Morning in Clementi

After my practical lesson today, I met my ex-Tanglin comrade Jason to bring him to the bridal shop at Clementi to have his passport photo taken and Zhi Teng followed us. It was the only place where I can think of in Clementi that has this service. It was done pretty fast but because of two nerdy looking twins in some white shirt brown shorts uniform from some useless top school who had theirs taken after Jason, we could have left earlier. They were accompanied by their nerdy looking sister and ang moh pai mother who only speaks English and insists on using her credit card to pay although the shop owner say the card was not acceptable, can't she just use cash?

Then we went to the hawker centre to makan. As it was still early, the place was relatively empty when I first look at it. Then while looking for a table, I realized that all the empty tables were those with two seats. Suddenly, an auntie waved at me and gestured to follow her as she led us to an empty table, big enough for the three of us. I already knew what will happen next and upon sitting down, she asked us "要豆花水还是甘蔗水?" I ordered the former, Zhi Teng ordered the latter and she looks happy. But we were not happy, we did not like that table so after she came back with the drinks, we walked over to another table to sit. Jason ordered some white-coloured dessert, Zhi Teng ordered chicken chop and I won't tell you what I ate

After that we went to the bookshop as Jason wanted to buy graph paper before going to a shop to play a lame game where you have to shoot ping pong balls either in a row or column to win something. Each round costs 20cents, we played three times and won this small little miserable prize


Finally I headed to NTUC to "shopping" and went home

This is the last post of 2008, oh no, all my posts will be dated 2009 from tomorrow onwards

adiós 2008 bienvenido 2009

30 December

Guy looking down

3 friends laughing at him

Girl(pulling the guy's shirt): 我们刚买的,可爱吗?

Guy turns his head and 勉强 smiles at her

Feels pai seh

Yes, i ate the mega mac burger from Mcdonald's during lunch. It is not really that huge after all, my mouth is still 勉强 big enough to bite it. Actually, the most interesting thing is that I still don't feel full even with french fries and a cup of coke in my stomach as well. As it was bigger than usual, I had some difficulty eating tidily and the cabbage sort of dropped out

Again, I did not take any pictures as I think it was not necessary and there were other people around me too during that time

***

Today is the 30th of December and only one day stands between us and 2009. So this are the few things that 城市人 like you and me will normally do during this part of the year.

Do the annual spring cleaning of your house which may actually be the only thorough one in the whole year, so it is pretty pointless doing it only every 365 days.

Come up with a new year resolution that contains all your dreams and wishes that never seem to come true even after so many years of coming up with them and doing nothing to achieve them

Spending the night counting down the new year with other idiots who scream and yell "Happy New Year" to one another when the host counts to one and fireworks burst into the sky, all these adding up to a high volume of air and noise pollution

Recalling all the memorable things that occurred to you this year which you will probably forget more than 90% of it in 2 weeks time and cannot be bothered to remember them again since it is the new year. So why bother killing your brain cells?

Wishing your friends a happy new year electronically via call/sms/email/MSN/Facebook where those messages are likely to be those sent by other friends and you are just recycling them and wasting your call duration/smses/electricity/time/money

Hope to start the year all over again and redo or undo the things which make you feel regretful but at the end of the day, nothing will change except that you have to get used to writing 2009 instead of 2008 when you write the date

But we are all humans right? So it is forgivable that we do all these annual things since it is human nature

Back to school

Yesterday, I had forgotten to do something very crucial. Actually it is not really crucial but it has been in my head all the while for the past two weeks and I will think of it everyday. But, but, but, it just slipped of my mind yesterday. This crucial thing that I regret not doing is none other than to go to Compass Point
For The Little Nyonya public event

I have been visualizing myself at the place and what I will be seeing every now and then. I wanted to see Dai Yang Tian PK Qi Yi Wu on stage with Jeanette Aw but I will never get the chance again


Anyway, as mentioned in one of my previous post, I said that the three weeks of school holidays will pass very quickly. Indeed, it seems that it has only been three days since the day I was down with fever which is also the first day of the holidays. I am going back to school tomorrow and I wonder what will it be like

I think most of the things are still the same. The empty field is still under construction, the foodcourts are still packed with people that it is almost impossible to find an empty table during lunchtime, mosquitoes will bite me when I sit at the benches, some of my classmates will be late for class, my Maths lecturer still look old and wicked and many more

Top 10 sports people of 2008

I am glad that many other bloggers have updated their blogs recently, so I cannot afford to lose to them. This should be one of my more classic posts where I list my very own top 10 sports people of 2008. Read on to find out who is the winner

Number 10

Lewis Hamilton

He is the Formula One world champion of 2008 and the youngest driver to do so in history. The McLaren Mercedes racer managed to finish 1 point of ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa at the end of the last race in Brazil to clinch the title. I placed him last among the ten winners as i do not like his aggressive style of driving and his arrogance. Also he only won by a single point and that was because another driver slowed down due to using dry-weather tyres in the Brazillian Grand Prix which allowed him to finish fifth



Number 9

Micheal Phelps

This human-fish won 8 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and holds seven world records in swimming. Phelps bagged numerous awards this year which include the Sports Illustrated Sportsmen of the Year 2008 and World Swimmer of the Year 2008. Again, because of his arrogance, he is ranked ninth only just above Hamilton since he has more awards to his name



Number 8

Iker Casillas

The Real Madrid goalkeeper won the La Liga with his club in the 07-08 season and has established himself as one of the best goalies in the world. He was handed the captain's armband for the Spain national team in Euro 2008 and won it with his team. The custodian managed to keep clean sheets in the quarter-final, semi final and final. Casillas is also the first goalkeeper-captain to lift the trophy. He finished fourth in the 2008 Ballon d'Or



Number 7

Boston Celtics

The sleeping giants of basketball. After buying Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, the team started to return to the idolized and glorious days of the Bird years in the 1980's. Plus the captain, Paul Pierce, the 3 formiable players were indispensable in the team. In the Eastern Conference final of the NBA, they beat Detriot Pistons 4:2 to advance to the 2008 NBA Finals where historical rivals, Los Angeles Lakers await. The Celtics went on to defeat the Lakers 4:2 again and win their 17th championship



Number 6

Lionel Messi

Messi won the 2008 Beijing Olympics men's football gold medal with Argentina. He assisted his teammate, Angel Di Maria to score the winning goal in the final. He also displayed fine performances in the other matches which include a semi-final encounter with South American rivals, Brazil. In the current season of the La Liga, the Argentinian has been in red hot form for his club, Barcelona, having already scored 16 goals in 20 appearances in all competitions. That is the same number he scored for the whole of last season and only half of the 08-09 season has passed



Number 5

Rafael Nadal

The King of Clay in tennis won the French and Wimbledon Open titles this year, winning former world number 1, Roger Federer in both finals. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he won the men's tennis gold medal, his first Olympic medal ever. On October 18, he disposed Federer to the number 1 spot in the tennis world. The Spanish was also awarded the Prince of Asturias Awards in the sports category



