PAP newbies by PM Lee

I may be missing some point when I read the following articles about PM giving his take on the 24 PAP newbies.

I have to read it a couple of times trying to understand what PM Lee is trying to say but finally I conclude it is an amazing speech of saying something without saying anything.

He did not say what make these PAP newbies special.

If PM Lee truly are impressived by these newbies by the following he said then I am slapping for forehead.

See my inserted comments in Blue.

ST 18 Apr IN HIS speech at the 25th anniversary celebrations of Young PAP on Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gave his take on the 24 new People's Action Party candidates.

Here's what he had to say:

Desmond Choo: 'He started out as a police scholar. He's no stranger to tough battles.'

So being a police involved lots of tough battles. With bosses?

Ong Ye Kung: 'He's now the executive secretary of the NTWU (National Transport Workers' Union) and also chairman of NTUC's e2i, and he will work hard for workers.'

Then why are you taking up additional job as an MP?

Janil Puthucheary: 'Janil grew up in Malaysia but married a Singaporean and made Singapore his home. He's a paediatric intensivist, which means he takes care of the sickest babies and children in KK Hospital.'

Huh? Taking care of sickest babies make you a choice of PAP candidates? Can tell how much he is being paid to do this job?

Foo Mee Har: 'She's worked in China and Thailand other than in Singapore so, truly an international experience.'

Er ok. So working in China and Thailand will make you have truly international experience. I went to Thailand and Taiwan for Army training so I also have true international experience.

Desmond Lee Ti-Seng: 'He was doing very well in the legal service, we spotted him, we asked him, he agreed to stand as a candidate because he wanted to improve the system that he had benefitted from.'

????

Steve Tan: '(His) father used to work for the PUB so he lived in a one-room flat in PUB quarters at Woodleigh, which is in the Potong Pasir area. Later on his parents bought an HDB flat, also in Potong Pasir and they still live there. He still lives in Potong Pasir too.'

He stay in HDB. Er.. so? Most Singaporean does. Maybe its is a novelty for the people in PAP but not to the rest of us PM Lee. Get in touch with the people please!

Zainal Sapari: 'He knows about hard work because his father used to hold three jobs. He was a cleaner, a security officer and also a gardener, all at the same time, and he did this to feed the family.'

Another novelty for PAP. Think most don’t know hard work.

Gan Thiam Poh: 'The father was an odd-job labourer. As a young boy, he was going house to house selling home-made popiah. Now he wants to give back to society.'

More hard works.

Tin Pei Ling: 'She may be young but I think she has steel in her and she knows how to connect with people and that makes all the difference on the ground.'

Huh? Steel by keeping her mouth shut and need Ministers to come to her defence. Connect with people? Make difference on the ground? I am lost.

Vikram Nair: 'He speaks Tamil and Malayalam which is quite useful for connecting with older residents.'

This is hardly a choice for choosing new candidates. Most people I know speak 2 languages.

Ang Hin Kee: 'Hin Kee introduced himself as a repeat student because he took the O levels twice but eventually he made it, he went to NUS. So he knows what failure and disappointment means but also how to pick himself up and succeed the second time.'

How man time PAP has failed Singaporean? Hope Mr Ang know how it feel and tell PM Lee that.

Ang Wei Neng: 'Wei Neng knows a lot about transportation because he works in SBS Transit and manages 1,600 public buses but that's not so hard. What is tougher is managing 3,000 staff, including 2,800 bus drivers.'

Does he take public transport everyday? If not its “talking about army on paper”

Edwin Tong: 'Very quiet and modest person but I am confident that as an MP he will care for his residents and look after their interests.'

.....

Low Yen Ling: 'At first she started working in a bank, then she left to join a start-up, the start-up didn't do well. Subsequently she worked for EDB.'

Cannot make it so join EDB then join PAP?

Tan Chuan-Jin: 'He served as army attache in Jakarta for one year, learnt Bahasa Indonesia, got in touch with the Indonesian senior officers and later he commanded the SAF tsunami mission in Meulaboh in Aceh, where this experience proved invaluable. When I visited Meulaboh during the tsunami, he showed me around and he was on top of the situation.'

Good tour guide makes you a MP.

Patrick Tay: 'Patrick believes in volunteering. He's been involved in grassroots work for 25 years although he's only 40 years old and he comes highly recommended by Prof Jayakumar.'

Good connection also makes you a MP.

Intan Azura Mokhtar: 'We interviewed Intan before and after her latest baby. She was a lecturer at Abu Dhabi University so she's quite adaptable and I'm very happy to have her in the Jalan Kayu branch in Ang Mo Kio GRC.'

Thank you for kicking out Wee Siew Kim. Glad to know you are still the same after your baby.

Lawrence Wong: 'Served in various ministries. In Finance, he implemented schemes to help Singaporeans cope with restructuring. In the Ministry of Health, he helped Khaw Boon Wan to improve the Medishield system with the Medishield reforms. Most recently he was CEO of the Energy Markets Authority.'

Failure in all ministries.

David Ong Kim Huat: 'He grew up in a two-room flat in Queenstown but made himself a successful businessman, running his own publishing firm.'

……

Alex Yam: 'Grew up in a well-to-do family but has believed in community service from young.'

Now we all know he is a rich kid! And I am sure more money for him soon.

Heng Swee Keat: 'Grew up in a kampong but made it to Cambridge.'

Geez… the way they choose candidates is getting weirder. Growing up in Kampng can be rich too mah if my father is the landlord.

Ong Teng Koon: 'He introduced himself as a heartlander because he grew up in Ang Mo Kio and still lives there with his extended family nearby, so he's one of my reliable voters.'

Gosh! Now heartlander can also a good candidate. 2 millions of us can be MP already.

Sim Ann: 'Both parents Chinese educated and herself, as you have heard, completely bilingual and represents a new generation of bilingual Singaporeans, like Gan Thiam Poh and Tin Pei Ling.'

Hey bilingual is a key now. We all can are bilingual but how competent in both langueages are us?

Chan Chun Sing: 'Another RI boy with humble beginnings. He preferred to join the Scouts for his CCA but he hesitated because the Scouts had to pay for their uniforms whereas NPCC uniforms were free. But finally he did become a scout and he picked up navigating skills which proved useful when he went to NS.'

I am speechless. RI boy! Stingy to pay uniform made him hesitate for a while and navigating skills help him in NS? So what else he does make him special?

Money Money Money!

To highlight how obscene our MIW are getting from taxpayer.

In 2008 we pay $1,924,300 annually for entry level Minister. So I can assure you we are working with a very conservative figure.

This work out to be about $160,000 per month!! $5000 per day! $666 per hour! And we are not talking about the Prime Minster, the SM, the MM nor the President yet.

This is a mind bogging number bearing in mind these are tax payer money. If this is not greed I don’t know what it.

Lets try to see how much can I spent on my $160,000 pay check.

Monthly installment for my house - $20,000

Monthly installment for my other house and condo - $80,000

Monthly installment for my Ferrari - $5000

Monthly installment for my BMW - $3000

Monthly installment for my Benz - $3000

Utility fee - $10,000

Family maintenance - $15,000

Food and Petrol - $20,000

Geez I still have $4000 left for that Chanel bag.

I want this job!

The $3M man.

