Passing of a Great Man

Now that the lights have dimmed and the music faded away...sobered after the weekend of drinks, I sit back to contemplate the passing of S.Rajaratnam, a great statesman who had penned our national pledge. The pledge had been the first thing I learned on the first day of school from the age of 6, together with the Lord's Prayer, to be recited daily. Even today, I occasionally rehearse them under my breath to keep my mind company (strange as it may seem).

I have always had a good impression of the late Rajaratnam and is not surprised to learn from the news that he had lived a full life with integrity and kindness and had been true to himself. His spirit has been an inspiration to countless and I believe he will still continue to inspire mine. Here, these words I shall copy to echo them to immortality:

"We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people. Regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation".

Malay Wedding

At the wedding of Hairi and his lovely Nurnilahwati
where they are treated like Royalty for the day.
The last Malay wedding I attended is more than 10 years ago.
Malay weddings these days very happening,
got DJ spinning music and getting the activities going;
complete with a entourage of camera and video men.

A snapshot of the throne and the decorations that decked out
the open area on the ground level of his apartment block.

Buffet laid out for the guests.

Temporary house

The grounds of new market being prepared for construction
to temporarily house the famous Whampoa food market when the latter undergoes renovations later this year.

On the House

Two days of drinks on the house.
Too many drinks, too few drinkers.

Our drinks sponsor, John, taking a breather.
Packing and leaving for Canada end of the week.

Board First Pay Later

Attended a wine-tasting event couple of days ago which introduced (4 types of) Italian wine with (4 types of) Thai food. Everything was tasty but the food came in tiny morsels. The pineapple rice was served in a ceramic spoon.

Luckily, we could have seconds so I had 2 shot glasses of the tom yam soup (with the cold prawn hanging over the edge), 3 candle holders of green curry chicken, 4 spoons of pineapple rice and 1 satay stick of sticky rice with mango.

People stood around the tables and mingled. Amongst the guests were a rather nice couple - an Italian man with his Singaporean wife. He is teaching in a university here and has been in Singapore the last four years. I made small talk with him.

Did you know any Singaporeans before coming here?

- No, he said. He was working in Denmark and wanted to get out and he saw the job ad and applied.

Oh, so you met your wife in Singapore then. I cleverly expressed my deduction or just making noise.

- Two months. We marry. (he pronounced it 'marr-ri')

Huh?? Two months? Oh, you two met just two months after you arrived in Singapore?.. I offered to clarify.

- no. Two months. We married.

?? Oh..you got married two months after you met?... I decided to let my imagination go a little and smiled smugly at the success of my interpretation.

- no, no, two months *pause* ago *pause* we got married.

"Oh" was all I mustered and I busily swirled my wine. Woah! One little word can leak too much information.

Actually, I would have settled just as well for a yes and no response from him to my initial comment. I stole a quick glance at his five months very pregnant wife.

Sim mi lai eh?

Upon hearing about Singapore's school streaming system.
(no photoshop involved, in case you are wondering)

New people

Adeline, who sits opposite me at work, has been moved to another table with the arrival of a new colleague. I really enjoyed Ade's company and was sorry to lose her neighbourliness. This must be my 5th new neighbour in the two years I worked here.

I grumbled to Ade: The new people are always put to sit opposite me when they join the company. Why har? Management think I can help to break them, isssit?

Ade's eyes widened suddenly at my remark, like it never occurred to her.

Baby Mop

At the stage of learning to balance on fours

Much aDo about Nothing.

Sat was not my day. I woke up to leave for breakfast and could not locate my housekeys after hunting high and low. I could only surmise that I might have left them in the keyhole and closed the door with it hanging outside. Then someone took it away.

At the end of my wits, I called mum to bring the spare set over to free me from the imprisonment. (The good thing about living near your parents) Dad was out at the kopitaim for his kopi. Poor thing, she hobbled hobbled to my floor slowly with a sprained foot.

I braced myself for her imaginative fears to take over. Now she is going to think someone will be finding his way into my apartment in the middle of the night and deflower me, etc, etc. I had 3 appointments that day and was feeling the anxiety of having to deal with this before my appointments. I was not prepared to put up with my worries and her worries and speculation while I was out. So I decided I should just change the lock so that I could get on with my life.

We dismantled the old lock and I took it to the hardware store which is 8 minutes walk away (~250 m) (The good thing about living in an HDB). The storekeeper was very nice and taught me what to do. I walked back and fixed the lock up but of course, not without mum trying to take over the job. (Have I mentioned she can do plumbing, and even re-holstered the sofa)We had to bicker about whether the bolt was being hammered with the correct alignment.

After 2 hours of hoo-ha, everything was finally fixed up. I was relieved to be able to start getting ready for my appointments. I was going to take my shower and went to the heater switch to turn it on, when there lounging on top of the box were my keys..

Later in the afternoon, the rain poured for some time. I was so ready to leave the shopping centre after being in there for too long. So I bought the umbrella. When I walked out, the rain stopped.

