Circle Mirror Transformation

Great evening out with Elieen, we had very good seats allocated to us. It was definitely worthwhile getting the season tickets again from Pangdemoniun. I have been getting very decent seatings so far for the last 2 years. Excellent view.

Here are some of my thoughts and feelings about the show Circle Mirror Transformation. In summary, it was intensely real to me. Having the privilege of being a part of drama club during my polytechnic days, the activities in Circle Mirror Transformation definitely had a ring of familiarity to it.

The show is about average people, real issues and their interaction with one another. It is about how most of us act to cover up our fears and weakness, how sometimes all it takes is the right trigger and the right opportunity for these issues to intensify and surface. When it does, majority of us will be hoping for a little help and a listening ear but yet we hold back and play down the moment, acting as if it was something else. As we grow older, we have all become very good at this. So here is a play about a bunch of people learning how to act. How apt and ironic at the same time.

I love the way how little moments of awkwardness were cleverly directed to pop up at the appropriate moments throughout the show. One such moment was when Adrian Pang had the conversation with Neo Swee Lin about night terrors. Clearly Adrian touched onto a sensitive area of Swee Lin's. She looked for a quick moment as if she was pleading for help, wanting more advice or at least to hear more from Adrian and Adrian struggled to find a right approach to offer his help and that little awkwardness surfaced. It was so real. How many times in life do we see this play out time and again? More often than we care to admit. 

Although it was an immensely fun show filled with laughter, it is undeniably a well thought out production that showcases about interpersonal relationships between your average run of the mill people. That's how Pangdemonium won me over again with this production - simply because I can relate to the characters as they seemed so real.

Below are some photos of the cast with Adrian thanking the sponsors after the show. You can see how close we were to the stage.  

 

Reconnection

It is amazing how people can reconnect even after 15 years later. It was almost as if we had picked up the conversation right from when we last met, and could hardly feel there was 15 years in between.

I suppose this is what we commonly termed as affinity or karma, something that science cannot explain. It is a direct experience; we just simply know within ourselves if we are comfortable with the other party, how much we can trust and communicate with. Sometimes we struggle to find a reason or explanation why we connect better with some than the others. Maybe we struggle so because there is simply no need to explain the better connectivity. It simply is.

For that i am glad you found my number, allowing us to establish the connection once again. See you soon again :)

Egoistic 2014

In "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying", Sogyal Rinpoche wrote about Ego, how it traps and deceives, causing us to suffer endlessly in this Samsara state. For the last 2 days in 2014, i have contemplated and came to realised how much truth there was in Rinopche's writings, chapters he touched on the subject Ego. 

Ego comes in many forms and manners, but its underlying issue stems from ourselves, how we view ourselves and the world around us. When we are not able to see past our pride, our attachments, our "self", ego has a easy time convincing us that we are "better" or "higher" in the material sense of world, giving us a false sense of inflated self. When that happens, it hinders our development, both in character and spiritually.

Earlier this year, i had a change of portfolio in work, the third in 3 years working for this department. It is not common to have a constant change of portfolio when some colleagues in the department went without much changes in their scope of work for years. I believed it was a recognition of my abilities, comparing to my peers, my bosses had a view that i will be able to undertake the tasks involved more effectively.

My pride in work and this inflated self was further boosted when my department head said during the half year review that he could not see any other who could have done it better. He needed someone strong from the team to handle the changes and he saw me as one of the senior guys (among those who held the same corporate title), making me by far the best choice.

How my pride and inflated self burst during the year end review that i was in fact compared to the "junior members" of the team who were considered to be the same generation as myself. Owing to such a comparison, my performance for 2014 was considered outstanding. Most people would have been very happy in my stead to receive such praise from their managers, saying their work was outstanding. But i felt no such thrill, no such jubilation at what i heard.