Can't believe this acutally come out of our PM mouth.

“When you have to make a choice on who goes first and who goes second, then I think that one has to pay attention to who supported the Government more, and who didn’t,” he said.

This shows that PAP already had the mind set that they are the government. They think they are Singapore.

Let us not forget the PAP is only a political party elected by the people who happened to have the majority in the parliament therefore are handed the authority by the people of Singapore to be the government until the next election.

PAP is not Singapore.

Addressing concerns about the lack of private-sector representation in the new batch of PAP candidates, Mr Lee acknowledged that it was tough drawing those from the private sector into politics.

He added that money cannot be used as an incentive to attract them. “If you want to make money, you won’t become a minister. Be a lawyer, be a doctor, be a banker, you’ll do far better.”

What a Joke! In 2008, the annual salary for entry-level ministers was $1,924,300. Persons who have reached the age of 50 years and retired as MPs and who have served in this capacity for not less than nine years may be granted a pension for the rest of their lives.

Looking at Michael Page’s survey average top dog with 10-15 years experience in the Finance Sector earn about $300-400K annually.

This is way below the pay for our entry level ministers.

I think I will rather be a minister even if I am doing far less better per PM Lee.

Responding to a comment from grassroots leader Khartini Khalid, who noted that people have not been pleased with the new candidates, Mr Lee said: “I think there are double standards: people expect less of the opposition; people have higher expectations of PAP candidates. Some candidates are like lightning rods, they attract attention.

That is because none of the new PAP candidates are standing in any of the Single Constituencies and they are most likely getting a firm ticket into Parliament by riding on the GRC system.

“But I have confidence in our candidates. We went through the process very carefully...but I would say, let them prove themselves...If they don’t prove themselves, they will be dropped.”

Meanwhile these newbies are drawing $15K per month of tax payers money and even if they are crab since day one, we have to face with it for the next 5 years. Period!

That is a total of $900,000 without considering service increment and bonuses my friend. I suggest paying newbies MP step up salary. Say paying them 20% of $15K and stepping it up every year until they get the full $15K after they had proven themselves.

Last night, Mr Lee also cleared the air over speculation that the Goods and Services Tax will be raised after the election, saying that “I very much doubt that” the Government would do so.

Yeah right!

When complacency sets in

My company has been utilising the service of a service provider since day one which was a long time ago.

Reason being that they were the only one providing the service then and they did a pretty decent job at a reasonable price.

Many moons have passed and things had changed.

Today there are many companies out there providing the same service at a much more competitive price. But why my company is not switching? Well I guess there is just too much emotional package between the top management.

They will quote relationship, synergy but to me I think it is also because bosses had been moving between my company and this service provided so nobody wants to rock the boat. Things are like that since day one so don’t try to do different thing.

So what do we get? We are getting average service at a premium price and customer support is like shit.

This is because the service provider knows we will use them no matter how bad the treat us.So they see us like a fat cow providing them a stable profit and meanwhile they concentrate to give top services to their new customers.

This is exactly what is happening to PAP.

They started off being a good political party with a good ideology but after being in power for too long they have changed and become complacent.

The think it is their birth right to be running the country and they start to think that the votes they get during elections are their rights and not given by the people.

So they start to do things that benefit themselves rather then for the people.

This is what I call blinded by pride and being too comfortable and therefore getting complacent.

Think its about time they get a wake up call from the people.

How you know when some Big Shot is coming.

My block was being invaded by throng of painter over the weekend.

I meant really invaded!

There were like at least 8-10 painters touching up the entire ground floor for the past 2 days and gosh they even changed all the lights at the lift lobbies.

Guess I will be expecting the Minister to do his walk about really soon.

I was having trouble getting my town council sending his sweeper down for the 2 years but suddenly everything is sparkling clean when election is near.

Think we should have Election every year.

Best Job in Singapore is to wear White.

Young PAP chairman Teo Ser Luck said it "takes a while to convince" potential candidates to step up to the plate.

Mr Teo said: "What I try to do is let them see the bigger picture of why they are needed if they have the capabilities and the skills set, why that sacrifice on their part could be necessary. For example, family time and for some even more drastic, their career - you are bound to sacrifice a part of your career."

CNA 06 Apr 2011

Here Teo Ser Luck is talking rubbish.

These people who ends up as MP get at least $15000 a month for doing part time work and when you get into the cabinet it is better then striking the lottery as you are paid millions every year.

Sound like a good sort of drastic sacrifice to ones career here.

Family time scarified, Yes!

Career? Its sure look like a promotion to me.

GST

“Mr Tharman said the bulk of GST is collected from higher-income groups and foreigners, so cutting the rate would benefit them more.
He said that based on 2010 collections, the bottom 20 per cent of Singaporean income earners contribute only about 4 per cent of all GST paid, while the bottom 60 per cent contribute roughly 16 per cent.”
ST Mar 03 2011

Last Saturday on the CNA political forum Finance Minister Tharman again argued that GST for staple should stay as it is to help the poor echoing his parliament speech on 03 March and by PM Lee statement when he was Finance Minister in 2003.

Up till now I still cannot make sense to this argument put for by these two multi millionaires who are suppose to be quite bright.

Firstly how much collected from GST are channel back to the poor? Nobody know.

Secondly it is only logical to cut GST for Staple product. Rich people don’t eat more rice then the poor. Yes they do eat better food at high end restaurants but the money spent on basic necessity should be the same for all, both rich and poor.

We are not asking for the GST to be cut across the board but let it remains for luxury item like air tickets, restaurant, branded goods and be eliminated from the staples.

So since the riches spent lots and lots on high ends stuff then the high income earners are indeed paying more GST.

Tharman argument for foreigners paying for GST is not 100% too especially if the go the GST rebates before the leave the country.

New Purchase

My hoot from Seoul last week.

The Spring 2011 Converse Spec Hi by John Varvatos. Loving it!

Spend you money oversea my friends the GST is going up to 10% after the election.

Walking the Ground

I have been staying in Pasir Ris for the past 5 years and not once did I see my MP nor any of his sidekicks do his walkabout.

The only time I did see DPM Teo was during the pre-election in 2006 when he stand around Paris Ris MRT station to gather support. Still remember clearly as he leg was in a cast due to some badminton accident. Haha…

So seriously how will the person I elected to be in Parliament know my plights if they don’t even bother to reach out the people by walking the ground.

Walking the ground is very important if you really want to know what the problems in your estate are. I meant the real walk the ground not those sterilized by the grass root leaders before the Minister arrived.

If I am the MP I will always do in prompt to walk about so my grass root leaders will not censor the things they don’t want me to see.

Sometime it may not be the MP fault as the grass-root leaders are anticipating too much in advance. But still there is no excuse when you are paid million of dollars a year if you still chose to act blur in how your estate are being run by these useless power craze people in your RC.

At the end of the day if the resident are not happy with your grass-roots then you will not be getting their votes and in the worst case you will not be elected but even so these people in the RC will still keep on working for the next MP.

Vote for the person and not the party.

This is precisely why there should not be GRC. Frankly I like some individual in PAP and absolutely hate some in there. Same goes for the opposition parties.

GRC is a ploy by the incumbent to select those they like and not whom the people like into the parliament for reason they can always create the majority so PM will have to spent time fixing the opposition.