Number 4

Cristiano Ronaldo

Enough said. Manchester United fans(as well as fans of rival clubs)should know well enough why his name is in this list. The 23 year old has won the Premier League, Champions League and most recently the FIFA Club World Cup with his club this year. Individually, he has won awards like FIFPro World Player of the Year, European Golden Shoe, Ballon d'Or and many others, all in a span of 1 year. Ronaldo deserves a higher place than this but due to his arrogance(and the fact that I dislike Man U), I placed him at fourth only



Number 3

Kobe Bryant

One of my favourite basketball players. Bryant led his team, Los Angeles Lakers, to the 2008 NBA Finals, where they eventually lost to Boston Celtics. The shooting guard won the Best NBA Player ESPY Award and NBA Most Valuable Player. He was named captain for the USA men's national team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and propelled them to win the gold medal, which is their first since year 2000



Number 2

Usain Bolt

Usain "Thunder" Bolt won 3 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He broke the 100m world record at 9.69 seconds and the 200m world record at 19.30 seconds. The 22 year old became the first sprinter to break both records at the same Olympics. His third gold came in the 4x100 metres relay and had another world record broken at 37.10 seconds. With all his acheivements, Bolt placed his country, Jamaica, on the athletic map

and the Number 1 is..........
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YOU

Yes, my loyal supporters. Without all of you switching on your computers day in day out to visit this blog, how will it survive? Now, that is vigoruos exercise with your hands doing with all typing and clicking and your eyes reading the words from the monitor. You deserve the top spot for my 2008 sports people

Claypot rice for dinner

I had dinner at the coffee shop near my block just now, ate the famous claypot rice. I did not take any pictures as I think it is not necessary. Quite nice and filling

That's all for today

Bye Bye

One more thing, I really hate Vietnam, they defeated Thailand yesterday in the AFF Suzuki Cup

RealBlurPolitics® will take a break tomorrow as today is a public holiday, we will be back next week, sorry for the inconvenience caused

What I did on Facebook

This is apparently what I did on Facebook today, I commented on George Yeo's status although I think it is more like commenting on the comments by other people on his status. And he is really the real George Yeo, foreign affairs minister of our country
Click on the pictures if you cannot see clearly


This is what he wrote
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scroll down
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And this is what I wrote at the bottom

At least what I wrote is of zero percent hypocrisy and pretension

Now, this is a good advantage a person has for not putting a profile photo

TV analysis: The Little Nyonya Part 3 and a TV commercial

TV analysis: The Little Nyonya Part 3 and a TV commercial


More errors from The Little Nyonya. We all know that there are many impossible and illogical scenes in the drama, now even the song lyrics of the theme song is sang wrongly, somehow

While listening to the theme song last Friday at the beginning of the show just like every other night, I noticed that Olivia Ong made a mistake.To confirm it, I listened to it carefully again last night and I was right. In the sentence 几幅女红将以泪缀点, the words 女红 should be sang as nǚ gōng but Miss Ong sang it as nǚ hóng. If I am not wrong, 女红 means the things which women do like spinning(thread), sewing, embroidering etc. So the sentence translated to English literally means some pieces of cloth sewn are done by tears, where women are resigned to their fate(doing chores)and had to suffer in the past

Very "deep" lyrics indeed, but let's forgive Olivia since she is more of an ang moh pai singer since young

***************************************************************************

我是王冒 >>fill in whatever you want<< 大使

A TV commercial about this popular beer featuring three celebrities has been airing recently and it is normally the first one everytime when a show takes a commercial break

There is the ageing Alan 乌 with his new long and wavy hairstyle, "飞鸥纳" 公主 and the 30+ years old still want to act cute Miss Chia in the advertisement

This commercial is really one of the worst ones I have seen this year. Miss Chia looks greasy and lethargic in it, an obvious sign that she is getting older but still like to act young

"飞鸥纳" 公主 introduced herself as the health ambassador of the beer brand. Oh my, how on earth can drinking beer be related to being healthy? In short, beer is not healthy and has never been healthy till today. If there is a healthy ambassador, why not a money/prosperity/wealth one or anything else?

Alan 乌 has shown us that despite after so many years, his mandarin is still 十年如一日. There is still a tinge of ang moh flavour when he speaks. Many ABCs in the entertainment industry can change their style for the better but Mr 乌 is still his old self until now

Regarding the guess the animal post which nobody guessed correctly, here is the answer

It looks like this originally

then I have people guessing pig, how on earth does it look like a pig to you, Teck Cheong?
Wai Yuen guessed elephant and crocodile, I think he likes large animals.
Wei Qian said it is a bird.
Nick guessed cockcroach and mouse, he prefers small animals.

ALL WERE WRONG

You need to zoom in

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:
:
:

It's a HUMAN, struggling to get out of the ground near a hill. We are all humans and we perceive things differently, this is the raw side of humans that I want to show you all. Humans are also animals, just that our superior brains made us rule the world for many years to date

AFF Suzuki Cup: Singapore 0:1 Vietnam

It pains me to write the title of this post which is also the score of the second leg semi-final played at the National Stadium yesterday. A night when Stamford Raffles' armies were defeated by Ho Chi Minh's troops. I believe many other fellow Singaporeans share the same feeling as me now, so close yet so far. The chances were there but no one converted it to goals




Anyway, the ball is round so anything can happen in football. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. Vietnam won the match but I am not giving any credit to them. They were rough and had no sportsmanship especially the number two, Doan Viet Cuong, who eventually got a red card. If this is really the last match at the National Stadium, it will be a memorable one

Our national team has only trained together for 2 weeks so it is still a great achievement for them to reach the semi-finals. Also, it is seldom that a competition has a winner three times in a row(except for Manchester United in the premier league). We will be back for revenge in 2010 and this time they will not be so lucky

Final score: Singapore 0 Vietnam 1, although it is more like Stamford Raffles 0 Ho Chi Minh 1

AFF Suzuki Cup Preview: Singapore vs Vietnam

Again, our National Stadium will be reopened for the semi-final second leg match against Vietnam the day following today. During Wednesday's first leg in Hanoi, the Lions looked like the weaker team. They were outclassed and outwitted in every department especially on both flanks. Then after the game, people around you and me were using adjectives like "lousy", "disappointing", "sucks", "poor", "terrible" and many others to describe the national team. Actually, Singapore did not play poorly, it was the Vietnam side that played well. They controlled the game and left little space for their opponents which prevented Singapore from playing their normal passing game. Also, another factor that caused Vietnam to play better are tactics and formations of both sides. I shall analyse it in the next few paragraphs

If you know the game well enough, you would be aware that Vietnam's main style of play is to attack down the wings. Wednesday's match has proven that the Vietnamese wingers are too good for the Lions despite their full-backs training extra hard during practice. So how should we deal with them? I myself personally have a plan and if Raddy Avramovic somehow comes across this blog and sees it before tomorrow afternoon, I hope he will consider it

Ok, first of all, play a 4-2-3-1 formation. Juma'at Jantan should replace the ageing Daniel Bennett at left-back. The ang moh was erroneous throughout the first leg, he even threw the ball "out" from a throw-in during the first half. Then, he passed the ball to the Vietnamese players numerous times. Juma'at is a workhorse with a great engine and more of a natural left sided player. Logically thinking, if Juma'at is given a chance to start, he will surely play well to impress his coach for trusting him, so why not pick him? As for the other three of the back four, it would still be Precious Emuejeraye, Baihakki Khaizan and Noh Rahman.

