Character Building in School

I really hope the new Minster of Education can shift the obsession on grades and homework to more nebulous and hard to measure character building and values. Even Lee Wei Ling, daughter of our esteemed Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew also wrote about it last Sunday.

There is even a new upcoming book that show results of research on excessive homework actually reduces academic performance. This research is done in the Western countries. Singapore with high homework load has consistently rank at the top globally for Maths and Science score. It defies the research results!

Instead of one track or one size fits all, we will have diversity and success defined differently from straight As. Success in life is about family, helping others and living a good life. Material comforts are good and enjoyable but we should also have kind spirit and peaceful disposition.

The Client

It is quite an interesting story. Lawyers in America, mercenary and alturistic. Some are all for money and others all for justice and helping out poor kids. It is the battle between good and evil. The American legal system strengths and flaws.

The boy who try to help a lawyer to prevent him from committing suicide by pulling out the hose from the car exhaust. He was caught by the lawyer and then the lawyer tries to make sure they both dies together. The lawyer reveals the reason why he is committing suicide. The boy managed to escape and the lawyer blow his brains out.

Now the mob, FBI all wants this boy to find out what he knows. An elderly female lawyer helps him out. They go through a series of adventures. In the end, the boy get his family into a witness protection program and FBI got the evidence they need to convict a well known mob head.

It is a good ending. And I like it!

Do Not Believe in Australian Psychic

The Australian psychio who has the gall to post his lecture on Sep 25, 2011 the earth will experience an earthquake of 12 to 15 on the Richter scale. It looks like a calm and peaceful Sunday. A real beautiful day indeed.

Australian psychics have a real credibility issues. The guy make a pronouncement that make a mockery out of the whole profession if you could classify psychic as a profession.

Beautiful Sunday Morning

Sunday, the day of rest for God. It is also family day for us. B1 is home, so we have family meal. Tuition still dominates the day but we can relax and do whatever we want which mean shopping, window shopping...ahhhh...this reminds me...

My French neighbour says Singaporeans are obsessed with shopping. When we go for trips to other countries, we are always checking out the shopping strips, outlet malls and deals. He says shopping is not so important to French when we were discussing him about the country we are planning to go. They enjoyed the place,the history, the culture... Yes! it is a nice place and but no shopping for him when my wife asked "Is it a nice place and how's the shopping over there?".

Anyway, I am enjoying the birds singing as I write. There are so many different types of birds in my estate now. NParks is doing a fantastic job of attracting birds and developing an ecosystem that works and changing Singapore from the garden in the city to the city in a garden.

No Outing

We stop our regular mall crawling pastime as we supporting our B2 for his "O" revision. We are in an exam-mad society and as parents, we are doing everything we can to make sure he can perform to the best of his ability.

We only go out for dinner and grocery shopped while he was having his tuition. I hope he does well. He has been working hard recently and improve his performance in school. It is just a neighbourhood school. The key is he is improving and we are happy he is progressing.

Rewards of Rising Up Early

1. It is very quiet and peaceful
2. The sounds of water fountains is very soothing
3. The sky is dark and the stars can be seen easily
4. There is nice stillness with everyone asleep
5. Best time for contemplation and meditation
6. The air is cool and smells sweet

I am thinking...

The new Minister of Education is going to focus more on character building and development. Homework will be reduce so that the student will not be burdened by too much workload and stress. I hope the Minister of Education can implement and executed the vision he proposed. I believe sole emphasis on academic achievements may not be enough to sustain our progress as a nation. We need to build capable leaders of tomorrow and a society that is kind, caring and tolerant.

Medical Checkup

I have my medical checkup at Tan Tock Seng today. Blood test, urine sample, eye check and x-ray. I also do a exercise stress test. I lasted on 10 and a half mins on the treadmill. I go past my maximum heart rate for maybe 10 secs. It is the longest 10 secs. The speed was fast and at a gradient. It takes me about two mins for my recovery and fully recovers in about 5 min.

Overall, I should be okay unless the lab tests results are not good. I have been exercising and keeping myself fit.

Stressed!

I have shut my computer down and getting ready to go to bed. Playing with my tablet, I realised I have not updated this blog today. I realised a couple of times I did not update this blog when I am stressed. So when I am stressed, I will brood and brood. I will not sleep well. The stress of modern living bring forth heart diseases and cancers. Managing stress is something we all need to learn.

I shall stop here. Sigh....

The Client

John Grimshaw is a young lawyer who gave up a career in law to write. He has written a number of bestsellers including The Firm which was turned into a movie starring Tom Cruise. I am listening to this story and John Grimshaw's style is different from say Robert Ludlum. Nevertheless, the lawyer stories are interesting. I am still at the first disk. It is about a young boy who witness a suicide of a lawyer who has mob connecton. FBI is now looking for him and trying to interview him....

The Clock Runs Out Sep 25, 2011

I was playing with the Samsung tablet and wondering what to do. I thought I will check out Youtube to watch short vignettes. So I type in 2012 and a number of videos pop out. One is titled as above by Australia psychic researcher. He claims he found the connection between the recent earthquakes and astronomical alignment. According to this guy, the earth will have a massive earthquake on Sep 25, 2011 with a magnitude of 12 to 15.

We are getting plenty of doomsday predictions nowadays. One day, it may become true. Until then, I expect to continue to update my blog come Sunday, 25th Sep.

Change is Disruptive

We switch our internet service provider or ISP from M1 to Singnet and not all the computers work with the new internet system. Then the internet seems unstable. It may be the MIO TV. Every time we change internet, it is very disruptive. It takes a while for us to get all our different computer systems tune up to work.

Plug and Play is still a pipe dream...

Dramatic Improvement

My brother is now is a regular ward. The change is quite dramatic from being unconscious in CTSICU on Thursday evening to now able to complain about pain. He made remarkable recovery. His condition is still unstable. His potassium is low and is put on drip when I was there. The Central Venous Cava catheter is still in place. So setting up the drip is easy and fast. His drainage is quite full but does not need suction anymore. So his internal bleeding has slow considerably.

He can also ambulate or walk although there is still risk of falling. He is not so steady but I can see huge improvement in his condition. I hope he will take care of himself on his diet. He does not like the bland food in the hospital not realising all the flavourings are poisoning his cardiovascular system.

I hope he will live well for a long time.

Japanese Resturants

I woke up early this morning. My right eyeball is irritated and the pressure is quite high. I have no idea why. It may be an allergic reaction. I am nursing a nagging headache for the whole day.

I was just search for toy train store and I chance into Orchard Toy Store which used to be in Centrepoint. I thought it was closed permanently. Actually, it is now in Hotel Grand Central two buildings away. The whole back alley of Orchard Road looks a little dingy. The store is now a lot smaller, the proprietor is still there. Unfortunately, he no longer stock steam engines.

B1 and B3 was with me. As we walk back to Centerpoint, B1 was distracted by Kushiyaki resturant in Cuppage Plaza. We have lunch there. The food is authenticd Japanese. Price is very reasonable too. We need to explore other Japanese resturants in abundance there. My wife felt the place there is a little dodgy. Beside the resturants were massage parlor and night clubs.

Kampung Style

This is the place for great nasi lemak - kampung style. Price is higher than regular hawker center but tastes quite good.
The nsmen in Bedok camp are back for their reservist training. The big complaint I have about this place is hygiene factor. Houseflies buzzing away landing on your legs and arms as well as your food and drinks.
The cleaning team and garbage disposal are below par.

Out of ICU!

It is fast nowadays. My brother has only two syringe pumps on instead of six when his out of OT(operating theatre). One is morphine which is a painkiller. The other is labelled GTN which I do not know what it for. The ventilator is out as well. He is conscious but drowsy. He is transferred to high dependency ward for today and will go to regular ward tomorrow. The wonder of technology and technique. Recovery from open heart used to be two weeks in ICU thirty years ago. Then down to one week and today it is only one or two days stay in ICU. The significant reduction is due to the extensive the use of single use disposable product, better drainage and closure of wounds, sutures, new drugs, etc, etc. The cost has also gone up. It used to cost about $10K. Today, the cost is about $20K unsubsidized rate.