So tell me how to vote if I like some and hate some in my GRC? Remembering that I am paying their salaries for the next 5 years is sending me to the direction of forgoing one good one rather then to let 4 idiots into the parliament.

GRC sucks!

Just came back from my wonderful holiday in Seoul. Anywhere out of Singapore is heaven to me.

When I surfed around the net after I came back I noticed lots of activities and comments against the PAP newbies.

This proved to me that there are no shortages of underlying hatres against the ruling party. I just can’t help to think what is the percentage of Singaporean that are really love with PAP, hardcore hate them, don’t like but afraid to vote against and finally those who simply bochap.

To be honest I think each politician should be represent himself/herself when he or she is standing for election. No cheapskate should piggy back on to some established politician in a GRC and get a free ride into the parliament where we have to pay them tax payer money.

In another word, GRC sucks!

Let say there are 6 persons in the GRC and you only like one or two. Note this goes both way with PAP and opposition. How are you going to vote? You may like person A and B in PAP team and person C and D in the opposition team.

For me I just won’t vote for someone who has not proven him or herself nor anyone I don’t like. Period!

I see a sign!

I watched George in the news yesterday and he said:

"Libya and the Middle East (unrest), Japan.....I think the world is entering a new phase and we have to be very alert and not take things for granted and not be too confident about our own abilities."

Somehow it fits nicely as a comment to PAP. Hmmm……

A Strong Reminder

A couple of day ago I received this 31 pages high quality super colorful brochure from my town council.

Basically it’s all self praising messages inside. A sort of report cards reminding people in the GRC what the incumbent had done for you over the last 5 years. Naming all the new Malls, parks upgrading, roads, etc etc and many more upcoming projects.

Inside there are many pictures featuring in lots of activities surrounded by lots of people and I swore I never seen so many happy faces in my life.

There are also many comments from the residents and needless to say they are all happy.

I wonder where they find these people when they wanted comments. Probably they are RC members or relative of RC members I guess.

Over the years I had several complaints regarding the cleanliness of my estates and to date the situation still has not improved. Also I have witness many close shaves involving cyclist on walkways with pedestrians. It is illegal but somehow I have never seen a law enforcer in my entire stay in Pasir Ris.

I can’t help to wonder how much money used to publish this propaganda brochure and they should use the money to hire more cleaners instead. I note they have about $116 million in their sinking fund base on their 09/10 annual reports. Gosh that’s lots of fat if you ask me.

So did they did a good job in the last 5 years? Everyone will have their own views and I don’t believe a last minute effort of an expensive colorful brochure will change a person mind.

I can sense a tingle of fear from the incumbent this time.

A proud nation.

Yesterday I happened to watch a little of the daily Parliament’s Highlights on TV and I can’t help to notice that several of key cabinets members are missing from the session.

This is not the first time I notice it and if my memory served me well I remember it states somewhere it is not compulsory for them to be in every parliament’s seating.

If this is so then there is something seriously wrong with the system.

Don’t forget each and everyone in the cabinets or Member of Parliaments are in there because the citizen of Singapore voted you in there (well most are voted in anyway) to represent them!

You are there to listen and talk on behalf for the people in your constituency. You are sitting in that seat because of the people so for God’s sake do what you are supposed to do or maybe you are too proud to listen to the people anymore.

This is what happened when people are too comfortable in a job for too long and let complacency set in. A high and mighty attitude just make me sick.

A fake fake world

I don’t know whether is me being sensitive or not but suddenly I notice a surge in air-time by our Ministers.

Hsien Loong was busy with some events on Saturday and Sunday and Teo Chee Hien was in some opening ceremony on Saturday.

Gosh I swore I never seen the Ministers or MPs work so hard in the pass 4 years. So its like you skived in your company for 11 months and suddenly power up in the month before your appraisal is due by going into overdrive and hopefully your boss will notice your “Hard work”.

In a way it is quire true as I attended a course which states people always remember the beginnings and the ends and nothing in-between.

Today I heard a type of laugh when the big boss tried to crake some joke. It is a kind of spontaneous laugh where everyone suddenly burst out when the boss hit the punch line and it died down quite fast as well.

Gosh this sound so fake and sickening and I remember hearing it around the Minister over the weekend.

Wahahahahahaha……

Mindef Reserve. Finally!

Attended my Mindef Reserve (MR) ceremony last Saturday, 26 Feb 2010 which spelled the end of my military life which begun on 24th June 1993.

So 14 years plus in the army exchange for a certificate, a photograph, a watch, a medal, a pin and one final meal in the canteen.

As I have blogged before, I am just glad to be out of the system.

Looking at Singapore nowadays, I don’t know whether it is worth protecting anymore. The influx of foreigners, elites and governments who has lost touch of the ground etc etc.

Look like the security of the nation now lies in the hand of another generation which have never done more the 20 push up in a row.

Good bye SAF.

Budget 2011

Most people are talking about the Budget 2011 after the Minister's annoucment last Friday.

Guess most people are interested in how much money the Gahment will give them.

Honestly I have already reached the "Can't be bother" state.

Just remember, whatever they give you now they will take it back more after the election.

So remember to vote wisely my friends.

An Experiment

Tried an interesting experiment today.

I did an image search on Google on my name and the result is pretty interesting

Uncannily they are quite related to me in one way or another.

Ok mostly I get lots of old kung-fu actor pictures…haha… I have been involved in martial arts since my teenage days of this is quite close.

Hey I got Jackie Chan and Jet Li as Wong Fei Hong pictures as well.

I also see some engineering drawings and I am an engineer by training so this is quite close too.

Some are quite funny thought.

I got a few Lee Teng Hui pictures, guess I that is because we got the 2 similar name out of 3.

I also got some soft porn HK actress pictures! Hahaha….

One thing I can’t understand is why I got a Sponge Bob picture in there? Hmm…


Can try this if you are bored. Interesting.

Singapore

Came across a blog entry "10 things I miss about Singapore" by a Singaporean woman living in South Africa.

I stayed in UK for about 2 years and I can tell you the only things I missed about Singapore are my family and friends and maybe cheap food. Thats all.

Now here is my list of :

10 things I hate about Singapore:

1. Weahter. We get Hot, Hotter, #@$!%$!@# Hot.
2. Lousy and expensive public transport system. Trains take forever to come and are always crowded even on weekdays off peak hours and good luck with the buses. Taxis are good a disappearing just before midnights and the fare structure can be in teh Guinness book of record for being the most complex.
3. No freedom of expression and Goverment controlled media.
4. Wold most expensive cabinets who still need 2 senior Ministers and 1 Minister Mentor to teach them what to do and they still don't take responsibility for their own mistakes.
5. Automatic 10% service charges for ZERO service. If you want tips you better earn for it.
6. People who can blooddy stand to the left side of the escalator.
7. People who can #@#%@ let you out of the lift and trains first.
8. Tissues reservation system (Must be a world first)
9. No protection of privacy law. Your name and contacts are being sold out there to banks and housing agent and all those @!#!$ spammer who keep sending you SMS.
10. Embracement of useless "Foreign Talents"

Food for thought

Got this in an Email today. Not very accurate but it does remind us how greedy the goverment is and the significant gap between the rich and the poor in Singapore.

