau. that can of coke looks tempting too... too bad the pringles are running low... else wld hv opened one liao.
the "policy" here is staff can help themselves to whatever food they want. the office has old, old food but this includes stuff that are on sale as well. of coz i try to take not-for-sale food, but sometimes they just can't suffice. like my chocolate craving rite now... or just wanting to feel little coke bubbles popping away on ur tongue.
i shdn't have talked abt all that. arghz...
on a more scary note: getting even more fat and still unfit. hvn't jogged since Episode: Dengue. will start again this wk. latest by friday.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Posts About The Sipadan Diving Trip...
...can be found at http://rockies-roamings.blogspot.com
they're backdated... the dates shown will be the actual date i mean to record down about.
will fill it up as and when i have time.
they're backdated... the dates shown will be the actual date i mean to record down about.
will fill it up as and when i have time.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
On The Fringe
Short Post to balance things out.
I realise right now i'm kinda on the fringes of sterile singapore society.
I'm still studying at 25, taking 5 yrs for a "normally" 4 yr course.
I don't have a "normal" 9-to-5 job. in fact my job can be considered 9-to-9.
I go to work in berms and t-shirt.
My job involves smiling at and chatting with chio ang mohs everyday.
I am paid a hideously low salary for a wld-be graduate.
I actually like my job and look forward to each work day.
I go to school in berms and t-shirt.
I'm the guy tapping my feet and nodding my head (slightly) to music on the mrt while everyone else has earphones that seem to be on "mute"
I carry an MMS-incapable phone.
I've never had a gf. (yes... u knew this was going to come out... hahah)
ppl might think i'm bumming ard... but i believe i am doing stuff... just that it seems more fun
than others'.
I'm a minority's minority!! and i actually like it!! (after all, i'm a nonconformist)
I realise right now i'm kinda on the fringes of sterile singapore society.
I'm still studying at 25, taking 5 yrs for a "normally" 4 yr course.
I don't have a "normal" 9-to-5 job. in fact my job can be considered 9-to-9.
I go to work in berms and t-shirt.
My job involves smiling at and chatting with chio ang mohs everyday.
I am paid a hideously low salary for a wld-be graduate.
I actually like my job and look forward to each work day.
I go to school in berms and t-shirt.
I'm the guy tapping my feet and nodding my head (slightly) to music on the mrt while everyone else has earphones that seem to be on "mute"
I carry an MMS-incapable phone.
I've never had a gf. (yes... u knew this was going to come out... hahah)
ppl might think i'm bumming ard... but i believe i am doing stuff... just that it seems more fun
than others'.
I'm a minority's minority!! and i actually like it!! (after all, i'm a nonconformist)
Electoral Issues
Read the previous Sunday Times (5th March) at work this morning. (Early mornings are usually slow.) 2 issues caught my eye - The Agu Casmir Saga (to date) and The Mysterious Disappearance of Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah
The Agu Casmir Saga
For those who find Singapore Soccer absolutely boring, be heartened to know that lately it is not. From the (In)famous Foreign Talent Scheme by Singapore Sports Council, Nigerian-born forward Agu Casmir, after given citizenship for/to play in Singapore colours in the 2003 SEA games, and helping the national team reach the 2004 Tiger Cup Final, has a disappointing 2005. Dropped from the national team for Asian Cup this year, he disappears for a month with US$20,000 he got with a contract with an Indonesian club.
He returns to Singapore on Feb 24 without the money (obviously). On Mar 6 he joins local club Woodlands for a monthly salary of $4,000 per mth, which is supposedly "below his market value". The club also says it will pay back the missing US$20,000, deducted from his salary, while FAS bans him from the national team for a year (that's 12 mths!!!) and fines him S$20,000. (there's a "U" missing here) Says he has tarnished the name of Singapore Soccer (if there was such a thing in the first place)
In other unrelated soccer news, national coach Raddy Angmohvich (dunno wat his name is lah) sacked Local-born Midfielder Goh Tat Chuan for leaving a local hotel, where the national team was staying for practices, to visit his sick wife at home, albeit informing anyone.