A day that forced me to part with time and money wastefully. So sway.

Thought for the day

Before a person can achieve the kind of results he wants, he must first become that person. He must then think, walk, talk, act and conduct himself in all of his affairs, as would the person he wishes to become. - anon

Goodbye to Good Buy

It has been pointed out in some of the local blogs that the name of this possibly to-be-launched Google payment sounds *extremely* vulgar in Hokkien and Teochew.

A colleague commented with amusement that Google is practising censorhip for China, yet may unknowingly missed out on something as offensive as this.

I wonder how many hokkien/teochew-speaking people (Singapore, M'sia, all of Taiwan and a chunk of China) can bring themselves to tell people they want to pay or paid for their stuff with their ...er.. CxxT. I can imagine the men will be sniggering all the way, esp if it is conversation with a female over using this form of payment. Shudder.

Someone stop Google!

+++++++++NEWS+++++++++++++++++++++

..."That PayPal revenue may look like a big jar of chocolate chips to the Cookie Monsters at Google. Their rival system, called GBuy, has been getting a workout since the early part of 2005. The Journal cited a source briefed on the service:

For the last nine months, Google has recruited online retailers to test GBuy, according to one person briefed on the service. GBuy will feature an icon posted alongside the paid-search ads of merchants, which Google hopes will tempt consumers to click on the ads, says this person. GBuy will also let consumers store their credit-card information on Google.

Storing payment information has been an ease-of-use feature and strength of PayPal. Google has enough brand recognition to get a lot of attention. The Journal's report seems to suggest the way Google will get users on board will be through its GBuy retailers. But will eBay accept GBuy as a payment method? Probably, as long as eBay gets its cuts of a sale as is customary. "...

Incredible JetStar

Can't believe my parents' timing. They are supposed to fly out to HK today. Daddy pulled a muscle two days ago (they thought they would still fly) but then mum went on to sprain her ankle yesterday. They are supposed to use up their tickets from last year which they had postponed also due to a medical reason. JetStar had agreed to leave it open for year. Now this happened!

Jetstar called up when they received the fax from the doctor. I asked JetStar if they can extend the tickets for another half a year since old folks take a long time to recover. Incredibly, they offered to refund the money. How very kind! Woohoo.

Nice Valentine Time

So thoughtful and clever of Dawn to think of gathering her unattached friends together to keep us off the streets and thereby avoid seeing unsightly lovey-dovey couples hanging out, making fools of themselves (sour grapes, cannot meh).

She invited us to her apartment to have dinner with her family. So there we were, 9 adults and 2 large dogs. Okay, one is married (not the dogs, the adult that is) but hubby was still busy at work. She was high and in a laughing mood, an effect from the anti-histamine she took for her rash.

The food was lovely - beehoon, soon kueh and laksa, ice cream, fruit cake, wine. Lots of garnishes which I love. We had fun catching up and ribbing each other and Dawn took lots of silly pics of us (to be posted later). Crowded but intimate.

She would be moving out of her apartment soon. It was offered an enbloc sale unexpectedly just 3 months after she moved in. With that, she makes $200,000. wah.

Lessons learnt from a Baby (2)

Lesson 2:
Even a flat-chested gal can create a cleavage if she knows how to er..squeeze..I mean..wear the right support.

Lessons learnt from a Baby (1)

Lesson 1: How to stay out of trouble.

Mementos

While passing the slow day on the first of CNY, I revisited my ancient autographs.

The boys being boys were forthright, wickedly hilarious in their candidness. The girls wrote more pleasantries which became forgettable and their believability discounted by their very diplomacy.

I will start off with Eu Jin's secretly self-satisfied introduction : "Thanks for asking me to grace this autograph of yours, after which would have transformed this MERE autograph book into a priceless treasure (ahem!)" [Fiery:- frankly, I believe more than one person think that!]

"Knowing you has been quite an experience. Seldom (never!) have I ever met anyone like you. The mess you sometimes get into are without doubt beyond anyone's wildest imagination. You are so easily 'con' that you give the saying "to err is human" a new meaning. Do you still remember the time (in [room] 6.09 I think) when you took 'hours' to realise that it was not possible for us to have any of the Dec 84 'A' level papers..but no matter how hilarious the situation and how stupid you must have felt, always remember the longanimous placability and condonation are the indicia of supramundance omniscience." - Gym


Paul took me down memory lane with this:

"Now, what do I remember about you? Practically and absolutely nothing (er. Nothing? (no, too cruel)) - well something (just recalled something - phew!) I'll always (hopefully) remember the times some clown in the class would crack a sic joke and everyone would laugh. When everything slowly dies down, your part comes in. You will have at that point caught the joke and start to laugh that characteristic laugh of yours (no offense) and everyone would be consumed with laughter again (again, no offense)..I also remember all the fun we had when our group went for lunch together -> THE CHENDOL & ICE JELLY CAPER! I hope you'll always cherish these memories!! "


I must have been such a tomboy because Henry wrote:

"Underneath all that macho, tough masculine exterior, I'm sure there exists a person who is genteel, loves cooking, sewing, doing the dishes, washing clothes, etc. I suppose you are quite a rarity - I've never known girls could be like what you are! (shock, surprise)..."