A minister takes home on average approximately $1,500,000 a year or $125,000 a month. A peasant akes home on average approximately $30,000 a year or $2,500 a month.

As 20% of the peasant’s pay has to go into CPF, the peasant is left with $2,000 in cash.

Assuming the peasant saves 10% of his cash for rainy days, he would be left with $1800.
If the peasant spends every single cent of his $1,800 and is taxed at the rate of 7% in form of GST, he will have to pay $126 in GST every month.

From here, we can conservatively gauge that it takes approximately 1000 peasants to feed one minister every month just from paying GST.

We have 20 ministers, which means about 20,000 peasants working their asses off to feed them every month.

Welcome to Singapore.

2011

First workweek of the year just in case you guys don’t know the electric fee has gone up in January. (Just a reminder). We are in a new decade already!

So what do I expect in the year 2011?

Globally I think we are still in the recovery process since the financial crisis in 2008. I expect gone case US economy and China is the where investors are heading. Economy growth will definitely be slower then before and I predict it is a good year to invest and the system will reach it peak at 2013 before it starts crashing again.

Now for National issue.

Well guess there will be a presidential and General Election this year. I certainly hope I will be able to vote for the very 1st time! I also hope there will be more opposition being voted into the parliament to provide alternate views in National issues.

I also guess we will be have a new President and Nathan will be retiring to enjoy life finally.

Cost of living in Singapore will definitely continue to rise this year and do expect to see some “goodies” before the elections but everything will be taken back tri-fold after that as Singaporean are proven to have short term memories. I like to remind all out there remember the old NS guys got shit from the $10K pay out due to our expiry dates.

Personally I hope I will be moving on doing a different job scope. Hopefully within the company but shall not rule of new opportunities.

Will be going for my Aikido Shodan grading this year. After 10 years of training and “nua” I guess I will be stepping up my skill.

I will also be officially on Mindef Reserve this year! Still have not received any letter on my actual day but I think it will be by March as this is MINDEF closure of a financial year. Yipee no more MODS Manning and calling the stupid notification center every time I travel.

Mobile Phone contract will ends this year so will be getting a new phone as well! Andriod or Apple?

If I get a good bonus this year will be getting a new watch as well. (or 2?)

I will also put in extra effort to keep fit and will be watching my diet a little. (Only apply when I am in Singapore hehe…)

Will be continuing with my 八卦掌 training and hopefully will have some new discoveries in the martial world. : P

I also promise myself I will make more time for families and friends. Some friends I have not met for 10years!

Its time to catch up.

Goodbye 2010 an Hello 2011!

Yes it come to the last post for the year again!

Another year and passed and overall it is not such a bad year for me.

Went for my health check and over all I am good still the same as 2 years ago my Triglyceride is a bit high at 178 (should be below 150) but it had gone down from over 400 in 2008! And my good cholesterol is dropping so need to workout more.

So my new year’s resolution is be Healthier, Exercise more and eat moderately.

There is nothing more important then good health.

This year I travelled to Fukuoka in Feb, Taipei in March and May and Tokyo in October. Managed my 4 trips a year target. Next year will be the same planning for Tokyo in Feb, Taipei in March, Seoul in May and Tokyo in Nov.

Did my 2 ICTs this year. One in Jan and my last in Nov. A chapter of my life closed here. Good grief, but I still have not got my MR notice yet.

Need to wish all my friends and families a healthy 2011 ahead and remember to enjoy life. You only live once!

A day disconnected

I forgot to bring my phone out today. I only realized that I left it in the other bad when I boarded the bus in the morning on my way to work.

Immediately there is a sense of panic and I even contemplate to go back home to get it but the logical side of me told me it is not worth it and I will be late for work.

The I got into the “self scaring” mode, what if someone need to fine me urgently
? What if I need to call someone urgently? What if I won a million dollars and the need to contact me…. Blah blah blah….

But after calming down and think carefully, actually how many of us use our phone as a phone? We normally used it to SMS our friends, play games or facebooking. The mobile phone is just a social gadget these days.

It almost the end of the day now and my life did not change drastically without my mobile phone with me today. Yes I do feel a little awkward often checking my imaginary phone in my right pocket only to realize it is at home but at the end of the day it is not too back to live disconnected for a day.

Most of us are so used to be connected to the Internet and phone that we had became a slave to technology. We actually have to put in effort to remain disconnected these days.

I am challenging myself to spend a day without TV, Internet, Phone. It may sound difficult and the harder you think you cannot do it meant you are deeply rooted to technology but nevertheless it should be quite interesting, thefore why don’t you join me?

Polo Trunk

The Singapore Polo Team is in deep shit due to the ridiculous Trunk they wore during the recent Asia games.

As per report:

"The trunks, featuring the crescent moon and five stars on the front, and the word Singapore on the back, were designed by the players just for these Games and were meant to be eye-catching. Unfortunately, it has also raised eyebrows. At issue is the 'suggestive' positioning of the crescent moon over the crotch."

Firstly whoever brainless clown in the team that design this ugly trunk should be sacked.

Who sane individual will wear such a trunk.
Well guess the team got what they wanted. They are being “Eye caught” by the authority.

The end of a journey.

Just came back from 2 week of reservist. This happens to be my last one and I have completed my 11 in-camps (yes one more extra) and fulfilled my obligation as a male citizen of this country.

I know many people dread going back or “keng” out of the army but I personally don’t want to owe the country and I am proud to have completed my duty as a combat soldier not a Pes C soldier. (No offend to some out there. : P)

Some reflections to share.

I had some great time in the army, met some nice people and it had in a way reminded me to stay fit till this very day, 14 days after my ROD.

I had seen the transformation of the army from 2nd Generations as a recruit till what it is today a 3-G army.

I had worn the old WWII helmet and the new Kevlar one.

I think I also wore quite a range of the army wardrobe.

I have wore the super old uniform, to the newer camo one and recently the pixelized one. I even wore the crab black PT short, the green PT shirt (strangely the newest one back to green), the camo PT shorts (hey bet not many of you remember), the black PT shorts, the grey T and singlets, the Brown T and finally the new green T and singlets.

I wore the super old hard boots to the softer leather one and now the gortex one.

Food in the canteen has improved drastically. From the “cooks” days to the Singapore food industry of today.

Out rations was served on meal bags over mess tin to Styrofoam box till the paper box of today.

I have fired the M-16 and the SAR 21.

Ridden in the Mercedes 3 tonner, the New 3 tonners and now the 5 tonners (air-con some more), the land rover, the Jeep (can’t remember the name) and now the ford OUV. Took a ride on unimod, the 5 tonners, the 7 tonners and some of the unique rafts during my combat engineer days.

So the army had indeed changed, evolved over the years. But I still can't stand the bureaucracy involved. This will take another essay so you guys can ask me next time.

I am both sad and happy at this MR stage.

Sad that I will be seeing less of my friends, will be missing the time off from office, the super challenging talk cock sessions and the games in the Mess.

But I am happy to be out of the system. No more Mods Manning, no more reporting to the stupid automatic machine whenever you need to travel, no more red tapes and crabs in camp. Got to say the efficiency level of the army has not improve much since I first enlisted.

I am also happy to leave after scarifying 2 years 4 months full time of my life and follow by 14 years of reservist.

