Its been a really long time

Yes it has been a long time and no I have not deleted this account and or neglected it. But flying around and looking after your family takes a toll on time, which is very scarce nowadays.

So what's been up in my life? Wife and kid has come.... should be for a bloody long time now as they came by one way ticket.... Most guys would say, "Oh shit, there goes my freedom". But for me, I am really happy they are with me now. At least it gives me the want to go home after a long day of work.

Just yesterday, I had a most interesting drive home where I was trying to be considerate to other road users and some idiot thought I had made life difficult for him. I travel by the side of Lau Pa Sat from my office and it intersects Cecil Street. So this junction is really busy and many cars get caught both ways. Meaning to say that one any of the insecting streets, if the other side is not clear, and if you entered the junction, you would be stuck there. What I did was to stop when I saw that the street in front was already stopped and I would not be able to poke myself into it. Which meant to say I would be highly likely stuck in the intersection and this would be a nuisance for the traffice coming on my right. Unfortunately I stopped on top of a pedestrian crossing. True enough, the light turned red and I could not go any further.... But I was still on the pedestrian crossing.... Trust me... I felt bad about it, but what could I do? But some ang moh evidentally thought he was the owner of the land or that he was too great to make a slight detour and he stared at me all the way from my right window to my left window... Jesus Christ, get a life man!!!! As though a small detour is like a trip to the moon.... He should be glad I at least had the courtesy to feel a bit bad.... But of course... it all went away the moment I realized he was staring at me... hehehehe

Anyways... he really made my day because it reminds me that no matter how much we have changed as a society and as a world, there are still things that are truly unchanged. There are still many foreign nationals who come into our small little land and still think that Asians are still below in standards and so on. But my word of caution to such people is that nowadays, it is no more the era of the West, but the East is also fast rising. But then of course, there are still many from the east who are not potraying our recent found greatness and are still stuck in the middle ages or even further back.

Even our gahmen who still think they can talk down to us and not listen to us, it will not change and no matter what devious plans they have of replacing the local born or diluting the local born vote will be doomed to failure as they fail to realize that even if the foreign talent they bring in are beholden to them this generation, the next will not be. For them having social welfare is like having an anaphylactic reaction and this will be their downfall. I do understand that they are trying to preserve our reserves for the future, but if the future is without a life anyone wants, then what is there a need for a future?

Further to this, there is talk that is very convincing and that is that out CPF and our reserves are depleted. How and why this came about is because our sovereign funds are not really sovereign in the way that it is not spare money from the gahmen, but it is sequestered money from the citizenry. Our CPF, a percentage of our salaries are put away for our future and is earning interest. It is then bequeathed to the Really Sick Holding and Golden Ice Cream Company to invest. However, for the past few years, the einsteins in those companies have been investing in truly bad calls and have on paper, losses that would make even Geaorge Sorro's eyes pop out. Of course, they always say that they make strategic investments and it is for a long run or term, but dudes..... when you say that and at the same time start a slew of increasing the minimum figures upwards, the draw down ages upwards and also increasing so many foreign talents, it only makes us local born wonder if we really do have any money when we retire.

Of course, such issues are really worrisome and therefore the age of discontent has started. If nothing is done about it, then the gahmen will surely slowly lose power. My only hope is that when they do start to lose power, they will be cool about it and not resort to measures some dictators have taken. And that is the fear as I see many scholars from the military being office holders and being in political. In North Korea, in Myanmar, army scholars or high army figures were never happy with handing over control to civilians... So we must also be worried.

Well so much for that. Lets just hope that everything turns out ok in our little island city, country and I wish all the very best.

A very Singapore thing

I read with interest the rather spiritted discussions and threads on the online forums and pages between local born Singaporeans and imported ones and also of the locals against the government and so on.... Please do not get me wrong.... I am one of the ones who were the test subjects (I mean it literally hor) for their many policies and came out the wrong end of it hor..... "Stop at 2" and my stupid parents really stopped at 2... "Must pass 2nd language" and I did not... and guess what happened? My dad had to work 2 jobs to be able to send me overseas and then now I find that our gahmen invites and pays for all kinds of dong dongs to come and study... and once they graduate, they get cushy jobs and of course the ability to become imported citizens.... So guys, please do not get me started on a diatribe against the various policies.

But to be more to the point, I am not against import of foreign bodies into our little country... But with a disclaimer of course.... The speed and the application and the attitude the gahmen has to them. We are a small place and have only so little room left.... please do not allow us to be packed in even more and also to force us to "enjoy" it.... It is bullshit to say "here is your new neighbour".... or should I say a couple of tens of thousands and you should assimilate with them.... Ermmmm... sori dude we were here first!!! They should assimilate!!! And when I say that, I really do mean it.... I have a thiong family downstairs who loves to cook by charcoal and does it about 3 times a week... and as stated before in previous blogs... We can die from charcoal fires indoors...... But of course, like the "curry incident" the family downstairs will not be asked to cook with gas stoves and we will have to move out so that they can cook with their freaking charcoal....

Then of course, it is the increase in prices of everything because of the increased demand for everything.... Even our bloody durians are more expensive because the bloody thiongs from the north (I mean far far north from us hor) like it and are driving the price up... So up goes every freaking thing and guess what??? Not our salaries hor.... Our gahmen is firm in syaing that we must keep our cost down.... And we must increase our productivity.... This is such a airy fairy word.... That is productivity? To work better and to do more while costing same or less.... Get a freaking machine lah.... they never fail, never complain and also never falter.... Maybe if we do not import bodies to be citizens and just invest more in machines... even the next elections will be a snap for the gahmen.... after all, they just need to press and button, write a program and ensure that all votes go to them and they do not need to go thru the show of drawing boundaries, changing this and that and so on.... and also they can claim ultimate victory in this case.

So I guess its back to the online battles of words and I am thinking that there is a definite feeling that the policies have failed miserably and it is affecting the locals pretty badly and I think the gahmen has to come to terms with that and see what they can do without endangering future election results. As for the new imports, I guess it will take time for them to assimilate and for us to accept and for the time being, there had better be status quo and an end to imports and or there will definitely be pretty bad social and economic results. I am sure that the PAP will not lose the next elections, but if they persist in trying to justify why they need more imports, from low birth rates to growing economy and anything and everything from milking the cow to having some idiot who is not related to me or my father and mother looking after them, (mommy and daddy of course), I think that if they persist, then the spillover will produce very interesting futures for Singapore.

Well that is just me....

It has really been a long time

I have been travelling like a dog lately and have not had the chance to blog very much. Also with the family here, I find it hard to even have time to write.

It is a painful pleasure to have the family here as it makes me feel complete and also makes me happy deep inside. With a 2 yr old or in fact with any kid, your life is always full of fun and entertainment. But then of course, having a child any where in this world is not cheap and it is even worse in Sillypore because things are really getting expensive here. Imagine, we took the LRT (and got lost) and to travel 2 stops, it cost us 1 plus each. Wow... I thought public transport was supposed to enable to public to travel conveniently.

But in so saying, it is getting bad... With the prices of COE going sky high and not looking like coming down anywhere in the near future, public transport becomes necessary. However, what makes the pain even worse is that we have to share our space with people who take this as a transient stopover to either go back as a rich person or to go to an even better place.

This immigration policy is really silly and it has really got to be controlled. I read with some trepidation that we have almost 2 million foreign nationals who call this little dot home. That means the local population has been diluted by half (we were 4 million strong before) and this is scary.... But then of course, like any logical people, we just hope that it will not affect us too much.

Wake up and look at the sky and smell the flowers people, the sky is falling and the flowers have thorns. We are getting out numbered and out classed in any and every way. So we really gotta work hard to make our own little heaven in this hell and try to find a happy life for ourselves.

This is blasphemy to the extreme!!!

I am not sure what or why our esteemed first PM was thinking, however, switching from the Queen's English to American English is really a slap in the face to those who went through the system and did our dues. Yes, everyone speaks American english and yes most of the movies are from US. But heck, there is nothing wrong with the english coming out of UK and it sounds better. I lived overseas for so many years and I still speak Singlish and I am proud of it. I really would not like it if my daughter started to speak like and American.

I know that there are many who consider it as a previlege to speak with an American accent, even with fellow countrymen who are speaking normal english. It may be a badge of honour for them... but I am not one who is into such shit and I really do look down upon such people. Especially if they have only been abroad for a short period of time. (I do consider anything shorter than being overseas since young or for less that 5 years as short hor)....

I am just wondering if we have our heads screwed on properly for such a wierd contribution.... Man..... if thats the case, we might as well adopt everything American... then you will see the problems rising...

Times are changing, but have they really changed

I am being reminiscent about life in our little dot. The political environment has changed a lot and people are becoming more vocal. More and more are also beginning to want a change in the way they are beign treated However, has much really changed? Like the just passed elections, almost eveyone was in disarray and had their own choice of who they wanted to be their President. However, what choices did they have and in the end who was chosen?

The ruling party has claimed an overwhelming endorsement that with the closest loser and the winner, they have garnered over 70% of the total votes. However, did they not say that the President is not supposed to be linked to any party? So here is where the oxymoron is, will we ever be able to have a non political President? Haizzzz.... Sometimes I really just wish not to be involved with all this.

