My Zodiac and me

Chanced upon the chinese horoscope while browsing at the popular bookstore looking at econs textbooks for my part time uni. Anyway to cut it short, this year i'm screwed big time. Rat and Horse are like Superman and Lex Luthor, they can't wait to see each other dead :) all the bad stars are aligned this year so i think i'm fucked :)

so what got me into zodiac readings anyway? it's just curiosity and wanting to connect with my heritage. well, to put things in perspective, for a guy who's born in Sept'78, I'm both a Earth Horse and a Virgin, oops Virgo and guess what, the lady is a earth sign too so i'm destined to eat mud...

In english terms,
I'm modest and shy, meticulous and reliable, practical and diligent, intelligent and analytical

However,
I'm also a fussy and a worrier, overcritical and harsh, perfectionist and conservative

In chinese terms,
People born in the Year of the Horse are popular. They are cheerful, skillful with money, and perceptive, although they sometimes talk too much. The are wise, talented, good with their hands, and sometimes have a weakness for members of the opposite sex. They are impatient and hot-blooded about everything except their daily work. They like entertainment and large crowds. They are very independent and rarely listen to advice.

since i'm educated in both, my character is more like the combi of both. I've read that Virgo usually suffers from colds, flu, allergies, problems with intestines and constipation which is damn right. this week, i got a bloody cough, flu and after a hearty meal of botak jones, my intestines are bloated and i just can't bloody shit, damned!!!

well, cut to the crap, i'm more interested in my love horoscope. it says that things are looking good as time goes by but in reality, it's like the feeling of shit is there and u reach for a toilet and all it does is just a poop sound from the arse, a false alarm...

according to my horsey, i'm better off with those born in the tiger, dog or sheep which makes them born in the year of 74, 86, 70, 82, 79, 91 respectively. if i combine with my english horoscope, it'll be even more ultimate as the choices will be even more narrowed, not only they have to be born in the above mentioned year, they got to be a Leo, Capricorn, Cancer, Taurus and Virgo or rather July-Aug, Dec-Jan, Jun-Jul, Apr-May and Sep-Oct. Wah, that will be Earth, Sky and Human stars all aligned "sui sui".

with the horoscope settled, i still got to suss out the slim build from the fat ones, the sexy body from the need-to-be-surgically-enhanced, the pleasant looking from the fugly (from my point of view), the good natured from the bad, non smokers from puffers, stay homers from the cheongsters, english cum cantonese speaking from the chinese ones... and there's so much things to list...

all i know is that i'm fucked...

and in all sense,
when love knocks on your door,
the list just flies out of the window...
I'm better off leaving it to God :)




the sites for reference:
http://www.astrologycom.com/virgo.html
http://www.astrology-online.com/virgo.htm
http://www.gotohoroscope.com/virgo-compatibility.html
http://www.rainfall.com/horoscop/horse.htm
http://www.c-c-c.org/chineseculture/zodiac/Horse.html
http://www.tuvy.com/entertainment/horoscope/earth_horse.htm
http://chinese.astrology.com/horse.aspx

Government's definition of what increases inflation

Hmmm, let's just say i've learned something new from the government in it's definition of what factor actually increases inflation that i didn't learn from my economics and finance classes.

the latest headlines to shock singaporeans out of it's morning sickness:

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has warned that Singapore could face another round of inflation if companies increase wages to help workers cope with the higher cost of living today.

and the rest of the earlier headlines...

Minister Mah says cutting petrol taxes not the way to cushion rising oil prices.

NTUC Chief warns that stagflation is the worst case scenario S’pore could face.

Analysts favour new fare formula as inflation is taken into account.


so the signals that it's sending out is that:
raising ERP = not increasing inflation, controls traffic congestion
raising transport fares = not increasing inflation, increase operation cost
raising utility bills = not increasing inflation, due to higher oil prices
raising food prices = not increasing inflation, due to shortage of food worldwide
raising GST = not increasing inflation, government need additional income.
raising house prices = not increasing inflation, due to market valuation

so what increases inflation?
according to minister of finance, it's increasing wages.

and best of all, PM Lee urges more Singaporeans to donate while everything is increasing except our salaries. i nearly fell off my chair.

how much have prices increase? my nearby coffeeshop's char siew rice:
before GST increase to 7% = $2
GST 7% = $2.5
food prices increase + utility + rental increase = $3.2
simple calculation will tell u that it's a increase of 60% (hey, it's a coincidence, maybe that's why minister's pay increase by 60% too!)