I question myself what has our county became today. With 1/3 of us a foreigners we are depending only a few hundreds thousands of Singaporean males to defend our land. We are scarifying our life and time to ensure our country is stable and safe while people from other country can just came and enjoy. What for?

Some Perm Sec cam during my ICT and a word from him set off the alarm bell in me.

He said the regulars are not the main army but we the NS man are. What he said is true, we the normal citizen are the bulk of the armed forces but then why are we paid peanuts during my NS days and the regulars are paid a fortune? Sad.

Anyway I had paid my debt and good luck to those who have sons.

But it’s not so bad in the army these days. It had taught me endurance, determination, teamwork, leadership and mostly friendship.

Goodbye SAF, it was a nice journey but it could be better.

U2 - Walk On

Ang San Suu Kyi is free! Peace.

Back from Holiday

Has not been blogging as I was on holiday in Tokyo (again!) for last 2 weeks and out of office for a conference on Tuesday and Wednesday. So this is actually my 2nd days in the office after my holiday!

As usual it was a nice “relaxing” shopping and eating trip and Tokyo remains still one of my favourite pilgrimage place.

Still in the process of sorting out some stuff from Tokyo and will post some of the nice stuff I get back from Tokyo.

I always try to get stuff that are Made in Japan while I am in Tokyo. Sadly this is getting more and more difficult and cheap labour cost from China is hard to ignore.

Last year the Nano block I bought from Japan are all Made In Japan but this year they are slowly being manufacture in China. So I took this opportunity to grab a few of the Made In Japan left.

Will blog more about my trip in the coming days!

Why you should not be spending your money here.

Singapore is turning into one of the worst place to buy things.

I travel quite a bit every year and the more I travel the more I realised you should not be spending you money in Singapore.

Things are so much cheaper even in other first world countries like Japan and USA.

I can understand if the importer have to factor in the shipment cost but this “cost” are averaging at about 20-30% of the selling pirce at their home countries.

Do note these selling had already factor in the profits.

I have seen some even cost 100% more then when they were in their county of origin.

I did a quite research on the average salary of an Engineer in Singapore, Japan and USA.

In Singapore and an Engineer earn about US$1,731, Japan US$2,530 and the States US$4,710.

So we go less pay but are paying more for the products. Don’t really make senses at all.

Save your money and spend over sea my friends and remember Japan GST is only 5% better then the F**K up 7% with the lousy service.

How much you are worth. The Singapore male citizen.

So MINDEFT deem you worth only $9000 for serving 2 years + 10 years of reservist.

$10500 if you are not a chow corporal and below.

This work out to be $3500 for your 2 years of Full time NS service. On top of your pay, you get this amount which is going in the your CPF.

Let say you earn $1000 a month (For 2 LTA these days?), for 2 years (Hey I already give you the bonus because you definitely don’t get his amount when you are a recruits or a cadet), you get $27500 after your NSF cycle.

So the max amount you get is $34500 after selling 2 + 13 years of your life to the defence of this country.

Note you are also defending the 2 million FT here.

Fair? My foot.

YOG joke.

YOG: Last-minute ticket sales for empty seats at sold-out venues
18 August 2010

SINGAPORE : Organisers of the Youth Olympics Games are making it possible for more people to catch the action.

From Thursday, if there are empty seats at sold-out venues, officials will be flexible in allowing last-minute fans to purchase tickets.

Sports Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said venue managers will use their discretion to manage the situation. He was speaking to reporters after watching swimmer Rainer Ng clinch Singapore's first silver medal at the Games.

He said: "It will have to be first-come-first-served basis, and it will have to depend very much on the physical situation on the ground. "That's why I cannot have a uniform rule across all venues.

The venue manager will be authorised to make these decisions at a local level." - CNA/al


The question is – Why is there empty seats at sold out venues?

I think it is a know fact by now that these “sold out” tickets are actually bought by MOE (with tax payers money) to be given to their students.

Being teenager I definitely will not go for something that I am not interested in.

So why must our government do thing this way? Trying to make things look like what they are not really is.

If there is no crowd in an events then so be it. You should either make it free entry or reduce the cost of the tickets to pull in the crowd rather the let this shit happened.
I guess they are quite good at generating false statistic in this country.

Screwed up.

I was reading through the ST forum and someone pointed out our dear Singapore Police had gazetted the wrong area during the YOG.

They gazetted National Technological University (Where the Hell is this?) instead of Nanyang Technological University.
Gosh I think someone in the SPF is going to get it this time.

More fantastic idea from the brilliant Elite

Night parking fee up
Price to double to $4; first increase in 21 years
Today Online Aug 03, 2010

SINGAPORE - The car population has outpaced the supply of parking spaces to the point that night parking charges are now going up, 21 years after the last increase.

From Nov 1, non-resident motorists and visitors at public housing and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) car parks will pay double for overnight parking: From $2 to $4.

In 1989, the increase was from $1.50 to $2.

While the 34-year-old scheme was implemented in car parks where there were sufficient lots to meet season parking needs, "most" of these car parks are so "heavily utilised" that residents with season parking tickets face "difficulties" finding a spot at night, the Housing and Development Board and URA said yesterday.

The higher charge will "better manage the parking demand" and "safeguard the interests" of season parking ticket holders, the two statutory boards added.

The half-hourly night parking charge of 50 cents will remain, though.

The new $4 night parking coupons will be on sale from Oct 15.

Motorists can continue to use the $2 night parking coupons by displaying two such coupons.

Some Members of Parliament wondered if the latest measure is enough.

Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Lee Bee Wah, who receives one complaint a week from residents facing parking difficulties, pointed out that the non-resident group is not sizeable. And while the spike in overnight parking charges "may deter some non-residents from parking", the overall number of cars - and the supply of parking lots - remain unchanged, Ms Lee noted.

Jurong GRC MP Halimah Yacob reiterated that the problem requires "proper planning, a strategy of how to ensure there's enough parking places in Singapore. And that kind of planning is not only confined to just HDB, it has to be planning on the part of the Ministry of Transport as well".

On its part, HDB is planning to add 5,000 more parking spaces in the next three years….



This is actually a really dumb “solution”. It did not solve any problem at all.

The problem of shortage of car park will not simply disappear if you increase the cost. If it does, the fare increase in 1989 would have solve this problem.

The only winner out of this fare hike is URA. They has the opportunity to generate more income.

The fact is there is a shortage of car park. The question is why?

How many percent of a car park lots are being issued to season parking holder? Did HDB/URA issued more season parking (to earn more) and therefore causing these season parking holder unable to find a parking lots?

For example out of 100 lots avail. Does HDB keep 50 lots for season holder or 90 lots?

A simple solution is to increase the percentage of lots reserved for season parking holder. This is fair as they are resident of the area and is paying a monthly fee. They should be guaranteed a parking space.

And of cause a long time solution is to build more parking lots.

What they are trying to do now is what I call the ostrich mentality. “There is no problem if you don’t see any problem” By burying you head in the ground.

The Maids and the dogs.

I see many maids walking the family dogs around my estate and only occasionally I see the some owners walk their own dogs. Roughly 20% of the time.

I can’t help wondering why people who can’t spend time walk their dogs want to keep one (or two) in the first place?

