Another of my random shots...

A new moon, a dying tree and a lone bird...

I really like this photo... I don't know why... it just seems so... all encompassing in a way... =)

p.s. If it doesn't load, just click on it... the link should work.. =)

You know you're getting old when...

I'm bored.. hence I decided to compile a list of "indicators"... feel free to add to the list =)

You know you're getting "old" when

• you turn on the TV and realise that the cartoons they are showing today were the same as the ones you used to watch as a kid (so it IS true that they recycle those tapes after some years)
• even Sesame Street has incorporated "Computer Animation" techniques
• you see those little primary school children and you wonder how you could have been so tiny before... you also wonder how they've become quite round today...
• your tuition kids in secondary school are learning things which you learnt only in Junior College
• you no longer receive those "nice friend nice friend" SMSes, or emails for that matter... because everyone's "busier" these days
• your mom (who used to insist dating is NOT for you) is now hinting for you to get a boyfriend (or girlfriend) just in case you get left on the shelf...
• Jurong Entertainment Centre (that blue building near Jurong East MRT) is no longer the IN place for kids from your primary school.. Can you believe it? JEC was like the hippest place for us when we were kids.. arcade, movies, ice skating, McDonald's, Science Centre.. they had everything!!
• at your family gatherings, only your cousins in primary school are wearing dresses... Sounds weird to you? Just retrieve your kiddy photos and you'll realise that in those days, most of YOU and your cousins were wearing dresses...
• the songs you used to love and sing all the time are now frequently being played on Class 95 and 97.2 FM... or even worse, on Gold 90.5 FM and 95.8FM
• you go back to your Junior College, you automatically enter the J5 and above category (no point counting and keep track of the exact number)... and when you go back to secondary school, you are in the dinosaur category...
• you can sing the whole NKF charity show song because this year is probably the 8th time you're watching it... inevitably, you start wondering when they are going to run out of ideas for stunts or when some other actor/actress will get killed doing the stunts they do today... (if I remember correctly, they used to just sing and do skits)

hahaha... this is interesting stuff... try reminiscing about your own past and see what you can come up with =)

Have Fun People!!

Sim Wong Hoo on NUTS

It seems when one is revising for exams, such articles make for very good reading... =)

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No U-Turn Syndrome ( NUTS )
by Sim Wong Hoo, Chairman & CEO, CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY LTD

Excerpts from
No U-Turn Syndrome (NUTS)
Chaotic Thoughts from the Old Millenium
by Sim Wong Hoo


Introduction


What is NUTS? NUTS is when you want to do something and you seek approval of a higher authority. When there is no rule saying that you can do such a thing, then the standard answer is NO ...

In the US, when there is no sign on the road, it means that you can make a U-turn. When the authority do not want people to make U-turns, they will put up signs to tell you not to make U-turns.

In Singapore, it is the reverse. When there is no sign on the road, you are not allowed to make U-turns. When the authority allow you to make U-turns, then they will put up signs to give you that right.

The two different systems serve the same purpose - to better manage the traffic. They may look quite similar, just coming from different direction, but the social repercussion is significant.

In Singapore, the no U-turn without sign culture has permeated every level of our thinking and every segment of our life. This no U-turn has created a way of life that is based on rules. When there is a U-turn sign or when there is a rule, we can U-turn. When there is no sign, we cannot U-turn.

When there is no rule, we cannot do anything. We become paralyzed.

I call this "no-rule=no-do" phenomenon - the "No U-Turn Syndrome" or NUTS.

Singapore has prospered under a rule-based system for many years. When we were at a lower level of development, we needed many multi-national companies to come to Singapore to invest. What these MNCs needed were a very reliable group of managers and workers who could follow exactly the rules set by corporate headquarters overseas. Since they did not want their overseas subsidiaries to innovate anything, they wanted us to stick closely to the rules, no funny deals, no crazy ideas. They were here to teach us, not to listen to ideas from us.

The efficiency and no-nonsense style of the Singapore government is well-known. It has brought us prosperity and a good life. A rule-based system is essential here too to get everybody to toe the line.

But the world has changed. And it is changing faster and faster. So fast that the rules that were set yesterday are no longer valid and cannot serve our new needs. It is not a matter of setting new rules to meet the new situation because by the time new rules are formulated, they would already be out ofdate. It is a matter of how to survive and prosper in environments where they are no rules.It is a matter of how to live with ambiguity. Things are no more black or white, things are in shades of gray. How do we deal with them?

What is NUTS?

NUTS is when you want to do something and you seek the approval of a higher authority. When there is no rule saying that you can do such a thing, then the standard answer is NO.

What is wrong with this? There is nothing wrong if we choose to be stuck in the old world of our own where nothing changes.

To meet the challenge of the new world, to meet the challenge of rising to a knowledge-based economy, we have to innovate like mad. How can we innovate when we need to obey rules to innovate? Innovate means to create things out of nothing, it means moving into uncharted
territories where there are no rules.

How can you innovate when you have to get approval of somebody who looks at a rule-book first?

Such is the syndrome of NUTS. NUTS is everywhere in the society including schools, offices, hospitals, parks, factories and even in our homes. Yes, in Creative (Singapore) too. Here are some hilarious examples, they make you want to laugh and cry at the same time. I am sure you can tell me more.

NUTS #2-"Creative Resource"-needed approval?

When our corporate headquarters were completed in 1997, we needed to give it a name. The placeholder name was Creative Technology Centre. Made sense, but it was a boring name that everybody had. I wanted a special name, because we are "creative". So the usual names like,
"Creative Building, Plaza, Complex, House..." were suggested on the name list. I rejected all of them. Finally we came out with a very good name, "Creative Resource" - the source of all creativity - and everybody loved it.