I am very glad my brother is recovering well. He still has enhanced oxygen intake through breathing tube. His oxygen saturation has dropped to 98% which is still good. I hope it does not drop further when he is breathing on his own without additional oxygen.

Breeks!

Takashimaya does not have a reasonable priced resturant. Even the food court is pricey. I decided to lunch at Breeks to have quiet time as the resturant is not busy relative to others. It also has wifi. A good place to surf and drink and eat. I took some pictures as well. This blog will be splice up with more pictures wherever my tablet is with me.

Open Heart Operation Over

My brother has a quadruple bypass and valve repair. His operation is over and in CTSICU in Singapore General Hospital. He is sedated as he is still on ventilator. His heart rate is stablising at 99 bpm. His blood pressure is at 120/64 which is excellent. Oxygen saturation is now at 100% which is a huge improvement compared to pre-open-heart surgery of about 90%. Central Venous Pressure is between negative 14 to negative 20mmHg. I would say his surgery is successful. However, he is a high risk patient. He has history of stroke and therefore the next 24 hours is quite crucial for him, the doctor advise us. We will know when he regain conciousness.

I have been praying for him the surgery to go smoothly. He is on the table longer than usual as he two major ops in one session. He is lucky the head of dept, Kenny Sin operated on him.

For now, we can only wait and see and pray for the best outcome.

Samsung Tablet

Recently, we acquired this new gadget. I woke up early this morning and the newspaper has not arrived yet. So I took the tablet along for reading. It is so easy to take a picture and post direct to the blog like below. A typical Indian coffeeshop where I drink my teh halia and read newspapers as well as tablet. Technology is changing my reading habits and also allows me to capture where I am and post it to my diary.

Morning Teh Halia

Dec 21, 2012

This date is well known that even my 10 year boy, aka B3 use it when he does not want to study. "What is the point of studying when the world is coming to an end in 2012?" he would chime as a reason not to study.

I caught myself thinking this way when I have intractable issue. The question that come immediately after is "What happen if the world did not come to an end in 2012?". This escapist thought process like yin and yang has a balancing counter thought. It will be nice if we can really foretell the future. Then we need not work so hard if we know the end is near and enjoy ourselves to the fullest.

Man is exploiting and damaging Mother Earth. The standard of living going up mean we are using up more resources. The economy growth is also dependent on using up more resources. We should shift to a different paradigm where money and creating wealth is the primary objective of living.

Lost Swamp

I missed the swamp and the tides. I am referring to Punggol reservoir. Now that it is a freshwater reservoir, the mangroves trees are dying. The crabs are gone and so are the clams and other brackish water fishes or sea fishes. I like to see the water level sometimes high and sometimes low. When it is low, the muddy banks are fully of life scuttling all over(baby crabs). If it is raining, mud skippers will be all over the muddy bank. Plenty of fish fry all the shallow water. It was easy to catch them to feed my goldfishes. Now there are not so many frys at the bank anymore.

I love the sea life that used to come in. Once there were a lot of jellyfish and another time a sea cucumber was trapped in a small rock pool. Now it is just fresh water and after the rain, it is brown with mud and lots of debris, twigs and dead leaves.

My boys no longer have the chance to get nature at its natural best. It is only man-made floating platform and a large mangosteen rest stop.

The Crystal Skull

I am half way through this novel. The story has a mix of history, myths and ancient legend. The blue crystal skull bring energy, special capabilities and death to the owner. There are supposed to be 13 crystal skulls and all will come together near the end of the world. I wonder if Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull has some of the storyline from this book.

Mio TV

Our new internet comes with Mio TV. We are having a hard time as the settings of our computers has to be changed and also the internet does not seem to be stable and needs to be reset a few times since it is installed at lunch time.

The VOD or video on demand looks interesting. Hopefully, there are documentaries and business video, my favorite subjects.

Not Feeling Well

B1 is not feeling well in camp. He has cold sweat and feeling feverish. We rushed to the camp to send him some medication. Mummy pack up everything and wrote down the instructions. She is a wonderful nurse. He gets the cough syrup, tyernols, flumosil for phlegm and this will allow him to rest and sleep better tonight. He is very appreciative of daddy and mummy rushing over to give him the medications. The ride is 45 mins one way to a place on army boys will go.

We are at least glad he have the medicine to make him feel better. He is very glad his daddy and mummy took the time to go and see him and bring something to help him. Yes, this is love.

Long, Dark and Winding Road

Sending B1 to his camp is a scary experience tonight. I followed the GoogleMap's route recommendation. The road was incredibly long and dark. I can hardly see it. It is two way one lane each and when there is a car coming from the opposite direction, I am not sure if it is coming towards our car on the same lane. It's been a long time since I drove in this kind of road. It is quite common in Canada as all the highways outside the build-up areas are not lit up. After driving well-lit streets and highways, it bring back memories of long trip in Canada in winter. However, the highways in Canada are wide and there is always a separator barrier for the traffic in opposite direction.

So after dropping B1 off, we decided to go by Lim Chu Kang Road leading to Jalan Bahar and then to PIE. This is way better with the road brightly lit. I have forgotten my own army experience. It was not scary after getting used to it. But a sudden change, it is the fear of darkness, accident and the unknown.

Batman

I have been watching all the Batman movies in the last two days. Batman Begins, Batman, Batman and Robin and Batman Forever. It is interesting just to watch the whole series in one go. Micheal Keaton acted in a couple of the shows and Val Kilmer and Christoper Bale in the other two.

Apparently, Batman's father keeps a journal in which he writes everyday. A blog is like a journal except it is public. Many English teachers recommend keeping a journal or diary to improve writing and articulating thoughts in written form. I keeping my blog updated daily as far as I can. I do slip once in a while or unable to do so when I am in China. Otherwise, it is a habit I keep up with. It can be boring but when I review my old entries, it does bring back lots of memories.

Old-Style Kopitiam

Sometimes we run out of ideas of where to go for meals. Luckily, every week Sunday Times will come up with a list of recommendation. I would tear out those that looked interesting to explore. One was on the old-style kopitiam. For lunch we try out the Warong at 738 North Bridge Road. I thought it will be ok since we are going to be there early. This is a place I know! I came here several times in the past. Long long past. I guess the good old kopitiam is a classic. The place was busy. There are still seats and we ordered mutton rendang, curry chicken, fried eggs, fried hard boiled eggs, deep fried fish fillet, fried potato cutlet and pickles.

The food was good and excellent value at $28.40 with 4 drinks. My wife loved the curry chicken which is their signature dish. B3 like the rendang and B1, B2, and I just finished up everything. Mmmm, yummy, yummy yum yum!

After lunch, we took a walk around Kampung Glam. We have missed a huge selection of resturants which we should try by coming here more often. Before we go, we bought swiss rolls from the cake shop. This rolls cost $6 to $7, rather expensive and taste not bad. It just bad for weight and heart.

B1 is Happy

B1 has finished his first stage of NCO training. He is in Part 2 of the training and he is happy when he heard those who stayed behind in the Infantry is doing lots of exercise and will be going for road marches, long long road marches of 32 km. Road march takes incredible toll on the boys. They have to carry haversack weighed down by all the equipment and supplies plus their rifle and helmet. Marching all night to next morning. They will return home full of abrasions and blisters, muscles crying out for rest and sore from overuse.

B1 is in a mobile unit and his training is different. Not so physical. Hence he is happy. I am glad my boy is happy too. There are risks in his unit as well. He has already heard stories of several deaths during training. I pray that he will be safe for his NS duty.

Collectable Erasers and others

B3, the baby of the family is onto the latest fad - erasers! The erasers are little replicas of everyday objects like shoes, violin, cosmetic box, hair brush, model cars and others. He is quite intrigued and was keen on collecting all the "rare" models. The toy makers are really good at creating collection and making some rare so that the kids are hooked and keeps buying the packages. They also price it at $3 to $4 each which is very affordable to young kids who get daily allowance for school.