Here is a girl's entry; by BL:

"You always say things which make people laugh but you don't seem to catch the joke yourself. Well, I guess your brain decided to take a rest at that point of time. And do you remember the time when you tried to ask the guys about what a virgin eats and it backfired at you -gosh! you were really embarassed and your face was all red down till the neck. Too bad, the 'trigger' has been pulled and we were all laughing away while you tried to cover yourself with your sweater. That was fun..." [Fiery: That was a set-up! ..and cover myself with a sweater? aiyah, so ah lian hor.]


The prize must go to Tzu.K, for the best autograph that makes me guffaw:

"Did you know:-
1) you're one of my favourite people in class,
2) you look like a spinster [Fiery: ouch! cao 臭 Tzu.K!]
3) I caught you and Max together speaking in "intimate" terms a few..er..a lot of times, [Fiery: er..I don't know what he was talking about!]
4) I don't find your laughter very humourous,
5) You drag your feet when you walk
6) I have never heard any of your jokes before
7) that I thought you were once a "maggie" - believe me, you don't want to know what it means,
8) you are vulgar, loud mouth and *mentally sick* and I like you for it!
All these are compliments so I don't suppose you like to know your faults, huh? But I have only known you for 2 years so who am I to judge?
....You have always been to me a very conservative person - I mean although you are very spontaneous and violent at times, with your expressions and everything but I don't seem to know anything about you (your personal background I mean). It's amazing how you can hide your feelings and thoughts so well but I'll try not to be too nosy and pry into your private life (I hate boring stuff!) "

Hokkien festival

I and dozens of people had a big problem trying to get a cab from Orchard road late last nite (near midnight). To make matters worse, it was pouring.

I thought the taxis were hiding until the surcharge period kicked in. It turned out to be the nite of some Hokkien festival.. (I did see some people burning paper and stuff near my apartment, maybe commemorating some God's big day?).. and half of the taxi drivers in Singapore are Hokkien. So the Hokkien drivers stopped work at 10pm and went home for the celebrations.

First time I hear of such a thing, will have to find out what this Hokkien big day is.

Five months Old

Kit back in UK and surrounded by his kawans.

Bling Bling Sale

SL forwarded me an sms from Joyce today informing people that she is holding a moving out sale at (note) cost price (note) at her jewelry shop, Georgian House, between feb 4- 7 (sun included) from 12pm - 6pm.

I had met Joyce at CNY recently. She told me the Regent Hotel, where her shop is, has been very high-handed in responding to her about the renovation works in the hotel. They had gone ahead without informing her. Suddenly she found the outside entrance to her shop totally blocked by the boards. The noise and dust were unbearable. This, on top of the enclosed pollution from the cigar shop right opposite her shop. Her business is totally disrupted. When she complained to the hotel, she was met with indifference and not with an apologetic attitude, despite being a tenant there for over a decade. Since business is so badly affected by these construction works, she decided to take a break and close the place down. She is looking for another location.

So, do drop by Georgian House #01-03, Regent Hotel, Cuscaden Road in the next couple of days. to pick something up for yourself or for your loved ones. After all, Valentine Day's just round the corner..

Spirit of Tao 道

Excerpt:

"For the obstacle of principle to be removed, there is an obstacle whose roots derive from writings. But in reality, the obstacle of writings is an obstacle of the mind.

The mystic of the Tao-Te-Ching all come from profound enlightenment: if you view them literally and lose their inner sense, if you fail to understand and succumb to this obstacle, then all sorts of false statements, aberrated doctrines, curiosities, and fantasies enter your mind, causing damage to the nature and body.

So what ancient adepts set up as truths were mostly in the form of indirect allusions. For example, the terms of water and fire, furnace and cauldron, girl and boy, dragon and tiger, yin and yang, and mysterious female - all are allusions to something else.

People who are obstructed by words often do exercises without knowing the Great Way is in vitality, energy and spirit. Nurturing these three treasures is nurturing the seed; this seed is the ultimate. When you recognise the seed, all the various explanations are dregs. Why consume dregs?

So writings are not real explanations of the Way. When you personally realise the Way, you can dispense with all the writings."

Hmm.. interesting - the trinity. Tao says vitality, energy and spirit. Bible says the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Are both alluding to the same truths which we seek..?

So Desu Ne

I found out why no guests turned up for most part of the day on the first day of CNY.
My mum forgot to put the phone down properly and this was discovered only in the afternoon. Since our guests could not reach us on the phone, they put off turning up until they got us on the line, to avoid making a wasted trip if no one was home.