But wait, before we could go ahead, we had to submit the building name for approval. What! I was shocked. I needed somebody else"s approval for the name of my own building. By some faceless committee that I did not even know existed. Imagine having the name of your baby being approved by somebody you do not know.

Hey, that is the regulation. OK, we submitted and no prize for guessing the right answer. The answer was NO. The reason given was that the name was not "Centre, Plaza, Building, Complex, House etc..." There was actually a list of approved names in the rulebook and we were only given
the impression that we could name our own building.

I nearly jumped through the roof when I heard the answer. It was a very typical case of NUTS. "Resource" was not in their rule book, hence the standard answer was NO. I was not going to give up on this right. So we fought back and wrote letters to appeal. Finally, after a long process,
our name was approved. Whew!

NUTS #3 - Cannot sing Singapore songs!!

While we were preparing for the opening ceremony of Creative Resource, we wanted to have a lot of creative fun. We prepared a lot of performances by our own staff. We were very fortunate to have invited the Prime Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong to grace the event. We wanted to show him the best creativity in us.

The opening fanfare idea was to have a big group of kids running into the building, singing a medley of Patriotic Singapore Songs. It was going to be very delightful. After the songs were arranged and recorded, at the last moment, someone in the team decided that we actually
needed to seek approval from the authority because of copyright issues. The answer came back was of course a NO.

There was no rule to say that you could do a medley of Singapore songs. There was a rule that said we could sing the Singapore song in special celebratory occasions like ours, so this was allowed.

Our people started to panic, because there was no time to change the recordings. They sought my advice. They were thinking of canceling this delightful fanfare and disappointing the kids, from our Creative child-care centre, who had practiced so hard for this event.

I asked them why they had thought of seeking approval for a private function especially when the answer could be a No. they were afraid that the TV stations were there filming and it might have constituted a copyright infringement!

There were a few NUTS at work here. First it is my own staff who were NUTS, they were toeing the line so tightly that they felt the need to seek approval for a private function that was not controversial at all. I was sure that the PM would give his 100% endorsement. Then we had the NUTS at the approval side who looked at the rule book and said No.

I asked them to go ahead and just do it, even violating the rejection letter. Some of my NUTS staff must have freaked out. I told them I would bear the full responsibility. If I had to pay a $2000 fine, I would pay it. In the worst, worst case I might go to jail for it - that would be interesting too.

In fact, the PM in his impromptu part of his speech also said, to move forward, we would have to "just do it". It was a timely message.

NUTS #4 - No Title

Recently, Creative had just spent a few million dollars investing heavily in a company. The key person in the company was needed urgently to launch a new ".com" project that could be worth a lot more in the future. In the era of the Internet, timing is everything. Then suddenly, he told me that he needed to go for reservist during the critical period. This meant that his whole team could be crippled because his leadership was not there. I told him that there should not be a problem, as he could always apply for a deferment. In fact, the Deputy Prime Minister has told me in the Technopreneur 21 committee that, reservist duties should not hinder Technopreneurship because the affected reservist could apply for deferment and it would be considered favourably.

So the staff wrote a letter to apply for deferment. It was rejected. I told him to write an appeal, mentioning Creative"s involvement and all the relevant and valid reasons for such critically needed deferment. It was still rejected and we were running out of time.

I guess I had to step in. I wrote the letter personally again, citing all the reasons and the ".com" time-critical factors. It was still rejected. I was very upset by this. It was already the last working day before he had to go in-camp.

I had to call the officer personally. I identified myself, including my role in the Technopreneur 21 committee and appealed for the fourth time. The answer was still NO. after all the reasons were given, the answer was still NO. Well, they had liberalized then - if you were a new employee of a company, the deferment would be allowed. I argued strenuously that the key person was more than a new employee. He was a new employee of a company for which we had spent millions to acquire.

No! An acquisition does not constitute the equivalent of a new employee. A new employee IS a new employee. Period. The rule book never said that the people in a new acquisition are new employees. Therefore they are not "new employees", regardless of the fact that their employee status are the same in principle. It does not matter if you are Sim Wong Hoo or the T21 chairman.
NUTS is NUTS.

It almost drove me NUTS!

Fortunately, I heard from some people that I would get a better chance if I were to call the unit Commanding Officer. I asked for his name and phone number and the officer obliged. I managed to track down the CO on his handphone at the very last minute. The CO was an understanding man because he was also a reservist and in the computer line. The deferment was finally granted

NUTS #5 - Creative NUTS

We had our equal share of NUTS in Creative and they really drove me NUTS because they actually happened right on my head, the CEO of the company. Such is the persistence and universality of NUTS.

First example, the time I needed some CD-ROM replicated for some last-minute projects. I knew I had time because, we had an in-house CD-ROM replication plant and it would have taken less than one day to finish the job, especially my small little job of a few hundred pieces.

But when my assistant came back, she told me helplessly that they needed a one-week lead-time. I almost jumped off my chair. This was a rush job for the CEO and they just threw back their standard lead-time at me, it was clearly written in their rule-book that the standard lead-time was one week - for a rush job. So one week was what you would get even if you were the CEO of the company, even if your job was very important.

I asked them who set the rules? They were the ones who set the rules! I was amazed how NUTS they were. Then change the rules, I told them.

Finally they did it for me in two days.

There were several of such examples within Creative. And the managers sometimes fought with me because that was the only way they could ensure the quality of the products. Quality is good when we are shipping products to customers. But when we need to rush, it is always during the
early stages of engineering run, where we need a lot of samples to test. Quality then becomes secondary and time is primary. Staff with a NUTS mentality would not have the flexibility to do such a switch, unless you make another rule. And you can only live within the new rules.