Life is not the same...

Do not worry, I am not the type to sit down and cry.... Although I have many health problems, it is allowing to be more healthy in my lifestyle. You cannot imagine how many ways I can cook bitter gourd nowadays and also the pleasures of brown rice. But also to be able to run 2km. I started running a few days ago and even though legs are telling me to give them a break, I do feel much better and sleep much better.





Anyways, all this is beside the point. The point is that we have to live as long as we can live and this is so that we can be with those whom we love. It is really silly in my opinion to try to make sure that in death, those who live on are well taken care of. Insurance and other measures are at most something to fall back on, but if the living are unable to look after themselves, then they are most probably better off dead.





This is how I plan to teach my kid. She has to learn to take care of herself and be able to live a normal life by herself. If it means she has to understand hardship, then so be it as life will not be as easy as when being a child and being protected and pampered by a parent or parents.





They are back in Japan now and they should come back in end September. However, I will be very busy and tavelling around, so I do hope that I will at least be here to make sure they land safely.

Why is this so?

Recently, due to the derisiveness of the GE, there have been people online claiming like they are super brainiacs that they know better than others. They always claim, (sometimes with vulgarities) about the 60% who voted for the ruling party.

Why is this so? Why is there such an abundance of superiority attitude? Do they even consider that 100% will convert? Do they know the turmoil this will will cause? I am not a supporter by far. I am also not a fan, but in the great words of a learned man, if we cause a revolution, are we ready for the consequances? A whole new team who does not know anything or have not tried their theories. Imagine the investors from foreign lands going..."Hold on... lets wait and see what happens"...

Yes we need to change things. Yes we need to have some fundemental changes in almost every aspect of our lives. But the change comes from all of us and within us. The opposition is going a long way to initiate this and time will slowly tell.

What happens if today the ruling party has a fundemental shift and starts to work for the people and with the people, will then the 60% start to laugh at the 40% who voted against? Please lah.... lets just all work in our own little way to make our own little lives a bit more better for ourselves.

The cold war continues

As mentioned in my previous entry, the cold war between the other side and mine continues with my energizer not calling me and my sister only speaking in terms of work.... But you know something??? I really do not care what they think. The very fact that they do not think that what they did was wrong and are not repentant is something I feel very personally insulted about.

It is not that I do not love energizer, but we cannot spoil her and let her feel like she is the prima donna and especially after what she did, which was in the first place a really silly thing. My monster does stupid things and sometimes it ends with falls and so on... I do not rush to her aid as I will and may not be able to rush to her aid in time. She has to learn how to fall and pick herself up.

And in fact nowadays, she tries to do silly things like standing on the bed and jumping and so on. She even tries to climb onto the chairs and be spiderwoman.... Fall and go splat lor.... Learn that it is dangerous lor... If not, do you think she will ever learn? I can tell her fire is hot and it will burn, but if she don listen and gets burnt... we just have her cry and explain to her that "we told her so".....

I am getting old and we cannot promise to be there when she get older. Even my wife has no guarantees that she will live to see monster grow old. I am even worse.... So we gotta train her to look after herself and for her to be able to support herself and be strong mentally.

Anyway, you know, the energizer just loves going to the doctors to see if there is anything wrong with her. But at her age and even at my age, the more you go to doctors, the more problems they will find. I went to the doctor about my usual prostate probem, and ended up with a fear that there might be cancer at the prostate and also a diagnosis that I have Type 2 diabetes.... Most people will curse and swear and feel that they are so poor thing.... I only went "knn.... why the holy f**k did I bother".... I do not want to be called poor thing and it defeats the purpose to moan and groan... Just find a way to solve whatever problems you have lor. Other people and everyone else has their own problem.... How much more do you think they will be able to bothered by yours? That is why I really love the Japanese movie Departures.... It makes death looks so honorable and in a way beautiful.... I am not afraid of it and like I mentioned so many times before.... I will even asked my old fren death, "What took you so long to come for me... my friend"

A very depressed person

This is the picture of the scratch on my monster's back after my energizer tried to run her down. It was a long and uglier scar on the first day. I really just do not understand how my sis and energizer can be more worried about the old and not those who are still young and living. It is like energizer's use of money. She is a black hole when it comes to money as it is never enough. If you give her $100, she will ask for a thousand and she will spend it all. I have no bloody idea where she is spending it as she never has anything remaining at the end of the month. Oh yea... do not expect or even hope to find a pot of gold lah.... She spends it all lah.

So now comes the most painful decision.... do I keep trying to maintain the old when my child is asked to forfeit her share or do I try to be diplomatic? Well diplomacy is really not an option because I have already had many clashes with the energizer many times and for many years and it will lead to no where. My wife is already becoming irritated (to put it mildly) that I have to pay for energizer's medical visits and also any operations and so on and also give her money whenever she needs it and she is also taking from my sister. And also she is losing her brains.... So what do I do? If no one wants to admit to the fact and I am the only person who is thinking for the future and the family's future, then I am finding it a very difficult task and the only thing I can do now is to just withdraw and to cut off all connections. If not, I will face another bankruptcy and another round of being poor just to make the energizer feel good and it will not be fair for my family.

And being around the energizer is now not safe for my child as she may be innocently trying to play and energizer may take it as something else and do something silly again. In the end, it will be another drama and my sis will then try to assuage her own psychological problems by trying to play up to the drama and it will just make energizer feel more like being the drama queen that she is... I am at a loss now.

Its just like the newspaper said

It is sad, but our elderly will have to die in foreign lands. This is because elderly care in Sg is becoming too expensive and also in some ways unmanageable. Take my energizer rabbit for example, she keeps wanting to see doctors and to have something wrong with her so that people can say "poor thing" to her and perhaps be a bit nicer to her. In the end, it willsad cost us a bomb.... My question is if something is wrong with her, then how? She has already had cancer and is having diabetes and high blood pressure. Her natural lifespan may be for a few years to tens of years. She already has Alzheimer's and her mental aspect is also going off. So do we pay to maintain a coconut husk? If not will the gahmen make noise or the coconut make noise?

It is really really sad. And what is sadder is that I have 2 people on the other side who are weak, egotistical and do not really have a clue what they are doing in their lives. On Sat, wat happened was that my monster was playing near a table, near my sister. My eyes were on her and I guess my sister's was too. My monster was bending down and suddenly my energizer rushed to push my monster away because she thought that monster wud hit her head. Energizer missteppes, fell and hit the front part of her head on the table and started a whole drama that lasted into the night. Claiming that she felt faint, wanting to die and so on. In the end, I did a preliminary check and she was ok. She went upstairs to her room and even said she was hungry. No one even bothered about my poor monster who was tangled up in a heap of legs and was really damn confused. My sister was panicked, wanting to send energizer to the hospital and so on. Come on, people hit their heads all the time. If you lost consciousness or started to vomit or if your pupils are not dilating properly, I would be worried, but if after the initial state of confusion, you seem ok, there is no need.

After I got home, I found that monster had a big scratch on her back and lucky she did not hit any table leg or chair and having 50kg's rushing on her may have broken bones and so on. If people bend down and were about to bang their heads, all you need to do is to advise them or alert them. Not rush at them like football tacklers and then fall into a heap with them. Well the other side's drama continued well into the night like I mentioned, with energizer now saying that she had a bad dream and so wanted to be brought to a hospital. My sister, being an idiot, did not bring her to a normal clinic, but decided to bring her to Mt E, A&E. The dr said that she was fine. (I am still fuming because this is the umpteenth time my medical decision has been countermanded by an idiot who does not know anything about medicine). Then the dr was a bit worried about energizer's blood pressure and wanted her to remain under observation. So she started to fume and ho and hum and made her blood pressure even higher. For goodness sake... she does not even take her medications religiously!!! In the end my silly tried all means to find some medical professional to see if there is anything wrong with her (energizer). Erm, the dr already said nothing was wrong. It is just that someone with dementia saw the wrong situation and reacted and had a fall... Then being guilty, and wanting attention, of course, it ended up in this way.... So now my friends.... I ask you.... WTHF..... and when they went home, old crazy had left her bag at the hospital.... Why do people not just understand the situation and just live with it?

I am now afraid of my mom because she has shown that she is incapable of lookign after my child and may even cause hurt rather than harm. And as her dementia continues, she will be more of a problem not only to all, but also herself. So I am really really stuck. She cannot control money, seems to be spending heaps for no rhyme of reason and yet is unable to see any reason. Is the gahmen going to help us? I doubt so.

Its getting more difficult to blog

Lately, after blogger has been incorporated into Google accounts, I have been having trouble getting in.... darn!!!

Anyways, latest on my rabbit is that she has just gone for an eye op to lift her skin over her eyelid higher instead of it drooping over her eyes.... But..... the thing is that it cost me 4k in Medisave and 700 in cash..... Worth it??? The jury is still out on this lah... She has had droopy eye for a long time already... Jus look at my pics... I have the same eyes!!! Anyways... money down the drain to make someone feel better... haizzzzz

But she has actually shown that her mental capacities are actually slipping because she told the nurse that the blood pressure machines the hospitals were using were not accurate.... yea right.... Which ones are more accurate???!!! Ossim???? Lives are dependant on those machines.... Just because it does not give a reading you are happy with, it is not accurate???