Now fans are up in arms over the little flick on the wrist (a la melvyn tan) for Agu Casmir asking why such a disgrace and obviously disloyal person is welcomed with opened arms and lots of money. (come on, how many locals get $4,000 a mth on a decent job, let alone for kicking a ball around?) In the same edition, ST Sports Editor Tay Cheng Khoon mulled about the discrepancy in punishments between the two issues (although i think having someone else pay off an external debt, plus being given a job, hardly qualifies as a punishment).
Wat i see here is the everyman's nightmare of what could happen with the gahmen's own Foreign Talent Scheme. Talented youngsters from other countries are enticed to study and grow here with perks such as HEAVILY subsidised education and meritocracy (stuff they can nv get at home), with a sort of loose contract making them work here for a couple of years after getting quality education. All in the hope of these ppl feeling bonded with Sg and staying to boost our talent pool.
but apparently it does not work all the time. Newspapers interviewed some of these "foreign talent", and they say they feel nothing for this place, they feel alienated and will leave here as soon as they graduate. they can give the excuse that they are going home for a visit, and never come back. and the gahmen can only suck thumb and slap an entry ban on them (like they wanna come back liddat)
alienated, they say? so are we locals supposed to adapt to foreign cultures everytime an influx of them comes in? shdn't they be the ones who adapt to our culture? and i must add some of their social habits are just horrendous. those who know me know wat i'm talking abt. You can't blame the gahmen for trying, but i think they need to come up with something better, something more binding. like a monetary bond... maybe give 50% of their pay or return a damn big study deposit only after they work off the few years. and i think giving foreigners heavily subsidised education just cheapens sg citizenship, just like agu casmir. at least melvyn tan learnt that National Education lesson.
This is just about students and fresh grads. what abt expats? we know they are paid obscene amts of money and a subsidised condo with company car. and yes we could get that overseas too. but the question is about fairness in reward and punishment. are the scales really balanced when it comes to locals vs foreigners? of coz since they are uprooted from home i have no qualms with them getting slightly more pay, but are equally qualified locals being looked over just coz the boss wants more angmohs for a "cosmopolitan" look? wasn't it just recently some angmoh junkies jumped bail over that "high" cocaine drug bust?
it is not a Uniquely Singapore problem. many countries are also concerned abt protecting the rights of locals over foreigners, and immigrants, legal or otherwise. but a good gahmen needs to assure its ppl that local interests come first, coz they are the ones who make up the nation, not nigerians who disappear for a month-long paid-for holiday. with elections coming, all the more this needs to be addressed.
The Mysterious Disappearance of Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah
speaking of elections, remember last elections? when GRCs and SMCs were freshly hacked up and carved out for the 2001 elections, the (potential) opposition was up-in-arms abt the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee not being impartial, being just an extension of the gahmen, conveniently shaping electoral boundaries to suit gahmen fancy. both the committee and gahmen said it was not true, of coz.
then last month, the senior members of gahmen and PAP mentioned that old faces wld be making way for new ones. speculation was rife abt whether popular, vocal, long-time backbenchers like Dr. Wang Kai Yuen and Dr. Tan Cheng Bock wld be leaving parliament. It would be a loss for the nation.
On Saturday, the electoral boundaries are released to the media and population. surprise, surprise, the SMCs of Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah have disappeared!! they have been "replaced" by the NEW SMCs of Bukit Panjang and Yio Chu Kang. hmm... that's a coincidence. The impartial Electoral Boundaries Review Committee wiped off both the single seats of Dr Wang and Dr. Tan off the electoral map, not long after speculation that they would step down!! if i didn't know any better abt the absolute independence of the EBRC, i would have thot they had taken into account a political party's decision to step down 2 veterans, and tweaked their own decision to match it!!
Let's see if Dr. Wang and Dr. Tan are really stepping down. If they do, it won't prove anything, but wld sure raise many, many questions. Of coz, the 2 veterans will be missed.
The Agu Casmir Saga
For those who find Singapore Soccer absolutely boring, be heartened to know that lately it is not. From the (In)famous Foreign Talent Scheme by Singapore Sports Council, Nigerian-born forward Agu Casmir, after given citizenship for/to play in Singapore colours in the 2003 SEA games, and helping the national team reach the 2004 Tiger Cup Final, has a disappointing 2005. Dropped from the national team for Asian Cup this year, he disappears for a month with US$20,000 he got with a contract with an Indonesian club.