NUTS #6 - More Creative NUTS

The second example in Creative has to do with customer support. Creative pride ourselves as a company that provides the best technical support. All our staff know that. We have 400 people in Oklahoma USA, just listening to phone calls alone. We have a small technical/customer support team in Singapore serving only the small Singapore market. The team is hardworking and dedicated to the company. In general, their service is good and efficient - when there are rules.

There was once when I received a customer"s letter addressed to me complaining about our customer support department (CSD) with regards to a missing CD from our product. Our CSD insisted that the customer get the CD from his dealer who sold him the PC with our product. And the customers attached the letters of exchange. It was such a minor issue but I felt customer satisfaction was most important. So I wrote a small note and asked them to give him the CD and be done with it. CD-ROMs are very cheap anyway.

A few weeks later, I received another letter from this furious customer complaining that our CSD wanted to charge him like $15 for the CD because it was the responsibility of the dealer to give it to him. And he attached even more letters for me to read.

I was very upset this time because, what could have been a very simple and pleasant customer support issue, costing the company less than $1 for the CD-ROM if people in CSD had just given it to him in the first place, now potentially cost the company a bomb:
Firstly, the CSD"s time to write all those letters of exhange, they are way, way over $1. But because of NUTS, our CSD people did not see it. They are just trying to follow rules when there are no rules in such situation.

Secondly, the CEO"s time. I had to read about ten letters two times to figure out the gist of it all. It must have cost the company thousands of dollars. And even after my first instruction to just give him the CD-ROM, they still went into a cat and mouse chase to try to ask him to pay $15. Someone in CSD probably set the rule that if a customer wanted an extra CD-ROM, it would cost him $15 - that is it, regardless of the plight of the customer.

Thirdly,the most expensive part - the harm it had done to our brand name. A potentially unhappy customer would hurt the company way beyond the customer. He would tell all his friends not to buy from the company.

But people with NUTS mentality could not see beyond the rules. They could not see that a $1 CD-ROM was much, much cheaper than their own time, their CEO"s time and the value of the brand name. I had to call all the three persons involved in this case to my office and explain to them very slowly about our principle of customer support. You could not fault them for dedication, they were trying to make an extra $15 for the company. Not seeing the big picture of how much more it would cost the company. I had told them that for us, the customer"s interest is always in the #1 position. I told them that they were the "customer"s advocates" - they had to be fighting with me for their customer"s interest, rather than the other way round.

Finally, told them to call up the customer directly, apologize and give him the CD-ROM he wanted and ensure that the customer was 100% satisfied. If the customers are not satisfied - we should not take their money.

We are moving faster and faster into many uncharted territories, where there are no rules. We do not want to be paralyzed by waiting for the rule to be formulated before moving - it will be too late. We have to discard our NUTS mentality and learn to live in a new world where there are no clear rules. Not that it will be a cowboy lawless land. There will be broad guiding principles such as common goals, objectives and basic integrity to follow. The rest, we have to look at the big picture and decide what is the best way to do a job, to achieve our goals.

Sim Wong Hoo’
Excerpt from "No U-Turn Syndrome (NUTS)"
Chaotic Thoughts from the Old Millennium

Interesting Article...

Found this interesting article from my friend's blog (Thanks Aileen :P)... Worth reading once in a while when u get too sunk in on doing things.. hehe...

Enjoy reading it here!!

Great Expectations...

Today is a weird monday... I have only has 3 hours of classes so far and so much has happened...

1st hour was econs tutorial... hardly anyone came for class today... might have been due to the heavy rain... i've come to notice that the no. of pple who turn up is inversely proportional to how much rainfall there is... ie the heavier the rain, the lesser the attendance... anyway since there were so little people, the tutor could ask as many questions as she pleases and expects an answer from us for every one (or one) of us. well nothing wrong with this... except that there happens to be this rather "loud" guy in my class.. he's ok la I guess, usually he's the only person who "answers" the tutor... the tricky part is that he doesn't know the answer so either he guesses, or he craps something...

It is quite amusing to have such people in your class.. adds some entertainment you know... but at the same time i can't help feel a bit gek that he wastes the class's time like this (cos the tutor usually re-explains and stuff after his odd answers)... maybe I have too high expectations... u know, go to class, learn stuff, efficiency... but here, that obviously isn't the case... but at the same time, you can't really blame the guy right... i mean everyone asking students to speak up and not be afraid to give wrong answers... well I think he'll make a good role model in this sense... he can be wrong all the time but still not shy... so... I really dunno what to think about this...

ok... so the next 2 hours i spend in my MP2911 class (refer to prev post for more details) I tot I could go there, submit my report and drawings (which made me stay up till 4am on Sat to do) and get off of there.. but no... the tutor goes around looking at the drawings, and then a lot of scoldings start taking place.. in the end, he extended the deadline of submission from today to this friday, because he wanted some people to redo their drawings...

now I can say a lot about a request like that.. for one, tutors from other classes only require a drawing of 1 shaft... we have to do the whole 3 views of assembly diagram (which has ALL ur components and dimensions).. I think this is ok.. cos hey he does have high expectations, and what better thing to "push" students to work than something lidat? Unfortunately, i think he has high expectations AND not enough flexibility. I can tell u it takes a LOT of effort and time to do the drawings... if a group used a 1:3 scale, yeah it's not really "right" but considering the amount of effort put in, isn't it a bit too much to ask them to re-do? A scale likes that makes the drawings hard to read for u (tutor) but i'm sure it was very hard for them to draw as well.. Also, we do not just have this module to care about; we are not experienced MPE students to know exactly what you want; we are not engineers who will be submitting our work to an office for our assembly to be built; We are year 2 students with 7 other modules to handle, exams next week to deal with; We have put in a lot for this and yes we made mistakes; but we are learning, we see this project as a means to better understand the concepts presented in lectures, as a means of practice of calculations so that we can deal with exams questions...