And then she was again asking if she could take her meds and so on, but when I looked at it, she was being selective because some were pretty full strips and some were pretty well taken..... Then when she went home, she had already forgotten how to take her meds and was applying the meds for her eyes the wrong way.... Pretty soon, she will be eating shit and rubbish and getting lost if we are not careful.... But then of course, my darling sister will say that she will look after my mom and so on and in the end leave it to someone else to pick up the shit.

Life is funny, but in the end, all you can do is laugh.....

Haaaa... I am tired

You will have to be patient with me because I was travelling a lot lately. I was in Europe as I mentioned in my previous post and was supposed to be in KL, but fortunately it was cancelled almost at the last minute and then I went to Myanmar.... Yea right.... The new Burma..... You cannot use your credit card there at all!!! And the exchange rate for the USD has 3 rates.... The gahmen one.... where the rate is 1USD to 7kyats.... then there is the trade rate which hotels use, which is 1USD to 700 and then the black market one... It is a wierd country, which is so rich and beautiful and yet at the same time, it is so backward.





Well anyway... I was only there for 3 days and that was almost the max I could stay there. I am not an elitist, but I really do value communications and was kinda lost without my wife and kid and couldn't hear from them which made things so much more unbearable.





In some way, I am really tired of flying around and also being away from the family. Every good bye is painful and every moment away from my family is hard. Haizzz... but we all gotta put the bacon on the table and be able to enjoy the fruits of our labour... so no choice.

Its been a long time

I jus got back from quite a long trip of almost 2 weeks in Europe, being in Stockholm, Fribourg and Geneva.... Eating salads with the E-coli problems being a worry and a lot of potatoes and meat.... I am Asian... so I prefer my rice and soya sauce... hehehehehehe

The energizer also came back from Scotland... sick as a donkey with the flu and as always complaining about how poor thing she is. But she is getting from strange to stranger... She all of a sudden said that I must not sell the gold that I have in some umentionable places because they are her wedding items.... Yea right... who wants to touch them and also because they are part of the fengshui of my home... Why wud I want to sell them off???? Maybe she is trying to say that she does not have enough money but then hey.... she just has to learn not to spend so much... She claims that she is not spending... But hell... she is still playing mahjong at least once a week and with her concentration span... I do not think that she will be able to win very much... losing is much more of a possibility.

Anyways, wife and daughter are now officially PR of our little red dot and my second kid, if it is a son will have to do NS..... I seriously have nothing against it.... It will only be 2 years and also it has become so soft that I am sure that it will be a breeze... In fact, I think that being at my home will be more of a challenge as I run a very tight ship and am very fierce and strict... No nonsense from my kids and they will do what we want them to do. No deals and horse trades and or trinkets to make them follow..... Even now, my monster is not really allowed to drink soft drinks and or to take sweets and so on... On the odd time, I may allow her to enjoy chocolate by way of cakes and so on... but she is not allowed to take chocolate as it is.

I think that we have to provide the right environment for them to grow the right way... Not to hope that they will come to their senses and be good people. This I am sure is part of a good upbringing.

Why is my family so wierd???

You know, if the Simpsons were real, I think that the situations they face every episode will be very similar in wierdness to mine.





Why do I say this is because on Mon night, I recieved a wierd call and it went like this..."Michael???? Ah good morning.... no no no... I mean good evening".... and I was already starting to go "WTF??? Who the f are you???" then he handed the phone over to my energizer rabbit..... Aweeeeee.... f!!!!! Then she was asking if my sis was already as she could not get to her.... So the silly idiot did not want to bring her phone because she did not want to spend money, but she borrows someone else's phone.... What a freaking pest!!!!! Come one... she does not have to go on holiday and worry about my sis or me and if she wants to worry, then do not go for a silly trip!!! It is as simple as that.... OMFG!!! It is like the time when she took money from my nephew to pay for her bloody chinese medicine!!!





And when I complained to my sis, she was complaining how poor thing she was because energizer started to call herself Maria because she was doing the cooking.... Eerrrrmmmm... that is why I always freak out when energizer comes to my house to clean it because she will come back and say that she is so poor thing.... She is like a kid... and to top it off, we do not need her to do any cleaning...... Haizzzzzz...... Then sis was complaining how my energizer treats her and her family and you know something??? What can I say, the old bag is just wanting some attention, but she will not get any from the silly sister of mine.... For me.. I am fair... I treat everyone fairly and that is why most people will find it difficult to pin something on me... I live that way because if I say that we need to save money, we will.... If I say that we have to live a hard life, we will... But not the other side and that is why we have such a wierd family....

I came back to another country

I went to Sepang during the weekend. I picked up the eneriger rabbit and we went to vote... I will still not say who I voted for though.... And then sort of kept her company for a while. Then I rushed to meet my frens and we went to KL together.... It is fun when you drive an evo because it is meant to speed... 180 seems like 120... but of course if you use your brains, you know that it is a bit fast and so we took it at a leisurely pace.

Then on Sun, it was tracking in Sepang and it was fun fun fun.... After the event, I rushed back by myself because I needed to get back fast... Well when I came back, the political landscape was different. A veteran was voted out, we lost 2 ministers and a little girl came.... The opposition won a GRC, which was the first in history and I..... stamp stamp stamp my feet... do not know what to say.

But no matter what, life still goes on. My wifey and monster will be back next week and I have already turned my car back to a normal drive.... No matter if we vote opposition or PAP, it will still be the same... Many people are fearful that if they give the wrong vote, they will suffer and it is of course part of the way the gahmen controls us. But if I apply my usual frame of thinking, even if our vote is not secret, so what? We write to MP and he says I voted for the opposition and he will not help? That will be descrimination. We vote opposition and we do not get upgrading? So what? Our slums will never be as bad as some of the other hell holes I have been to in my life. So nothing really gets me afraid and since I live my life of only relying on myself, it really does not matter if I do not get anything from anyone.

A really Big Dilemma (Purely fictional of course)

I am in a Single ward, so it is a one on one fight. I am tempted to vote for the original because he helped me to get a PR for my wife and I also want upgrading for my home... But the big question will be that if the opposition come in, I will also have seem to have not voted for them. Now if this is the case, then will they come back and asked me why I did not vote for them??? It is quite an interesting question.... isn't it? Heee heeee....

Of course it is purely fictional as I will vote where my heart is and of course it will be a secret even to you guys. But seriously does it matter who comes in? We will still be taking our transport to work and also be living our lives in our dreary towns. Got upgrading? No upgrading? Got better transport or less price increase, it will always be cyclical. Yes, due to certain pressures, price will increase and sometimes this can be mitigated by gahmen measures, but seriously, will it really change?

What needs to happen is us. We complain of not enough schools and roads and so on. We talk about not enough space in MRT and so on, but it is all because we peg everything to profits. So of course to get the most bang out of what we have and also to be as profitable as we can, any enterprise will try to be as miserly about spending money and yet wanting more profits. Schools are being over-run by FT's.... well then we should build more schools. We have too much competition for limited jobs.... then create more jobs lor..... The opposition claims to want to take out reserves to give to our people, but then why draw down on our reserves? Why not open it to private enterprise where it will be profitable for all? For example schools.... I am not talking about those privates that are so posh that we need 5 figures to just go in... But a private school catering for students. Since it is a private enterprise, the gahmen should not need to invest too much. Just ensure that the proper codes of conduct and accounting measures come in. The school has to decide how many students it needs and how much fees to make it profitable. Then the number of teachers to give a good education so that the name of the school rises and more students want to enrol.

It is like roads and cars and so on. Build more roads? We already have too many roads. What we need is better infrastructure. Have a train station within 200m from your home and many companies providing different services. Loop lines, point to point lines and so on. Private enterprise will be left to find out its profit point and also its own value added service. Then you will see that it is so convenient that we do not need cars and are happy taking trains or buses.

How come I have to think about all these things??? Maybe I should be a politician??? hehehehehe

Its been a long time

It has been such a long time since I last blogged, I guess it is because I am tired and also busy. I do not know which is worst, being tired because you are busy or what? Anyway, the elections are around the corner and I am sort of glad that I am in a Single Member Ward, this means the fight is more straight, one on one... mano o mano... I really would not like to be in a GRC where you may support a certain person of one party but not the rest.

As to who I will vote, I will be keeping that secret. But seriously, I will only say one thing and it is something that I learnt so many years ago, you may be in hell, but you can make your own little heaven in whichever hell you are in. I lived overseas so many years and have seen so many hardships, so I guess I can say it with confidence.

As for the other parts of my life, when it comes to my energizer rabbit, she is really sucking the life out of me... She went to the eye specialist and now has to undergo an op to lift the skin over her eyelids. It is true that as you grow older, your skin is not as hard and muscles not as firm and so the op is to make her eyelids a bit tighter and she can see better.... It will cost 4k!!!! She is going for her trip still and she is thinking that next year, she wants to go back to Korea again........ Even my sis is kind of out of money because everytime the rabbit sees a doctor, either she or me has to pay.... She will go to another specialist tomorrow and I had to give her another 200 bucks.... good god... that is 400 bucks on top of her trip money and the bullshit about her trying to save money is just as I mentioned... bullshit because she was playing mahjong almost everyday during the weekend!!!!