i'm okay if they recommend companies not to increase my wages to battle inflation if every prices dun increase by so much but when everything is increasing by a huge amount, i dun think it's gonna find any favours with singaporeans. to many of us, it's a huge slap in the face especially when ministers have a pay increase earlier this yr by up to 60%... are they losing out of touch? if they hold an election now, i can confirm they're gonna lose lots of votes and when election comes, somehow, the economy will be doing well and the government have spare freebies to give to everybody.

i mean u can only use this trick so many times by as people gets more educated, we can count and learn the simple logic behind it. the cycles goes like this:

1st yr after election - freebies and good news fades and prices will slowly increase
2nd yr - price increase starts to pick up pace and bad news start flowing in
3rd yr - price increase at full steam and Armageddon message at full steam
4th yr - price increase freezes and good news start coming in
5th yr election - freebies galore and singapore's economy miraculously is doing very well

i can sustain comfortably by cutting out some simple pleasures but what about the poor? their pay is low and still have to compete with FT! that's really uniquely singapore!

water up to nose - mindless rants

the funny thing about life is how ironic it can be.

i take bus A to work but occasionally, i also take bus B to other sites but when i waited for bus A, bus B always comes first but when i waited for bus B, bus A always comes first... piss me off...

and taxi is never there when u needed one, arrrrgggg!!!!

the thing about my work is that when it's low key period, there really isn't work to do but when tasks come, it's fast and furious that almost land a sucker punch on me and now the water is up to my nose and i'm treading water to survive. haha.

best of all, my exams are due next weekend and lots of work is piling up.
when it don't rain, it's on drought but when it does, it really pours.
really, hope to have more time to study and not resort to last minute cramping work, as i grow older, i realised that the earlier i study, the better i score as i can grasp the concept better so dun have to mentally photocopy the text and memorise so much compared to last minute cramping, can't remember clearly, can't explained clearly as it's all regurgitated from brain.

i know that I'm good at studying, and i'm good at maths/science especially but i'm just plain lazy to memorise those subjects that requires warehouse space to store facts which doesn't need much thinking but i know that if i put some effort, i can really score, hahahaha

really miss those days where i'm a full time student, no pressure, not much worries.

when you're young, u have lots of time and dreams but no money but when you grow old, u have money (whether alot is another issue) but no time and dreams are just dreams.


dang enuff of ranting to release steam for the day...

Taxi meters in private car

was reading an article on ERP on Yahoo news which was reprinted from Today's papers.

Any intelligent or logical person will be able to tell the amount of bullshit that came from the LTA.

Quoted from the article:
"From July 7, family life in Singapore should improve, at least for those who pass through traffic gantries. Businesses, too, will become more competitive as the cost of crossing these gantries goes up, leading to faster travel times, which should then lead to lower transport costs overall.

So said Land Transport Authority chief executive Yam Ah Mee in a recent media interview: "Faster travel times lead to overall lower transport costs and ultimately, help businesses to remain competitive. Congestion also adversely impacts family life, as people spend more time on the roads."

What i didn't know is that having more ERP and higher charges actually increases family life and businesses becomes more competitive

what i know is that my colleagues who drove actually waited till the erp timing's over to avoid the hefty charges and the jams too and businesses who are worth their salt will avoid the erp timing to do delivery etc and furthermore, the erp gantries are mostly active during peak hours except CBD areas; the timing when people knock off...

the second part by the writer actually makes sense:
"And if the authorities want you to switch to public transport, why do buses and taxis also have to pay ERP charges?

Last year, SBS Transit had to pay $2.9 million (same as the previous year) in ERP charges, $5.8 million in road taxes ($5.4 million previously) and absorbed almost $37 million in output GST (up from $28.5 million). Figures for ERP charges paid by taxis were unavailable. After all, the LTA claims that the ERP system is not a revenue—raising exercise."

why charge buses erp when the government knows that the cost will eventually pass on to the passengers? First theoretically, they reduces the amount of cars on the road and entices people to switch to public transport and second, thou it uses the roads but it's function is different from a private car.

i've always ask taxis drivers on why do gahment charges ERP on taxis, they mostly said the same thing "cause gahment only talk about money". Taxis forms part of the transportation network together with buses and trains. by having different charges levied on them, firstly, it raises the overheads of driving taxis and secondly, why would taxis rather roam about in the suburbs then driving into town? cause with the increase in the taxi charges, they got to pay everything upfront when they enter into town without the guarantee of getting passengers so mostly revert to waiting for calls. talk about LTA slapping themselves and everyone else.

by increasing the erp charges, they inadvertently raises the inflation and the cost of living when everything is going thru the roof now couple with GST, it's putting a strain of people's life.