I don't think it's a problem of setting high expectations for students (or whoever), rather, I think it is a problem if we dunno how to be flexible to compromise... wait not compromise, but accept that everyone has different standards, and that judgement shouldn't be passed so quickly just based on these differences..

After all, in life, isn't everything about being a bit more understanding, a bit less of giving hell to someone else? you don't have to lower your standards, but if others don't meet your standards, it isn't the end of the world or the worst damnable thing either...

Perfect Eyesight? Not for long...

I have perfect eyesight... and I'm very very proud of it. This considering that I am born and bred in a country which ranks almost top in the world as having the most number of myopic children (or it is it adults? or both?)... It's quite a surprising thing actually, I used to be quite a reader... just put anything with words in front of me and I'll read them, whether or not I want to... I have no idea why... I have this innate thing for reading maybe... (food for thought for gene scientists... is there a reading gene??)

Anyway, I have a bad feeling my perfect eyesight won't last beyond my uni years... been working a lot on these assembly drawings past few days for this project for MP2911 (Machine Element Design). For those who dunno what those drawings are, basically they're precise, hand drawn "blueprints" of how your machine components should be assembled to make the final product (which in my case happens to be the power transmission system which will allow a 100kg cleaning pod to be lifted vertically in front of windows)... Well I'm doing half-scale drawings so doesn't sound so bad right? unfortunately the dimensions vary from a shaft 14 mm thick and 100mm long, to another one that is 40 mm thick and 1500mm long... which means the small is really quite small...

So poor me has to squint at my drawing paper for hours at end, trying to make a "precise" drawing of this tiny gear hub... sometimes I wonder why my eyeballs just don't die on me, disconnect their nerves and plop on the drawing paper (honestly I hope that won't happen.. imagine the mess that would make on my drawing... and it means must redraw!!)

all the drawing and squinting, plus the reading of notes and texts accumulated over these 4 years of university will one day really have some toll on my eyesight... I just know it... add in the poor lighting in some places in NTU and the fog due to forest fires overseas...

the future "looks" bleak...

The Wushu Enthusiast speaks...

Just to prove how much an wushu enthusiast I am, I decided to take photos of all the wushu weapons I have at home... Oh man I'm so proud of my collections... hehehehe...

p.s. if it doesn't load, just click on the picture for the link... =)

Junior College Days...

Taken during 1st 3 months in Junior College... seems ages ago since I wore a uniform... hahhaa... and we all look so kiddy... interesting memories this photo brings back...

Going on a Holiday...

I wanna go on a holiday... doesn't matter where, as long as I get to get out of Singapore... you know, just need to get away from it all, see some new stuff, stuff u don't usually get to see in Singapore..

I'm supposed to be studying for these 2 quizzes (stupid quizzes) for tomorrow... but here I am thinking and dreaming of where I would like to go... Theory of Relativity: the more you are trapped by the education system here, the more you wanna get out and get far far far away...

well anyway, I haven't really decided where to go and when... though it is quite likely that I will make a little trip down to Taiwan sometime in May... the prospect of getting out of Singapore is enticing enough, never mind that some people say going to a city place mostly populated by Chinese-speaking individuals will bring back memories of Singapore... hahaha...

but aside from that... I kind of got to thinking... about how they always say don't wait till you are ready then go travelling... cos it's quite likely that by the time you've earned enough for your travels, you're too "inertia-fied" or old or tied down to actually make the trip.. therefore, I have decided to start listing some places where I definitely wanna visit before I am... 30? (well I shall decide further on the exact age tomorrow after the pesky quizzes)

So the places are:
- Shaolin Temple in China => I reckon this is a must-do for every wushu enthusiast on this planet
- Estonia => Since I've never seen snow, might as well go as up north in Europe as I can to check it out and freeze my nose off... besides, got contacts there... hehe
- Finland => Hey it's just a ferry ride away from Estonia
- the Pyramids and River Nile in Egypt => hey we've been reading about mystical and awesome Egypt since Primary School... definitely a must see on my list
- Kanchanaburi, West Thailand => this is the state that borders Thailand and Myammar... Very rich in culture, in history, in natural scenary... been there once but since it was for a camp, we were mostly cooped up in the resort...
- Turkey => another country with such a distinct identity, so rich in history and religion...

hmmm... I think there are so many places more if I really sit down and think about it... better start planning my finances.. haha..

ah well.. this blog entry is mostly random thoughts.. but hey at least now I won't forget which are my must-see places in the near future.. =)

Aren't you glad I'm not a normal blogger?

Well firstly, what is a normal blogger? Truthfully, I don't really know... I just have my own perceptions of how blogs usually are (or if you're very very practical, you may say they're my stereotypes of blogs) From the way I see it, most bloggers talk about what happened in their day, what s**t they experienced, some stuff they saw and wanna talk or think about... yeah.. daily life kind of stuff...

But my blog? well you can't really see much daily stuff here... mostly random thoughts, entries that look like essays for a General Paper question, some photos I put just so to show off that I can take nice photos, and if you have no idea what I'm talking about at this point I would suggest you stop reading right now, and go through my archives... yes... do your background readings; didn't your tutor ever teach you that?