There is also another collectable series which is figurines formed out of "bones" It is cheap plastic and have different series with "rare" metal models. Kids seem to love them.

Technosaur

I am using the tablet and find that it is not so interesting. It is easy to read maps and browse the news. There are plenty of interesting software. Free books but I still have no idea how to download them. Actually, I am not comfortable to let them access my account. Plenty of freewares to choose. It is quite interesting to explore so many programs outside Apple's control.

While it is fun to explore, I really am not so excited as the number of programs available is overwhelming. The tablet can do video conferencing. It is like going into th future. It is also neat to travel with a tablet that even the hawkers can recognised. It is a conversation piece indeed. Only issue is I am really a technosaur and need my boys to figure out how to use the tablet effectively.

Samsung Galaxy

Finally, finally, we decided to get a tablet. My boys are excited and playing with it. We have a "free" mobile internet plan, so it is our latest toy. So now it is no longer free as we have to spend capital cost to acquire a gadget that could work with the mobile internet.

I am not a gadgeteer. However, I am looking forward to use the tablet whenever I am out for tea or teh halia to entertain myself. This tablet is the latest Galaxy 10.1 It is supposed to be superior to iPad 2.

I am an Apple fan actually but decided to try Android to open up a different window(pun intended) to the latest technology. Also there are more freeware in Android whereas Apple charges for most App although there are many free but they have limited functionality.

Fighting Weight Gain

My weight is creeping up relentlessly. Every year I gain a kg. My objective to reduce weight is like New Year's Resolution - make to be broken. I have only one diet plan - enjoy food and hi-cal drinks. I started a oat breakfast two weeks ago and stick to the plan religiously. So far, the outcome is my weight still stayed high and worse of all still rising.

I may need new strategy. An easy way out is liposuction since all the exercising I have done did not do the trick. At the end of the day, I must just simply eat less. Easy to say but impossible to do. I have a bad lifestyle! High stress job and eat to relieve stress. I am a prime candidate for high blood pressure and heart attack.

Quality Family Time

B1 is home for the weekend. We are a full family again. We went to Marina Square for lunch and decided on Lerk Thai. The food was good and desserts were fabulous. We ordered a sampling of all the desserts i.e. all 6 on menu. The only complaint we have is there are too much MSG and we felt very thirsty after the meal.

We adjorned to Comex to renew our broadband service. The place was just crazy. There are hot sales going on and everyone is buying. It is as though the gadgets are free!!!

After Comex, we broke up. B2 is sent home to study and B1 go to his girlfriend's house and B3 stayed with us for grocery shopping in NTUC.

Dinner was simple homecooked dishes of stir-fried greens, deep fried chicken wings and steamed fish. We had a leisurely dinner with sliced mango and orange for dessert. After fruits, B3 opened a bag of potato chips and we munch and enjoy the unhealthy snack. Then B1 wanted to try the Goodwood Park Hotel's mooncake and we cut one out and continue eating. And we actually cut another up as well. We have plenty of chat and conversation. It is a wonderful time together. We are very happy to have a warm finish to our Sunday.

YOU, The Owner's Manual

Dr. Oz, the TV Doctor series is the co-author. It is very easy to read and full of information on the human body, how it works and how to take care. In the book, nitrous oxide was mentioned, CoQ10 is also discussed and aspirin to help prevent heart attacks...many valuable information. I like it because there are plenty of illustrations and also discussions on the nutritional supplements. It make it easy to know if the ever popular supplements in the health store are effective or not.

I am keeping this as a reference manual. It is available in Prologue in ION at $24 for hardcover. Regular price for this book is $40.

Upheaval

Stock market is going up and down. Sometimes up and sometimes down. It call for fast action. Quite a challenge for retail investor. Our moods is going up and down. Today it is down:(

Comex, the IT fair opens today at noon in Suntec City. The pull-out section introduces the top bargains in page 2 and I was intrigue by the possible $130 for HP tablet. I arrived HP booth at 12:05pm and the tablets were sold out. Rather it was a "free" gift with purchase of other HP products. Darn it!

Design for Future

Look like designing is the way to have a future. Apple is the most visible and best example of design at work. With great design come great profit. Design is the blue ocean of tomorrow. We have to start thinking about better design to win the heart of consumers.

Red Star Resturant

This resturant is at the top of multi-storey carpark in Blk 54 Chin Swee Road. Hong Kong traditional style of dim sum where trolleys are pushed around all the tables to serve fresh and piping hot. The food is not comparable to Hua Ting but it is a lot more affordable and very authentic. The atmosphere is just like a resturant in Hong Kong. This also bring back memories of Cantonese Resturants in Toronto. Yum Cha is an excellent way to spend the weekends and public holidays especially in winter.

The variety of dim sums is huge, many not available in other resturants. Food is a little salty to my liking. However, overall it is a fantastic experience with the crowd and noise of a typical resturant in Hong Kong. Yes, I do miss Hong Kong. I do not go there anymore except to transit once in a while.

New Rules

I am reading Glimmer, which is about design. Bruce Mau is a top designer and 1998 crisis, he had calls from business leaders seeking his help as the old rules of business are no longer working. It is very interesting.

The rules in today's business world has changed. Rise of the two giants - China and India is disrupting the world economy. Cost is dropping dramatically for products made-in-China and IT and medical services outsource to India. Large companies are in danger of becoming outdated and obsolete as the systems and process and more importantly the culture stiffened like arteriosclerosis. Working harder and harder using the same tactics hoping for different results.

It is interesting my boss keep harping over and over again that doing the same things and expecting different results is insanity and yet he keep insisting we do things that has been tried and did not work. This reminds me of Kishore Mahbuni who says that US is declining in power and the Americans are vehmently denying and cursing Kishore and continue to claim and feel they are the only Superpower and Master of the Universe. How sad for the rest of the world.

Monday Morning

It is a quiet Monday. No school as all the school teachers were up all night on Saturday to count votes. Tomorrow is Hari Raya Puasa. No Muslim food stalls will be open.

The pressure to build flats and HDB accelerated plans to build more flats has taken away a lot of the flat lands that citizens used to enjoys pastimes like flying kites and model airplanes. It is very sad. We are all work and no play in the near future as all our playgrounds have become blocks of flats.

My French neighbour just returned from his summer holidays in France. He says Frenchs are not big into shopping like Singaporeans. They like history and historical buildings. They enjoys the atmosphere of different country. They do not travel to do shopping.

A Regular Sunday

Excitement over and we have a new President-elect. I slept through the "twist and turn" and "cliff-hanging moments" through the night when vote counting and re-count was done.

The PCN was filled with exercise fanatic as usual and malls were just as busy. We have our usual routine of tuitions, meals and malls. Really, Singapore is a yawn. This is why it is so attractive to investors and immigrants from all over the world.

Light Rain

Rain lightly sprinkle all day today. This has a magical effect of cooling the atmosphere making it feel like fall in Canada. Yes, I missed the seasons. It is nice to enjoy the cool weather. The day is filled with tuitions, shopping malls and exercise. The malls is very busy. Everyone is buying even including my favorite haunt Kinokuniya. I am a little surprised by the long queue as there isn't a 20% discount sales on.

I am feeling tired and sleepy as I was up 5am in the morning. I could not sleep and I forsee this is going to be a few nights before I can recover.

My Favorite Activities

I missed my reading. I am distracted at work to read. Luckily, the audiobooks are helping me to continue to read although I may not be paying too much attention at times. My motto is Reading maketh a Man. I also need to write to achieve a dream of being published one day. Today is a blog with a tiny readership. However, I know I have to write every day. My writings are quite dull at time and mostly a diary of my activities and books I read. Sometimes I missed a day or two due to work worries. The other reason is blogging is blocked in China. China has a tight control over the internet.

I am also wondering if I have less thinking time as I listen to audiobooks. Thinking is an important activity that gets push aside when reading audiobooks. So now my thinking space is while driving alone which is quite infrequent. I also think while swimming.