I realised the lack of joy was because my inflated ego had made me believed that there was a need for me to perform much more, at a higher standards so that i can be measured against whom i considered to be the more "senior" colleagues. At that point in time, i would have felt better receiving a lesser rating. I had such an egoistic view that a lesser rating among the "seniors" was much better than an outstanding rating among the "juniors".

As i reflected on my feelings and meditated on it, the more i realised how false this ego and self is. This "senior" and "junior" view was simply how biased and subjective i viewed the work around me, making me trying to live up to phantom standards that were not there in the first place, prompting me to recall a story about a car salesman and his index of happiness that Bhante told us during a Dhamma talk - you can read it here

I do not see this experience negatively. Rather than let this ego inflate further by false praises and expectations, hindering spiritual and character development, it is better it burst, allowing me to reconsider my priorities and expectations, walking towards a better 2015 and beyond. 

With this, i end 2014 and wish whoever is reading this post a very Happy New Year filled with much joy and happiness.

A PG Breakfast

I was in my old neighbourhood, Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 for my half yearly dental appointment this morning. It was time for some breakfast after the appointment, I decided to pop over to food center at block 453 (453 market as we know it affectionately) to see if I could join my old pops for breakfast. 

There he was at his usual spot with 2 of his friends. They looked about my father's age, late sixties to mid seventies. I called out to my pa and greeted his friends, uncles in the Sinagporean fashion. In Singapore, any person older than yourself is usually termed as uncle or auntie out of respect for their seniority. 

I sat down beside my pa and ordered my breakfast. While I was midway through the meal, my real paternal uncle, 小叔, passed by. Called out to him and he joined us at our table. 

They started swapping stories about who used to make the best soy bean drink, the best carrot cakes, best fishballs in the past. Unlike these days where most food material came from factories. My pa even remarked that these days even the fishballs are the same size and weight in contrast to the good old days when they were made by hand, lots of texture and flavour despite the irregular sizes and weight. 

They also talked about our government and PAP, how years were good during the 70s and 80s. Everyone could make a comfortable living as long as they worked hard. Shared their opinions and of course, not without a few gripes of their own.

Suddenly I had this feeling that I was a teenager all over again, surrounded by real adult men. It was a good warm feeling on a rainy day. These guys were the heroes of the past. They grew and toiled during our early nation building years, having little or no material comforts. 

They are who in my eyes un-breakable in spirit and willpower despite all the hardships they been through even if the weight of years and hard work causes their backs to bend a little, their eyes a little dimmer today. They are the real deal, Pionner Generation. It was my honour to breakfast with them. 

Active Laziness - Dying before Living

 

The day we were born, we are destined to die. Yet knowing so, most of us are not equipped to handle death well. We go about our lives as if we will live forever and tomorrow always come; believing our family, friends, jobs with all material possessions we hold on will be there in the future as they were yesterday and today. Death then comes as a rude shock to us when we encounter it, how we weep and wail when someone close and dear to us dies.

 

Intellectually, everyone knows that death is inevitable but majority choose to ignore it, numbing ourselves with activities that do not better ourselves or the lives of people around us. This is in stark contrast to older times when people devote time to spiritual studies, reflection and practice for actual realisation of their studies and faith. These days, we simply lose ourselves in a furry of activities, burying ourselves between work and entertainment.  

 

On page 19 of "The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying” by Sogyal Rinpoche, he wrote, “there are different species of laziness: Eastern and Western. The Eastern style is like the one practiced to perfection in India. It consists of hanging out all day in the sun, doing nothing, avoiding any kind of work or useful activity, drinking cups of tea, listening to Hindi film music blaring on the radio, and gossiping with friends. Western laziness is quite different. It consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so that there is no time at all to confront the real issue.” He calls that Active Laziness.

 

I cannot agree more especially as a person living in a cosmopolitan city like Singapore, we see this sort of Active Laziness on a daily basis. We are active, constantly on the move but despite all these activities, we hardly grow in our ability to deal with death; lazy in our spiritual development. The subject is brushed aside as if it never will happen. Even on our rest days, we filled them up with things to do; places to travel and visit. If we can remind ourselves of impermanence and that life can extinguish in the next moment, we might choose to do things a little different, to be a little more mindful of ourselves and the people around us.