The purpose of COE have lost it's objective. COE is meant to control the amount of cars entering the roads every year. On paper, it's stated at 3% but reality, ever since the election, it's off the scale when gahment said it will switch to usage based and that's why we've seen the huge increase in gantries and more are coming up.

The whole thing is a sham, car population increase by 7-8% since the election instead of the stated 3% and even thou transport minister said the optimal increase is 1.5%, this yr's not much changes too. it's all paying lips service to public. by not staying to the optimum 1.5%-3%, cars ownership will only increase which will lead to more erp gantries regardless whether it's peak hours or not. soon, erp will cover every nook and cranny of singapore and then to save cost of installing one, we will be installing taxi meters in our cars to charge us for usage of our own cars to save the trouble.

the state of singapore's public transport will only drive people who can afford car to drive instead of taking a bus. as i had lamented, mrt is the lifeline of any city and any city worth it's salt would have a highly integrated network of train station but not singapore, the investment in mrt have always peg on whether the station can generate profits but as an important infrastructure, it should be based on the whole line instead. thou the gahment have change it's stance now, we have lost a minimum of 5yrs of lead time to solve the problem. at the recent white paper by the transport minister, it's only in 2020 will we see an fully integrated network and the question is why only now then we see the potential problems? despite the praise lavish on MoT in wikipedia, if you have travel to major cities like HK, Taipei and even london, it really pales in comparision in the wait time, no of station per kilometer and efficiency.

up to now, the actions taken by LTA is not consistent with it's mission and objectives and it's policies are giving public confusing signals and intentions. Somebody got to take a stand within the ministry or the government will be paying a high price when the next election comes.

MM Lee says all it takes is 5yrs to unravel the whole jigsaw puzzle but the ruling government have to give people the reason for our continuing support instead of blind loyalty. They are paid millions to do it's job and if their performance is not up to the "millions" standard, who can they put the blame on?

The bucket to regret list

caught the show "the bucket list" when i was on a plane back from dubai. instead of a bucket list for me, i shall rename it as the "Things-to-be-done-else-i'll-regret-list" or in short "The Regret List"

simple isn't it. list the things u want to do/accomplish/dreams/goals in the Regret List and every time u look at it and if it's not strike off, u know that u'll regret, hahaha

I've pasted a "things that i love to do" list on my wardrobe last year but i think i'll change it to my "Regret List". After some thoughts and separating those To-Do that are realistic and those simply better stay at dreams like "want to win toto" hahahaha, things that thru drive and passion that are achievable, i came out wif these in no order of priority:

• Be a full time investor
• Learn photography
• Travel the world, at least 50 countries and 150 cities
• Buy a jumbo flat and fulfill the decor that is pasted on my wardrobe
• Relearn guitar to play my favourite songs like Luna Sea's Up to You with a fender stratocaster
• Go parachuting then progress to freefalling


we should all have list like this so that when we expire we know that we have already done all the things that we wanted to and we had live a life of no regrets. of course, the list is flexible and subject to changes when u find something that falls into or out of the regret category but it should not be taken as an excuse for not trying. why would we want to cheat ourselves? it's our life and our regrets,

hmmmm, maybe got to add "do not cheat on the list" hahahaha

Self inflicted mental block

Some say education ruins a intelligent mind and in some ways, it's true.

I was walking around suntec today and something strikes my mind.

For example, define vase (from internet):
# an open jar of glass or porcelain used as an ornament or to hold flowers. wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

# The vase (, , or) is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. It can be made from a number of materials including ceramics and glass. The vase is often decorated and thus used to extend the beauty of its contents. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vase

so when we say vase, a mental pic of traditional vase will spring into our mind, those that we were taught since pre-school till adult hood were imprinted into our brain. by having a word to describe the container, we've mentally fix how a vase should be like. for eg, a container for rubbish is called dust bin so first thing that came into our mind is either those basket type or those plastic containers with a swinging cover etc but in this case, we're following the form (define by the word) more than the substance (the meaning of the word), we've forgot that vase can be any other form as long as it's a container that can hold flowers. so i can use a water bottle, a handbag or even a cpu casing as long that it's a container that can hold flowers.

so if we extrapolate the "vase" into other stuff, we'll start to break down the mental blocks and like we singaporeans like to say "think out of the box". our world will then be creative and spontaneous where anything goes.

that's why sometimes i like to read Ikea's catalogue, where a small vase can be used as a pencil holder etc it's mentally refreshing and challenging that it redefines what u think it is or what it used to mean.

so i say, let's break the vase and release ourself from the self inflicted mental block :)

Photography and me

I caught onto the photography bug and i think i'm gonna give in to it soon. As i love to travel, there's so much things to see and to take picture of. yeah, i'm not a pro photographer that waits for days just for the right weather conditions and lighting but damn, i just love taking photos.