My favorite activities in order of priority: Reading, Thinking and Writing. TRW instead of 3R:)

D-Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow, we will find out who the next President of Singapore will be. I hope our new President will have a heart for Singapore. Anyway, the President is just a figure head and we may have lots of hulala for nothing. The campaigning is over. The 4 candidates must be holding their breath. I wish them luck.

Who To Vote?

The columnists and journalists are writing on the ideal President they like to see elected. No one state or articulate their preference. It is against the law to publicly state your preference as voting is secret. 4 candidates and 4 boxes and crossed only one. It is quite tough to figure out who. There are so many pros and cons on each candidates. I think they are all good men. Unfortunately, only one Tan can be elected. So I hope our President Tan will be a great one. If not, we will elect a new President when his term expires.

The new President has a few years to show his performance and bring Singaporeans together.

Open Letter from a GM of Borders in US

Our social commentator, Mr. Brown has an excellent blog at Mrbrown.com. I remember a letter he publishes from a General Manager of Borders Store who worked in Borders Singapore before. I reproduces the letter below which I hope in not in violation of copyright laws. It was posted on April 21, 2011.

Today is my last day with the company. After 23 years I thought I would be sad but am in fact relieved. The Borders most of us loved closed down years ago and it was a slow death by a thousand cuts each time another great GM, DM or RD was forced out.
I am the last GM from Dion country in Florida. We were a tight group and were consistently the highest performing district in the company, developing many processes and procedures that were rolled out to the entire company. Sure we did question the status quo with questions like (7 years ago) "whats our plan to deal with digital music?" and were seriously told not to worry about it, it would never effect us. Some of us were let go for not being better lemmings… some of us stuck around in the hope that it would get better, some of us left with their actual dignity.

As each of our stores closed down this month we kept our staffs motivated with our own limited money. We bought pizza, had parties, bought fresh sharpies to follow your ridiculous procedure. Even though we would all soon be unemployed with no severance and living in a state with the highest unemployment rate and worst benefits. Our staff trusted us and did their best and deserved better than what the company was giving so yeah, we took up the slack that's what proper leaders do.

Every new regional VP insisted the economy was no excuse. We in the store were obviously failures in the company's eyes. In our eyes our leaders were failures. A cacophony of yes men that woudn't take a stand and fight for the things that could have saved us and were too proud to listen to anyone in the field.

You had great success with your plans this year: outsource customer care, pull bargain from the vestibules during the holiday season, not purchase school reading titles, cut hours and increase workload, roll out more functionality in atlas that barely functioned to begin with, discount excessively to buy loyalty, create an environment that managed to an audit at the expense of all else, and under-develop a web presence that demotivated the staff and frustrated the customers.

Yes, you and your team should be proud of all you have accomplished. Only a few more stores to go and you will reach your goal of total annihilation. For that and all you have done to degrade, torment, abuse and demoralize us please by all means keep my 23 years of severance and add it to your bonus. You deserve it. Be sure to keep two gold pieces for your ferry ride to hell.

Renee
Tampa, Florida

The End of a Great Bookstore

All good things must come to an end. Borders main store is closed after 13 years in operation. Borders is the first superstore in books and usher in a new era in book scene. The neighbourhood bookstores all went belly up. MPH and Times have to revamp and until today is still struggling. In the end, poor management and leadership in Borders parent company in US causes the inevitable decline and now demise of a great bookstore. While leadership keeps blaming Amazon.com, e-books and everything else and never looking at themselves. Kinokuniya is thriving in the same environment. We know the real reason for Borders closing shop.

Now, we are left with only Kinokuniya. MPH and Times are a distant second.

Kishore Mahbubani

After reading his article in International Herald Tribune - A Rudderless World(http://mahbubani.net/), I did some search in the internet and find Kishore is a prolific writer and also have his interview with HardTalk BBC in Youtube.

I read his views and find I had formed opinions similar to his. West is on the decline was his mantra. The interview in BBC HardTalk is very telling. The BBC host has no desire to listen to Kishore's views and response. It is so obvious that the West is so full of themselves. They are the eyes that see but see not itself.

US and Europe will continue to decline if they refuse to see the current realities. This may be good for the East. Although East and West are interdependent, West had be strong in the past 200 years. The arrogance of money and power of economic superiority is hard for the West to give up. It is a matter of time that East will be equal and then surpass the West.

Jim Rogers, the billionaire has the foresight that the East is the future. He engaged a fulltime Mandarin tutor from Beijing for his daughters. Knowing Chinese Language he says is the best gift for he has for his kids.

Peaceful Sunday

Routine tasks for today. For Christians, today is a day of rest for God and I feel like God today. No God's power but enjoy's God's rest day:)

Chomp Chomp's roti prata for breakfast. Porridge for lunch and freshly baked bread for dinner. In between, B3 and I cycled to CompassPoint so that he can buy his latest fad, Crazy Bones. I swam and B3 had a great time in the pool playing with the gym ball.

After dinner, we will be sending B1 back to camp. He was home this morning. Well, this is life serving the country.

Terrible Upheaval

The stock market is down and with it many people financial wellbeing including mine:(. Warren Buffett is reputed to be buying as he see this as buying opportunities. He know the right shares to buy. I do not have his prescient capability on stock pick.

With this downturn, the global economy looks shaky in the immediate future. This time the crisis is different. QE or quantitative easing i.e. printing of money and pumping them into the economy gave the global economy impetus to recover. However, this time America is more or less bankrupt. A small group of tea party members force the stalemate in the debt negotiation with Obama. They insisted and won on no tax increase. So the rich pays much lower tax than middle class Americans.

The Dean of LKY School of Public Policy, Kishore Mahbubani lament the lack of political leadership in the West and China and India is too busy with internal affairs to deal with global issues. I pray for the world to get healthy again.

No Blogging Allowed!

China still prevent blogging. I have no access. So even communication on internet can be controlled. It is a society where many aspects of social order are managed very strictly. I am not sure if freedom of speech or rather lack of freedom of speech is bad. However, it is not a good feeling that I cannot blog about my travel or daily experience.

It has been a tiring 4 days trip in Shanghai with some last min changes. I do not like surprises but we get surprises very often nowadays. Surprises are quite disruptive. However, I must be say we did accomplished a lot in this trip and this is a good reminder that face-to-face meetings is mandatory for business. Video conference or other electronic communication I doubt will ever replace business travel.

Vignettes of Presidential Candidates

On the news are vignettes of Presidential Candidates doing their campaigning. It is the first time we see Mrs. Tony Tan on the TV so frequently. Everyone is working hard to win votes. Tony Tan seems a little old and reminds me of Former MM Lee in his movements. I am a little worried as I am also aging. True I still have many good years to go before reaching their age. However, it may be better to go earlier before one become unfirm and saddled with chronic problems that plagues the oldies.

I have not seen Tan Cheng Bock on TV and how he walks. Maybe he is fitter.

National Day's Rally Speech

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong national rally speech this evening introduced a lot of policy changes. Very positive changes indeed. A lot of the issues raised during the General Election in May was addressed. HDB's income ceiling raised by $2,000 to $10,000. Healthcare benefits expanded to start at 40 years old instead of 55 for subsidised chronic care but he also caution that US is in trouble because of the healthcare benefits. The social safety net for Autistic kids, the school for autistic kids - Pathlight will be expanded in capacity to accomodate more kids with learning disability.

So as he move to a more populist policy as our government can afford, he also cited the country currently in difficulties due to unaffordable policy.

It is so easy for him to get historical clips for presentation from all the stories. I like the Malaysia's cup where Fandi Ahmad scored the 4th and final goal and Singapore won the 1994 Malaysia's Cup. I think this is the great highlight of PM Lee's speech.

Chicken Soup for the Soul

I borrow a couple more audiobooks. Chicken Soup for the Soul is a lot more interesting that Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Some of the American sayings is hard to understand. It is a double twist like "Can become Could only if you try". I have no idea what this mean except it meant a lot to the author.

Exam fever and B2 has to study for his "O" level but he is still spending time watching soap operas in the evening.

Meanwhile on the news, the World Bank's Chief says the fundamentals in global economy is not good and it will be a rocky road ahead.