So... Why aren't there any of those typical daily stuff on my blog? Simple answer... I don't really think you'll be interested... I mean, how would you feel if I told you that today, I woke up at 8am instead of 7.30am; that I reached my lecture at 8.45am (which is 15 mins after it had started); that the lecturer (life sciences class) taught us how to draw conclusions about our health from the way our stool floats or sinks; that I was feeling quite exasperated with my design project partner who thought everything was so easy (partly because I had done most of the calculations and thinking already); that my Manufacturing Technology and Materials tutor has now recognised me as "Our Friend" (a.k.a one of the few people in class who actually know what he's talking about and who can answer most of his questions) and thus makes me his number one choice of answering even more questions; that while I acknowledge that I AM quite smart, I don't really think I enjoy basking in the spotlight of attention; that I feel kind of sad cos my trainee is leaving for Taiwan tomorrow; that I had my 2nd cup of coffee for the day during dinner just now; that after this I think I really need to do more mugging???

I mean, honestly, would you be interested in all that? I doubt so... That's why I don't write blog entries like that... So, my dear readers, aren't you glad I'm not a normal blogger?

One Confused Rooster...

The weather since Chinese New Year approached has been one heck of a crazy weather.. first we got this whole long while of blazing hot sun, which led to so many bush fires around Singapore... Think it was kind of an awakening for many Singaporeans.. I mean, we're talking about bush fires in Singapore, this tiny island surround by seawater which has long been proud of her invulnerability to the assault of natural disasters.. but hey, there's always a first for everything... wonder how those drivers felt driving on the benjamin sheares bridge and seeing blazing fields along the road.. must be quite fascinating.. pity i missed those sights (don't I sound such a sadist? damn..)

anyway back to the weather.. yes 1st the really hot spell.. then the erratic arrival of major downpours... I'm not sure if these rain storms spread themselves across the whole island, cos it certainly doesn't feel like that to me... especially with the kind of rain storms "ravaging" Jurong West and Boon Lay area... it's quite a contrast especially after the hot spell, and really felt like all the moisture evaporated during the hot days was being dumped back on us again (remember our water cycle? learnt in primary school...) not that I'm complaining too much about the rains.. they do relieve some of the heat, and clear the air as well... yet they do make me ponder on the frustrations felt by those working at the weather forecast stations in Singapore, since most other parts of Singapore was still blazing hot...

maybe this weather has to do with the Rooster that just kicked the Monkey back to a 12 years wait... after all it did kind of start with its arrival during Chinese New Year... you know in Chinese beliefs, there are 5 elements that govern everything on Earth: metal, wood, water, fire, earth... you should also know about the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac... What most people don't know is that there are 5 elements of each of the 12 animals in a complete cycle. This means that a full zodiac cycle is complete once every 60 years (12 animals * 5 elements each) If you don't believe me go ask any Chinese old folk you know... the probability of them knowing is much higher than asking your 25 years old Chinese friend (sorry if I've just insulted someone's intelligence and knowledge)

But back to the Rooster... well I have no idea what element this Rooster is supposed to be in 2005 (60 years is a long time and I lost track.. so did my parents when I asked them) but I'm quite convinced that the Water Rooster and Fire Rooster are fighting it out for supremacy in Singapore.. haha...

I wonder who will win... for a while the Fire Rooster had the upper hand, and then the Water Rooster came in with an unexpected nation-wide downpour and evened out the score... damn they are good.. but whichever chicken wins, it's still quite funny when you think about it... See, if you translate Fire Rooster into Mandarin, it is the same writing for a Turkey (火鸡)... And if you translate Water Rooster into Mandarin, it's 水鸡, which either sounds like an underwater machine (水机) or conjures up the image of a soaked chicken (think 落汤鸡)... Either way it doesn't seem like a very glamourous image for the Rooster.. so poor thing la...

hahahhaa

Snapshot...

Taken in 2001 during our 1st competition in the team event... we got 4th... if the darn radio had worked we might have gotten 3rd... =)

Reliving memories...

Today, I went back to my junior college for wushu training with the juniors… It’s really been a long long while since I’ve gone back for training. Somehow, with all the work from university and other stuff, I always manage to find a reason not to spend that 1 hour traveling down from my house, and another few hours torturing myself in training… but today, guess I was in holiday mood… there’s homework to do, stuff to catch up on, but nah... Today I decided I shall take a break and go back…

I’m glad I did… although stepping onto campus and seeing everyone in uniform again makes me feel really quite old… it’s been what? 2 full years since I’ve graduated… 2 full years since I went to school in that familiar brown uniform… haha… this year, I will be what is typically know as J5 senior (J1 being 1st year in JC… oh and keep in mind that JC is only a 2 year thing) hahaha.. sounds old huh? Seems only yesterday when I was training as a J1 and looking in awe at the J5 seniors who seem so pro and wise…

You know, I wonder if the juniors did look at us (or me) in awe… for most of them, this is their 2nd month into wushu training… and from what I saw today, well they have a long road ahead of them… but then again the juniors always do… training with them today really brought back many many memories of mine…

I remember the steps where we used to practise stretching… we’ll be doing splits with 1 foot propped against the step (i.e. elevated split) and counting at least 1 minute before switching legs… I remember the whole bunch of us trying to figure out how to do 仆步穿掌 properly and fast enough to our seniors’ liking… I remember doing those frog jumps up that dreaded slope, and the 100 v-sits exercises, and that 四六马移弓步 across the central plaza… I also remember very clearly all those times I thought I could just die from the exhaustion, the pain felt when I wake up the morning after training day, the moments when your butt and thigh muscles seize up after being brutally tortured in 大量… I remember being so tired during a particular training on a Sunday (we were training at least 3 hours on Mon, Wed, Sat and Sun each) that I was ready to cry and give up… I remember almost crying again when after 3 months of intensive training, I found out I could not compete due to a lack of competitors who signed up for my event...