I know that humans love to pamper themselves... But this is getting crazy... She does not understand that if you want X and there is limited resources, you will have to sacrifice Y... I am again going into debt just to give her what she wants. But this time, if the banks come knocking, I will allow them to make me bankrupt and then make my case to the gahmen that their policies really stink.... Forcing us to look after our parents and not helping and then after that if our parents are the high maintenance types... we will be left without any money to buy a coffin and to give them their last rites... I am already at that stage... Saving burnt out because of her op.... and her constant need for money and then again for her unreasonable fear of dying.... If she goes to a doctor, they will definitely say that she needs treatment for something... and who pays for it.... That is why I said that I am living with the undead... A vampire of the human kind... God bless me... for no one else will,.......

Where is Karma... Where is justice?

There was a news yesterday of a mother who is addicted to gambling and threatened to throw herself off the building if she were not allowed to go to the casino. In the end, she lost a few hundred grand and is not even repentant. I am not saying good or bad.... but I am just saying that there are really some people who are really suffering from their parent's frivolousness and foolishness. My energizer??? Goes around telling me she has no money, wants to go on holidays and yet does not want to save. She claims to want to save and is saving... but that is yet to be seen.... Also, she had some blood in her urine and also saw a doctor and found out her liver is not doing well. Yet she still wants to take TCM and I ask myself why? Because she is afraid of death. But why does she want to hold out and live a long life? When all she does is spend and say that other people are so much better than her. But just like the article... how come the old do not mind sacrficing the young for themselves? Now the woman's children will have to be in debt and they will also suffer....So like our case, when she was short of money... she even took from her grandson just to go to the TCM sensei.... OMG!!! How low can you get? Just don't go lah... You so afraid of dying but at 73.... the only thing that is confirmed is death. What else is there? A second youth??? Maybe second childhood where you are so demented that you become a child... which she is closing in on now... I told her that TCM is killing her because though it may help her... in the end... it is medication that is not in any controlled proportion and you cannot determine the exact active ingredients... In Taiwan... already there are a lot of people who have kidney failure and the reason was attributed to kidney failure... I am not sayin that she should not take... but seriously... how long more does she want to stave off death? So I do hope that the government allows the building of the nuclear power plants... so that it will be tendered to the highest bidder who will hire the lowest paid worker and this worker will have no idea which buttons to press and blow the whole thing up and then we all end up dead... then at least my living hell will stop.

Wierd isn't it?

My sis sms'ed me and told me my Energizer rabbit was having blood in her urine.... Hmmmm.... well, she has been spending huge amounts of money on Traditional Chinese medcine. They have been known to kill not only your kidneys, but also your liver.... So scared out of her shit, she went to see a doctor and the doctor says her liver is in trouble....!!....?? Helloooooo.... what about the blood in the urine????? What liver?? So what if her liver is gone??? Haizzzzz..... And the thing is now I am advising that she does not go for her trip to UK or where ever because unless she is certified that she is ok, I do not want her to be sick somewhere and we need to medivec her back to SG... good god!!! Why are people so silly??? I know her reason for wanting to take the TCM is because she wants to live longer.. but at the price of what??? Kidneys and liver? Dialysis for the rest of her life? Money down the drain again I guess...

What will hurt you most?

Sending your family into a hell or not having them survive this hell? Hell, is there a difference? For me, I have to send my family back to Osaka tomorrow late evening. Some of you may say that I am crazy, but then I have no choice. They have to go meand they have to go. We just have to make sure all our emergency plans are set in place and we all know what we are doing, which makes things a bit difficult because when it comes to Mother Nature, how many of us truly understands her. But in the end, having a glow in the dark child and wife, may not be such a bad thing after all. Imagine the savings in electricity. But in the end, we all live by the rules we make and also by the choices we make. We cannot go back and hope that time will be reversed and that we can undo our mistakes... So if my daugther glows in the dark or wife gives birth to a 6 headed hyrda, so be it lor.

Sometimes I ask myself "why"??

You know, you look around you and you see misery, you see suffering. You feel sympathetic, but only for a while. You look at others and see faults, but do not see your own and in the end, the question will always be why? Why did we become this way? It is as profound as it is simple. The ego of man is the downfall of man. We had a lady call up telling the heartlanders not to go to Holland Village, an area full of ang mohs, because heartlanders are not cultured. Perhaps they push or speak loudly or are vulgar... but I can swear to it that event the most cultured being can swear profanities worse than a drunken prawn can. If rich means being cultured, again it is a misnomer because you may be rich, but you need not be cultured. You may read Tolstoy and the Illiad and Odessy.. but are you cultured? It is in the mind lah I tell you. How you bring yourself and carry yourself is the true worth of your own. No matter how rich you are, some people may be richer or as rich, but they do not want to flaunt it. So ego is mankind's downfall. Those who have power but are unable to share it, those who aspire for more when they have enough and so on... It all makes us crazy doesn't it?

The world today

I am filled with dread when I think of my family going back to Japan in Apr... What will happen if another earthquake were to strike or they find it difficult to buy food and so on. But then they have to go back because of a lot of reasons and I guess that this is where the strength of a person and his love for the family rises. Can we let our loved ones go to hell knowing that we can do something about it and also wondering if it is the last time you will say goodbye?
I do not make decisions easily and also I weigh everything before making one, so I guess they will go back unless the situation gets much worse.

As for the radiation leaks, if my monster can glow in the dark, it will save our power bills by a lot and also if she has 4 arms, she will be of much help... Or maybe I will use it as a way of getting money from the gahmen's of JP and SG... heee heeee... since they have not been allowed to get their PR here, which means they have to go back.

But seriously though, it was a big and bad situation and many others are still suffering. I feel that such a big disaster only serves to bring into mind that nothing is permanent. Not money, not status and not possessions. Now the rich also have to line up for food and they are also likewise unable to have electricity as and when they want. But talking about electricity, as mentioned in my prevous posts, we really really should not even consider Nuclear power generation in Sg... because they will be operated by the lowest paid people, who most probably do not have any idea what button to push. Why is because it is not cheap to build a plant and our bills will not be lower and yet we will have a chance to glow in the dark.

The world is coming to an end!!!

First of all, my monster has been sick with fever for the past few days and we are now making sure that she takes her meds and that she does not fry her brains.

As for the world coming to an end, the reason is simple... look at the number of volcanoes and earthqaukes that have been happening... It is a sign for sure. But then what do we do about it? Well, we sure as hell have not found a new planet to move to and even if we did, we do not have the capabilities yet. Unlike the silly show 2012, I do not think there will be anyone building any arks in Tibet and even if they try, it will be something that will be almost impossible to hide. I am not into the conspiracy theory, so I feel that sooner or later, any secret will come out.

Talking about arks, how the hell are we gonna build an ark or several arks big enough? Having 2 animals of each and 2 people of each race and so on.... There was a mention that if we had animals in the same ark, they would also end up on our dinner table... Well that is so true. If I were hungry, I would be looking at the cow and wondering if I were to have a fillet mignon or to have shabu shabu with it.

As for having 2 of each race, why not have the most beautiful (female) of each race and I will procreate with them instead? Good idea huh?

But seriously though, back to realities. There was once an ad that says that we live in an island with limited natural resources. It is true. Though our planet is big by many standards, it is still an island. If we shit enough in it, the stink will become harder to hide as time goes by and if we cut down all the coconut trees, then sooner or later we will not have any coconuts left. I am sure that my energizer rabbit will remain alive long enough to see this, but then the question will be if she wants a coconut, will I have to cut it down for her??? hehehehehe

When it rains... it pours

Oh yea... I am not talking about the real rain, but I meant good or bad luck.... The monster has been sick for 2 days and I gotta bring her to the doctors. She has been having a fever and I think that it is time to bring her to the docs before she fries her brain.

Then of course, the energizer rabbit wants money to go for her Scotlant trip and if I do not give it to her, she will still blackmail my sis for it. She claims that she is trying to save up, but then her going to the traditional medicine doctor every week and spending at least 150 bucks is something that she can save. She is 73 and has been able to go to Turkey, Europe and this year Scotland. And every time she goes, she says it is her last because it is not that she does not want to go anymore, but because she thinks she is going to die... But like the energizer battery, she goes on and on and on and on ......

If she stops seeing the TCM dr, she will be able to save the money for a trip easily. But then again, for someone with dementia and is child like, how can you explain such things? It is like me telling my monster that taking a sticky icky liquid that tastes like it squirted from the asse of a donkey is good for her... She ain't that stupid.

But I will request that she bring back some money and also show that she is trying to save so that I will consider giving her something for next or else, she can go and blackmail my sister all she likes and wants.

The world is going crazy....

No I do not mean to speak about certain Current Affairs happenings in other parts of the world, I am talking about our little red dot.

The prices of things are really getting out of hand. COE is 60k for a 1.6l car... My god... that is almost the price of a bloody car which is already priced at twice the price of a car you can get at some other place.... Ahem.... guys... you are paying at least 300% of the price of a car in Sg. So why be so proud??? Your evo and your lambo and so on are waaaaayyyy over priced and you can only have it for 10yrs!!!