Ernest Hemingway Short Stories

I started to listen to the short stories by Ernest Hemingway. The dialogue was natural and description interesting. However, I do not understand the stories. It ended just hanging there. I am not so ready for literature yet. I need more training on culture.

Embarking on New Grounds

I went to National Library to borrow audiobooks. I chose fiction this time. Since reading fiction helps the mind and improves thinking ;) I also think it is time to enjoy fiction. It can be engaging and hard to put down like Stephen King's stories. I chose short stories so that it is not so tedious. I listened to Ken Follet's story and it is very interesting but too long. Takes more than two weeks to listen.

I have been reading only non-fiction for many years. Reviewing my reading habits, I have been reading non-fiction for many years. I think I stopped reading fiction when I have to do literature for "O" level. I did not enjoy analysing stories, what did the authors have in mind when they write certain passages, what messages readers are supposed to receive, blah, blah, blah. It takes the pleasure of reading! I focus on non-fiction to improve my performance at work and climb the corporate ladder. Nowadays, I read just to keep up with the management and leadership research published by management thinkers and professors

After such a long break from fiction, I feel I am embarking on new grounds again. The Short Stories - Ernest Hemingway and The Cassandra Compact - Robert Ludlum...here I come!

Nephews

My sister-in-law and her husband is in US. So we host the two boys over yesterday and today. We are so used to our own life that it is so disruptive to our usual flow. They enjoyed the company of their cousin. However, the younger one keeps breaking B3's toys. Their nanny is rather stout compare to my current domestic help.

Originally, they were scheduled to leave tomorrow morning. However, the older boy keeping crying and wanting to go home. Finally, his aunt relented and we sent them back home. The last two days seems like a long time.

Future Mind

This book is light reading. Plenty of examples and stats about brainstorming. Best thinking is usually done when alone - up in the air, 30,000 ft above the ground in an airplane, jogging or swimming, driving or in the shower.

In-depth and slow reading is the way to increase thinking capabilities. Digital browsing cause shadow thinking. So the old way is required for innovation.

Meaningful Day for Singaporeans

It is 46th birthday for our country. Spectacular fireworks and live performance that take a year to prepare and rehearse. It is a grand finale. I am quite emotionally detached although I loved Singapore I am not the kind celebrate this kind of event even Chinese New Year. It is food that I celebrate. Have a good meal is my preferred way. Treat others well. Be kind and the world will be a better place.

On TV, it seems many Singaporeans waited for many hours just to get a good place to view the fireworks. I wonder what they do to while time and how to answer the call of nature;) It is so much easier to watch from the comfort of my living room.

Happy Returns, Singapore! My hometown.

Unwell

I am down with sore throat and cough. Nose is congested, so breathing is laboured. Congestion also cause sinus headache. I should have seen a doctor to get medicine to relief my symptons. I thought I will get better but instead I am feeling weak and exhausted.

The book Future Minds by Richard Watson says reading fiction has direct correlation with IQ scores. Today, with all the electronics media like TV, internet, emails caused attention span to shorten and hyperactivity. Reading a book slows down our minds and allow us more time to think. Thinking helps us solve deep problems.

National Day's Eve

School is only half day. So all the school kids are out have a party. They love to it. I was cycling past B2's school during lunch time and one of his classmate recognised me. "Uncle have you heard..." and started to giggle. Other classmates were giggling too. So I stopped my bike and asked. However, he changed his mind and says it is nothing. He did not have anything to say. The rest of the students were in the joke as well but since I only know this guy, I can only asked him. I decided to let him go and continue my ride.

The good thing about living near the school is I am easily recognised as B2 does cycling with me. It is fun just to talk to the kids.

Future and Forecast

Since Kinokuniya has 20% discount, I acquired a couple of titles on future. I noticed British authors are getting more exposure in the book scene. It used to be mainly American, now more British and Australian authors are featured. I like American authors more as I prefers their straightforward style. British titles are harder to complete from cover to cover at least for me. Even Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth is not crack open yet although I enjoyed the TV serial so much. I must get the audio version as it is easier to read when I am riding.

I wonder many times I read and learn so much but not translating into wealth. Knowledge alone cannot make me rich. I am reading and learning about so many business topics and issues and have opinion. However, I am not successful. Now the stock market is down. My net worth strunk as a result. I should be looking at opportunity to buy.... yet the possibility of the market dropping further. I wish I have foresight instead of hindsight! All my learning did not help me to do well in the stock market.

Busy as Usual

B1 returned home late last night. I picked him up from Yio Chu Kang Station. By the time we reached home it is midnight. We start early in the morning with tuition and piano lesson. After tuition, B2 has to go back to school. We pick him up and send him off. Then we have our nasi lemak brunch again. It is so nice to eat at home. Bedok Hawker is full of houseflies and exudes poor hygiene.

We adjourned to Takashimaya to take refuge from the afternoon heat. Kinokuniya has 20% for its 12th anniversary. The crowd was enthusiastic and queues were long. Queues for the cashiers, queue for member cards, queue for gift wraps. Kino conducts roaring business. It is very successful indeed.

At night, we had D24 durians. 3 for $10. Small size but good taste.

It is good we are together as a family with all three boys at home for weekends.

The Geography of Time

A social psychologist looking at concept of time. The first part is quite dry and I was unable to continue to read. Today, I decided to skip and head straight to the second part which is on the three unwritten rules of time which we are all familiar with. Time is limited, time means money and waiting time equals status. Treating time like a resource or money is stressing us. Especially when you are waiting for someone. The longer you wait, the less important you are.

The unwritten rules make a lot of sense to me. This is all I could recall for now:)

TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine

My wife and I attended a dinner talk this evening on traditional Chinese Medicine. It is all about balance or yin and yang. There are different herbs that is cooling or heaty in nature. Different herbs has medicinal effects on human. Some contains active drugs like phyto-estrogen (tang kwei) or ginsenosides (ginseng). The drugs do acts like western medicine.

It is good to learn more about Chinese herbs. My big concern is all the chemicals that may come with the herbs as they are likely to be treated with pesticides or growth hormones.

Eating can be Dangerous

We try a new resturant in KL. Traditional zhi char with salted chicken, roast chicken, roast duck and other Cantonese fare. I ordered a bunch of dishes and all of them taste rather good. Most of the food were eaten up. Only the roast duck was not popular.

There is only one or two of us in the table of 9 that did not feel anything. A colleague and I had diahorrea. Two had stomach upset as they have high tolerance for local food. I did not have a chance to check with a couple of other colleagues. This resturant is now on my banned list.


On the positive note, we tried a resturant that serves pork. It was fantastic. The barbeque pork ribs and pork belly were awesome. We also tried their apple crisp and bread pudding ala mode. I polished of the leftovers of both desserts. No wonder my weight keeps going up. Weak resistance to hi-cal sweets!

I need to control my food passion. We had durians on Monday evening and I felt sick after dinner. It took two hours of walking to clear my discomfort. Luckily, my body managed to fight and recover. Eating in KL can be dangerous....

No Mall

Today is a rare Sunday that we did not visit the malls. In the morning, we bought food from Malay food Bedok and had brunch. Nasi lemak, beef rendang, lontong and ayam penyet. The food is really good. Nasi lemak at $3 each, beef rendang is $5, ayam penyet is $4.50 plus two packs of crackers. Total cost of the meal for 6 is $23.50. Not bad. Does not include drinks or dishwashing or other overheads.

For lunch, I steamed up Bao (meat buns) and heat up frozen French Fries. Dinner was pizza for B2, pancakes for B1 and msg noodles for B3 and mummy. I had a slice of pizza, biscuits and a hot drink.

We had a good day at home. I cycled at noon and in the evening. B3 played with is scientific toys and B2 did his school work in preparation for GCE. B1 was killing time with his girlfriend. Yes, it is just a lazy Sunday. Rest and re-creation!!

Good Sunday Morning

The birds are chirping and raucous calls in a distant sound like the flock of green noisy parrots that usually come to our neighbourhood for fruits. I am just waiting for my boys to get up and get ready for their tuition and piano lesson.