But I also remember all those times we spent up in 会所 eating our watermelons after trainings. I remember sitting on the roof top staring at the star-filled sky (yes we trained till that late) and singing crappy songs. I remember that training with Robin where we almost died laughing from his jokes. I remember always having a place to go to for friends, food, TV, mattress, radio… You name it, the 会所’s got it. I remember that weird ad we did during morning assembly, which supposedly scared away all the junior guys from joining wushu. I remember the adrenaline rush whenever I was about to do the 400m sprint, or when I did my routine. I remember the joy of having a cool bunch of people to share my frustrations, joys, crap, whatever with.

Many times when graduated seniors go back for training, they look upon the fresh faces, shake their heads and think to themselves “The way they’re training, they won’t make it”. I think at some point of time I felt like that today; and then I wondered if I was being over-critical. But then, I thought some more and figured, Hey it must be normal to feel like that. I mean, look at us. For every batch, it’s only after soooo much hard work that we get to the stage of senior (and that’s just in 2nd year). The J1 juniors are fresh, just like we once were. They haven’t experienced all the joy, the pain, the frustration, the bonding that we did to get to where we are today. And honestly, I don’t think you will get anywhere in wushu if you don’t go through all those emotions and experiences first. It’s like an initiation rite: only the toughest survive, but you can bet your ass that those who survive will be one bonded bunch.

Today, 教练 made us sit down again and tried to explain how to do some moves properly. Most of what he mentioned, I have heard before countless times. But I don’t mind listening to him again and again. It reminds me of when I was just a fresh junior in wushu. Also, I’ve come to realise that what教练 says is usually quite right, especially the following:

In wushu, we talk about 团体精神, about unity and bonding. Why? Look at it this way. If someone were to train all alone, yes he can become very skillful, he can win many medals in competitions. But will he be happy? Maybe, maybe not. Because he is all alone, he does not have team mates, buddies. He does not have people to inspire him on when he feels de-motivated; he does not have people around him who understand the challenges of doing wushu; he does not have competition to spur him to greater heights. He will only have himself. And that is not enough, because wushu is not all about winning… it is never only about winning…

Ok so he didn’t say every single word above… my memory isn’t that good (forgive me I’m J5) but you get the flow…

But anyhow, at this point, I just wanna shout out to the people in my batch… people like Jie An, Aileen, Siying, Junqi, Annabelle, Randal, Fung Nien, Han Wei, Eugene, Wu Yan, Yuan Wen, Gary, Kun Ming… thank you so much for being my team mate, my buddy. Wushu would not be the same without you guys… Thank you… =)

Cameras and Photographs

I just discovered my hidden love for taking photos... well maybe not really discovered... I think all along, I've had this penchant for taking photos of stuff... note that stuff here usually means that I am not in the photo... you know stuff like scenary, objects, other people going about their daily lives without noticing me...

Sounds like any other camera fanatic... unfortunately, I have neither the skills to operate or the money to purchase one of those super duper high class high quality camers... shall have to make do with my own Panasonic Digital Camera I guess... not much but at least it's something...

I think to some extent I envy the camera and its photographs... it is able to freeze that moment, capture all the details, to see what it there to see, and sometimes see even more... sounds like I'm reading too much into something as simple as a photograph huh? To each his/her own I guess... but somehow, I think a camera can capture emotions, feelings, happenings even better than a person at the scene of the shot can do... and somehow, I hope to be like that as well...

Yes that's right... I think, I will be bringing my camera out more often...

Night View from my friend's place in Seng Kang 

Some Strange Random Thoughts

Beating the system... seems to me that this is what most people spend most of their lives doing... the transportation system, education system, work place system... blah blah blah.. so many systems we live in... isn't that complicated?

so what's so complicated? well it's the whole chicken and egg thing again (darn this chicken)... see, a system is made up of people who create it, and run it... but then the people are moulded by the system also, so adhering to the rules becomes so habitual that they continue to run it in the same way... so if u look at it closely enough, you start wondering: who is running who?

let's take a look at the transportation system... ok to put it more accurately, let's look at one component of this system: moving to the rear of the bus. So how does this system work? You get on the bus and look around for a seat (it is a long ride and you do have to rest those legs... imagine standing for ages in those toe-pinching leather shoes or heels.. ouch). If you find one, good for you! If not, keep standing baby... Ah but the key issue here is stand where? Most people like to stand near the door, or in the passageway before it narrows into the rear. The reason is obvious isn't it? They wanna be able to alight as conveniently without smashing into 1 million people (the other 2.5 million people drive to work) on their way off. So this creates a system, albeit quite a micro one. Ok so now the system has been created and slowly, this system starts running the people. It becomes so normal that despite many stares from people squashed in the front of the bus, and despite the relentless pleas of the bus driver, no one moves. Ok ok they move sometimes, like a few inches just so to prevent their feet from cramping after remaining in the same position for too long. This kind of gets on my nerve... for one, I sometimes feel quite an idiot to be the only person who has moved to the back of the bus (hello I DON'T have BO)... for another, it irks me to hear someone get stopped from moving too far back... I mean, talk about spreading selfishness...

You know what... I just realised I sound like some constantly frustrated-with-society individual... what with this entry and the previous one... and you know what? I think I am... This whole system thing is so... confining... so... monotonous... I don't care if I (along with so many others) do well in the system... who says that doing well in the system means you are happy with it?

I think we need more of such styles of thinking... forcing ourselves to see the little irksome things in our lives... You may wanna call it nit-picking... but I say it's got quite some stress-relieving component in it... I also say that by seeing the not-so-good sides of some things, it becomes easier to appreciate these things...

After all, appreciation is an ability that is all encompassing... it's not just about the good stuff in life...