 

It is important to find some time for quiet moments to self reflect, be in touch with our true nature. In addition it is just as important to touch the lives of others around us positively. It can be as simple as spending a few more minutes with our family, sharing precious silent moments, simply knowing we are there for each other. For a friend or a colleague, a simple gesture to bring them a little more joy or lend a listening ear when they need them. No matter how many places we visited, no matter how much material possessions or titles we amassed, there is nothing more real than the here and now, to be mindful of the living and stop the buzzing laziness so prevalent in us who live in this city state, Singapore that we call home.

TF30 Exhibition

Mothership did not mince her words but their review was appropriate. TF30 did fall short of expectations. Most of their models do not look anywhere near the transformers we see in the movies. The saving graces of the exhibition were the pretty interesting 3D mapping light show (repeats every 3 mins) and a fair display of transformers toys and action figurines. Having said that, it did not stop us from having a fun day with the kids, filled with lots of laughter and very bloated stomachs. If you are interested, here's a video of the 3D mapping light show and some photos of the displays.

Three Wishes

Yaozong (Thomas Ong) lost all his memories in the episode 17 of Three Wishes aired yesterday evening. It was the price to pay for his second wish in order to save his dying father, leaving Yaozong a 10 year old again and no recollection of his life after that. 

It was a heartbreaking moment when his wife Shanmei (Huang Biren) found him alone lost in the park but he could not recognise her, greeting her Auntie. The episode was made sadder a couple of minutes later when Yaozong feeling lost, broke down and cried aloud, asking his parents when they have suddenly turned old. He wanted things to turn back to how he remembered. His parents seeing their grown up son sobbing like a child, having no answers for him, broke down together.

Scenes in tv series though often dramatised for effects, are in some ways reflecting our daily lives and concerns. It has set me thinking, what happens if one day any of my family members or myself lose our memories? Often our relationships are determined and influenced by our past memories. Will I still be my parents' son? Will I still be my siblings' brother? Will I still be your friend? Will I still be me? 

Life

Most of us want an easy life but what we truly need is a good life. Bulk of the time, we do not realise what we want may not be good for ourselves. And even more so, how little we appreciate the fact that our true needs for betterment of our lives may not come easy.

Gardenasia - Q2 Team Event

Its our quarterly team event last friday and we went to Gardenasia at Kranji, a garden landscaping company. For our team event, we learn a bit more on how to recycle used plastic and papers and make them into small art decorations. 3 pics to share and they have abosolutely nothing to do with what we made during the session. I just happen to snap them when they gave us a little tour around their premises.

Ah Mah Laa Kopi

Although grandma, whom we affectionately call Ah Mah, can no longer be with us physically but she continues to be us in all other aspects. I like how Bhante put it across, that we may be sad and there may be sorrow but more importantly when we think of her, we should remember all the goodness Ah Mah represents and celebrate her full life.

There is a little story about Ah Mah that i recall fondly with people who knows her. Allow me to also share this lovely memory with you. Whenever I say this little tale about Ah Mah, i start off telling everyone that grandma is a smart woman and she gets what she wants in the smoothest possible manner you can imagine. She's one slick lady, i grant you that :) 

Due to Ah Mah's condition, she is not allowed to have too much of any type of food and that includes coffee that most of us take for granted. But grandma do love her caffeine drink so. And each time we drink coffee, she will say in Teochew, "So fragrant! What drink are you having?" 

We will tell her its Kopi and she will smile at us, "Oh, that's very nice. Can you drink and leave a little to share with me?" Tendency is we share a 1/4 of a cup with her so she can have enjoy her small request  without causing any unncessary stress on her body.