The purpose of using two defensive midfielders is to counter Vietnam's twin terrors on the wings. Mustafic Fahrudin and Isa Halim will each mark one winger since Vietnam seldom play from the centre of the park. Then the playmaker who is also the third and other player in central midfield will be Shi Jia Yi. Jia Yi has shown that playing on the flank is not the best for him when he was deployed to the left on Wednesday. He is more attack-minded and playing him behind a lone striker looks more desirable

As for both flanks, I think Indra Sahdan Daud should be moved to the right from his natural striker role. Ridhuan Muhammad has immense pace which is something wingers should possess but he seems unable to deliver crosses and when he does, they are normally not sharp enough. My observations tell me that Indra should play in a position where no one is directly in front of him. He was used as second striker behind Agu Casmir in the first leg and failed to provide the much needed link from midfield to the frontman, Put him on the right and let him run down the flank himself, it should be more effective. For the left, Shahril Ishak would be my choice. He can play on either side or upfront. Actually, I pity him as he is not used regularly by Raddy since he has good technique and is versatile. A good alternative for the injured John Wilkinson.

Finally, the lone striker would be Noh Alam Shah. Judging from the previous game, Agu has sort of lost his touch where he scored four goals in the group matches. Techniques aside, Alam Shah has greater determination to do well than Agu where he showed it when he got booked after two minutes of his entry as a substitute in Hanoi. The offside own goal was also due to him putting pressure on the Vietnam defender who scored it.

Before I forget, there is Lionel Lewis in goal for the Lions. He looked like the only player in the team when Singapore played Vietnam, saving many shots time and again when his defenders let him down. And there you go, this is the most desirable starting XI Singapore should have tomorrow at Kallang. Tickets are available now. While stocks last

A good example

Today, RealBlurPolitics® shall show you what makes our country a good example that other nations want to follow and perceive that our government is of world-class standard

Firstly, why is our country doing so well in almost everything and always at the top of various rankings(except for football in FIFA)? This is because our ministers carry out their work properly, efficiently and swiftly with zero corruption. So how to have fine leaders to rule us? Simple, they must be clean or rather uncorrupted. Then how to have uncorrupted ones? Simple, better salary. With the highest amount of ministerial pay in the world, who wants to risk being corrupted and have a tragic ending after stepping down like Ah Bian?

Secondly, our leaders know how to strategize their survival in the country. By having GRCs in parliament, they know that they will have a more stable standing. All opposition GRCs were defeated in the last election. Also, during the previous election, the government who is the ruling party proposed that the only 2 opposition seats which were SMCs form a GRC instead. This indirectly shows the plan to capture the 2 remaining slots in the parliament where if both sides send a GRC to battle, residents might favour the ruling party as it has more distinguished candidates.

Next, to elaborate on the part about strategizing their survival. Knowing that the people here are all kiasu, they give out goodies time and time again. For example in the previous election, they started giving out free breakfast during 5am at dawn to residents staying in an "opposition place". Well, but in the end, the plan sort of failed as it was still lost to the opposition. Other goodies include lift upgrading, baby bonus, a million dollars to catch terrorists and many more

Then, there must be family members within the parliament to ensure 100% percent cleanliness and honesty. After the first one steps down, a tall one takes over and to show gratitude for choosing him as his successor, he picks the first one's son to be the third. Yes, they are one big family, regardless of height, black or white hair, age and who is more handsome. With his father as his mentor, the young one should be able to perform well enough and he has proved his country that he is capable to do it. Also, if he dares to be corrupted, his father well be there to scold him in front of the entire cabinet in the parliament house

Lastly, our government have done many things which the rest of the world have never tried before . We have the world-first drinkable recylced water, taxing people electronically on the roads, having a night safari, organizing a night F1 race and many more to show the world that we are very clever and can think out of the box although our statutory boards do otherwise. Whatever we do is to give a good impression to others like what our teachers tell us in school by dressing neatly and have tidy hair etc

Count yourself lucky to be living in this model employee, oops I mean model country where our leaders are all so capable and have wonderful salaries

TV Analysis: The Little Nyonya part 2

Here I have a more detailed analysis of the current 9pm drama, The Little Nyonya, on Channel 8

I shall start by talking about the roles. Firstly, the character of 菊香 and 山本月娘. Around March or April, Mediacorp shortlised 3 potential candidates for the role. They were Fiona Xie, Jesseca Liu and Jeanette Aw, who is eventually the winner after 2 months of consideration. Much to many criticism from viewers including me, Miss Aw has proven her critics right that she is not the perfect person to take up the role. Her expressionless face while filming is her main weakness and rumour has it that the character of 菊香 who is unable to hear and talk was tailored-made to cover up the actress' flaws. Also, Xiang Yun's role was actually assigned to Huang Bi Ren but the 1.75m towering actress left Mediacorp in June due to contract matters

Next is some trivia. The Little Nyonya is indeed the costliest production of Mediacorp to date. This drama is so attractive that even Zoe Tay, queen of Caldecott, wants to have a part in it. And regarding the generosity of our local TV station to air 2 episodes on Mondays, it is actually because of over-runs. It was supposed to be 30 episodes at first but ended up with 4 extra ones. Anyway, it is the first 9pm show to have a 2 hour allocation which has 2 episodes aired in 1 day

As for the errors, impossible scenes, wrong locations, it is clear that everyone has seen it themselves on TV so there is not a need to list them out. Almost every episode has an error in it, if you would like to see one yourself, the next significant one is episode 21 where 月娘, without any money, ran all the way from Singapore back to her house in Malacca.

But the strangest thing is that despite all the negative comments about the show, it has a high viewership and as of Monday's episode, it has 26.2%. Very high already!

Notice
Event: The Little Nyonya public event
Venue: Compass Point
Date: 27-12-2008
Time: 3pm

Yes, this is the one public event of the show where you can get to see Jeanette, Qi Yi Wu, Dai Yang Tian, Eelyn Kok, Joanne Peh and many more artistes from the drama, so if you have time do drop by
P.S.: wah but Sengkang quite far from my place leh!

I shall end this post with the so called music video of the theme song

Nobody is answering

This morning at 9 plus I switched on my handphone and received 2 messages from Singtel telling me that someone called me while it wasswitched off. One was ET(my classmate, not the alien you guys were thinking) while the other is 82111233.