Are the dogs just some expired toys? A status symbol? Or maybe a pre-children child?

To me a pet is a part of the family. It should be treated with the utmost care and loves like the rest of the family members. If you can’t afford the time or money and make so scarify for your pet, then you jolly well don’t get one in the first place.

Letting your maid do what should be your responsibility really show what kind of person you are.

Bad year for MIW

3 floods in less then a month. Which they say will only happen once in every 50 years.

Police man hand cuffed reporters.

Man was killed by falling tree.

Ferry wheels struck by lightning.

Gosh I bet this year no election until some one in while go for his “feng Shui” consultation.

They think we are stupid again.

Punters have fair chance at gaming machines at integrated resorts
29 June 2010

SINGAPORE : Punters at Singapore's two integrated resorts have a fair chance at winning at the slot machines and other electronic games.

That is because the gaming machines have been certified to have met international standards, according to SPRING Singapore.

The national standards body said all electronic gaming machines such as slots and electronic table games have been tested and verified by laboratories which are accredited by the Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC) or its Mutual Recognition Arrangement partners.

They have also met the technical standards required by the Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore (CRA).

Both the machines' hardware and software have been tested.

Tests on software included the communication protocol among the table machines that are linked to a server and the random number generator.



Have you ever wonder that it is not the interest of the Casino to let you win?

Same go for the “Casino Regulatory Authority” as they received taxes from the Casino earning.

Therefore the more the Casino earn from the general public, the more the authority earn.

So it is a joke that they are assuring punters they will have a “fair” chance of winning at the slot machines as they had been tested by the SAC. (With interest is for you to lose)

Hmm… does not make sense right?

Also note they did not say what is “fair”?

Fair to them may not be fair to you.

They may set the machine to give winning when it has reached a certain taking per day.

So let just say that this article is just bullshit.

Shooting in Woodland Mall???

Was reading Google news just now and realised there had been some shooting incident at Woodland! See last article in the picture below.


Will actuall it is a screw up by Google filtering system.

Apparently there is a Woodland Mall in Montgomery and google somehow classified it to be a Singapore news. Haha....

No Sick Phase

I call this period the No Sick Phase.

It meant you die die cannot on sick leave. Why? It is because of the World Cup.

Whoever fall sick during this period is automatically classified as “Keng”.

It doesn’t matter whether you are genuinely having a fever of 44 C or has a cast around you feet, if you call in and tell your boss that you are sick your will be classified as a “Chao keng”.

Another No Sick Phase that I identified is during the BMT.

All recruit who fall sick during this period are again, automatically classified at “Bloody kengster” that is true unless you are a “white horse” where all thing you say is classified as the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

I feel that you body need rest to recover from “minor” sickness etc flu, headache.

If you do not get sufficient rest when you develop this warning signals your body give you, you will be dead if you still push your body any further.

So I guess that’s explained why there are people dying in BMT as recruits are afraid to be labelled as a “Chao Keng”.

A couple of year ago I went back to my army unit for my FFI. I saw my docket and realised I only felt sick twice in my 2years 4 month in the army.

Once in BMT where I had a fever and once back in my unit when I had chicken pox.

I also remembered “remote diagnose” is invented in the army.

That is where the Medical Office can tell whether you are sick or not from 10 meters away without even touching or looking at you.

Anyway you will be diagnose with “Chow Kengster” with attend C bunk no matter what. Unless you have to be stretcher in, then that will be a different story.

So if you are catching the world cup, do remember to eat right, drink lots of water, exercise and have enough rest because it is still 2 weeks till we are officially out of the No Sick Phase. (Which will be back in 4 years time)

Youth Olympic Games

Suddenly I notice Giant Billboards promoting the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) about 10m wide x 6 m tall start to spring up at various locations in Singapore.

I personally saw a couple in Tampines and Pasir Ris.

It has a big picture of the 2 clowns....er… no mascot with message like “Resident of Pasir Ris support the Youth Olympic Games”

I got a couple of questions

Firstly nobody asked me whether I support the YOG or not. So how can the town council say for everyone in the constituency that we support the YOG.

To be more accurate the billboard should read “ Pasir Ris Town Council Support the YOG” or “ Singapore Government support the YOG”.

Second question I got in mind is how much does this colorful billboards cost and who is paying for them? The various Town Concils, (Since they got a good record for collecting conservancy fee or the Ministry of Youth and community development?

Anyway I think it is a pathetic way of them trying to generate some interest in the YOG.

Hitting below the belt

Town councils fare generally well in first management report

10 June 2010 1157 hrs (SST)

Town councils have received their first-ever report card from the Ministry of National Development.

They were assessed in four areas in the inaugural Town Council Management Report (TCMR): estate cleanliness, estate maintenance, lift performance and management of service and conservancy charges arrears.

Most of them fared well in the assessment which took place from last October to this March.

All 16 town councils scored at least a level 2 for cleanliness on a scale of 1 to 5 with one being the best and 5 being the worst.

Four town councils - Tanjong Pagar, Marine Parade, Bishan-Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio-Yio Chu Kang - secured the highest level of 1.

The best performer was Tanjong Pagar Town Council. It achieved top ratings for all except estate maintenance.

Indranee Rajah, vice-chairman of Tanjong Pagar Town Council, said: "(First), the staff worked really, really hard and two, input from residents. Our Residents' Committees as well as the residents have been quite diligent in bringing things to the attention of the town council which allows for fairly quick response. "

What the Tanjong Pagar Town Council did was, their officers, especially the property officers, general manager and the staff, they put in a lot of effort on the ground, in terms of identifying the things that needed to be improved, and taking concrete measures to try and implement them.

In the other areas of assessment, most town councils also achieved at least a level 3.

However, town councils in opposition-held estates didn't fare as well.

Potong Pasir for instance scored a level 5 in several areas of assessment including maintenance and arrears management.

Hougang estate also scored 5 for arrears management.

No other estate scored a five in any area of assessment. But residents in Potong Pasir appear to take the poor assessment in their stride.

"It's okay because at least they clean it every day. And I see the person cleaning the lift and sweeping the corridors," said one resident.

"I see a big improvement from previous years, such as the roadside, the gardens, the walkways," said another.

Putting things in context, however, the National Development Ministry says the TCMR should not be used as a basis for comparison between towns. That's because each town differs in terms of its residents' profile and property profile. Hence, it says a more appropriate use of the result is for monitoring the performance of town councils over time.

Ms Indranee Rajah said: "What the assessment process does is that it makes the town councils think about their KPIs (key performance indicators) - these are the things we have to achieve. It also helps the residents to focus on what they want and it helps the town councils to know that these are the things the residents want.

So I guess it's helpful, because it gives you something to shoot for, and you can works towards improving it. Besides the town councils, the job of looking after an estate must be shared.

"Residents must also play their part in keeping the estate clean, because it's good for us," said a resident.

When letter start to appear in the Straights Times Forum this week regarding Potong Pasir cleaniness I knew something fishy is about to happen.

And true enough, yesterday PAP...... opps no the Ministry of National Development reported the performance of all the town councils.

And as expected if you read this article there is the mention of Tanjong Pagar, Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Ang Mo Kio (Hmmm .... seem to remind me of some inportant people) did exceptionally well and Potong Pasir and Hougang are lousy.