He returns to Singapore on Feb 24 without the money (obviously). On Mar 6 he joins local club Woodlands for a monthly salary of $4,000 per mth, which is supposedly "below his market value". The club also says it will pay back the missing US$20,000, deducted from his salary, while FAS bans him from the national team for a year (that's 12 mths!!!) and fines him S$20,000. (there's a "U" missing here) Says he has tarnished the name of Singapore Soccer (if there was such a thing in the first place)
In other unrelated soccer news, national coach Raddy Angmohvich (dunno wat his name is lah) sacked Local-born Midfielder Goh Tat Chuan for leaving a local hotel, where the national team was staying for practices, to visit his sick wife at home, albeit informing anyone.
Now fans are up in arms over the little flick on the wrist (a la melvyn tan) for Agu Casmir asking why such a disgrace and obviously disloyal person is welcomed with opened arms and lots of money. (come on, how many locals get $4,000 a mth on a decent job, let alone for kicking a ball around?) In the same edition, ST Sports Editor Tay Cheng Khoon mulled about the discrepancy in punishments between the two issues (although i think having someone else pay off an external debt, plus being given a job, hardly qualifies as a punishment).
Wat i see here is the everyman's nightmare of what could happen with the gahmen's own Foreign Talent Scheme. Talented youngsters from other countries are enticed to study and grow here with perks such as HEAVILY subsidised education and meritocracy (stuff they can nv get at home), with a sort of loose contract making them work here for a couple of years after getting quality education. All in the hope of these ppl feeling bonded with Sg and staying to boost our talent pool.
but apparently it does not work all the time. Newspapers interviewed some of these "foreign talent", and they say they feel nothing for this place, they feel alienated and will leave here as soon as they graduate. they can give the excuse that they are going home for a visit, and never come back. and the gahmen can only suck thumb and slap an entry ban on them (like they wanna come back liddat)
alienated, they say? so are we locals supposed to adapt to foreign cultures everytime an influx of them comes in? shdn't they be the ones who adapt to our culture? and i must add some of their social habits are just horrendous. those who know me know wat i'm talking abt. You can't blame the gahmen for trying, but i think they need to come up with something better, something more binding. like a monetary bond... maybe give 50% of their pay or return a damn big study deposit only after they work off the few years. and i think giving foreigners heavily subsidised education just cheapens sg citizenship, just like agu casmir. at least melvyn tan learnt that National Education lesson.
This is just about students and fresh grads. what abt expats? we know they are paid obscene amts of money and a subsidised condo with company car. and yes we could get that overseas too. but the question is about fairness in reward and punishment. are the scales really balanced when it comes to locals vs foreigners? of coz since they are uprooted from home i have no qualms with them getting slightly more pay, but are equally qualified locals being looked over just coz the boss wants more angmohs for a "cosmopolitan" look? wasn't it just recently some angmoh junkies jumped bail over that "high" cocaine drug bust?
it is not a Uniquely Singapore problem. many countries are also concerned abt protecting the rights of locals over foreigners, and immigrants, legal or otherwise. but a good gahmen needs to assure its ppl that local interests come first, coz they are the ones who make up the nation, not nigerians who disappear for a month-long paid-for holiday. with elections coming, all the more this needs to be addressed.
The Mysterious Disappearance of Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah
speaking of elections, remember last elections? when GRCs and SMCs were freshly hacked up and carved out for the 2001 elections, the (potential) opposition was up-in-arms abt the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee not being impartial, being just an extension of the gahmen, conveniently shaping electoral boundaries to suit gahmen fancy. both the committee and gahmen said it was not true, of coz.
then last month, the senior members of gahmen and PAP mentioned that old faces wld be making way for new ones. speculation was rife abt whether popular, vocal, long-time backbenchers like Dr. Wang Kai Yuen and Dr. Tan Cheng Bock wld be leaving parliament. It would be a loss for the nation.
On Saturday, the electoral boundaries are released to the media and population. surprise, surprise, the SMCs of Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah have disappeared!! they have been "replaced" by the NEW SMCs of Bukit Panjang and Yio Chu Kang. hmm... that's a coincidence. The impartial Electoral Boundaries Review Committee wiped off both the single seats of Dr Wang and Dr. Tan off the electoral map, not long after speculation that they would step down!! if i didn't know any better abt the absolute independence of the EBRC, i would have thot they had taken into account a political party's decision to step down 2 veterans, and tweaked their own decision to match it!!