When I called the latter back to ask who was it, a woman picked up the phone and said hello. Then she kept quiet and I was like hello-ing all the way there for 10 seconds, in the end she hanged up

So called ET but nobody answered and I continued calling for another 3-4 times but still nobody picked up. Actually, she also sent an sms saying that she heard from Vernon that my group is joining theirs for CIP and if we really want to, just give her a call to ask for more information

Since ET did not bother me, I called back the 82111233 woman, this time she answered and said she dialed the wrong number when she wanted to call her mum yesterday. Lame woman, guys if you are free enough to do me a favour, prank call her for me and when she asks just say you dialed the wrong number

Next, I decided to give Vernon a call to clarify and the result is equivalent to ET. No one answered, again. Then I called Zhi Teng who is my group member to enquire and (luckily)he answered. He say he received the sms at 9 plus last night and replied that to ET that he needs to discuss with his group members first. We both wondered who told Vernon about it and did not think that it is Nas. Zhi Teng said he is going to Langkawi later in the evening at 6 and we ended the call

Called Vernon again but still no answer, then after a while he sent me an sms asking if Nas told us about the CIP. Now I am stunned, he did not tell us at all. I immediately called Vernon to ask but again he does not seem to like answering calls on his handphone

Went online and went to my blog and saw Nas' tag asking me to call him so I did it although I do not understand why he cannot call me in the first place. He mentioned that the CIP was on Tuesday and Thursday and my first reaction was to inform him that our dear China friend, Zhi Teng, would be relaxing on some beach in Langkawi during that time. Finally, I just told him no since the venue is at Paya Lebar which is quite far from my house

End of story, and don't forget to prank call that lame woman

Nobody is updating

Sometimes I really wonder if anyone reads what I write, yes there are definitely readers out there, just that they did not tag

Anyway, why am I updating this blog so frequently when no one is doing it? It is been a week or so and some my friends' and classmates' blogs are so dusty. Come on, surely there is something to talk about after one week right? A good update is better than a bad update and a bad update is better than no updates

Some people(the worst kind)even have the cheek to advertise their blogs in their personal message in msn when they have not updated it at all. It is just like hanging a banner to tell people to visit your restaurant when you have not even started to prepare the food for cooking!

Then, there are other bloggers who leave theirs dusty for a month and when someone tags to ask for an update at the tagboard, he is ignored as well for several days and still counting

Finally, some even ask the people around them if they read his blog when it is untouched for quite some time. And the worst part is, when the other person replies no, they will react with a "huh? you never read? go read lah" manner. The problem is not that the guy did not read but is not reading it since it is not updated. My lecturer, if you are reading this, you should know best who I am referring to. I 亲耳
heard you asking another guy in class if he reads your blog and he shyly but politely says no and you were like so overreacting to his answer when your blog is so unupdated

Smoking is harmful

You are strongly advised to read this entire post especially if you are a non-smoker and don't forget to read the last sentence at the bottom

I applaud the move by the authorities to ban smoking at even more places in our country. Mr Khoo Seow Poh who is the director-general of public health with the National Environment Agency(NEA) said that it is part of the worldwide drive by the World Health Organisation(WHO). WHO encourages governments to have smokeless public and work places

The places which would be added into the banned list include hotel lobbies, non air-con offices and shopping centres, playgrounds and the one which I think is the best, carparks. So to everyone whom I know that smokes, you better start contemplating a couple of new places to puff unless you want to risk getting fined

Speaking about getting fined, what the NEA requires is not only more enforcement officers, but also strict and intrepid ones who are not fearful of the ah bengs, young punks or foreigners(at Golden Mile). Weak or rather no enforcement has been the government's forte and what they do best in is conduct meetings and arrange people to look into the matter. This seriously will not work, I really hope there will be a change this time and the recalcitrant smokers will be punished accordingly although I am aware that statutory boards work one-way, one-direction

Actually I do not know why smokers tend to get this special privilege that non-smokers are not entitled to. Because of their addiction, they can take 5-10 minute breaks during work to smoke at the entrance or somewhere else. This is a common "practice" among some of my colleagues when I was at work previously. One would sent a message on msn to the other to ask if he wants to take a smoking break and the answer is usually yes of course. Then, both of them would just calmly make their way out and go to basement 1 where the carpark is their distress corner. And if you guessed it, when two smokers walk out together, another one who noticed them will gladly lock his computer, get up from his seat and follow them too. At last, when they come back into the air-con office, a strong and unpleasant smell is carried by them and felt by others

We should stop all these nonsense and not let smokers continue their bloody selfish actions, most of them think that the people around them might not mind inhaling second-hand smoke but this just shows how inconsiderate they are

Also, I dislike seeing people placing their cigarette boxes on the table wherever they sit. Are they trying to show people, hey I smoke, you better not come and anger me or display that disgusting and super gross lung/brain/mouth cancer picture? Back to human nature, they are just displaying the raw side of humans, showing off and trying to look good(which is obviously the opposite in this case)

Come this new year, they will be less places which smokers can smoke, this is absolado bingo great. Really feel like going back to the office next year to see how my ex-colleagues strategize a new tactic for their addiction during work. If they are still not caught, then the HR department should do something too. Give demerit points! Let's say after one gets 5 points he get a pay cut? And when it reaches 7, sack him. Good riddance of poisonous smoke

Ok enough of those, pick your favourite design, these are the 3 more popular brands in the country and I am not encouraging you to smoke, it is just a fun thing. I wonder if anyone collects cigarette boxes as a hobby? It will sure look colourful and spectacular placing them all together

Marlboro, the most famous and all time favourite around the world

Marlboro Filter


Marlboro Lights


Marlboro Ultralights

Viceroy, another brand which many people know, maybe because of the quality


Viceroy Filter


Viceroy Lights


Viceroy Ultralights

Camel, popular among the younger generation as the name is easy to remember


Camel Filter


Camel Lights


Camel Superlights


Smoking is not only physically harmful, but also morally, psychologically, socially and financially

10 facts about the governance in our country

In today's RealBlurPolitics® column, I will share with you 10 facts about the governance in our country which you might or might not know but should know

1. They say 4 in 10 will benefit from the distance based scheme which allows commuters to pay less when they change buses. This means that the majority will pay more and those who only ride on direct buses have to give greater amounts. Contradicting

2. Suing plus making sure the opposition is jailed due to defamation becomes part and parcel of our leaders' careers

3. The Sports Ministry cares more about hosting important sports events in the country than it's people's welfare. Useless plants which look messy are grown instead of building a jogging track and children get TINY amounts of PE lessons in schools

4. Whatever is done is all for the sake of the people. ERP was implemented to manage congestion. GST is meant to help the poor and seats were removed in trains so that more people can be squeezed in during peak hours

5. What is one similarity and difference between your friend and town councils? Both confess that they invested in Lehman Brothers but your friend will admit roughly how much he/she lost while the other will just beat around the bush

6. Our betting Pools' stated aim is to provide a legal avenue for betting in the country to counter illegal betting syndicates. But did you know that TOTO was introduced in 1968 to collect funds from gamblers which was used to construct the "forever never close" National Stadium

7. We recruit foreign talents to make our sports teams stronger and more colourful which truly represents multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural and multi-countries

8. It is proven that being greedy does not get you anywhere. Haw Par Villa's entrance fee costed $16 more than a decade ago and less people started going until in 1996 they had to gostun plus lose face and made it free for entry, then the crowd returned

9. MRT stations were built for fun. Woodleigh, which is yet to open since the NEL started 5 years ago is a good example. So is the Buangkok one which opened more than 2 years ago after being kept in the dark for 3 years

10. Our ministers are the highest paid ones in the world where they earn $100000 monthly but the citizens here are hardly the richest in the world

Guess the animal

Can you guess what animal is this?

Note: No prizes for winners as I have yet to find a sponsor

But you can still make a guess right? Just chin chai hantam any answer also can

TV Analysis: The Little Nyonya

Do you all watch the 9pm drama on channel 8 during weekdays?