This is a hit below the belt in boxing term.

Come on, we know the election is coming and I can believe the ruling party resort to such childish tactic.

Note: I thing one of the criteria of scoring will is “Least outstanding conservancy fee , Most conservancy fee being collected” Er… wait a minute doesn’t that meant it is bad for us if the town council collect hell lots of money from us?

Now thats what I call efficiency

Singapore chickens out on protest
2010-06-10 10:04

Singapore - A US animal rights activist said he was prevented by police on Thursday from staging a one-man protest in a chicken suit at a KFC outlet in Singapore.

Basse, a Manila-based campaigner for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), said he was whisked away in a police car after he arrived by taxi outside the restaurant in a working-class district.

"I am now in my hotel room. I am under functional house arrest. I will stay in my hotel room under police surveillance until I leave tomorrow (Friday)," 24-year-old Edward Basse told AFP.

Police in Singapore, which has some of the world's toughest restrictions on protests, had no immediate comment.

"It took a long time, the questioning, perhaps a couple of hours. I was scared, but that is what I have to do for the chickens," Basse said.

"They confiscated my bags and the chicken costume, as well as the poster," he added, saying he did not expect to be charged and would leave Singapore voluntarily.

‘KFC’s cruel practices’

In Singapore, protests are only allowed at a designated public park located on the fringe of the business district. Otherwise, any public demonstration or march needs a police permit.

"I was scared but they treated me fairly okay," Basse said of his stay with the police.

"I am here now (safe) in my room, but what I went through is nothing compared to (the treatment of) the chickens."

Jason Baker, Peta's regional director based in Hong Kong, said Basse was a vegetarian outraged by KFC's allegedly cruel practices against chickens.

"He made a decision that a voice needs to be given to the animals that KFC abuses," said Baker.



Its amazing how efficient the SPF can be especially for protester and people from the opposition parties.

Note Edward Basse was “whisked away in a police car after he arrived by taxi”.

Either someone tip off the police about Edward checking in the hotel with a chicken suit so he was being trailed by the police or KFC called the police when the spotted a human size chicken. No matter I got to say the police appeared faster the superman in this case.

I called the police regarding some illegal teen gathering in the middle of the night making hell lots of noise and it took them 40min and 3 calls later for a police car to appear.

Wonder if I told them there is some opposition parties member in the group will they appear within 10 secs?

Funny MV (CCB)

Post here for my future reference! Haha damned funny!

Media Cock

MediaCorp to telecast Singapore's table tennis win over China
03 June 2010 1609 hrs (SST)

SINGAPORE: MediaCorp will telecast on Sunday the historic win by Singapore women's team over China in the recent World Team Table Tennis Championships in Moscow.

Singapore's trio of Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu and Sun Beibei rocked the sports world when they beat reigning champions and world number one China 3-1 to become world champions.

The media group says it has just secured the telecast rights of the event.

It explains that "live" telecast rights were not made available to free-to-air broadcasters.

Channel 5 will air the event in its entirety at 3pm on June 6, with an encore telecast at 9am on June 12.

MediaCorp says its extensive TV coverage of recent SEA Games, FINA Arena Swimming and the recent AFC Asian Cup Qualifier featuring the Young Lions underlines its firm support of the sporting achievements of Team Singapore athletes.

The group says it will continue to bring key competitive events and matches to viewers, subject to broadcast rights considerations. - CNA/ir

This is really pathetic!

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t even know the Singapore Team are in the final of the Table Tennis World Cup until news broke that they has won.

Ok fine so they have won. Congratulation. That’s all.

Now our dear media cock went to secure “the rights” to broadcast the game.

Shouldn’t they do it in the first place to show the “live” programme.

Shouldn’t they promote the event before the final game so Singaporean are aware that our China B team had made it to the final?

Media cock gave me a feeling that they don’t want to bet of Team Singapore and therefore is unwilling for folk out money for the “live” broadcast.

Now everyone know the Singapore Team has won and now they want to telecast its. WTF?!

Its like go buy the TOTO after they had announce the draw result.

And in the end the still has the cheek to say they have “its firm support of the sporting achievements of Team Singapore athletes.”

Wonder will they go ahead and secure the rights of telecast is Team Singapore has lost to China in the final.

Onitsuka Part II

My No 2 Tiger from Taipei. Mexico 99 Deluxe

Think I somehow became a shoes collector.

"The Great Singapore Sales"

Went to Orchard to do some errant on Saturday and man I regretted it almost immediately.

Having 4.3millions population really sucks but couple in the first weekends of School Holidays, the long weekends and the Great Singapore Sales, Orchard road felt like an oversized sardine can.

Was actually eyeing the Nespressor Machine for quite sometime now and I thought it will be a good time to get it at the GSS especially when Takashimaya card holder normally get 10% off on top of the what discount there is.

Turn out to be a real disappointment.

If I remember correctly, last year they offer 10% off the machine and with the Takashimaya cards you get total of 20% off.

The Citiz Aeroccinno is listed at $678 and this year offer is only $50 off plus 10% off which come up to $565.20. Far short of the 20% price of $542 I was looking at.

A check on the website and I found out the same machine cost only about S$400 in UK.

Singapore really sucks.

Look at the mark up $678 - $400 = $278.

Who say Singapore is a cheap place?

Wonder where all the shoppers come from? Better take you spending power elsewhere if you have the chance.

So anyone heading to UK please let me know.

Back from Taipei (Again)

Had not been blogging for some time as I was in Taiper (again).

As usual had a fantastic time shopping and eating and eating.

Will review more of stuff I got from Taipei soon.

Also spent my birthday there and its nice for the hotel to throw in a birthday cake for me. Nice touch.

Onitsuka Tiger

Took my new Tiger for a spin over the weekend.

Bought it in Taipei last month. Cheapest place to get a Tiger.

Will be looking out for another pair next month.

Hee....

Fresh from the factory.

Looking good.

Side view.

The sole.

Made in Japan.

Greed in Singapore

ST Forum
Try RTM1 for World Cup

Apr 24, 2010

Blocks' central antenna can pick up Malaysian channel's signal.
By Leonard Lim, Chan U-Gene & Jeff Ang

FOOTBALL fans, good news if you are among the 80 per cent of the population living in public housing.

Chances are, you will be able to catch 20 World Cup games live and another 11 delayed on a free-to-air Malaysian channel - if the unthinkable happens and Singapore fails to secure the broadcast rights to the football extravaganza.

And some HDB dwellers who can receive Indonesian channels such as RCTI and Global TV may even be able to watch all 64 matches live.

Almost all the live telecasts will be for matches that kick off at 10pm Malaysia and Singapore time - and they involve top teams like Brazil, Portugal and England. These are matches that will be broadcast on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) 1.

Four other live matches are being screened on RTM2, which is not available in Singapore.

RTM, which was granted exclusive terrestrial broadcast rights for Malaysia in January, will also broadcast daily highlights of all 64 matches at the June 11 to July 11 showpiece in South Africa. But it is not yet known if these will be shown over RTM 1 or 2.


In the age where people are trying to improve,we in Singapore are doing a backstroke because of greed.

No more free-to-air world events for you folks Singapore. All must pay pay pay.