Sorry seems to be the hardest word.. really??

sorry seems the hardest word.. yeah that's the title of this song by Elton John and boyband Blue.. not that this post has anything to do with that song.. it's just a better way of catching your attention.. especially if you happen to be the type who enjoys reading about how people slam boybands and boy-lovers =) but I shall leave my thoughts on that to some other time..

so back to my actual thoughts... you know how it is people always seem to think that it's so hard to say sorry? at the moment i can already think of this song by Chicago called "hard to say i'm sorry".. from the kind of propaganda this concept is getting, you'll think "sorry" is the hardest thing to say after "I love you".. and I'm sure there is some truth in the concept, especially when refering to some thick-skinned individuals, which (trust me) are in abundance around us.

But strangely enough, I've been hearing a lot of Sorrys these days. For example, "I would like to go but got something on that day.. Sorry!" or "I'm sorry but I'm really busy so I can't help you"... well the list goes on, I'm sure you have a couple of phrases you can add on yourself..

When you think about, yeah they all sound pretty legitimate, no issue etc etc.. but I see an issue here.. why do people say sorry, yet do not offer an alternative to "make up" for it? if I were in a team working on something, and due to my other commitments I am unable to devote fully to the project, yes I apologise for my lack of participation.. and I apologise, because I feel a tinge of remorse, or guilt that I cannot do as much as I am supposed to. So to appease this guilt/remorse, shouldn't it be that I offer my help in something else? or during a certain time where I am more available?

hahah.. certainly sounds like I'm bitching about something right? well I can assure you that I have no such intention in mind. After all, I must confess that I do make the above-mentioned mistake" myself: apologise but don't make up for it.. sometimes it seems so much easier to brush things aside after they are over.. and besides, this is so widely practised that more often than not, we just take things as they are; we just accept this concept..

so what should we do? Accept it I guess.. but personally, I hope I won't subscribe to or practice this concept too much.. I want to say Sorry, and act upon the situation so that I won't be sorry all the way..

oh and one last thing.. maybe we shud consider changing the phrase "Sorry seems to be the hardest word".. for all we know, it's exactly because people think saying Sorry is hard enough that no action comes after that.. something like "Oh I've accomplished something by saying Sorry, so that's quite enough.. I mean, saying Sorry isn't easy you know?"

think about it... next time you hear someone say "Sorry", or when you yourself say "Sorry"...

About blogging and sleeping

hmmm.. I never thought this day would come.. the day i start writing my first proper blog entry.. I've never been much of a blogger.. the thoughts just fly in and out of my head.. and most of the time when they start flying in the computer is nowhere nearby.. now is that a wastage of thoughts or is that a wastage of thoughts? Man if "a penny for your thoughts" was true, i must have thrown quite a fortune down the drain.. ok so that's lame.. but who cares? u guys know what a thoughtful person I am =)

been awfully sleepy these days.. managed to get off the coffee dependency (yeah I dun drink at least 1 cup per day now) but the consequences of kicking that seems quite dire.. now i fall asleep during lectures without even knowing.. ok so u say that sounds funny and sounds like something u do all the time (dun pretend.. i know u're thinking that)..

well I think this is a different kind of falling asleep.. see usually when i'm in lecture, i'm aware that i'm sleepy.. it's the kind of drowsiness where u distinctly feel your eyelids getting heavier and heavier.. and the lecturer's voice gets more and more distant from u.. yeah tat's normal sleepiness.. i fight it for a while, but like Garfield says "Why fight a friend?" hahaha

but back to sleepy.. this new sleepy.. it strikes without warning man.. one moment i'm listening to the lecturer talk about buoyancy or vectors or matrices and the next moment i realise that he's gone through a whole section already without me realising it.. ok that sounds paradoxical.. but hell u know what i mean =) lethal i'll say.. strikes without warning.. must be a warning that I should sleep more these days.. i wonder if that would help.. after all, all my classes this sem start at 8.30 am. And being the not-very-morning person that i am, the difference is probably not too significant.. hmmmm

ah well.. no point thinking too much into that i suppose.. i can always seek comfort in the fact that lots of people sleep during lectures anyway.. sigh.. isn't that just so comforting and blissful?

duh...

How to Live upon scoring a C6 in the 'A' Levels General Paper

Note: This article was written in December 2003. It is NOT suitable for the faint-hearted.

It isn’t easy living with a grade like a C6 (or below). Believe me I should know, I got one for my General Paper (GP) during the ‘A’ Levels. I was totally distraught, and it didn’t help that I could not find any self-help guide books that pertained to this. As such, I have compiled here some ways to deal with the stress, anger and depression one might feel upon scoring a C6 (or below) got GP.


Method One
Tear up your results slip. This will definitely appease your anger and shame for quite a while. But don’t just stop at this step, being a pragmatic Singaporean, you must consider the long term consequences of your actions. Thus, I recommend that you prepare a list of excuses to give your potential employer, or the university of your choice, should they request for your slip. Do your research so you won’t use one that is too cliché, or use one too unbelievable. Yes. Always be prepared.


Method Two
Find a TALL building to jump off. Remember what they told you about being considerate to the feelings of your friends and loved one? Well forget that. Keep in mind that to survive in this dog-eat-dog world, we have to be ruthless sometimes. So now that the chance is here, don’t let it slip by. Always watch out for good opportunities; you don’t get them all the time.

Also note the emphasis I placed on the word “tall”. Being committed to a cause and seeing things to the end are some of the qualities many organisations look for in an individual; see to it that you display them. Jumping off a building of substantial height will ensure certain death and relief; it will also probably lead to a blame being put on some unfortunate person (this act of “saving your ass” is derived from modern day office politics). This method is highly recommended for those who bear a grudge against their parents, society or the education system.