If you do not, it's call The Little Nyonya(小娘惹)and the story dates back to the 1930's till the modern era. In case you thought I am going to recommend this show to you, then you are wrong. In fact, the plot is rather mundane and the performances of several artists are below par

Good dramas are those which make people stop doing other things and sit in front of the TV every night, not wanting to miss a single moment of the show. As for The Little Nyonya, I can afford to miss 2 consecutive episodes but still understand the storyline and know what is going on in the scenes. The development is very "stretched out" which delays the tempo in a whole. A good example among local dramas which one cannot afford to miss a single episode is Crime Busters x2. It just ended recently in late October and is a detective show with full of funny scenes

The main character in The Little Nyonya is portrayed by Jeanette Aw, but her acting is really CMI. With that everlasting expressionless face of her in front of the camera, one wonders why was she chosen for this big production of Mediacorp. Also, she mutters a squeaky voice when talking which can be annoying if you listen to it too long. I think that Lin Meijiao(林梅娇)and Ng Hui(黄慧)should be given praise for their performances in the show. Both of them genuinely portrayed the characters they were acting in

This Peranakan themed drama consists of 34 episodes and is aired on Channel 8 during weekdays at 9pm. Don't forget to watch it, actually you can forget since it is alright to miss a couple of episodes anyway

AFF Suzuki Cup Preview: Indonesia vs Singapore

In today's AFF Suzuki Cup Group A matches, Indonesia will be facing Singapore as both sides fight for the top position while Myanmar take on Cambodia

Both Indonesia and Singapore are assured of a place in the semi-finals but neither of them would want to lose the match and lose face. The main advantage the Merah Putih has is playing at home, and they would certainly want to take revenge as Singapore defeated them 3:1 during the 1st leg of the 2004 final. Ironically, the venue will be at the same place after more than 4 years which is the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta

A quick check on the Singapore Pools website show that Indonesia are favourites to win at $2.30 on the 1X2 but do not rule out Singapore. In fact, I am expecting them to win this game by a goal. So I think Singapore will win on the 1x2 which is at $2.90, not bad

From my perspective, I reckon that Bambang Pamungkas is the most dangerous player in the Indonesian side. The striker is the country's top scorer with 34 goals and his presence will prove to be a stern test for the Lions' defenders. Actually, the genuine danger are the fans. The home crowd would be jeering at Singapore throughout the match and random items may be thrown at players on the field anytime

By the way, there is something strange with Channel 5. They broadcasted the live matches of Singapore playing Cambodia and Myanmar but for tonight they will only screen the delayed telecast at 10pm(the match kicks off at 7.30pm). Really do not understand why they are doing this

1st day of school holidays

I have recovered from my sore throat but I still have cough and runny nose. Went to see doctor and he said that it was an infection. After that, went home, took medicine and slept for 2 hours. Then slept for another 3 hours in the afternoon after lunch as the medicine caused drowsiness. I still feel weak now but I think I have slept more than enough already. I managed to finish my lunch even though sick people have poor appetite which I think is a good sign of recovery

It has been raining for many hours since dawn at my side here. This resulted in cold weather and plus my sick condition now, it was really freezing. Also, when I was showering, the water is still considered cold despite turning the water heater to the highest level

When one is sick, he/she cannot eat many things which includes ice-cream. I managed to find the King's ice-cream the other day but in my current condition now, I doubt I will get to savour it anytime soon

Today is the first day of my 3 week school holidays and it will pass very quickly according to my experience as a student for more than 10 years

AFF Suzuki Cup: Singapore 3:1 Myanmar

About and hour ago, I was watching Singapore play Myanmar in the AFF Suzuki Cup. The Lions defeated their opponents 3-1.

If you had been watching it on TV too, you would certainly not forget how Singapore scored the 3rd goal. Noh Alam Shah quickly(very very quick)took the free kick which was awarded to Singapore after Shi Jia Yi was fouled. In an onside position, John Wilkinson ran into the penalty box with the ball and his shot was blocked by the Myanmar goalie but he managed to keep possession from the deflection and sent a low cross to Agu Casmir and the latter shot into an empty net

As Myanmar concede their 3rd goal of the game, the keeper ran to the referee and shoved him as a protest but was given a early Christmas gift, a red card. Then the Myanmar players all started to protest and surrounded the referee while their Singapore counterparts celebrated the goal. The controversy here is that the free kick was taken very quickly and Myanmar was not ready at all. But in football rules, so long as permission is given by the referee, one can take it how quickly he likes. There is no reason why Myanmar wanted to protest and even sat out of the match for quite a while

This reminds me of the final at the National Stadium in the previous tournament where a penalty was awarded to Singapore after Alam Shah(again him) was brought down in the box. The Thais also refused to continue playing for 15 minutes

Then again, this shows us that Singapore is still the most "class" and "civilised" nation in Southeast Asia. We have sportsmanship and do not use violence without thinking twice. Too bad to Myanmar, you people are not good enough to play Singapore

Singapore will be champions!!! i bet

Saw Throat

Here's the latest update of my life

I'm having a saw throat...ok it should be sore, but the feeling is like sawing

See lah Raymond? Why must you be so stubborn and eat so many spicy and fried food? Some more drink the entire bowl of curry maggi mee soup yesterday, it is all MSG only and makes you heaty

Now you happy lah? Can't eat the tasty ice-cream for the time being. Serves you right

Looking on the positive side, this occured only after my exams, and it's immediately after the exams, so accurate...

Solution to poly students' high transport fare

Today's RealBlurPolitics® column shall showcase a fictional chat between ministers over the poly students' transport fare issue and what solution is in store

Note: transport minister is called T, finance minister is F, community development, youth and sports minister is CDYS and PM is ermmm.....PM?! Yes, i know you understand it

PM: so how's life guys?
F: sian lor, politicians lives are all the same
T: wah, i tell u all, the poly transport fare saga getting bigger and bigger already
PM: neh, those r juz youngsters petitioning, don bother them
F: ya, very fast the thing will subside one, we better concentrate on those older citizens, they are the ones that will give us headache everytime
T: i'm already stuck with that ERP thingy and must settle this too, be transport minister in this country so suay one
PM: hehe, cos you are newcomer, and newbies must do all this sai kang, few more years and you will understand
T: eh, Vivi also consider newcomer mah? why he like more relax?
CDYS: sometimes must use your brain, I got Teo to chup everything for me, that's why I look bochup
F: his name behind got 1 "luck" mah, you heng lor, youth olympics preparation you just act act only
T: okok, so can anyone suggest something?
PM: what for? it's been so many years, and nobody in parliament really did something about it
CDYS: but i thought recently few weeks ago got one female MP started something to help?
T: she give out some vouchers I think, so the pressure is on me now
F: calm down, women are nothing compared to us men, they don't think practically
T: Vivi, you are youth development minister, say something leh
CDYS: actually I think like a bit not fair to them leh
PM: nonsense, in this kind of financial situation that we are in, how can we care about this little thing?
F: yeah, our casino is still building and that Sands company don't know will mati or not also
PM: and the town councils have invested in Lehman Brothers too, we can't be cutting prices at this time
T: so I should just keep quiet? And let my lower people do all the shit?
CDYS: but there should at least be a reason...
PM: what are we for? to listen to all the citizens' requests and do what they want?
F: if that's the case, we would be changing ministers, like we change underwear?!
T: guess there's no other way
F: you go settle your ERP problem first lah, that one more crucial, even Jack Neo uses it to poke fun in his movie
PM: oh yes, speaking of which, I am planning to have an ERP gantry every 1km in the new Marina Coastal Expressway
T: what? don't give me so many problems leh
CDYS: ermm, that's means there will be 5 of them in the tunnel lah?
F: people will be paying like mad man
PM: what to do? only this way then maybe we can decrease the poly student's transport fare mah?
T: makes sense...
CDYS and F: our PM is the best, long live our PM
PM: ok bootlickers, anything new to say instead?
F: aiyah, we are government, government body and statutory board where got change one? everything also straight straight mah