Our homes are not priced at 200k and above for new or old flats as now they have the arty farty BTO which you will have to wait 3 yrs for and pay for it the rest of your lives........ Somehow... as I have been saying for the longest time... There is really something screwed up about our lives here...

2012 is really coming!!!!

I do not mean the year because it will come no matter what... but I mean that world destruction will come. Look at all the political upheavals, deaths, earthquakes and volcanoes that are happening in the world now. Perhaps people are becoming more unstable and therefore starting to go crazy more easily. I do not know the reason, but it trully fills me with dread. It is not dread of dying and going to another plane of existence, but then it is for those who live and survive. For me, I am a survivor and therefore even if there is no power or no forms of entertainment, I am still ok. But what about my family and so on. (Oh yea... I am not mentioning the energizer here hor).

In the end, we come from ashes, we will go back as ashes and that is the way things are meant to be.

The luckiest person in the world

You know something? My energizer is the luckiest piece of pie in the world. After losing her husband, she had survived so long and so well. Though her mind is slowly slipping, but then she is supposed to be a happy bunny... Why??? She has no worry in the world and is actually travelling the world. Thsi year she wants to go to UK... Last year she went to Norway and so on and the year before last it was to Turkey and so on... Good God... no wonder I call her the Energizer rabbit... she jus goes on and on and on and on and on and on ..... haizzzzzz...

So she popped a question, can I pay 2k for her trip??? 2 fucking k...!!?? Dats like how many months worth of savings??? At the end of the mth if I have 500 bucks saved, I am already a lucky bastard.... And guess what I am not getting any tax benefits to look after by law this old bunny....!!! Of course she says that I need not pay for her other expenses, but it will come back and bite me in the asse if I I were so stupid to believe her. She has no ability to save and or to plan her finances, so she will need at least 500bucks for her food and other things. I will apportion 2.5k for her, but I just hope that my sister does not tip the boat and give much more... The big problem is that how the bunny can think of spending so much is really beyond my comprehension and further to this, how she is not even half sorry for doing it. She knows we get shit upon everyday at our work. She knows we also have to live for the future while she is just as happy living for the now. Last year she claimed that she would not have any more trips this year and so spent all of any money we gave her. This year I will demand that she keeps some as next year will be much harder for us to give her a bloody trip every year.

I'm Ready...I'm ready

Following the famous Sponge Bob's ever enthusiastic motto of being ready, I feel that I am.... ready for what??? To re-submit an application for my wife's PR.

It was actually pretty interesting. I appealed to the MP who appealed to to ICA. So we recieved a letter from them last week. My wife called up and said we recieved a letter from CIA.... "CIA"??? Uhhh.... I haven't been to US for a bloody long time.... And why would the CIA want anything to do with me? Don't tell me its one of those "I am the managing director of a long forgotten african bank and I have 30 million to spend"... So I confirmed if it were ICA... She said yes.... Then I asked her if the envelope was thick or thin.. She said thick... So a wave of hope washed over me... If the appeal did not go through, then it would have been a thin single sheet saying "Rejected".... But lo and behold, it was a stack of forms we had to fill in and resubmit... So since I was gonna resubmit... I better get everything ready and filed and copied and so on.... So I am ready now.

But going back to ICA and CIA... it is beginning to put a bit of doubt about my wife... Is she dyslexic? Not putting them down hor... Just like reading God and Dog... I am just a bit worried... Is it genetic? Because my kid is speaking in tongues still and what if it is because her brain is jumbled up? Hmmmmmm.... Well she will have to fend for herself because Daddy ain't gonna be there man... hehehehehehe

The only thing you can't escape in life is death and taxes

Actually I can think of a lot of things you cannot escape but lets keep to the traditional ones lah. So what does that tell you about life? There are some things that are inevitable and some that you can avert. The worst thing comes when yuo get used to something in life and you just cannot live a life without it. Money and power does come to mind. For me, I try to live a simple life and try to keep things simple. So for me, if I have none of the money or power, it does not affect me at all. Some people who get used to it just cannot live on anymore or will try to hold on to it and keep it at all means. For this, I am not saying it and pointing it at any party either living or past.

I had a guy who was like a mini Hitler in a company I worked for in Japan. He was just a normal employee supposed to help out in the warehouse and to learn and earn and then if he proved himself worth it, he would rise in rank and also power. He was the elder brother of the company president, but all he ever wanted to do was to be an actor. He sucked at being an actor and had a face that a dog woudl run away from, so his career was pretty short. In the end, he made life terrible for all because he would always try to push people around saying that he was the brother of the president and so he was a senior and so on. But power and money are earned, they are not given and even if they are given, it will soon be spent. For us, we all have our mini hitlers and Paris Hiltons who are either too rich for us or too power hungry, but in the end, if we live our lives as we feel is right, then there is nothing any one can do to make us less happy.

Waaahhh... we all got more money wor!!

According to the news lately, we are doing much better, the average income of an average household is 5k wor..... Before or after CPF ah???

But seriously, in our present world, what is 5k? Maids need at least 1k a mth now because supplyis short and everyone wants to work for an ang moh who will give them freedom and not work them to the bone. So that leaves 4k to feed the family. If the family has a car, they now only have 3k..... And if the children need to go to school and so on, that leaves 3k..... If they have to give demented parents who have no knowledge of the value of money.... They are now left with 2k.... Have I mentioned that I have not yet mentioned food and so on hor...

Are we really better off? Or are we worse off? How many people are really having troubles fending off being hungry or without something in the end of the mth?

So now we have a scenario of an average family"

Husband and wife comes home.... "Mommy... I want a new PS2..... " (Our eyes start to roll to the top) "Son... I need to play mahjong and since you are now in the average class of people and earn 5k in total a month, you must at least give me 10% and also must pay for my medications hor...., If not I report to gahmen you not looking after me hor".... Now eyes start to roll behind the eye socket liao...... "Sir and maam... can I have an extra day off and some pocket money to meet my sayang in the forest??""... You should be about to be ready to jump from the nearest opening liao.

But of course, there will be some who will be shit happy.... "Hey... I got 5k so lets spend 10k...!!!" Its like that, we love to spend and look good... As if we are afraid that people will look down upon us if we have no money.... Well let me put it this way, when you have no money and need to borrow, it is then that people will really look down upon you. If you live a simple life and not splash or brag... you fall and no one will hear you at all....

It brings back to memory someone I loved and how she was claiming that we were being damned cheap because we ate almost everyday at food courts and hawker centres.... Hello..... going there by car... fuel and car park? Eat one meal per person ate least 7 bucks liao hor.... Times 2 people will be 14 bucks liao hor... and add the other things... each time we go out, it can be up to 50 bucks hor.... Times 30 days you need 1,500 liao hor.... Haizzzzz.... Cheap means eat at home and being thrifty about wat you eat my friend.....

Well hope you guys enjoy being in the "average" percentile and enjoy yoru 5k, because it really does not go far these few days.

Chinese New Year

Maybe it is age, but the Lunar New Year every year only fills me with dread. Dread of what crazy things my mom will do and or what else is in store for me. Remember the year before last when she suddenly told my aunty that she would not go over for reunion dinner or last year when she got the time and day wrong for my daughter's introduction lunch and I spent a bomb and no one came? This year was more or less the same thing too. She loves to be a "leader" but she really sucks in leading. I know this sounds like almost everyone we know, but it really grates me in the private parts when she does this.

Seems like she got the timing of the lunch wrong and one of my cousins brought her family, who were sick down with empty stomachs. She also asked my poor biggest aunt to follow her around like a little puppy on the first day, visiting 4 places. My poor monster was shell shocked by the end of the day. Seemes really like this year, her dementia is appreciably worse. She is getting grumpy, testy and so on and even speaking more in tongues, (eg talking nonsense). The worse is yet to come I guess. I only hope that we all do not suffer too much because of that.

She was even bragging that she may go to Scotland with her relatives again this year and my jaw dropped and my heart went "wee weee wee" all the way to the pig market. My god!!! Last year when I threw a fit about her not saving the money we changed for her for her trip, she said that she will not make any more trips. Why do you think I keep preaching that saving for the future? Or even preparing for the future? It will come and when it comes, it will bite us so hard in the asse that we will not even have time to say whoppee!!!!. She is already spending a fortune every week and month with her chinese medicine and her mahjong and yet she wants to go for trips and so on. She knows that we all may be out of a job in the near future, but then in the end, just like my sister, they do not know the devil that is stalking them. Even my sister had a grand and big lion dance and dragon dance ceremony. Easily a few k..... and she is claiming that she will lose her job in a few months... Haizzzzz... Would it not be better if she saved her money for her future?

I swear to you my friends, they are my only worry in life. Because they really are quite unable to make any reasonable choices in life. They are always in lala land and then when the shit hits the fan, I have to do the clearing up.

The oxymoron of Life

You know something? It is kinda strange. Ever since the beginning of time and education, it has been proven that those who come from educated families do have a leg up. It is not because the educated value an education more, but when a child comes and asks how to do a quadratic equation with multiple variables, you will not have the dad jumping out of his HDB flat... I will be very tempted to jump though because I am just so bad in Maths.