There used to be a period where i'm caught between a videocam n a camera as i believe that a picture can't capture the continuous sights and the sound and u can't really remember what the hell really happens after many years have passed by. I think both has it merits and appeals differently.

i guess what makes photography so special is that it's the special moment in time freezed in a frame and a well taken one invokes so much emotions and in itself tells a story.

i saw a photography magazine today while browsing at popular bookshop. in it, a landscape of british countryside of endless fields but it's so well taken that the foreground shows bright reddish colour of flowers, mid-ground shows the greenfields while the background shows the bluish mountains. it's as if the whole spectrum of rainbow colours were capture and freeze in a moment of time. it was absolutely stunning!

set my sights on a nikon D80, a wide angle lens, a general lens,tripod, bag and flash and that is gonna cost me a month's nett pay. was hoping to take some basic photography lessons at the photographic society but the schedule clashes with my work :( nevertheless, it's on my To-Do-Else-I'll-Regret-List :)

wish me luck :)

God and Toto

Was chatting with colleagues who lamented that God created 10 commandments but man spoiled it with subsections.

was thinking about my relationship with God when I was queuing to buy Toto for the thursday 3mil draw. Some people said, one shouldn't gamble, like my sis who wouldn't even help me or my dad to buy 4D as it's not in-line nor appropriate with our religious belief. I started to think of the 10 rules but it didn't say one should not gamble.

The chances of winning toto is minute, like 1 in 4mil, why do ppl still buy? for hope, a chance to change? most importantly why do i favour toto more than 4D?

instead, it's a like a test of faith for me. keeping faith in God even thou daily situations and distractions always seem to break you. questions like is it a big lie concocted by the west to cheat you and give you false hope? is there any form of prove that God really existed? Is all the so called proof real or even if it is, is it only for the Jews than for the Chinese? So many questions, no answers...

faith.

the believe in buying toto even thou i know i won't win. if i do, great but if i don't, at least i tried and there's no lost in the end for the rewards if it does exists are greater than it doesn't.

faith is what keeping me going all this years. atheist might say it's all bullshit and faith is like false hope but i sincerely believe faith is the only true form of test to separate the believers from the non without God appearing for if He does, it's like a billionaire with many friends but who's gonna stick with you when u have nothing?

There's alot of things in the world that defies logic and logic is based on our understanding on how things work which is limited by our intelligence and observations. There's always a great debate on the unknown but i always believe that scientist are the last one u should trust because when they say "oops, they're wrong, we're fucked big time"


lastly, buy toto and when u do, "keep the faith"

Memories by the second

let me recalled what i did on monday. it was hectic.

in short:
drove to work and reached office at 1030am.
knock off at 445pm.
reach home at 5pm
stoned and drove to orchard for my night class at 620pm
park at PS and attend class
meet up gal and pick her up at 1015pm
drove ard town and chatted in car
ended up at ECP ard 1045pm
sat by the beach and talk cock till 12mn
had Macdonalds: nuggets, drinks and fries but sundae sold out
drove to bugis 24hrs Mac to buy sundae
park by padang to eat sundae in car
end up in hotel at 0110am
chat till 3am
sex and sleep
woke up at 610am, disturb her and sleep again
woke up at 845am
sex and shower
sent her home
back at work at 1020am
knock off at 1210pm
watch 1pm iron man
back home at 345pm
sleep till 845pm

memories by the second...
no, i'm not typing about what i did yesterday
it's just weird to me that yesterday's a memory and gone.
and in it's place, a new one takes place by the miniseconds and the cycle goes on and on.

what is present?
what is now?
i remember the fun we had together last night but it's just "remember". the feeling of the heat of the moment are just scant memories...
good things dun last forever
and einstein's theory of relativity comes into mind
or even the cliche matix every beginning has an end

wouldn't it makes present so much more precious?
for when the moment is committed to memories, it's gone and it becomes the good o' days that i used to have.