Let's see if Dr. Wang and Dr. Tan are really stepping down. If they do, it won't prove anything, but wld sure raise many, many questions. Of coz, the 2 veterans will be missed.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Back From Paradise
Currently Playing: Polaris by Zero7
I'm back. After living on a disused oil rig, constantly cooled by fresh sea breezes, baked by a sun in cloudless skies, witnessing sunrises and sunsets over a flat, shimmering horizon.
After being under 30m of crystal seawater everyday, had manta rays and reef sharks swim by me, being as close as I dared to a resting reef shark, stroked so many turtles and swim next to so many more.
After getting up REAL close to weird and wonderful sea-creatures like nudibranches, lionfish, frogfish, stonefish, pipefish, flutemouths and trumpetfish. After unknowingly kneeling on the sharp spikes of a sea urchin, holding on as gingerly as i could with 2 bare fingers on unknown corals, creeping on sandbeds on my elbows, slapping fellow divers with my fins in the process, just to get that (not-so) perfect shot.
I'm back, yet i can still feel the rocking motion of the sea even as i type this. but was i really there? i'm back in the real world so fast, it seemed like a dream. i have the photos and the memories and the scars with me... but somehow it seems so unreal. and now i'm back as if i never left.
maybe its coz i've gotten to used to being overseas for long periods after the YEP. maybe the run up to this trip was too rushed... i only had like 2 wks after confirmation, and hardly enuff time to prepare with dengue happening, work starting and quiz coming. or maybe i just wasn't enjoying myself as much as i shd hv been.
it wasn't a wasted trip... i can't bring myself to call a $900+++ dive trip a wasted one... haahahh. but i SHOULD HAVE prepared myself more. it wasn't spoiled. but wat didn't make it a wonderful one was a question of fit. Me not being fit, and me not fitting in.
the first issue is simple enuff. after getting dengue and just being plain lazy, i didn't get my strength and stamina back. i was sucking air like it was coconut juice coz i was struggling physically underwater, and mentally being under so much water. not diving for 1 1/4 yrs is not a good idea, being constantly under 30m of water after that is worse.
so more often than not, i wld be the 1st to surface, and the singaporean in me wld be thinking crap... pay the same amt but less water time. and worse still when the rest wld surface later and start ranting abt the amazing stuff they saw at the end - which was wat i missed. either that, or start ranting abt the rare little sea creatures they spotted/encountered, which i either failed to recognise, didn't spot, or just plain forgot that i saw it.
but in everything, there is a good, as well as bad side. "abandoning" my dive buddy and the rest in almost every dive gave me some "solo dive" time. sometimes i hovered above them and followed until i totally ran out of air, but sometimes i went up and over the reef on a totally different tack. maybe i didn't see as much as them; maybe i saw different things, but wat i really liked was that sense of being alone, being independent, being able to explore by myself, on wat little air i had. more explanation on that in later posts.
me not fitting in... now that was a slightly more tricky one. besides the ranting they did abt the creatures they saw and i missed, there was the dynamics of the group that made things a little weird for me. to being with, I went with X, whom i had an attempted and tangled history with. (ie. i attempted to have some history with her, and we have many links in different groups) along with her was her new found regular dive guy pal, W, and his gal pal, M.
W is kinda like a nice-guy beng, complete with smokes and crude jokes, but he's generally ok, with a passion for diving that's on the verge of irritating. he knows every damn creature there is in surrounding waters, even sketching them out in his log book, clocking dives like no one's business, and bringing an underwater camera like mine, with some photos that even rival mine. darn it.