There is a series on Superparent in Channel News Asia. I did not follow the program conscientously although I do get snatches of the dialogue here and there. There is such a thing as too much for activities for kids. Some parents interviewed put their kids through tuition, piano, swimming, dancing and other classes. The experts in the panel will give their views on what the parents should do to optimise the kids performance.

I am thinking in the city, the close up nature of living together cause all of us to compare with each other and try to outdo each other to be the best we can be. As parents, we want to be better than other parents and want our kids to perform better than other kids or least realise the best performance from his or her capability.

Experiments on laboratory rats showed living in confined spaces and crowded conditions does cause stress and induced a lot of stress related behaviours. As the cities grow into megacities, pace and stress will increase. I hope we find ways of coping and dealing with city living.

I Wonder

Many a times I wonder. I wonder what have I done for the less fortunate. I wonder why I am just an average guy who do average things. I wonder why there are so many opportunities to do good in this world and all I do is work for basic survival and feeding my family. I wonder what will happen if I stop working. Will I work on socially responsible project and help the less fortunate? Will I look for another job and continue life like the past or will I be able to do good to help someone?

I wonder when can I stop working for the sake of working and start to work for fun. I wonder what will happen to work in future. What will the future is like for my boys who will be in the workforce in a few years. I wonder how to bring my boys up so that they can deal with the changes effectively. I wonder if my capability and capacity is limited. I wonder and I wonder.

End of Another Week

It is the end the week and month. I reflected on the activities and business, I think Singapore Government is right. The global economy is slowing down on second of the year. We are experiencing a slowdown and the impact is quite significant. Worrying is a full time job! Thinking, working out a solution is my top priority! I know I write too much about work. However, work is a very important part of my life and I enjoys blogging about it.

The weekend is here and it is family time for the next two days. Hurrah!! I have an early start tomorrow morning. B3 has to go to school at 7am for some extracurricular activity. So B2 has to go to his Maths tuition by himself. B1 is still in camp and only book out tomorrow.

Blazing Heat

The sun is merciless. It is the work and damage mankind did to the earth that cause the mercury to rise. The glare from the strong sunlight cause me to have a headache. I wonder if this trend continues how long will it be before the weaker of our kind get knock off and fall by the wayside. It is a scenario that many science fiction shows have - the sun is so strong that any exposure will cause instant blindess.

Let's hope the dooms day will never arrive.

Mosquitoes

My place is full of mosquitoes. We have a weekly fogging and checks by Pest Control contractor but it is not killing the mosquitoes. I wonder if the heat is causing more mosquitoes to breed. I also wonder if there are breeding grounds in our estates. I cannot sit outside to read as the mosquitoes attacked all the time causing unpleasant itch and angry blotches. The mosquitoes are quite smart too. They seems to know I am ready to whack them and stop biting once they noticed I am watching and waiting for them to enjoy their feast before I slapped them into oblivion. It is the satisfaction of making sure they do not repeat their acts of spreading itch and potential disease such as west nile or dengue. However, I will suffer itch for a few days as it is important to make sure they are drinking blood which will slow down their reaction. Otherwise, they usually escape.

Diary

I have a notebook which I use to write randomly to pass time when I am out in drinking tea. I noticed I have not update this book for almost a year now. When I review my past entries, it is really interesting as many of the incidents are completely forgotten. Small details like what my boys say or did. This is a really good memory tickler. I must be more conscientous in keeping this diary alive. It is help me recall all my fond memories in future.

Dental Treatment So Expensive

My regular dentist had a tiff with the head of dentistry in NUH. So he left and he is now working part-time two days a week in Paragon. He now charges $1200 for a crown instead of $500 in NUH. Root canal cost more than $1000 now that I recall as I have paid three times. It used to cost $500 in NUH as well.

His fees have gone up by two and half to three times just practising in a private dental clinic. I am with him for so long. I am most comfortable with him as he is very detailed and have very good troubleshooting skills.

Taking care of teeth is very important. I need to look for an alternate dentist for simple work.

Finished!

I finished the book Surely, You're Joking! Mr. Feynman! It is really fun reading this book. Full of humour and anecdotes. Feynman has lots of lectures notes and audio books on his lectures. I will go to our wonderful library and borrow the Feynman's Lectures. It contains at least 12 disks.

I read the book in 3 or 4 days which is great. It is onwards and forward. I will go on to my next book.

Real Italian Wood Fired Oven

B1 saw military sunglassess at a good price during games day on Friday. He told me that the same sunglasses would sell for more than $500 would be at $143. I thought it is a good deal and asked him to find the shop. We went to Selegie Road to look for the shop that sells military sunglasses. The sunglasses does not fit B1 as it is not designed for Asian faces. So we pass. Along the way to the carpark was old shops. I saw this pizza place that looked interesting and venture to try. My boys were shocked by the price. $25 a pizza. I thought we should try and find out why it is so expensive. We tried the lassagne which is the current special(not in price!). For $25, the serving was very small and a pizza. The pizza was excellent and I ordered another pizza. I thought the pizza is quite high standard like The Chalk. Taste is different.

So we tried their dessert Tiramisu and Cheesecake. Tiramisu was very good but cheese cake is not worth the $9.90 price. For a coffeeshop style resturant, two pizzas, one lasagna and two dessert with no drinks come with a price tag of $120. Fairly pricey but good food.

Building at Frantic Pace

HDB is building like crazy around my estate. I moved here to get out of city life and enjoy suburban and less crowded condition. The neighbourhood has grown and is still growing. There are a lot more cars, people and flats. Every empty fields that were used previous for soccer on the weekends, flying kites or model airplanes now has blocks of flats or is undergoing construction. All the open fields are gone and the quality of life in SengKang is going down. It is only man-made sport or activities like gym, swimming, badminton or other indoor sports. What a pity. No more kite flying, no more frisbee competition, or soccer. It is really sad. Now, we will not get kites with flashing LEDs that looks like UFOs flying at night.

Singapore is getting too crowded and buildup. We are worshipping the almighty dollar. Economic growth over everything else.

Surely, You're Joking Mr. Freynman!

It is an interesting collections of short stories of a Nobel laureate physicist. I was browsing the bookstore and found myself sitting on the floor delving deeply into the book. It is full of humour and talk a lot about something I identify extremely well - experiments! Mr. Freynman did plenty of scientific experiment since he was young.

The big difference is his IQ is off the scale mine is just at above average. I have to struggle with calculus and he works them out in his mind. Both of us enjoying learning many different subjects.

The books by Freynman was recommended by OCBC CEO, Mr. Connor in an interview by Straits Times.

Insufficient Sleep cause Headaches!

I was suffering from headache since I woke up this morning. I took a total of 4 painkillers and it did not get rid of the headaches. When I landed and going through the immigration, I took one candy as sugar did help in relieving headaches and told the officer that I am taking it for headache. She says it is lack of sleep.

B1 has been complaining of pressure behind his eyeballs and it hurts if he jumps. I thought it may be something serious and asked him to report sick - military term for seeing the medical officer. Now I realise he may be just suffering from lack of sleep. Because beside having headaches, my right eyeball has a lot of pressure and was very uncomfortable during the flight.

I learn something from the immigration girl today.

Long Day

It is long and tiring two days. I am so tired that I almost fell asleep during dinner. I am glad to be back in the room and now packing up to get ready to leave early morning tomorrow. Good thing is summer time. So the sun will be up by the time I check out at 6 in the morning. Usually it is dark and cold.

I am happy to accomplish my objectives. At the end of the day, a lot of business still have to be conducted in the old fashion way - face-to-face meetings.