Also it is something the children will want to follow. If you only knew A,B,C, your kid will be happy really soon that he knows more than you. This is especially so for families who have noth graduates for parents. So why only now does the gahmen say that children of families from good schools have an upper hand?

But let me ask you this question than... is it really true? So what of the better schools take in children of their former students and so what if they draw better teachers? It may be in the genes that a kid born of be?

Better educated parents may have slightly more inclined genes for study, but not in the Sg context where education is still predominantly memory based till the child is way too old to use his or her brain to think things out. I would like to say that parents from normal schools should take heart. If you show a love for learning, a love to study and to help yoru children study, they will still do well and they will still go for higher education..... on the premise that you can afford hor...... hehehehehe

As for those who have gone to good schools and have gotten their Uni certs, their masters and so on, if you prove to yoru children that they can be butt stupid and rely on you to give them your company and your wealth, they will then become half baked potatoes who will not strive for a higher education and then you will see how they face off with the elites who have lists of certs likes an SPG with a list of credit cards from her various boyfriends. What is the use in that?

Life in Sg

It is interesting, life here in our little dot. We get peanuts for pay and everyone other company head is claiming we are too expensive. Hey, compared to many other countries, we are still cheap hor... But living here is not cheap... Just consider this as an average:

Salary: 5k
Take home: 4,100

Car loan: 800
Fuel: 400
ERP 170
Car Park HDB: 90
Food per day: 10 Per month 300
Road Tax per mth: 150
Insurance: 150
Housing per month: 300 (top up for CPF shortage)

What you have left: 2,360

If you have a family and have to pay the bills and utilities, you can easily take out another 1,000 at least.

Now then friends. This is if you are careful with your spending and also you try to save, because if you notice, I did not put anything for luxuries and so on. No eating out, no partying and so on. So you make your own calculation.

It is not cheap to live here and probably you will have to hire a maid to assist you in your household chores while your wife has to go out to find a job. A maid's base salary will be 450 soon and the government levy is around 300..... That excludes her food and so on..... so my frens... if a household does not have 5k a month.... you are well and truly screwed....

Are we being productive enough??

This is a good question huh? Now our fertility rate is like 1.16?? We cannot even produce enough to replace the people who will kick the bucket in a few years..... and we work 12 hours day plus and yet not earn enough or do enough to make our paymasters happy...... oooooohhhhh... we are indeed in a pickle huh??

Imagine, wife says "dear... lets get naughty"... and you are hunched over the workstation trying to complete the darn report by tomorrow or your ang mo boss who does nothing at work will be angry... "Not tonight dear... got work to finish".... Even if you wanted to be naughty, she will most probably say that she is too tired because she has had a tiring day running after your little one because child care is way too expensive.... Seems like a vicious cycle huh?

But still, I actually have it quite easy lah... At least I will not get any ahem ahem even if I do not have any work to do and am really feeling randy and robust... hehehehe... Isn't it a coincidence??? But hey... why the hell do I care because I am always too tired anyway.

However, in being tired, I find that going home and being with my family makes me feel so much more alive and happy. It is tiring to run after the little monster, but then she is such a beautiful little monster. And it makes me feel very happy and secure to be home in a place where I can be myself and talk to a person who understands me and cares for me like my wife.

I am blessed.

How not to bring up your children

Through the recent years, I have been bemoaning the upbringing of the younger generation here. From kids who come from families so rich that they are given exotic or powderful cars even before they turn 18 to kids who do illegal things and their parents condone it. Please let this madness stop... They are our future and if things turn out this way, I would rather not have such a future. So many children, teenagers are so spoilt rotten that they do not even consider about anything other than themselves. In their lives, they think that the whole world owes them and not the other way around.

Just take the example of a kid who posted on twitter his exam papers and instead of being repentant,now posts that he is driving his mom's company cars without a license. As a parent, I would be incensed. Yea... maybe he will inherit the business one day and he does not have to worry about his future. But then lets face it, right is right and wrong is wrong. When my monster does something wrong, she gets it from me and my wife. No matter how cute she is. When she throws a tantrum, we make sure she learns not to do so again or we will be very angry. When she bangs things or drags things that makes noise that will irritate others, we stop her in her tracks. Why??? It is because of the simple fact that we do not want someone else to do the same thing to me.

Now, if this mother allows her rather ugly son to do as he wishes, then one day, if something happens to him, he crashes into someone or gets himself killed, she will rue the day she ever was so lax on him. And it is true for all parents. The kid who crashed into the taxi driver and killed him, he may not be repentant now, but one day, he will have to pay for it. Just like the idiot who killed the Mazda sales girl, he is now a criminal and will not be able to get a license for the next 9 plus years. If course he can drive without a license or plan for the day he can get his license and his parents can get him another powderful car, but hey, if he crashes and this time kills himself, doing justice for society, his parents will be jolly sad...

Ladies and gentlemen, it is still not too late to repent. It is still not too late to bring your kids back into the fold and to teach them proper values. In this society where money talks and walks, money is not everything.

2011

No I will not say that 2012 is getting closer and besides, it is the end of 2012 that we have to be worried about, so we have another almost 2 whole years. But in a way, I look back at 2010 and look forward to 2011 and have a sense of almost bewilderment. My kid will be 2 this year... my god!!! has it been that long? This year, we will give her a cake and candles to blow out, not because we feel a need to do so, but I feel that we should celebrate 2 years of her life. She is now a really cute young lady. I will post some pics and vids as and when time avails.

I spent 3 weeks in Japan and it was such an experience. Being with your family is a nice thing to do. I do not understand how or why some people will want to find love outside of their families because it is all there for you. My kid was kinda strange with me on the first day. Maybe because she was used to being with her mom alone in Osaka, but by the second day, she was as happy as a monkey drinking rum and happily playing with old daddy. I do mean that I am an old daddy because if I need to run after her, I will usually ask my wife to do the running.

But she has grown so much through the year. In Dec 2009, she could barely crawl and was able to respond to stimulus, but not in any intelligent manner. Now she is running around and she is showing her ability to understand things both said and unsaid. And she is damned smart, when she knows that she has done wrong and I am pissed off, she will run to her mom, but then she gets it from the mom because as parents, we agree only to be together on all decisions. We do not disagree on anything, especially on how our child should be brought up. This is actually good because we have actually seen how one party tries to be the nice guy or is the nice guy while the other is the stricter one or worse if both are strict or nice. We try to align ourselves to her behaviour and ensure that across the board, she does not do anything wrong and or bad.

How this new year will unfold for us? I really have no idea. For me, I am not afraid of the future as it is still unkown and also undecided. It can be anything I want it to be. It can be as good as I want it to be, or it can be as bad as I want it to be. Even for a bad situation, it can be good if I look at it in a postive way or it can be the worse thing that has ever happened.

Well, good luck to everyone and I wish all a Happy 2011

Taking a long deserved break

I'm in Osaka now taking a long break with my family. I guess that its been a long and hard year and it will be another hard and long year next year. But hey, we're all gonna die in 2012, so its ok.... if the shit doesn't end nxt yr... it will still end the yr after next right? Now that is what I call being positive.... hehehehehe

Anyway, like I was saying, its gonna be a hard year next year because my company just merged with another company and also because we will see new changes in management and so on. But you know something? (No I will not mention 2012 again)... it really doesn't matter. With or without a job, I will still have to survive and I have been surviving since a long time ago. The only thing is that now, with a family, things do get a bit more dicey as I am now responsible for more people. But like I said, I am always open to throwing people into the deep end of the pool to make sure they survive. I will not be mean to my family, but I will also not be too nice.

And as for my other family, the headaches will never cease, so I will not even bother to mention it anymore.... I will just take it like a bad dream and just pretend that things are all well over there and if not well, who the hell cares.

We went back to wifey's home town of Akita... It was cold!!! 2 degrees C in daytime.... that is colder than some freezers man... I was in hog heaven because I love the cold. But it was a bit too cold in the nights. Coming back to Osaka, where the temperature is a more agreeable 14 degrees C, it almost seems like living in heaven. That is why I really do not want to go back.

But I still have a life back in Sg... sob sob sob... My really good friend in Thailand did ask me to go back and work with him when I was there just before I came to Osaka. But the big problem is that I still face the same problems I had many years ago, when I was there... the pay may be good if I were living there... but it would not afford my living in any other places.

I have said many times before, you have to make your own little heaven in no matter which hell you are in. I do hope that all of you take heart and do have a great Christmas and Happy New Year.

Life is so strang sometimes

You know, whenever I come online, it is only to complain and it is really not a good thing. Last week, the energizer rabbit called and asked for $100 because she wanted to play mahjong. I could not go anywhere as I was getting my car fixed. Then today she called and asked for another 50bucks. In life, if we have none, we try not to spend it. That is the law of life. But seems like our friend is stuck in a blackhole and there is no time for her. She even wants to go to Bangkok with her friends and so on and guess who will foot the bill?? In the end, she will then say that she does not spend money... But her weekly mahjong sessions, in which I am pretty sure she is losing, her outings and so on, all needs money. And the thing is, this hell will just go on and on and on... till the day she pops..... I will not wish for when as this is bad karma.