Exam Fever

Strangely, during this period when exams are just round the corner, a few of my classmates updated their blogs during this week, after leaving them dusty for about one, two weeks. I was predicting no updates from them but I got the opposite, luckily I did not place a bet on it. Anyway, rain and thunderstorm have been hitting our shores lately and the former made me unable to shine the clothes today while the latter constantly scared me out of a sudden for the past few days. See? I am timid!

In less than 20 hours, will be the arrival of my Maths paper and it is the last one before the holidays come.

Velvety Ice-Cream

Had my Data Comm exam in the morning at 8.30, after that went to the NTUC supermarket near my house to buy the extremely delicious ice-cream which I had for the past 2 days but could not find it. Never mind, I will try again some other time, but I wonder will there still be the buy 1 get 1 free offer(kiasu X1) then? So in the end just bought the China veggie that costs $1.30(kiasu X2)and some other stuffs

Met my ex-colleague, Vincent, for lunch at Clementi during noon as the company bus went there today. Vincent wanted to have KFC but I thought it will be quite costly as there are no discount coupons to use(kiasu X3). I told him I wanted to try the curry chicken or chicken curry at the hawker centre which he was always mentioning about in the office last time and we both settled for it in the end. Ok, so how was the taste? Not bad I think, at least it deserves a 8/10 score but the amount of curry powder was a bit too much and I could not detect any coconut milk fragrance in it. And one last thing, it costs $3.40, a bit expensive also(kiasu X4)

Back to the topic on the supermarket. I was quite surprised that the malay cashier, who was not wearing the NTUC uniform, did not charge me an extra 10cents for the plastic bag as it is Wednesday, which means bring your own plastic bag day, lucky man!(kiasu X5)

The ice-cream which I was mentioning about is the King's Grand Petite Tub and the flavour is Triple Chocalate. There are abundant chocalate chips and nuts in the sinfully rich velvety chocalate cream, and you would be sccoping out another spoon immediately after you had one melted in your mouth, it is really addictive and I finished 2 tubs in 2 days.

If you are wondering how it looks like, this is the screenshot I got from their website, take note that the offer stated there is until 12 November only at NTUC so either one of them got it wrong!

Contradicting and Misleading

Here is something which I don't understand and it seems rather contradicting




A chicken essence brand, which is better known for it's abalones, gets scholars from different examinations like PSLE and O levels to advertise their products. Obviously, they are trying to show consumers(the dumber ones)that this scholars drank their chicken essence and got excellent grades in their studies. But, if you sit back and look at the big picture and think, it is actually the other way round. The kids did well in the exams first, then came the sponsor. So put it simply, this brand is apparently trying to deceive dumb consumers who are potential buyers, thinking that their boy boy or girl girl can do equally well with the help of chicken essence

This is actually similar to milk powder products, where the advertisement shows some genius kid doing amazing things because he drank that certain brand of milk powder

I think they are better off with their abalones and the fragant rice which has Fann Wong and Stephanie Sun in the advertisements respectively

Blog Makeover

Do you people think that this blog is a bit archaic and monotonous? As in the design and whatever, to be more exact, it's the blogskin

My chinese painting mountains at the top have vanished for no apparent reason, and it seems that Apple Safari is the only browser that will have it appear. This means that only Macintosh users will get to see it unless you want to be unique like me and download the "world's best browser" declared by Apple themselves on your PC and use it on Windows platform that looks a little weird. In short, only a small amount of people can view the actual look of this blog so I was thinking of changing the blogskin a couple of days ago.

I would prefer light backgrounds, prefably white, and has an urban style with clean looks. Please give me some suggestions as I tried looking for one but with my fussy and perfectionist nature, I just ended up wasting my time. Actually, all ideas are welcomed, you do not need to follow my preference

Look forward to see some interesting ones, you can email to raymondeng@rocketmail.com

さようなら

The day I joined the place that changed me

29 November might be just another ordinary day to you, but it is a rather special day for me

Exactly 1 year ago today, it was my first day of work at Crimsonlogic. The place that I used to spent my time almost everyday after the O levels. Working there has been a memorable and wonderful experience for me. I believe that I came and left the place as a different person. I really learned a lot of new things there and got to understand many things that I will not get to if I had not been working there

To elaborate on the many things which I had learned, one of them is ping pong, or also named table tennis. I had not played that sport before if my failing memory does not recall so in my life. There is a table tennis table in the recreation room in the office, so sometimes during lunch I would pick up the paddle and smack some balls with my colleagues there. Speaking about my colleagues, I can say that I am the youngest male employee there among some 400 plus people in the company. The second youngest males are 2 JC graduates who are awaiting their dreadful A levels and NS.

I have got to know many new people in my life too, or should I say come across? Without them, my Facebook friendlist would have been much less now *laughing*. Since they are all older then me by at least two years, and most of them by a decade, I have more or less gained some valuable knowledge from them, there are too many to list anyway. The generation gap between them and me did not deter us from working together, in fact it worked to be rather desirable from my perception.

There is a poem which I created while working there, it goes "you get to eat, you get to drink, you get to play, and you get paid". During the Christmas season last year, vendors have gave the company lots of gifts and mostly are food like chocolates, tidbits etc. So we(the temp staffs who are also the younger ones)were gobbling all those junk food there everyday while working, in fact I think we are helping to clear out all those food since there was really loads of them. Then it was Chinese New Year, and again more gifts arrive and we have more "work" to do.

The people there are all very amiable and cheerful. Well, this is maybe because of the nature of their work as customer service officers, we pick up calls now and then and have to bear with difficult and demanding users sometimes. Also some tedious and complex problems will make some of them randomly scream in the office to distress, so that is why they keep themselves happy always in the office I think

Through my four months stint there, I had some regrets as I had not accomplished some missions of mine. Although I managed in some way or another to step into the CEO's office when he has yet to arrive in the morning(which many staff there would say is a little impossible), i did not managed to go to other departments for a walk. So during my vacation in September, I returned for another 6 weeks to do some unfinished business and because I really missed the place ad the people there. Then again, i got to know even more people there like new staffs and even people form other departments

As the time is around 11 plus in the morning now while I am typing this, I visualize myself sitting in the meeting room 365 days ago wearing the white shirt with blue stripes awaiting instructions on my first day of work. Actually there is still one thing which i regret not doing even after returning for the second time this year, that is to take some photos there. I did manage to take one on the last day of my work during the first stint on 4 April. See? I am so hardworking, I worked until the very last day of my holidays before I enter Singapore Polytechnic on 7 April for it's orientation. I am certain that I will return again, maybe as IA student this time. Actually, reflecting back on year 2008, I have spent almost half a year at there, which is really long I reckon. That's all, let's all makes better sense


This is the picture I took with the 2 Singpass systems analysts from India on my last day of work, from left, Raghu Narasimhamurthy, Raymond, Kumarpandi Senthikumar. And if you have not noticed, this is the first time I'm posting a photo which has me on this blog

What if I was a minister? Part 2

In today's RealBlurPolitics® column I shall present Part 2 of what if I was a minister?