Worrying Feeling

I was browsing books as usual when I feel funny in my chest. I have this kind of feeling before and it is something that I know something is wrong. The last time this feeling happens, I had a pnemothorax. I refused to admit or go for checkup and live with one lung for more than a year. Then I have to go for x-ray for as part of the admission procedure to Singapore Poly. Before going for the x-ray, I know I may have to go to hospital for the bad feeling I had in my chest. After waiting for a few days to get my x-rays, this is in the good old days where x-rays takes a few days to develop rather than today instanteous on the computer or 10 mins on film, I was required to see the radiologist. My heart sank knowing whatever I had, it has shown up. True enough, the radiologist told me I had a severe case of pnemothorax and need to go to hospital immediately. I told him I had no symptoms and life is normal for me, so I was reluctant to go. He told me if I do not treat it, my lung may get infected and then there is no choice but to remove which is a worse procedure than punching a hole and sucking out the air. He wrote a letter and I took leave from school to have my lung reinflated or rather the air in my pleural cavity removed.

Now, the bad feeling is the heart. I think something may be wrong. I have bad diet - love all the oily cholesterol clogging food that will plug my coronary arteries. I have been exercising regularly but it does not prevent my arteries from narrowing or hardening.

Hold it! Whoa! I just blurb so it may be just air trapped in my stomach. Oh, darn it!! Am I just too paranoid? Maybe it is just a case off too much gas from the Vietnamese noodles I ate for dinner. What will be will, sigh....

Seoul Hot and Humid

This is the first time I come to Seoul in summer. It is incredibly hot and humid. It is nice to come in warm weather. Aclimatized to Singapore's weather, going to a cold place on a plane on short notice is stressful to the body. So I do not mind the heat and humidity as it is like home. Summer also mean lots of green on the ride from Incheon to hotel. I like the bright and sunny ride. Traffic is still bad in the city.

The first place I visit after I checking in is the Kuan Yin temple opposite the hotel to pray. It is good to pray.

Slime Laboratory

New hot product from Toy R Us that attracted B3's attention. It is a box of chemical with instructions on how to make various types of slime products. It costs $29.95. After we returned home, B3 spends more than 2 hours happily mixing and dyeing the chemicals and adding the hot water to turn powder into slimy gel-like tadpoles, leeches, fake fish eggs, worms, bouncing poo and other disgusting stuff. He also made jelly amber. He had a wonderful time.

A Time for Rest and Exercise

Weekend is a time for rest and recreation. For school kids, it is a time for tuition. So after my boys' tuitions, we had a long lunch at Hua Ting. After lunch, we head home for nap while B1 continues to watch the latest Harry Potter movie with his girlfriend's family.

After nap, it is time for B2 to go for tuition and then B3 and I cycle in the PCN. We bought satay and bbq chicken for dinner. We also eat the leftover from yesterday. After dinner, it is another ride to the PCN with B2 and B3.

So it is tuition, meal, sleep, tuition, exercise, meal, exercise. Writing is also a form for relaxation for me with Channel News Asia keeping me company.

Life in Singapore is a little boring. No upcountry to explore or farms to visit. No season such that we can look forward to skating and skiing or summer bbq. Everything including services are bought rather than doing-it-yourself.

Weekend is good time to recreate after all the work stress.

Traffic Jam in CTE to SLE

We have to go to Jurong to pick B1 up as he is allowed to book out. The traffic on CTE is horrendous. My wife is right. Malaysians are all going home on Friday night. I will need to use the PIE in future. For non-Singaporeans, the highways in Singapore are given 3 letters short-form. CTE is Central Expressway, PIE is Pan-Island Expressway. BKE is Bukit Timah Expressway, KJE is Kanji Expressway, TPE is Tampines Expressway and ECP is East Coast Parkway. A couple more but it is getting late and I am tired.

We divert through Yishun and used Mandai Road instead. Once we get onto Mandai Road, the going is much better. We managed to reach Jurong and B1 did not have to wait for too long. The journey takes more than an hour and half. B1 had a fellow trainee who lives in Sengkang to take a ride with us.

Effective NParks Staff

I was cycling on the Punggol PCN or park connector network as usual when I saw a fellow cyclist trying to fix a support pole for a tree. I can see that she is struggling as it is impossible to drive the pole in. So I stopped to help out. She says it is ok she will get the contractor to fix it. She says she works for NParks. I was a little surprised. She is in full cycling gear - helmet, cycling pants, even sleeves to protect her arms from the sun. Whoa! What a great job she has. Cycling for work and with it a host of benefits - keeping healthily fit, enjoying great outdoor, breathing fresh air and encountering wildlife.

She was on her way to a meeting in Punggol Marina and I am in the same direction. So we cycle together and I showed her where I sighted a metre and half black cobra and other juvenile snakes and also let her know where the lights are not turned on. Before we part company, she asked for my email to send me the newsletter. I was surprised the email arrived in the evening. She has kept her words! (I still have a healthy skepticism towards government employees). She also informed me that the lights will be fixed by the next day i.e. yesterday. I cycle on the PCN tonight and all the lights are back on.

NParks is committed to excellence and making things happen. Kudos to Trina.

Gluttony!

My Japanese colleague once remark that I am very decisive when it come to business but when it come to meals, I have to walk around all the resturants and survey and survey and still can't decide.

This morning I have a meeting with a customer. In the lift on the way up to the office on top floor, one man was asking his colleague, where should we go for lunch? It is just the start of the day and he has not even step in the office and he is already thinking of lunch! This behaviour I can identify. Lunch is always heavy duty decision for me. I have to work through several options and different scenarios before I decide what and where to eat.

I decided to go to Kallang Food Center for lunch today. I used to lunch there when I was working in Kallang Pudding Road. The braised duck is excellent. The stall is plastered with all the food reviews and Channel U Highly Recommended signs. After polishing off the duck, we bought "soon kueh" and "ang ku kueh" takeaway. The kueh kueh is good. So I bought 4 different sets. Even though I am full, I must try all the kueh kueh the moment we reached home. Guess what, my weight is up my more than a kg. I am a consummate eater and enjoying sampling all the great tasting food.

Although I exercise a lot, the amount of calories into my body is more than my output. Hence weight creep. I am a glutton. Living to eat.

Watching the TV Series Again

I just watch the Pillars of the Earth just to run through those I have skipped and also scenes that I like to watch again. It is good story telling. It is engaging and interesting story of building a cathedral. The trouble is not conversant in the British Church and aristocracy, I am not sure the different ranking of Earl, Prior, Bishop, Confessor and other titles that is in the story.

Scenario Planning

I am reading The Art of the Long View I bought 4 years ago. I read a couple of chapters and stop. Now I am continuing with the book and I find lots to learn from Peter Schwartz.

I like this part that I will reproduce vebatim.

"Articulating the decision should also focus on events where you have no control. "What if I choose to quit my job?" is not an appropriate question for a scenario. You can change the scenario simply by changing your decision. You cold ask, instead, "What events would plausibly happen that might influence me to quit?" Or, "Under what circumstances might I lose my job?""

It is important to ask the right questions. I realised I have not been asking the right questions on future of my business and my work. I will be spending time to reflect, think and mull over how to achieve the impossible goal now my company expects.

Pillars of the Earth

The best seller by Ken Follet is now a TV series available in DVD set. I first know this book when I believe Chua Mui Hoong, a columnist in Straits Times did an article on the books she enjoyed reading. I remembers her saying she enjoys curling up her toes as she read this book. I bought the book sometimes back during a Times 20% discount but have not crack open the spine. I thought I read the audio version of this book. I made a mistake. As I think through and recall the characters in the book, I realised the book I heard is the sequel World Without End which is set in the same town, Kingbridge and the characters were the decendents of characters from Pillars of the Earth. The two story has a lot of similarity. So it was easy to be mistaken.

I research in the internet to make sure I have the facts when I write. Now I know World Without End has a mini-series. I am looking forward to watch in video.

Family Lunch

11:45am, Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice Resturant, the hungry crowd was gathering strength. We booked a table for 11 last Monday. So we are assured of a table. My eldest niece called and asked where Chek Chek is and I told her we are already in the resturant. My eldest sister and my youngest sister together with her husband were there as well. We have plenty of good food and conversation. Dynamic is a little different with my sisters in. My baby sister has lots of questions for B1 and plenty of things to share. She does dominate the table. Only N1 and N2 or niece 1 and niece 2 came. Both are fairly quiet.