And I realised she does that to each and everyone of us whenever we have a cup of coffee with us. I caught her asking one of our dhamma friend to share coffee with her after she already had some of mine. I exclaimed, "Ah Mah, you already had some! Hahaha. You are really good! At this rate you are asking, you probably be drinking the equivalent of a full cup of coffee, without anyone the wiser!

So there's Ah Mah with her 小把戲, don't you agree she is one smooth operator? :)

The Art of the Brick - Part 2

Here's the rest of the pictures from the exhibition. Its no easy matter trying to capture the essence of themes and messages the artist is attempting to bring across with his / her artwork.

In this exhibition, it is evidently more so. Every piece of these art exhibits was a direct result of months of effort by the artist, built one piece at a time. I cannot even pretend to tell you that i understood fully what he went through and hope to represent the exhibits in these photos. You have to experience them yourself. Meantime, I did my best here and hope you enjoyed these photos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Art of the Brick - Part 1

Mark, Tracy, Cecilia and i went to The Art of the Brick exhibition held at the Marina Bay Sands ArtScience Museum over the weekend. For more info about the exhibition, you can click on this link - The Art of the Brick

Missing in action was Ryan and Lorine. Seems her foot were aching or hurting and stayed home to nurse it, giving the exhibit a miss. To the 2 of you - if you can find the time, go for it. The showcases are really amazing, its a shame to miss, so try not to :)

Anyways, here are some photos from the first room for sharing, more to come in future posts!

 

 

 

Traffic Accident

Was involved in a traffic accident making my way home around 1am on 11th Aug and it happened just 2 streets away from home. Home at that point in the time was just another 2 more minutes of drive but we all know accidents tend to happen at the least expected places and time. 

The taxi driver too was pretty much unharmed but i can tell he was really shocked from the incident. After the collision, he asked me what to do. My mind was still recovering from the initial impact so i only remembered telling him to call the police and make a report - on the hindsight, it's a little funny that the taxi driver uncle should ask me what to do. i would have thought he knew better. 

Having said that, i checked myself for any visible injuries. Only seeing none and able to move my limbs around without feeling any pain, i got down from the cab. By this time, Uncle had called the police, turned off his engine and winded down the windows. It was only now that i realised how bad the other vehicle was banged up from the collision..

Below is a picture from STOMP the banged up the car was.

I'm grateful that there were passers-by to help us, offering advice and helping the injured parties onto the pavement, away from the accident site. It shows how people can come together in times of trouble and not all incidents reported in Singapore are ugly. There are always those unsung goodness that don't make it often enough to the news or reports.

The ambulance and police made it to the scene one after the other in around 10 mins. Overheard from the medic that one of the victims might have suffered a fractured collar bone. He was bandaged up and sent to hospital for further treatment. 

Officer took down my particulars and i was informed that the IO will be contacting me in future as i'm a involved party for this accident. After taking some further verbal instructions from both the police and medic, i was good to leave the scene.

Believe it or not, i walked home. I decided that the fresh air will do some good and let me walk my mind off the incident. In all, i'm just grateful that i got away pretty much unscathed and no lives were lost. I hope the other victims are now recovering well.

Wicked-ly Good!

It's been years since I last watched a stage production of any sorts, much less to say a musical.

With the rave reviews going on, I couldn't resist going to the musical Wicked before it finally ends its run in Singapore. I admit I was a little skeptical how good can the script or the plot gets when it is a spin off of one my favourite childhood stories, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Boy, it did not disappoint and i simply fell into the magic of Oz once more. I can say it was definitely more than worth every single dollar I spent.

The cast was magnificent. The leads were pitch perfect. The stage setup was grand and the props were simply a joy to look at. Every element of the show was simply a piece of magical art. You have to be there to see it for yourself, the Emerald magic of Oz.

Beyond the visual treats, the musical also incorporated several values into its storyline. Themes such as standing up for what is right despite all odds, seeing someone beyond their appearances for what they truly are, etc were evident throughout the entire show.