At least our neighbour in Malaysia and Indonesia are better then us in this aspect.

First world country my foot!

Earth Day

Today is world’s Earth Day.

Please do a little for the environment today. (Switch off more lights!)

Was watching The Inconvenient Truth again and it’s a reminder how devastating what we are doing to our planet.

Good luck for the next generation if we don’t do anything this generation.

So folks if you want your sons and daughters to experience the Earth as you know it. Start to do something no matter how small it may be.

More Reason Taipei is Better

Was back in Taipei last month. As usual money well spent.

Famous peanuts ice at Ximending. Cost only about S$2.50. The peanuts is really soft and had been cooked for more then 8 hours.

One of my favourite store. Pork Chop Rice at Dong Qu. One set is about S$4.

Where to get this kind of quality at this price in Singapore?

Will be going back Taipei next month. Will remember to take more photo of the food there.

Yum...

Taiper better then Sin?

Mr Brown wrote this article recently and it has angered many Singapopean and started an online debates whereder did Mr Bron put Singapore down.

Well I totally agreed with Mr Brown! Check out my post back in 2009! Yeah I notice it long ago that Singapore is not the best place on earth.

I find that Singaporean can really take critisim. Also I find that Singaporean are quite proud. Looking down on others and we think we can speak English better then any countries in Asia.

But mark my words, we are losing out fast to people in term of services and aggresivness. We are not hungry and sooner or later we will be left behind with our broken English.

Post Goal 2010 plan.

ST Forum
Apr 13, 2010

Ambitious soccer plan overdue

I AM excited by the Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) ambitious plan to take Singapore's soccer to greater heights to match powerhouses Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea ("FAS targets top-10 soccer spot in Asia"; last Thursday).

This project is long overdue.

World Cup 2010 was just a pipe dream for the Singapore soccer team and aiming for the best in Asia is a more realistic target.

The emphasis on youth development is a move in the right direction and taking in boys from as young as eight augurs well for the scene. Stimulating interest at an early age will certainly give a boost and inculcate passion for the game.

The target for a gold medal in the South-east Asia Games has long been my wish.

It has been eluding us for a very long time and it is every Singaporean's desire to win it eventually.

The country has done well in swimming, table tennis, bowling and shooting in the SEA Games, and I hope more funds can be allocated to soccer, which is dear to the hearts of many.

Singaporeans share and believe in the vision that we will one day emerge as a powerhouse in soccer.

Bennie Cheok

This is yet another joke and I must applaud Bennie’s optimism.

Remember what our goal was back in 1999? Yes to be in the final of world cup in 2010. (Hey its this year!)

http://javertworld.blogspot.com/2006/08/goal-2010.html

After pouring in millions of tax-payer’s money, even formed a S-League, look at the state of our national team. Pathetic.

So now we are lowing our standard to be the TOP 10 in Asia. Goash! More money down the drain!

Yes I agreed that our National Team has improved compared to 10 years ago, but don’t forget so are all the National Teams in the world!

We will never keep up with those countries that has developed comprehensive programme to develop their soccer players.

We should just concentrate to win Gold in some, debates or Physics Olympics.

Most soccer fan here rather support a team in Europe rather then the national team I guess.

Sad country.

ST Forum
Apr 8, 2010
Why the delay in upgrading opposition ward?

IT HAS been almost a year since Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu announced that the Government's Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) would be launched in the two opposition wards of Potong Pasir and Hougang.

The news thrilled residents like me, who live in the selected LUP precinct of Potong Pasir constituency. It gave us much cause for excitement.

However, this euphoria seems to be evaporating as no work has been done.

There is not even an announcement of a date when work is to begin. I am starting to wonder if the project is on track or if some unexpected problems have cropped up.

I hope the Potong Pasir Town Council or the Citizens Consultative Committee can enlighten residents.

Let our constituency be a model of how an ugly duckling can be transformed into a beautiful swan.

Chan Mia Lee



The behaviour of our MIW is just plain childish.

Lift upgrade should not be use as a carrot to buy vote.

People staying in opposition ward deserve every right for facilities upgrade as they pay taxes too!

If our MIW have to resolve into this dirty method to force people out of opposition wards then all I can say is what a sorry state our county is in.

Updates

Not been blogging for quite a while now as I was away for a week during Chinese New Year and then was sick for 2 weeks after that.

Went to Fukouka again during CNY.

As usual weather was great and ate lots of nice food too. Weather was fantastic, nice and cold between 4 – 10 C. It s a good place to rest and relax as it is not too crowded like in Tokyo.

Bought quire a few things as well. Bought 4 pairs of sneakers this time but the red converse was an emergency as the shoes I wore there broke in the middle of the road! Haha….

Happy with all my shoes purchase as they are mostly limited to Japan only.

Came home and dug out my shoes collection.

3 more pairs bought last year in Tokyo in the front here.

And here are the rest of my shoes. Mmm… running out of space soon.

May have caught a cold in Fukouka, was having a terrible cough and was sneezing after a fews days back in Singapore. So after 14 days, 2 visits to the doctor, 3 bottles of cough mixture, 20 flu tablets, 20 anti-inflammation tablets and 10 paracetamols, I am feeling much better now. The hot weather is not helping with my Flu as well.

So am drinking lots of water these days and resting well. And time to pack for Taipei!

National Service

Next week I will be going for my annual ICT.

This will be my 9th year and hopefully will be my second last in-camp training before I join the rank of the enlightened at the MINDEF Reserve.

So again there will be an IPPT test, camping in some remote part of Singapore, wearing Green clothes and some sleepless nights again.

I don’t really mind going back for my ICT. Really.

Its an opportunity to catch up with old friends and to exercises other part of your body that you seldom use in the office.

But it’s the dreadful time wasting waiting that I hates.

I just can’t help to wonder how inefficient the Army can be sometime. I never understand why. Not to forget highly paid individual runs the organisation.

So I was looking back the day when I was a CHOW Recruits and compare to now, many things has changed. Here are some where I can think of:

1. Use to wear the WWII Tin Helmet. Now it the stylo Kevlar one.
2. Use to wear the super old SBO. You need to fix the two pouch and water bottle and the “bra strap” your self. Now they get the Load Bearing Vest.
3. Running shoes are black canvas type. Now you get either Brooks or New Balance.
4. Uniform is different as well. Green camouflage replace by Pixel Camouflage.
5. Beds are sponge on spring support. Now got super Dunlop.
6. I got the camouflage green shorts and Plain green T-shirt as PT KITS. Now its olive green and black shorts.
7. M16 then and SAR 21 now.
8. Cookhouse are run by Ah-Beng. Now its aunties from Singapore Food Industries.
9. You used to keep a Tin plate when you go to the cookhouse and you need to wash them. Now there are plates in the cookhouse and you don’t do the washing anymore!
10. Boots you wear are hard and stiff. Now it’s the gotex.
    
    

So our soldiers are different now. Compare to even just 10 years ago. People are more educated and also there is less ill treatment now.

Then I just can’t help to think what remains the same in the army… mmm…

1)The towel is the same!
2) So is the Beret!
3) Still got the same #@$@# regular.
4) Water bottle and mess tin is still the same. But I wonder does anyone uses the mess tin these days.
5) Still uses the tleat over map.

Feel free to add on…. I running out here…haha…