The food is good and we had good time. We also learn from my baby sister a fizzy vitamin C tablet called Berocca which is good for defending again sickness. We went to the pharmacy to get it right away. It actually tasted quite good. So I am impressed. Only issue is it is a little costly.
Like my baby sister's argument, seeing a doctor will cost $45 at least.

Will

I spoke to my mother now living in Canada to ask her to convince my brother to do a Will. His condition is not good and it is best he made his wishes known in case anything happen. Discussing death and dying is a sensitive topic. My sisters and mother are very conservative and superstitious. They are avoid this topic and it is hard work for me. I have no idea why people are afraid of facing their mortality and do not make plans so that their wishes can be carried out rather than have the survivors fighting or criticising the way things are handled or feeling the outcome is unfair.

My mother also feel she need to do her own will as well. So this is a good start. I do not know if my brother will draw up his will. Although he does not have much to his name, I feel it is important he make it clear what are his wishes.

Block Leave Coming to an End

Thursday! Tomorrow will be the last day of B1's block leave. It was good to have dinner together as a complete family for the last few nights. Once he go back to camp, then we will be missing one again. He should be back for the weekends unless he has duties.

It take getting used to because after army it will be university and if it is oversea, he will be out for 3 to 4 years. If he decides to work in another country, we will really missed him. By then B2 will be going to University and we have only B3. Luckily, we have a big gap between B2 and B3. So we will have at least a boy for 8 more years.

Empty nest, that is the next stage of our life.

Body Found in Forest

We do not really have forest in Singapore. We do have patches of green and they have thick undergrowth that allows dead body to be disposed and not to be found. Skeletal remains found near Tanah Merah MRT station. It is in the news about bad smell was detected but no one suspect it to be decomposing human corpse.

Reading this news, I have concerns about the bad smells along the PCN near to the end toward Punggol Marina. I decide to call the emergency line, 999 to report my concerns. AMK Central Police Station called me right away to verify. Then SengKang Police Station and tell me they will informed PUB even though I informed the officer that it did not come from the water. PUB called me in the late afternoon and ask me about the location. I cycled to Anchorvale Sport Complex to meet the officer who arrived by boat. I took the ride with them and brought them to the location. After cycling along the way, I managed to detect the exact spot which is Lamp 167 and Lamp 168. I brought the officers there and they could smell but they think it is a rat. I told them it is not possible to be a rat. I know the smell of dead rats. Then they tell me it is a small mammal common in the nature reserve. They will fill out their report and send it to NParks for the investigation as the area is outside their jurisdiction.

Dinner Conversation

We had a wonderful dinner. The food is fried flat wheat noodle. It was not cooked properly and therefore a stuck together in clumps. So if the food is not good why it is wonderful. It is the conversation we have with our B1 and B2. They are comparing our lives in Canada vs here in Singapore. My boys and I have fond memories of living in Canada. We thought life there is not bad as we are in the middle class like many other Canadian.

However, my wife did not enjoy the life in Canada as she is not the one who decide to immigrate to live there. The high income tax and consumption tax is what she keep focusing on. She keep insisting life in Singapore is much better. However, my boys felt that they have more toys than their friends and therefore life in Canada was not bad either. Actually, we are living similar lifestyle relatively speaking in Singapore as in Canada if we compare within each country. However, if we look at spending power that is disposable income, Singapore is superior with far lower taxes and a lot more variety in food and choices.

We had a healthy debate and my boys had lots of questions and sharing their perpectives as well. I am in agreement with them. Mummy was upset that her version was not received well even though we are in violent agreement. She is right but insisted only her version prevails. However, we feel we are not doing too badly when we are living in Canada.

I love the conversation with B1 and B2. They are growing up and we have intellectual and philosophical discussion on life. This is why tonight's dinner is wonderful.

Passing Out Parade

It is the first time I go into the Floating Platform of the Marina Bay. I have not gone to any National Day Parade. This morning is different. My boy is passing out from his Basic Miltary Training. All the trainees have to do a 20 km road march the night before with FBO or Full Battle Order. This mean rifle and the back pack with all the essential gears. It is heavy, very heavy. All our poor sons have to do this arduous walk just before they pass out. So much about 3G army and thinking soldiers. The march is more than 20 kms exhausting all the boys so that they cannot think anymore except to obey orders.

After the BMT roars which is funny and impressive, it is the National Anthem and they are dismissed. The whole place is smells of sweat and strong body odours. The boys are sweating like a pig and no chance to clean up or shower.

B2 was there to support his brother. He had a hard time waking up. After we returned home for lunch, he slept through the afternoon until dinner time. B3 changed his mind about going when he has difficulty waking up.

After a nice Japanese lunch at Itacho Sushi Resturant, B1 meet up with his bunk mates just to bond together outside the camp. The food in Itacho Sushi is quite high standard. It is more pricey than Sakae or Sushi Tei. All three boys enjoyed the meal. B1 was worried that it is too expensive and I told him not to worry. I explained to my boys as my siblings are diagnosed with medical problems, I want to enjoy my life before I "go". It is shocking to have two sisters with cancer, thankfully both are still alive and well. And now my brother with serious heart condition.

I am exercising regularly but still do not control my diet. I ate unhealthy food like deep fried fritters, pork lard in noodles, bak kut teh, braised internal organs, bacon, roasted pork belly and all kinds of artery clogging food including plenty of rich desserts.

So I may be the next candidate to go to hospital. Sigh! I need to face up and change my diet. Otherwise, I will be staring into death.

My Brother and His Daughters

It is gratifying to see my three nieces visiting their father in NUH CCU. The girls are grown and are mature and understanding. My brother requested for discharge from the hospital as he has to wait for a week for MRI to check if his heart muscles are damaged. If they are "sleeping" and can be revive, the prognosis will be better and he may be recommended to go for open heart to replace his valve and have double or triple bypass. Otherwise, he will just go on medication to keep him alive for as long as possible.

We had lunch with the three girls in Nonya resturant in Keppel Club. The meal is leisurely and we have a chance to have good conversation with them. I am very happy just to build relationship with my nieces.

Good End to the Month

We made another sales record in Jun. Thanks to the team and our business partners we have good customers who trust and buy from us. We are lucky indeed. The sad news is we lost a large unprofitable account but gain a smaller share of business with another more profitable product. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the next few months.

Still it is important to celebrate and enjoy our success for now and stopped worrying for the weekend.

On family front, my brother is in NUH for heart problem. His valves are leaky and there are two coronary arteries blocked and one narrowed. So he will need medical intervention and I hope he make the right decision.

Coming Lunch with my Nieces

We have a lunch date with our nieces this Saturday. My boys cannot make it. B1 has 24km road march, B2 has school activities and B3 may be going to school with B2. So it will be just chek chek and sim sim with the girls. We have not seen them for some time now. The challenge is we are going to a chicken rice shop that is famous and popular. We will not have much time with them we may feel pressured to leave if there is a large crowd waiting for tables.

I am looking forward to bonding time.

Kino is more expensive than KL Borders!

I noticed the title I am currently reading is on the display for books on the future. I checked on the price and it is $29.90. This is RM74.75 at the current exchange rate of RM2.5 to S$1. In KL Borders, the same title is priced at RM54.90. Kino price is 36% higher than in KL!!!

So even at the highest discount Kino ever offer of 20% the price is still higher. Whoa, the high value of Singapore dollar makes everything in Singapore more expensive. Also I did not pay RM54.90 for the book, I had 10% discount using a credit promotion.

In the office in PJ, another book fan, Michelle tells me the price of books in Singapore is lower. Now I have an example that prove otherwise.

Brain Rules for Babies

Audiobooks are godsend when it come to exercising. I can read and exercise at the same time. Multi-tasking!! I have been listening to Brain Rules for the few weeks. The book is very interesting and have a lot of research on how to parent for the baby development. TV and internet is very detrimental to the kids attention span. So I implemented the rule for B2 and B3. B2 has no computer access anymore until his "O" level is over. B3 has 10 mins computer and 30 mins TV instead of watching TV passively. So far, both have complied and doing well.

It is good to learn ways to manage my boys better.