But seriously, it is getting ridiculous as she uses at least 150 a week on her silly tradional chinese medicine and then her mahjong and that is a lot of money. Yet she can claim that she does not have any money and does not spend any money.... wow..... no wonder the government is so afraid of our aging population.

But on the bright side, I will be leaving soon.... I will be going to Thailand to train some people and then hop on a flight to Osaka and be wif my family. They are my only joy in life now. Even my monster is growing well and she is now talking... but making no sense whatsoever. And it is a joy to go home and be with them. It may be tiring, but in it is the feeling of belonging to somewhere and someone.

Of course I will also try not to spoil my monster and therefore will keep her in check. She is a really willful and really daring little girl. She will even go into a dark room by herself and not be afraid. And when we go out, she will even walk by herself in her own direction. Call it daddy's pride, but I feel that she will grow up just fine.

We really live in a wierd country

I was actually around the neighbourhood where they had the "bomb" scare, (near my office) and it was really a non incident. Why do I say it, the smoke was damned thin and it looked more like some idiot may have left his cigerette lit in his car... Only a really busybody will go and have a look and then report to the police..... But then coming from a country where we thought someone being hacked to death (RIP) was a halloween trick..... So what can we say... some more... if we anyhow report police, dial 999, and it was not something important... we would have a really friendly visit by the police after that.... Is it worth it?

So as you can see, we do live in a wierd country. Where caring is past and we are also past caring.

1 in 10 Sillyporeans Obese wor....

I am one of them and do you know what??? It doesn't matter to me!!! Its not that I like being fat or unhealthy, but the issue is that how can I be healthy enough to exercise and eat properly when I am being worked to the bone, crushed by work and yet have to go home and help to look after my baby? Of course, people can say..."You only need to work out 15-30mins a day!"... Yea right... if I had 15 or 30-mins, I would love to use the time to exercise when I could be sleeping or shitting, which I find is a much more comforting endeavour than sweating and pounding it out.

And the very fact of being fat and unhealthy then brings into mind an oxy moron or a paradox, how can we live longer and work till later if we are not being healthy? Chicken and egg mah.... Imagine working till we are 68..(the question is whether we can live till then or not hor) and then having to work (being competitive and also the best at what we do) and then having a family and then having whatever else.... Holy shite... really do not want to live much longer man!!!!

Imagine Mr. A, who has to hold his job down, work till late, then go home and his wife shoves him his child because they are too stingy or poor to afford a maid... He looks after the "bundle of joy" till his wife has finished her daily beauty regime, with her facial and her whatever shite... (it takes a bloody long time hor) and she is now fresh and happy to take over the baby... Then it is the poor guy's turn to do his thing..... By that time, it is past midnight and the ghost of sleep beckons.... and then he wakes up at 7 to go to work because the CTE is always jammed and his boss decided to have an office where parking is a bitch.... Then he works till he is half dead. And what does the gahmen want him to do??? Work till he is really dead!!!

Oh yea... to top it all off... even if he dies.. his CPF may not come back to him hor.... Haizzzzz... what a life we all live..... And some more the girls all want 5C's.... yea... like I can be bothered to even give half a C when she can't give him anything in return.

Chuckles.....

Shit happens, though it is not supposed to..

I will not stand here on a moral high horse and talk about how the recent mix up in samples caused the wrong child to be placed with the wrong parents. I will also not stand here and debate the rights or wrongs of IVF or AR. These are forums to be left for others.

But one thing is that instead of pointing fingers are finding out who to lynch, I personally feel that the most important thing when something goes wrong is to sit down and think about how and where we go from here. It is like this weekend, my baby had the worst weekend and by default so did we. She fell from almost everything she sat on, came out with a few bruises and even a broken lip... So do I point the finger at my wife and say that she ahs not been doing here job? I will also have a part to blame in this episode too... right?

So as mentioned before, how do we go forward? And like I also said, "Shit happens". It breaks my heart to see my child cry or hurt, but in a way, we have to allow them to get hurt to learn. Just like my kid loves to pull put drawers and slam them back... Well, she slammed and clamped her fingers a few times... If she don learn that it hurts, then she will bloody well slam till she learns that it is 1) Stupid to slam things... 2) It is also painful if you slam your own fingers... Call me a bad dad maybe? But then it is the only thing to do, for even if you say "NO!!!" till you are blue, if she does not understand, then she will never understand.

Anyways, so back to pointing fingers. We should have a systemetic and cool approach of how problems should be handled and how they can be faced.

Hello....ween

Well it is an American tradition and I really have no idea why we wanna dress up like ghosts and ghouls when we already have enough traditions of our own. Perhaps some people feel that it is fun for the children, but for me, I feel that it is just another way or excuse to waste money and time. We were a British colony, not an American plant, so why do we have to adopt every western thing that comes by?

Anyways, I am really burnt out. At work, its been really busy and once home, I have not been able to be slack too. I try to help my wife in looking after the baby, so that she will feel at least less stressed. We refuse to have a maid as having things easy is only an excuse. If our parents can look after us without maids, we will jolly well try to do so without maids too.

Anyways... will post longer when am more free.

Oh great... things are getting more expensive again.

It is actually a vicious cycle, things go well, people start to spend and this spending starts to reduce excess capacity and therefore the price goes up. But as the prices go up, people start to ramp down on their spendings and this in turn affects the businesses and thus pushes things into another downturn.

There was an article that now inflation is around 3.7%... Really??? No joke??? Are you sure??? What can we buy for $10 now? I remember a long time ago during my very mentally troubled youth, $10 could still buy a lot of things... Now, if you give a kid $10... the kid will say,"Uncle... save your money lah...." So how much is the true inflation today? How much can we buy for the amount we still have? People are not getting richer and especially the sandwiched generation who earn enough that they are not considered poor and therefore have no safety net. These are the ones who are really suffering nowadays. You may say, "Waaaaaahhhh you earn $3k ah.... coooollll"... But like the little kid who asked you to save your money, the girl you are interested will also say don waste your time. It can't buy you a house or a car and these are 2 of the important "c"s that they want.

Even if you earn 10k, it is not really a big thing. For some of course it will be a big thing, but seriously the spending power of average joe is really getting smaller.. But of course my little energizer does not understand such terms. She is like the forever ongoing bull market... Everything is fine and dandy and great.... (sighsssssssss>)

So anyways, ERP is going up.... Just like COE is going up..... prices are going up...... might as well think seriously about opening up a bread shop because I am sure that to save money, people will have to start to love eating bread. Nothing wrong with bread, but have you seen the ridiculous prices of some of our sandwiches????? And also I had such a bad experience at BK last weekend. Ordered a large ice tea, the server tried to flog off a medium coke... and when I tasted it, it was so sweet an ant will have an immediate orgasm and die on the spot. Then the sausages patty was so over cooked that it looked like the shrivelled lungs of a smoker who does 40 sticks a day.... it did not taste much better though.

And to top off the whole experience, when I brought the drink back to the counter, no one even tried to placate me with another drink. Not that I am that desperate for a drink that can make an ant orgas and die on the spot though.

Anyway.... I am really getting tired of all this shit... You get shit service, you are treated like shit.... but don worry, I do not think that I am shit... hehehehehe

My baby is a big girl

This is the newest vid of my little girl. She brings tears of joy and thoughts of bewilderment when I see her each day. How did she turn out to be like that? She now does not drink milk from a bottle and wants to feed herself. She is a happy child who is quick to laugh and smile, as long as she has enough sleep and also to eat... I am contented.

My Baby is growing

Here are the latest pics of my monster. How she has grown in the few months I have not seen her. I guess that this is the time where the most changes happen and if youare not there to be a part of it, then you will most probably never have the chance again. But in a way, as adults, there are times when we have to make certain sacrifices. Not for drama and or whatever, but for the sake of the family as a whole.

That is why sometimes I really get very fed up when people do things they know they should not do and or do not think when they do certain things.

Anyways, I had a really tiring weekend. I guess I was already building up to a burn out, so I slept mostly on the weekend and really took things easy. I even fell asleep really early last night and only woke up at 7. But I know I was snoring a lot becoz I had such a sore throat when I woke up. That is not a good thing as now I really have to worry about sleep apnea. But then again, we will all die one day, so I am not afraid of dying.

Not like my energizer rabbit who is so afraid of death and yet does not know how to enjoy life. I guess that when you are weak psychologically, you are really never gonna be happy. I told her how unlucky I was this year and she said that she was even more unlucky... When I told this to my wife, my wife could not decide whether to be angry or to be surprised. My energizer has already lived through cancer not once but twice!!! She has already been to Europe not once but twice!!! She has nothing to worry about except when to be hungry or sleepy. Yet she still insists on going to her traditional chinese medicine and paying at least 100 bucks a week!!! Imagine how much more money she will have if she does not spend so much? And in the end, who suffers? It is us, we have to save more so that she can have more. But of course, in so saying, I am liable to be listed as a bad child. And most probably the gahmen will also look badly on this. Hey man, I had my power stopped last week because when the Singapore Power tried to do a Giro, I did not have sufficient funds in the flipping Giro account and they did not tell me that Giro did not go though. I am living on hand and mouth each month with the usual worries about where can I stretch each buck. Baby needs to be fed, wife needs to live and I also need to provide. And yet I manage to do so almost every month. Not like some people who just take and take and take. And yet the gahmen is not helping us. My taxes grew by 100% this year. From 300 plus to 600 plus... So in the end, almost 1k of my salary goes into such unseen things... Damn it is expensive to live in Sg.