M is ok as well... a bit direct, which i don't have a problem with, but initially kinda "discreetly" patronising. but as time went by we got along quite well. There were still kinda some unsettled issues with X... so the atmosphere was kinda thick sometimes. and both girls seem more comfortable with W, or maybe he knows how to talk on their frequency, so quite a few times i was the odd man out. never a guy who wants to force his way in a grp, i sometimes wandered off to explore with my camera, stayed soaking on the beach or just stayed silent while they played with W's camera, or chatted away abt ppl i didn't know.
but in fairness, of coz they didn't isolate me. W was always good guy company and a nice roommate to have, while M wld get me to join in when she saw i was standing aside. maybe she knows/found out abt the unfinished issues as well. as for X... well i don't think there's much to build upon liao. she's a great girl... independent, fun-loving, adventurous, funny, and pretty. but i guess she doesn't really think i suit her, and i also probably need someone who can handle me better during my apprehensive moods.
ok. end of griping. these are all just the darker issues i needed to get off my chest. the good stuff, the fun times and the marvelous creatures coming up in next posts.
in reference to my previous post... being the most inexperienced diver in the group... sometimes i dunno if wat i'm doing (which i think is best) agrees with the more experienced rest. and due to my massive air consumption, i surfaced earlier even though i try to maximise my air, ie. starting to ascend only in the red zone of my pressure gauge, surfacing with sometimes only 10 bar out of 200. risky behaviour, i know. but i wanted to stretch the $900+++!!! after all, i had forgone one dive to rest and sleep...
I'm back. After living on a disused oil rig, constantly cooled by fresh sea breezes, baked by a sun in cloudless skies, witnessing sunrises and sunsets over a flat, shimmering horizon.
After being under 30m of crystal seawater everyday, had manta rays and reef sharks swim by me, being as close as I dared to a resting reef shark, stroked so many turtles and swim next to so many more.
After getting up REAL close to weird and wonderful sea-creatures like nudibranches, lionfish, frogfish, stonefish, pipefish, flutemouths and trumpetfish. After unknowingly kneeling on the sharp spikes of a sea urchin, holding on as gingerly as i could with 2 bare fingers on unknown corals, creeping on sandbeds on my elbows, slapping fellow divers with my fins in the process, just to get that (not-so) perfect shot.
I'm back, yet i can still feel the rocking motion of the sea even as i type this. but was i really there? i'm back in the real world so fast, it seemed like a dream. i have the photos and the memories and the scars with me... but somehow it seems so unreal. and now i'm back as if i never left.
maybe its coz i've gotten to used to being overseas for long periods after the YEP. maybe the run up to this trip was too rushed... i only had like 2 wks after confirmation, and hardly enuff time to prepare with dengue happening, work starting and quiz coming. or maybe i just wasn't enjoying myself as much as i shd hv been.
it wasn't a wasted trip... i can't bring myself to call a $900+++ dive trip a wasted one... haahahh. but i SHOULD HAVE prepared myself more. it wasn't spoiled. but wat didn't make it a wonderful one was a question of fit. Me not being fit, and me not fitting in.
the first issue is simple enuff. after getting dengue and just being plain lazy, i didn't get my strength and stamina back. i was sucking air like it was coconut juice coz i was struggling physically underwater, and mentally being under so much water. not diving for 1 1/4 yrs is not a good idea, being constantly under 30m of water after that is worse.
so more often than not, i wld be the 1st to surface, and the singaporean in me wld be thinking crap... pay the same amt but less water time. and worse still when the rest wld surface later and start ranting abt the amazing stuff they saw at the end - which was wat i missed. either that, or start ranting abt the rare little sea creatures they spotted/encountered, which i either failed to recognise, didn't spot, or just plain forgot that i saw it.
but in everything, there is a good, as well as bad side. "abandoning" my dive buddy and the rest in almost every dive gave me some "solo dive" time. sometimes i hovered above them and followed until i totally ran out of air, but sometimes i went up and over the reef on a totally different tack. maybe i didn't see as much as them; maybe i saw different things, but wat i really liked was that sense of being alone, being independent, being able to explore by myself, on wat little air i had. more explanation on that in later posts.
me not fitting in... now that was a slightly more tricky one. besides the ranting they did abt the creatures they saw and i missed, there was the dynamics of the group that made things a little weird for me. to being with, I went with X, whom i had an attempted and tangled history with. (ie. i attempted to have some history with her, and we have many links in different groups) along with her was her new found regular dive guy pal, W, and his gal pal, M.
W is kinda like a nice-guy beng, complete with smokes and crude jokes, but he's generally ok, with a passion for diving that's on the verge of irritating. he knows every damn creature there is in surrounding waters, even sketching them out in his log book, clocking dives like no one's business, and bringing an underwater camera like mine, with some photos that even rival mine. darn it.