Method Three
Sue the school or examination authorities. Gather evidence from your tutorials and assignments that show you are not impaired in your ability to argue coherently and to make substantial, meaningful points. If possible, rope in friends in the same predicament as you are. It always helps to blow up the issue. Not only will you gain more media coverage, it will also help you win sympathy votes from the public. Schools and major boards cannot withstand too much public pressure so as Sun Zi says “use your enemy’s weaknesses to your advantage”.

WARNING: This method involves a lot of time and money. For those looking for a quick and easy solution to their grade problem, I would still suggest Method 2.


I would go on but I suddenly realised that I have very little ability to make organised and coherent points. As such, I have decided to leave out some of my thoughts on this whole C6 issue. I shall not tell you how ironic it is that while society encourages character strengthening and abhors superficiality, it also discriminates according to an individual’s one-time performance in a major examination. I might say that the objectives of receiving an education seem somewhat blurred, that one-time grades rather than long-term learning performance are playing so major a role today in society. But being incapable of clear analysis, I will not in case I end up rambling.

Now excuse me, I have a TALL building to scout for.

Terrorism - Is it over?

More than 3 years have passed since the horrible happenings of September 11. In this period of 3 years and so, so much has happened around the world. The launch of a War Against Terrorism, the struggle of so many nations to find a stand in this campaign so aggressively supported by the USA, the Bali Bombings, the Iraq Hostage Crisis, the attacks in Russia, the bombings in Indonesia, these simply consist the tip of the iceberg labeled as the “Post September 11 World”.

It is of no doubt that the “Post September 11 World” is a huge concept. It is a huge issue; something akin to a huge octopus whose far-reaching tentacles have touched upon so many aspects of society. It touches on violence, belief systems, tolerance, the individual, the list goes on. But before we move into explaining these details of the “Post September 11 World”, perhaps we should look at why this is such a crucial issue to discuss.

For this purpose, I will be basing my discussion on examples and case studies in Singapore. The reason for this is to start from an aspect which we, as students living and studying in Singapore, can easily identify with. Some people might call this myopic and consider it a severe oversimplification of dealing with this issue, but I feel that only through this approach can we come to terms with the “on-the-ground” kind of emotions i.e. the implications on the average Singaporean.

In the Context of Singapore

Singapore is very well informed of what has happened all over the world through the media. For sure, every time we see footages of explosions and suicide bombings, or hostage incidents, our hearts go out to those innocent people who are affected. But no matter how many bombings go on in the Middle East, how many people are taken hostages by terrorists or how many terrorists have been captured by international authorities, life still goes on as per normal here. True we’ve had a close shave and scare when the Yishun MRT Station bombing plot by members of the Jemaah Islamiah was uncovered. We’ve had heightened security and constant emphasis on security, and so far we seem to be coping well in Singapore. Life at the very basic and mundane level seems back to normal; or so we think.

How many of us have actually noticed the absence of dustbins in MRT stations these days? I was not aware of this change (even though it was publicized in the media) until that very day when I had to blow my nose while waiting for the train to arrive. Being the conscientious citizen who does not litter, I looked around for a dustbin to dispose of my tissue, only to realize that there was none on the platform. Silly as it might sound, I had to travel more than 10 stations to my destination to dispose of that tissue in a toilet dustbin. From this minor incident, I then went on to find out that there were no dustbins at some bus interchanges as well. Suddenly, I also noticed the posters and announcements at MRT stations urging passengers to report any suspicious looking objects. Once in a while, I would even chance upon one of the MRT personnel patrolling the platform. All these incidents might seem quite minor and uninteresting on their own, but when you look at them from a general perspective, the social implications are definitely there.

For one, they just go to show how the global issue of terrorism has permeated our society. These acts are carried out with the objective of creating a safer environment for Singaporeans through heightened security. They are part of a nation’s response and reaction to a world in which planes crashing into skyscraper towers are no longer “just part of a video”; a world in which any man, woman or child can blow up a street with explosives; in other words, a Post Sept 11 World.

These incidents also lead me to question the real motives of terrorism. Terrorism, according to http://dictionary.cambridge.org/, is defined as “(threats of) violent action for political purposes”. In my opinion, despite the presence of the term “political purpose”, the main disruption in which terrorism results is more to the everyday routine of life and not so much to the political beliefs or structures in a country. Terrorism essentially results in the disruption of routine; it instills an additional sense of inconvenience and uncertainty in what we see and do.

When several parts of Singapore were plunged into darkness due to a power plant failure, many Singaporeans actually called in to question if this was an act of terrorism. The authorities had to assure them that it was due to a technical fault and not some attack on our infrastructure. Similarly, when the Nicol Highway collapsed, there was a fear of whether the collapse was the result of a terrorism attack.

Paranoia is the word that springs to mind. These incidents clearly show that there is a sense of fear and uncertainty that has been unconsciously weaved into the social fabric of Singapore due to the many drastic events occurring around the world. We do not talk about this fear very openly, but it is apparent in how we deal with life today. The suspicion felt upon seeing an Arab at the airport, the uncertainty of whether a particular individual’s briefcase might contain a bomb, the inconvenience of having extra security measures. Life is no longer as basic or mundane as it was before; and it is here that terrorism has truly succeeded. Terrorism has made its mark on Singapore’s society, on our individual lives. It presents itself as a constant reminder that life will never go back to how it was before September 11, 2001. It challenges our beliefs and values by forcing us to rethink our definitions of security, of religious understanding, of tolerance.

Singapore’s precautionary measures might be considered quite encompassing by most standards; we have been able to protect ourselves against potential physical attacks so far. But in this Post Sept 11 World, no one is 100% safe. And it is the knowledge and acknowledgement of this in our daily lives that threatens the very foundations upon which our society is based. This is the real danger of terrorism.