And I also learnt, Wicked is the new Good and Black is the new Pink! :)

Kaki

Here's the full version of the 6 min short film by Roystan Tan that was recently shown on TV. Its by commissioned by the HPB (Health Promotion Board) to promote health screenings, in particular, colorectal cancer checks.

I like the whole setup and the song is fairly catchy (even mistook it for a french song when i first saw the video). All the elements pieced together nicely so i think Roystan Tan pretty much nailed this one. Maybe you will enjoy this 6 min clip Kaki as much as i do

PM Figurines - Wizard of Oz Collection

If you've read one of my previous posts - Graphic Novel - Wizard of Oz, you probably know i'm quite the fan of Oz. To my surprise (and a very pleasant one i say), Precious Moments will be launching a set of figurines under the theme Wizard of Oz.

According to the latest newsletter i received, the 4 main characters from Wizard of Oz have been earmarked for their first launch under this collection series. Some of the retailers have already begun taking pre-shipping orders via their websites and expect these figurines to be ready for shipping by late Sep this year.

Just a quick peek to how these figurines look like -



"Heels Click 3 And Home I'll Be" Dorothy



"Follow The Path" Scarecrow

"Let Your Heart Guide You" Tin Man

"True Courage" Cowardly Lion

I have been purchasing PM figurines for a fair number of years, mainly as gifts for my friends on special occasions such as birthdays, weddings and Christmas. So far, i have yet to start a collection of my own. Things are about to change for me, this series is definitely going to be a keeper. Looking forward to its arrival in the Singapore stores :)

Stepping Down of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew - An Exchange of Views Among Friends

Posted an article by Dr Catherine Lim on Minister Mentor’s Resignation recently in Facebook and it had spiralled a spirited discussion among friends that can pretty much be summed as thought provoking.

For a start, i couldn't agree more strongly on the various points noted by Dr Lim in her commentary and i particularly loved this part, "the material prosperity that he had given Singapore, which many world leaders could never match, was no longer enough compensation to Singaporeans for the soullessness that was beginning to show in the society" and below are the exchanges between the 3 of us as it was. Hope it will provoke some thoughts in you too.

Sam: Unfortunately this is also propagated through the education system. The young were never taught how to be. Only what to be. I still stand by this quote regarding education. I only hope that the system can transform fast enough before my kids enter school.... - "There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live. Surely these should never be confused in the mind of any man who has the slightest inkling of what culture is. For most of us it is essential that we should make a living...In the complications of modern life and with our increased accumulation of knowledge, it doubtless helps greatly to compress some years of experience into far fewer years by studying for a particular trade or profession in an institution; but that fact should not blind us to another—namely, that in so doing we are learning a trade or a profession, but are not getting a liberal education as human beings." - James Truslow Adams

Ming: it is indeed a pity that our schools and institutions have became training grounds rather than actual places of education in order for Singapore to achieve its economic success. We train people rather than educate.

And its made worse by the fact that our society does not allow an average family to live on a single income. Had a single income suffice, the other parent would then be able to make up the gaps of truly educating the child in addition to the training received in schools.

A true education should be one that allows the person to realise that he / she does not know everything and thus humbling us, in turn freeing the mind to perceive and accept endless possibilities. This is something i see lacking in most children these days.

Ivy: I choose to focus on what he has done rather than not done. I dont talk politics but i think Singapore will never be what it is without Lee Kuan Yew. You just cant expect the growth to be 面面周全, something had to give for the other to grow with such speed. 改朝换代是难免的 but i still hold him in awe for what he has done for singapore for more than half a century. It is time for Singapore to have a change and he has embraced it. To me, it is the action of a great man.

As for single income families, i have seen several of my friends resigning their jobs after they give birth to take care of their children, with the plan to return to work when the kids grow older. So there are people who are doing it. Even if it is a full time parent taking care of their children, how they intend to so it also plays a big part.