M is ok as well... a bit direct, which i don't have a problem with, but initially kinda "discreetly" patronising. but as time went by we got along quite well. There were still kinda some unsettled issues with X... so the atmosphere was kinda thick sometimes. and both girls seem more comfortable with W, or maybe he knows how to talk on their frequency, so quite a few times i was the odd man out. never a guy who wants to force his way in a grp, i sometimes wandered off to explore with my camera, stayed soaking on the beach or just stayed silent while they played with W's camera, or chatted away abt ppl i didn't know.
but in fairness, of coz they didn't isolate me. W was always good guy company and a nice roommate to have, while M wld get me to join in when she saw i was standing aside. maybe she knows/found out abt the unfinished issues as well. as for X... well i don't think there's much to build upon liao. she's a great girl... independent, fun-loving, adventurous, funny, and pretty. but i guess she doesn't really think i suit her, and i also probably need someone who can handle me better during my apprehensive moods.
ok. end of griping. these are all just the darker issues i needed to get off my chest. the good stuff, the fun times and the marvelous creatures coming up in next posts.
in reference to my previous post... being the most inexperienced diver in the group... sometimes i dunno if wat i'm doing (which i think is best) agrees with the more experienced rest. and due to my massive air consumption, i surfaced earlier even though i try to maximise my air, ie. starting to ascend only in the red zone of my pressure gauge, surfacing with sometimes only 10 bar out of 200. risky behaviour, i know. but i wanted to stretch the $900+++!!! after all, i had forgone one dive to rest and sleep...
Saturday, March 04, 2006
How Do You Know?
How do you know if wat seems like the right thing to do at that time really is the right thing?
How do you know if the person who u're trying to help actually knows better?
How do you know when it's your limit physiologically?
How do you know when it's your absolute limit?
How do you know before you cross that imaginary one-way membrane, that point of no return?
Pushing the limits to seize the moment sounds foolish, but how do you know when it's actually the limit? maybe what you're capable of more than wat u think.
But maybe not.
I'm the most inexperienced, and very unfit, sometimes, in more ways than one. I need to push myself to exercise, and get more avenues to dive. to quote zz, it's like golf, u need to be fit to play, not play to be fit. else you wun enjoy it.
How do you know if the person who u're trying to help actually knows better?
How do you know when it's your limit physiologically?
How do you know when it's your absolute limit?
How do you know before you cross that imaginary one-way membrane, that point of no return?
Pushing the limits to seize the moment sounds foolish, but how do you know when it's actually the limit? maybe what you're capable of more than wat u think.
But maybe not.
I'm the most inexperienced, and very unfit, sometimes, in more ways than one. I need to push myself to exercise, and get more avenues to dive. to quote zz, it's like golf, u need to be fit to play, not play to be fit. else you wun enjoy it.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Short Post
Got peepur complain... oops sorrie... FEEDBACK that i write very long entries... and coz i value everyone in my audience, this entry is just for u!!
tml going diving.
packing took quite a while, cldn't find some stuff.
before that still went to sch for quiz, accidentally met a buddy for late lunch.
and met vj for dinner and a long chat to catch up on the last 2 mths in which i was too busy for him.
need to sleep! it's late.
so i cannot deliver the promise of "Tales of Work & Weirdos" today. So sorrie everyone. I'll either make it up by posting good entries and yes, for the 1st time, photos! but if i'm too lazy to do that i'll just post "Tales of Work & Weirdos" later instead.
i think my mp3 player spoil... and on the eve of a trip when i just loaded the monstrous amt of songs i wanted to bring along also. maybe that was it which did it in.
sianzed.
tml going diving.
packing took quite a while, cldn't find some stuff.
before that still went to sch for quiz, accidentally met a buddy for late lunch.
and met vj for dinner and a long chat to catch up on the last 2 mths in which i was too busy for him.
need to sleep! it's late.
so i cannot deliver the promise of "Tales of Work & Weirdos" today. So sorrie everyone. I'll either make it up by posting good entries and yes, for the 1st time, photos! but if i'm too lazy to do that i'll just post "Tales of Work & Weirdos" later instead.
i think my mp3 player spoil... and on the eve of a trip when i just loaded the monstrous amt of songs i wanted to bring along also. maybe that was it which did it in.
sianzed.