If I was the minister of health

I would legalise euthanasia in Singapore, only under certain conditions. Firstly, the patient and his/her immediate family members must agree that it is the best solution for all parties and not done against their morals and beliefs. Secondly, the patient should be given a one year "grace" to see if there are any miracles before allowing the doctor to send him/her off

Even without considering the physical pain, it is often hard for patients to overcome the emotional pain of losing their independence.Also, the usage of medical staff and hospital beds could be utilized for people whose lives could be rescued instead of continuing the life of others who want to die which increases the general quality of care and shortens hospital waiting lists. Keeping an incurable person, who can no longer contribute to society, alive is a mental weight and stress, particularly if resources used could be spent on a curable ailment

If I was the minister of information, communication and the arts

Some or rather most chinese of the older generation are aware that their children or grandchildren are unable to understand and communicate in dialects. As foreign TV programmes invade our local channels these days, youths are starting to lose their roots. When asked, most will say that it is cool learning Japanese or Korean and old-fashioned and rough picking up Hokkien. This is because of the ban on broadcasting dialect shows like Hong Kong dramas or Taiwan serials some decades ago. The government wants people to speak proper "language", but this plan has backfired

So as ICA minister, I would uplift this ban. I will not immediately allow programmes that contain 100% dialect to be shown on channels, instead I would suggest we have dual sound for such shows like Hong Kong dramas which are in Cantonese. We can have Mandarin and Cantonese for viewers to choose(although most will choose the latter), just like Korean and Japanese dramas which are shown here

Our government has been one of the most stable in the world all these years and their plans and ideas are all well recognized by other countries, but this is the one exceptional plan that sort of backfired. I admit that I am one of those "victims" of this exceptional plan who cannot even speak my own dialect until today

If I was the minister of community development, youth and sports

I would build more sports facilities around neighbourhood areas, especially street soccer courts. Maybe I can discuss with the ministry of national development to get rid of those useless BBQ pits which are hardly used by anyone for so many years and replace them with my football cages and basketball courts.

Also, I think that we should not rely so much on foreign talent to bring glory to the nation. There are definitely many unearthed gems out there in schools dreaming about their future but never really put it into action. They need to be discovered and recognized and they will prove that we are better than foreigners!

If I was the minister of transport

There has been this never-ending issue on polytechnic students' transport fares. They(or rather we, since I'm one of them too)pay more than their peers in JC and ITE. In short, they pay adult fare. So much so of adult fare when we are still not even adults and are only poor students without an income. If you still remember about the saga five years ago during Sars, when poly students have to attend school while JC students can have some bonus school holidays. This is somehow similar to the transport fare issue too, poly students are always at a disadvantage all these years. Numerous petitions have been started, even on Facebook, but there is still no change.

No change can still be sort of acceptable since our government is famous(within the country only)for being stagnant at times(but present an excellent impression to foreigners), but the most hilarious part is that no vaild reason has been given until now. Dumb excuses like because they don't wear uniforms, or their academic calendar is different to they are considered adults are all used and I wonder what will be up their sleeves next

Supposing I am transport minister, I will just scrap this silly thing once and for all

This kind of police

*Lyrics modified from Black Eyed Peas' don't phunk with my heart*

No, no, no, no
This kind of police
No, no, no, no
This kind of police

I wonder if it's Singapore
Would you still be so safe, baby, so safe, baby
I wonder if it's Singapore
Would you still be so safe, baby, so safe, baby

We should not take our safety in the country for granted, it is our responsibility to be alert, those blue uniformed guys are just doing their job for the sake of their ricebowls, they can't be with us everyday

Small Little Lunch

During noon, I went to the hawker centre with my dad for lunch and we ordered fishball noodles.

Even before it was served to our table, my dad told me that the amount was tragically little while he watched the guy cooking. Of course he won't lie, when the woman who was serving placed the bowl in front of me, I got a shock of my life. It was truly an eye-opener for me, the noodles were(exaggerately)just like two strands? My running speed might be one of the slowest among other guys who are of same age as me, but when it comes to eating, only my father can beat me. So I finished the whole thing in less than two minutes and my father was much faster than that. I have came across numerous noodle stalls which serve mini portions but today is the first time I encounter a microscopic portion of noodles. I did not take a photo of it as I did not want to attract attention in the hawker centre. We decided to order carrot cake to fill up our half-empty stomachs, and it tastes rather bland and soft! What a day dining outside!

My grandmother, uncle and auntie will be coming over to my house for dinner in about two hours time, and I shall go jogging now, long time no exercise. There will be some celebration show on channel 8 at night, I'm gonna stick in front of the TV later

What if I was a minister? Part 1

So here is my first entry in my weekly RealBlurPolitics® column and I will present Part 1 of what if I was a minister?

If I was the minister of defence

I would not make National Service compulsory to all males in the country. Instead, I would require these boys(or men) to attend an obligatory 1 to 2 week camp at various army camps islandwide(no need the hassle to travel to another island, you know what I mean). During their time-sacrificing stay there, they would be tasked to do various kinds of exercises, or should I say sports? Whatever, let's just say training, BMT, body and muscle training. Of course there will be rewards(with rewards then there will be motivation and motivation breeds good results) for those who do well and achieve good results from the camp, which is some money and a welcome letter to join the republic's army permanently for the next 2 years of their lives.

I think that in this way, we can truly get the best "army" in the country. There are some loyal citizens out there in this nation dying to enter the army and serve the country but for most of the common boys(or men), we think that it is really time-sacrificing or rather time-wasting. Since that is the case, why force people to join the army? Yes, and why only males?

If I was the minister of education

Alright, this is one of my all time favourites. Firstly, I believe that there is a need for streaming in schools as different students have different levels of competence academically. It gives the child a more comfortable environment to blend into and excelling his/her potential will be easier.

Next, more PE lessons is a must, whether it is primary, secondary or tertiary(and polytechnics should have it too). A typical secondary student would have two 30 minutes lessons per week, minus the time for changing, resting and the teacher's talking, it would only be about 30 to 40 minutes per week. How can that be adequate for students at an age where they should exercise more as they are still growing? Can we really trust them to do exercise during their own free time in this modern "e-world"?