I do not agree though that SDU focus more on graduate women only becos Lee Kuan Yew believe they have better offspring! Its simply becos they set too high standards and perhaps spend longer hours working that these women have a higher percentage of singles - thats not too hard to understand isnt it??

And yes the education system shld change. It is designed to filter out the smart and potential ones and flush out the less intellectual, instead of developing them. Right from primary school

By the way my sister is a working mother but she has done a great job in instilling proper values into her children. She always say it is the quality of the time u spend with ur children, not the quantity :)

Ming: Yes Aibuay, most of us including myself are grateful to the economic success that Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has brought to Singapore, along with an extremely safe place to live and grow up in. Frankly speaking, i don't think anyone could have done a better job than him. However, material success does not equate to happiness and this is one of the more prominent points being voiced in this recent election.

Of course suffice to say, Singaporeans are pretty high on their expectations of our government. It is something that has to be managed on both ends, government and people. We also need to examine our own expectations and make sure it is not unrealistic. Perhaps we should take a hint from Bhutan, a country that has hardly any material comforts and yet their people are amongst the world's happiest. They measure their country's success using GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness) and not GDP which is something that our government has overly focused on. This is so much in contrast to Singapore when most of us enjoy much material comfort and yet are among some of the unhappiest people ever lived.

As you have mentioned, its a give and take situation and most policies implemented by him simply had no place for human values, something that Dr Catherine Lim had pointed out in her post and i do agree on. It is a pity that this has brought about an educational system that is more skwered towards training rather than giving a true education for our next generation.

As for single income families, let's not talk about people who enjoy a salary higher than average and can allow one of the parents to have the luxury of looking after the children. The average median income as mentioned recently by our Finance Minister is about $2,400. At the sort of income, CPF contribution to the ordinary account in total by both employee and employer is at 23% if we are under 35 years old. Meaning about $552 goes into the OA and it decreases with age since more percentile will go towards medisave account.

A resale three room flat on the average costs about $300,000. Of course a BTO will be much cheaper, at least $50,000 cheaper with the subsidies involved. So using that as an indication and assume a loan of $200,000 is taken up over a 30 years period, the repayment is $801 each month, hardly covered by a single income and cash top up would be needed. After deducting CPF contribution of 20% and the cash top up, he or she would be left with about $1,670.

Is that enough to feed a family? Yes, it will be but hardly much will be left for savings and emergencies. I don't think that is a comfortable kind of cashflow or situation that people will get into if they can avoid it. And what happens? Both parents have to work for the financial stability that they wish to give each other and the family. And i have friends who are earning salaries that are quite substantially below the median income our Finance Minister mentioned.

I also agree that quality of the time spent is more important than the quantity of time spent with children but we have to be mindful that there still has to be a minimum amount of time and effort invested and when these times are utilised fully and properly then it becomes quality time. With both parents working from day till night struggling to make ends meet, the time made avail to their children is very little and how many wayward children have we seen lost to such cases? The number is not small i'm afraid, this is one thing that concerns a fair amount of Singaporeans.

Let me use a ridiculous example to illustrate what i mean - 2 minutes of quality time spent by the parent each day with the child filled with utmost love imparting the highest values vs hours of bad influence each day from external environments. It will hardly make a difference in most cases but in comparison if its a few hours a day spent from the parents when they can explain and guide their children, then the quality time will be truly effective. It is not as simple as saying quality time matters, not quantity. Both have to be in balance.

I have a friend who is working as a school counsellor and i know for a fact that she is overwhelmed by her workload. My belief (and i'm sure that she will agree with) is that some of these kids undergoing assistance would have done a lot better had the parents (or at least one of them) gave them the minimum time and attention required to impart the right values and educate them. And for most cases why didn't the parents do so in the first place? I think we know the answers for some of these neglected kids, their parents are both struggling to make ends meet. To me, its such a pity.