Well enough of raging on... It is like throwing yourself at a brick wall, it will not work out. I just hope that seriously things will change for the better and that my bad luck does not affect my wife and child too much.

Can you live without the person you love??

This question is a wierd one no doubt, but for married couples who have been together for years and years and each beign the pillar for the other, what will happen when one leaves? For my energizer rabbit, she has never really loved anyone but herself. Of course she truly loves my father or she would not have devoted her life to him, but in a way, it is also a question of how much more you love yourself.

I asked myself this question over and over. What will happen if I were left in this world without my wife or baby. They are my world and life and so to carry on without them will be unthinkable. But with life being so fragile, death is only a stone's throw away. People die of diseases, accidents and so on, so what if??

I think that I will be very lonely, I may carry on, but I will not die just because they have died. It is a difficult concept, but being the head of a family, not only of my own but also of my father's has made me really cold. It is like the docu-drama on Discovery channel, where the family of Cpt Phil Harris is struggling to continue and the eldest son has to balance between his duty to the father and family and also being the son. It is difficult. The others blame him for not shedding tears and not being emotional and yet if he is, then the whole family will falter. And I guess it will be the same for most other sons or eldest born. To them goes the most difficult task and the most painful task. Bringing the family forward, changing and also growing up really fast. For if they do not do so, then the whole family goes.

I can cook, clean and live my life. In fact now, I am also living a life mostly without my family. It is not through a whim of fancy, but a calculated move for the future. My sis says that she wants to send her son overseas, well...isn't it similar to my experience? But she will never do it because she treasures them too much... and in the end, may stiffle their ability to grow. Her eldest may want to become the leader of his pack, but then again, he is definitely not ready... For me, I will teach my baby to be independant and to be able to cope by herself. Now she is dependant on her mom, but one day, she will be alone.

So can you live without the person you love? If you say "yes", then you are not loving the person enough.

Of life and death

These few days, I have been watching really touching movies and documentaries. A movie was by Matsu Takako, in which she lost her daughter and the other was the documentary on Discovery channel. Death is all around us, the moment we start our lives, we are just heading for death. There is no escape. But how you live or die is completely up to you. You may be born into wealth or poverty, but how these conditions change, will also change you and how you adapt to it will also be a change.

I do feel sad when I see death, no one shoudl feel happy. But then again, whether the person who goes leaves behind a whole lot of shit or a lot of wealth is another thing altogether.

Mrs. Lee, the wife of the MM has also passed away. RIP.... RIP...

But then again, the living should go on living and go on to make their owns lives. Just like my own Energizer Rabbit, I have to be ready for her passing also. Whether it is soon or it will be blue moons later, it doesn't matter. It is only a matter of when and how. But to be frank, I do hope that it is a sudden and unforeseen one as this should make it easier for my sis to handle. If it is a prolonged and painful death, then seriously my sister will spend all she has just to try and make things better. But the thing is, I am cold and emotionless at times and I feel that the living should have a chance to live. Not to spend everything we have on someone who is old and has already enjoyed a good life. But then again, that is just me I guess.

Ahhhh memories

You know, I was called a grandfather just yesterday.. It was actually an attempt by a fren to sorta protect me bcoz there are a few frens who like to egg people for races... And I am not one to race, especially drag... It is only once in a while that I will even consider.. So my fren said "Do not tell grandfathers how to suckly milk, we have been doing it longer than you have".... Hmmm... so I am a grandad... Just after my baby daughter is born... interesting.

Anyway, I read somewhere that the army is changing its training policies... interesting.... During my time, which was slightly after the cruel initial years of NS and not quite the same paradise as now.... it was really tough... Initially, my greatest fear was for Road marches (flat foot mah) and SOC.... Dang... imagine walking for 24km when you are as flat footed as a duck..... But you know something... after 2 and a half years, it does not seem so scary anymore... Even the SOC is not so scary anymore... You run 50m.... clear 11 obstacles and then run another 600m to the end point with your tongue and other parts dragging on the ground. And you are supposed to finish it in 9minutes.... yeaaaa... right.... Here's my take on the 11 obstacles.

1) Low wall (1.83m): In Hokkien terms.... Long piak.... "ram into wall"... hey I am short.... With only 1.55m.... how the hell am I gonna climb over a 1.8m wall... Some more... so many goondoos have jumped off from the same place that there are depressions where you jump... so it is no more 1.83m.... I swear!!!!....

2) Parallel Bars: Pant pant gasp gasp.... now 2nd obstacle.... Again... for the height disadvantaged... just getting onto the bars is an obstacle in itself..... "Quick... give me a stool"...kekekeke.... But it was easy once you were on because all you needed to do was to lock your elbows and just slide your hands down the bars..... The only gud thing I never had to complain about was that the bars were spaced too far apart... Maybe because by that time, there would not be many fat soldiers and so the bars could be closer in....hwehhehehehe

3) Stepping board: That was easy lah... jus step on a board and jump over some barb wire.... and since the course was used so often and goondoos fell into it quite often, the barb wire was quite flat anyway... But then the issue was dat the length of the jump was quite difficult for a short guy with short legs....

4) Swing trainer: I call them the monkey bars..... Old uncle here is a monkey... so no problem lah... but by the time I had done the first 2 obstacles and since it used a lot of arm power.... my arms would be more like rubber bands already.

5) Low rope (3.5m): Yea right.... It was never 3.5m and also I am only 1.5m tall.... 3m is already nosebleed thin air territory for me man... But the good thing was that the rope was thick and having something nice thick and long in between your legs...... uuuummmmmmmmm

6) Horizontal Beam: Dats a set of zig zag beams a few metre above the ground... Youare dizzy... gasping for breath and now you have to climb and walk???? But since I am not afraid of heights... it was ok.... jus don't miss or you will fall.... hehehehe

7) Swinging Bridge: Thats the one where the bridge is suspended and you run on it and cross it... The secret is to not go while someone else is on it.... Some sissies will even put a foot out to stop the bridge from swaying first.... But for me... already half dead liao.... who gives a heck....

8) Balancing log... Thats where there is a horizontal log around belly height (chest height for me) and you are supposed to crawl over it.. I literally ooze over it because my dragging tongue is already lubricating the pole... But seriously it is not that bad lah.

9) The gate.... another really silly obstacle in which there is 2 poles, you climb over the top pole and then use the bottom pole to hold and jump down... Not too bad lah....

10) Jacobs ladder: Man this is scary... where you have to walk up a set of logs formed into a pyramid and walk down... You are already tired, dizzy and almost half dead... miss one step and you fall through or worse.... get stuck... hehehehe

11) The ramp.... where you run up a slope and over a dead drop wall and some barb wire.... The important thing is to get as much air time as possible.... but for me.... bouncing into barb wire will be nothing new.... hehehehe

Then it is 600m of pure sprint to the end...... with your tongue dragging on the ground.... your arms also dragging because they are already too tired.... and oh yea.... we did it with the harness they call the SBO and helmet and rifle.... so it wasn't easy... But doing it often enough makes one not fear it... It was more of a hassle.... hehehehe... but life was much harder last time man....

A lot of China pilots use falsified resume wor....

Hey, if we go through with the nuclear power plants, we will surely glow in the dark.. After all, the company which will win the tender will be the most expensive and yet charge us a bomb for the power and also use the cheapest labour to build it and run it... So if a China man comes with a Harvard Phd in nuclear physics, we gotta be careful liao.... It is just like SBS and SMRT who hire bus captains (the drivers lah) who can barely speak English well enough to communicate with the passengers... So if something happens and a complex series of instructions in English is issued to alleviate and impending leak of nuclear radiation... Mr. False resume will most probably not be up to the par... Man we are really gonna glow in the dark.

Actually it is also better lah... we glow and we will not use money on power... hehehehe....

But seriously folks, it is always the case of trying to be something you are not. You or your frens or a 100 other people may get away with it, but one day, in the end, someone will get caught and the whole stack of cards will fall. It is like people who see themselves are car gods or race gods and vrooommmm down the street and veer in and out of lanes... They will one day get into trouble and they will have to bear the consequences. If you do not know what you are doing, you better not pretend to know lor...

So take the scenario of the falsified resumes..."Er.. Mr. X... Have you flown a wide body aircraft before?"
"Yea.... If a bus is a wide body aircraft".....
"Hmmmm... I hope he was joking"..."but his resume puts that he has"..."Ok Mr. X... welcome to the YYYAir Company"

Then on the first day of training.... Mr X goes "Dang... this thing is BIG!!!" "Hmmm lets see... where is the gear stick ah???" (The other pilot will also be going..."I hope he is joking") But history has proven that being a pilot does not need any qualification... Look at the character that Leo De Caprio palyed in "Catch me if you can"... The guy was self taught..... Dang.... we are gonna glow in the dark....,.