and if the memories are bad, we can even deny that it ever happens. that's the value of memories...

wouldn't it makes everything so immaterial for the past and the "used to have" are just fleeting memories frozen in the moment time.

it just makes everything so fragile and "now" so much more precious
and so, "now" is a gift from God called "present" how apt yet so ironic

Answer = Problem

since when is answer equivalent to problem?

i was watching a Cantonese TVB problem on Ah Chan who's currently in Mauritius talking about his life and struggles and it got me thinking when he said that his daughter got to fend for herself when he became bankrupt. His daughter who lead a comfortable lifestyle got to adjust and work to support herself to get to university.

like in life, answers when given without the workings or how it was derived can be a problem itself. a person born with a silver spoon without knowing how it was earned can lead to many problems later in life.

the feeling of joy in life is better savour and appreciated when a person actually earns it. like starting a puzzle piece and completing the whole puzzle piece by piece. the joy gained at the end is different compared to the puzzle bought wholesale from a shop or as a gift from friend.

and this is what separates the wheat from the chaft and how it can makes a person better mentally. i believe that when we are born, we're like a piece of plasticine. as we grow, we are constantly shape by our surroundings and the environment but mostly, we are what we want the plasticine to be.

Ignorance and the Olympic Flame

been reading the news on how protesters are trying to disrupt the Olympic torch relay. I wonder what are they trying to prove? Free Tibet? Change the regime? Shame China?

it shows the blatant misunderstanding of the Chinese history and misguided thoughts by the westerners. If you compare the reactions by the EU and US against the Soviets over many issues, they basically suck thumb due to the vast amount of energy resources that Russia provide but against China, French president even have the cheek to say that he might boycott the opening ceremony, what an audacity, trying to score brownie points with his people.

"face" in Chinese definition can be vaguely describe as "respect or pride". u give people "face" as in not to publicly cause embarrassment to other people. it's a very important cultural norm that the westerner have not grapple with and not to hang dirty linens in the public. once u don't give face to other people, relationship or friendship cannot exist or progress. just like the thought of wearing mask by the brits at the opening is trying to show the world that China is not being a good host and that is a big faux pas. due to pollution, are they gonna wear the mask non stop through out the games, in games village, when they go shopping and R&R and everywhere they go and do? i dun think so.

after years of humiliation in the 1800s and early 1900s by foreign countries, the Chinese government will not submit to intimidation and giving up control of sovereignty aka Tibet if it ever happens can only be done on China's term. what the world have to understand is that economy can take a back seat and progress can be delay by 10, 20 yrs or more but the country must be kept intact. the Tiananmen incident is a very good example. If even own blood can be shed, what more can be said of those foreign demonstration to free tibet?

Chinese people by default are not as vocal as the westerners, they prefer not to create disturbance to the countries they reside in so as not to feed the hand that bites it. if you're poor, then work harder instead of relying on handouts like other migrants but if push comes to shove and the volcano finally erupts, the demonstration by the Chinese can by very emotional and violent as shown in many incidents in China.

For the people that participate in the disruption and the leaders of countries that hinted of boycotting the games, the effects will be felt after the games. The Chinese government will not take it laying down now that they know they're a world player. ground sentiments in internet forums are rallying Chinese to do their part to support their own country and for all Chinese over the world, this lack of "face" shown will be reciprocated.

Shame China? Who do you think you are?

Complacency or cracks from bigger problems?

With the escape of Mas Selamat fella, it caps a year of cock ups of events at a national level. Is it complacency that sets into the system like what MM says, a decline of our famed efficiency and meticulous planning or are we really cheating ourselves from the propaganda spread from the national papers?

Let me recalled from my feeble memory of some major cock up...
During National Parade:
I've noticed that during one of the segments when the commandos decended from the sheares bridge into the waters, the fireworks was lighted up and you can't really see their decent. The fireworks are meant for the later segment when the brightly lit boat sailed towards the platform beneath the bridge

During Chingay at cityhall:
*The synchronization of the timing was screwed. The emcees don't even know when the president is coming or how he's coming. Prep the crowds that he's coming in his motorcade but everybody waited and waited and instead he came from one of the mobile platforms. duh.

*next, the emcee prep everybody up for the start of the event at 7 plus but waited until 8pm for the live broadcast. In between, there's no programs to entertain the spectators and there's a number of dead silence in between. there's not even a background music, just dead silence.