Sam: Alternative ideas were suppressed each time they were voiced. People who could have effectively created a balance in the lopsided culture of materialism left and went elsewhere. They were labelled "quitters". Indeed while some only complain of what he did not do, one cannot ignore the fact that he had fostered an autocratic form of leadership and government. Was this good or bad? Opinions differ. But don't ever assume that nobody, not a single soul could have done a better job. That is idol worship. Singapore might not have turned out the same way, but don't for once think it could not have been better. There were many others who had contributed and dedicated their lives. This "success" wasn't one man's doing. I do not stand in awe of intelligence and great leadership. That shit is plentiful. I stand in awe of enduring virtue in the face of corruption. Pay your politicians obscene amounts so that they will remain incorruptible? That is equivalent to coating your shoes in bovine excrement so that dust won't gather on it. The man himself, his family and extended family have all been rewarded materially enough to last for generations. There isn't a need to blow more sunshine up their money-holes as there simply isn't enough space for it. Enough of idol worship already. Let's move on and work on the current issues.

Ming: Sam i totally agree with you that had someone else been at helm, Singapore could have possibly turned out better with a more balanced and gracious society that has more room in our national policies for love and compassion that could address the needs of the less fortunate and the average family, placing less importance on economic success. This is probably more than evident from most of the comments in the past weeks we seen on facebook when friends posted electoins related topics and hence the call for an alternative voice in government that has resonated ever so strongly in this election.

However, i still stand by my belief that no one i knew could have achieved the sort of economic success and an environment where we can go about our daily activities with a peace of mind without worries of being hurt or being caught in act of crime even though it was achieved through very high-handed methods of crushing any opposing person that stood in the way. So in that manner of an autocratic form of leadership and seeing success in material terms, he probably has done the best job and no one could have rivalled him in this particular area.

Even when my friend mentioned that she stand in awe, i don't think even that would amount to idol worship especially when most of us had so much to question and criticise about the policies he implemented over the years he was holding the reins (and yes especially the portion about the ridiculous pay package that he and his ministers are getting, its absurd having to pay so much to an office holder who professed to be serving in the interests of the people in the first place.. so much for passion and serving the people). Rather than saying its idol worship, i see it more of a form of grudging respect that people gave him knowing that they themselves may not be able to make some of the hard choices that he made in the past to achieve what Singapore has today.

And this is the irony of them all! Despite having provided us with the material comforts that many countries do not enjoy such as clean water and all sort of good basic infrastructures, we are not happy at all and seek to change the form of government he has moulded with his life long efforts. Might i borrow a quote from Dr Catherine Lim's article again that illustrate this point best, "the material prosperity that he had given Singapore, which many world leaders could never match, was no longer enough compensation to Singaporeans for the soullessness that was beginning to show in the society".

For that, i am extremely glad that the WP had made a breakthrough in this election winning a GRC and gained more seats than any opposition party did since our independence days. I only wish that WP would live up to its promises and carry an alternative voice in the Parliament, allowing more humane policies to be passed so that our society will be able to progress much more intellectually, emotionally and spiritually and not just materially.

Sam: I'm sorry if I appear harsh. There seems to be plenty of loyalist comments appearing around. Starting to get on my nerves. Lets hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Changes usually involves pain of some sorts. Sometimes we have to b...acktrack a few steps in order to set ourselves onto another path. The debt burden in the Western world seems to be coming down fast... with the US debt Armageddon approaching early August 2011. Unfortunately I don't see anyone up there actively prepping the system, other than the Finance Minister giving some sort of passing "warning". Fiddling with the exchange rate can only go so far. It's like pumping water from one sinking boat into another. We need a life raft. Those in power need to actively secure and build our basic commodity and energy supplies via the reserves, and not continue leaving it in the casino houses of the stock market. The new foreign minister needs to secure or better relations with our neighboring countries who supply our nation's stockpile. We need to boost and provide technology that supports agriculture, energy and water purification to these neighbours. They have the resources. We can provide the systems and the technology. That's how we can move forward. The old economics supported by Western consumption is fading. It won't work as well into the next 2 decades. Change is needed.