Thirdly, I would make Moral Education in primary schools optional, it seems that subjects starting with "M" are normally the top dislikes among kids, Maths, Mother Tongue, Music etc. So having one less "M" would be much desirable. Anyway, how many people actually remember what they studied in Moral Education in primary school a decade later when they grow up? Parents should play the teacher's role instead and home should be the classroom

Lastly, every student's favourite, and maybe teachers as well...Shorter schools hours, needless to explain, the reason is obvious since our parents' time

If I was the minister of finance

Well, I'll just make sure we(cabinet) spend wisely and usefully although it is quite hard to decipher the genuine meaning of "wisely and usefully" but I can see we are on the right track most of the times, but not everytime


If I was the minister of foreign affairs

It does not need a rocket scientist to discover that the country has good ties with almost every other nation on earth. Wherever and whenever our country leaders meet their counterparts, they will definitely stress all the "good ties and relations....." that both countries share. This is something precious that we must cherish. If you look at other countries, the situation here and there are in stark juxtaposition. So as the FA minister, it is my responsibility to maintain these wonderful ties and create more opportunities for people here to interact with others from overseas

China is one of the crucial countries that we must be noteworthy of, their people, market, economy and whatever indirectly affects us in a way or another. Actually, more and more China nationals have landed on our shores recently and they are starting to be part and parcel of our daily lives. The young lad who delivers newspapers at dawn, the bus driver that fetches us to school or work, our classmates and co-workers, the man who cooks and sells you your lunch at the "zhap cai peng" stall in the foodcourt, the lady that owns the bakery where you buy a snack for your high-tea, the security guard that says goodbye to you after work at the exit, the pet shop managed by the couple where you buy the bird/fish/cat/rabbit food for your pet. And upon reaching home, switching on the TV, it is still China actors, actresses, hosts, news anchors and the list goes on

Strategy of today

During my Oral Communication lesson today, the lecturer wanted us to brainstorm a topic for our individual presentation. We were supposed to write down what we decided on but in the end we all ended up doing other things. Maybe not all of my classmates but at least the two who juxtaposed with me in the row did not, one was playing computer games while the other handphone games. I think that for this kind of project, a ten minutes brainstorming session would not work, what one requires is inspiration. Just like composing songs, when you catch it, it will be there, or you will easily forget, it is a "now or never" fact

Creative and innovative people like me do not need this type of extra time in class to strategize my project. The strategy is simple, if you know the quote from The Art of War(Sun Zi Bing Fa). 知彼知己，百战不殆 means if you know both yourself and your enemy, you can come out of hundreds of battles without danger. This can be applied to our daily life and for instance in my case, I just have to come up with a topic that I'm farmiliar with and the audience(my class) have some knowledge about it too. So easy, I don't comprehend why the lecturer wants us to ponder in class just for this?

Starting tomorrow, I will be launching my RealBlurPolitics® column which is rated PG as there is sarcastic content which I had said there will be in this blog in my first post. Hope everybody will enjoy it

I shall end this post with the most "in" Christmas song you can sing to your friends

You'd better watch out
You'd better not cry
You'd better keep cash
I'm telling you why
Recession is coming to town

It's hitting you once
It's hitting you twice
It doesn't care if you've been careful and wise
Recession is coming to town

It's worthless if you've got shares
It's worthless if you've got bonds
It's worse if you've got little to spare
So be thrifty for goodness sake

Logically Complex

In the morning I had psychology lesson and it was group presentation today. So the lecturer would be the one sitting down listening to the students talk(provided if she does listen attentively and the students speak sensibly). My group was the last out of five groups to present so I had the privilege of watching how other groups screw up their work and learning from their accidental mistakes

Somehow, I think my group had the best show, we clearly portray the different kinds of characters in our skit and I think my "old lady" voice when acting as the mother sounds so cool, so sensational, so auntie. Then had Maths(enough said) and Computer Hardware before the favourite part of the day, lunchtime arrives. In the CH lesson, I heard the lecturer mentioning my name and something about my blog I think, but he did not sound clear enough though so I did not care too

Then it was Web Publishing and the lecturer really rocks big time man, he looks more like one of our peers and has a very casual way of conducting lessons, having frequent breaks in the middle of the class

If you are aware of the current news, Taiwan's ex-president, Chen Shui Bian has been admitted to hospital after he went on a hunger strike for 4 days. Some way or another, I have a feeling that he did ate something during his "strike' after all. Maybe his 12 security guards, who work on a 1 person 1 shift way, secretly passed him some biscuits in the prison, maybe only. Note, maybe also imply maybe not. Politics is so complex, Lee Hsien Yang was fortunate to make the right decision not to join his father and brother in it

Oh and did you see the Health Minister, Khaw Boon Wan's new hairstyle? I think he coloured his hair, I saw him on TV in the parliament yesterday, so cool, so sensational, so... that's all, politics is complex

Shop Wisely

Went to the West Coast Plaza this morning. 3 words to describe it, no big deal. Unless you think you are quite opulent, but in these days, who will still have this kind of mentality?

The big players in the team are all the costly ones, like Cold Storage, Starbucks and other "ang moh pai" shops for high class people. I walked into Cold Storage and came out in less than 15 minutes, it is really more for ang mohs and those high class people that live in bungalows and speak Engish most of the time. By the way, Cold Storage is definitely not the supermarket to shop in if you self-proclaim to be poor and come from an ordinary family like your fellow neighbours staying left, right, on top and below you in HDB flats. The prices there are at least 10% higher than Fairprice or Sheng Siong. Let me explain it to you, take the broccoli for example

NTUC's one was priced at 28 cents per 100 grams as advertised in the papers last Friday

Giant Hypermart had it's one at 26 cents per 100 grams somewhere during last week too

Shop n Save made it 27 cents per 100 grams 2 weeks ago

Sheng Siong amounted the veggie at 30 cents per 100 grams

and for the mighty Cold Storage, the fresh food people, it costs 99cents per 100 grams!!!

I think it is 99 cents if I am not wrong, I do not really remember, but the price is around 90 plus cents. See the significant difference? Yes, this example should be sufficient enough to prove to you how "cheap" a thing can cost at one place and another. If you still doubt my words, feel free to head down to any branch and check it out yourself while I'll be at Fairprice buying the cheaper NTUC housebrand

Oasis in the west

In less than 24 hours, West Coast Plaza(formely known as Ginza Plaza) will be opened. Located at West Coast, of course, it is just a short distance from west coast park and the neighbourhood nearby. When it was under the name Ginza Plaza before undergoing renovation, it was not exactly the ideal shopping centre for a whole family. It is much more popular among youths as it is filled with LAN gaming shops, game shops, arcades and many other shops related to fun and enjoyment.

I still recall I bought my first(which is also the only one) Gameboy Color there at the Lee xiao Chun shop just beside the entrance, and I immediately switched it on to play the Pokemon Yellow Version in the cardrige which I bought too. I sat with my friend at the benches near the so called fountain area and played like it is the only game in the world

During secondary school days, many of the guys in my class will meet up on almost every Saturday morning there to play Warcraft. They would reach there as early as 9am in the morning as the LAN shop would have just opened for the day and it will be relatively empty.

Then there is a bakery located at 1st floor which had a Japanese name, and it's bread were all so delicious, everytime I passed by there, I would surely turn and look inside and visualize myself eating something from the shelves of bread

There will be free shuttle service to the shopping centre so I bet there will be more people going there although some people just want to take a free ride there for other purposes I know. Whether the old Ginza Plaza will be a total contrast from it's successor is still unknown, but one thing for sure, I will be going there