*I pity the spectators who paid for the cheaper tickets (but not that cheap exactly) and were seated by the sides, they're seeing fucks as the performers only concentrated in the center of the grandstand where the vips were and the two large display screen were more interested in showing the sponsors than the event.

*at the start of the show, the marquees and e luxury cars are on one side of the road while the starwars troopers are on the other and created a jam in the center. dang, they can't decide what they wanted to do and half way through the show, the performers were jammed up along the road at padang.

*Summary: it's on of the worse chingay ever despite saying that it's asia grandest street parade. if they dun buck up soon, we'll lose the initiatives to hongkong or other countries. the chingay should be a celebration and more spectators would greatly enhanced the brand name of singapore. instead of restricting the show to just paying spectators, it would be better if it's held at orchard road where tourist and locals alike can throng the streets and catch a glimpse of the performers like in Rio de Janeiro. Sure, the paying spectators will get a seat and catch the performers infront of them but nothing beats having music throbbing throughout Orchard Rd and people having a whale of a time.

*Changi Airshow:
I have not seen such a poor crowd management before. Well, the organisers can blame on unforeseen surge in crowds but having the exiting and the entering crowds on the same path? That's unforgivably poor and lack of logical thinking. It wasn't that bad during Asian Aerospace but was so this year.

*Singapore GP:
system crash? Sure, shit happens like what Murphy says but no contingency plans? and having people waiting in line for more than 3hrs and went back home empty handed? That's uniquely singaporean!!!

*MRT breakdown
we've lost count the no. of times the train services have been disrupted and this yr jan is one of the worst. 7hrs... nowadays, it's either people jumping onto the tracks or the maintenance vehicles breaksdown. The inconvenience caused to the public esp with the screw up bus services is pissing us off. It's not the first time it happened but the contingency planning is absurb. If the train can only starts at Tanah Merah, then the buses from the non serviced stations should proceed straight to Tanah Merah instead of going to every disrupted stations. U can't pick up any more passengers as the buses will be pack like sardines.

*with the amount of train suicide during economy downturn, the amount of revenue lost with the disruptions is better of building the automated doors. The problem with these agencies and the often misused word "competition" by the government is that bottomline still prevails but these are national assets and critical infrastructure. It something needs to be done, it has to be done for the greater good of the public. "Competition" is often a much maligned word used by the government. SMRT competing with SBS Transit? which line on N-S line vs NE line will have more ridership? who are we kidding with ourselves? well, i'm going off topic here.

As a matter of fact for proud Singaporeans who often laugh at the Taiwanese for their dysfunctional parliament. Here's a stark reminder: The Taipei mass rapid transit have not broken down for 3 years and counting, their trains comes almost every 2 minutes and the timing countdown is by the seconds i.e if the lcd shows the next train is coming at 1m 25s later, when the countdown reaches zero, the train really arrives not like our fluctuating 6mins which can suddenly jump to 3mins or the 2mins seemed forever.

*Lastly plus the ultimate Mas Selamat escape
well what's more to say?

Has complacency crept in or just minor hiccups from the normal high standards we've been expecting or gotten used to? Unfortunately, these kind of events dun really happen so often or is very rare in the 90s but it's getting very frequent in recent months.

Abit off topic again:
I think Singaporeans need to backpack more and see the world of what it's really like instead of being a comfy tourist in an aircon bus. The world is moving and we're lagging behind, cocooned in our make belief world that Singapore is the best and no.1 in most areas and further enforce by our venerable straits times. It's time to have some bad news in our countries to put things back in perspective.

The joke going around:
Is it because we're having too many scholars in the government sectors and the experienced foot soldiers who get things done are gone?

A little too shiny for comfort

dang! i need a shit...
and off i ran to the lavatory at dhoby ghaut mrt station...
whew, there's 2 empty cubicles...

took off my jeans and boxes and proceed to squat onto the toilet bowl...
(i dun sit in public bowls, u never know the fella before u)

and guess what, i saw myself in the reflection on the floor!!! !!! !!!

and guess what too, i can see what's the fella on the left/right of me is doing too!!!

the left: he's apparently changing
the right: he's taking a piss
the left: notices the reflection on the floor and saw my face i think...
ohh, too close for comfort...

luckily it's all wind and no substance,
i quickly pull up my jeans and quickly left the loo.

aftermath:
hmmm, who's the smart alec that design a glossy toilet floor?

can't i even get a decent ass dive without being peeped on?