Ming: haha dude, i dont think you are harsh at all, you are just being firm in your convictions although the words used at times may seem a little overly critical but you are just being yourself. And not to mention, these are discussions and exchanges i enjoyed tremendously and you are one of those people who i can count on to know exactly what they are talking about.

This would not be the first time i agree with you that the government has significantly played down the impacts of the global financial issues in their communications to public. I would even venture as far as to say they are somewhat overly optimistic in some of their economic forecasts, thinking that the inflation would somewhat be capped at a reasonable overall rate of 2% over the next 10 years. This is something i find disturbing especially when the recent inflation rate has already hit 5% despite their best efforts to control it with their short term meaures of strengthening the dollar. And again, we need to stress on the fact that this is short term measure and will not work in the long run and as you nicely put, " Fiddling with the exchange rate can only go so far."

Let's hope with the shakeup in the new lineup of cabinet ministers, we will see faster response time and better planning and preparation for the big economic downturn that may possibly happen in the near future.

Personal Notes on GE 2011

Overall i'm in an opinion that most Singapore citizens had voted in a generally logical and rational manner for the recent General Elections even though emotions ran high at certain points during the campaigning period. For that, i am very glad and pleased because the results will eventually affect the policies of this nation in the not too distant future and we cannot allow emotions to impair our judgement. How did i come to such an opinion? Let's have a look at the following points i noted during this election.

1) Contest for Ang Mo Kio GRC - the only electorate contested where percentage of votes for PAP actually went up instead of going down in comparison to the rest of the other constituencies. In 2006 when AMK GRC was contested by Workers Party, PAP garnered a total of 66%. For GE 2011, the percentile went up to 69% when facing Reform Party. It indicated that residents will not provide their support for candidates who are not sincere in serving them. Given a limited choice, they will continue to cast their vote for a team who had been serving them for the past years as long as the basic expectations have been meet. 

Lack of sincerity by the opposition party is evident when they did not walk the ground to connect with the voters and failed to communicate their plans for the residents (there were neither banners put up nor leaflets distributed to indicate their presence in the GRC). It was as though they were not in the contest for the GRC and there was also the fact that some of the team candidates were loaned from other opposition parties in order to make up the numbers required to partake in the contest. This reflected one important point, they only contested for the sake of contesting and to ensure it was not a walkover, tying down PM Lee in his own GRC so that he cannot devote 100% of his time for the support of other GRCs.

2) How Workers Party won Aljunied GRC - the opposition party made political landmark breakthrough in the GRC system with some of the following factors in their favour. Voters only voted in an opposition team when they field excellent candidates that shown promises of being capable taking over the helm from the current team of elected MPs.  

a) Miss Sylvia Lim - she contested in 2006 and was recognised as one of the best candidates that the opposition party had ever fielded. She had both excellent educational and career credentials. Her team had garnered 43.9% votes, the highest percentage for any opposition teams in 2006 elections. None of the opposition came close to such high percentile, none over 40%. That in turn allowed her to become a NCMP in the Parliament. Although she had no voting rights in the House but it allowed her to debate on all issues raised within the Parliament. That was something that she did exceeding well over the last 5 years, gaining her the reputation that she is not in any way inferior to the elected MPs. To her credit, she also maintained her presence in the ground over the last 5 years, making sure that the her party did not lose any of the grounds gained in the previous election. 

b) Mr Low Thia Khiang - one of the only 2 elected MPs from the opposition parties in the last 20 years before GE 2011. It is no easy task being one of opposition voices especially when you are out numbered 82 to 2. However, he had done a good job ensuring that his constituency was well taken care of while he challenged some of the more debatable issues in Parliament in a logical and rational questioning manner. All these have been done despite the odds and obstacles that were met throughout his political career such as not having an proper meeting room to conduct his Meet the People Session and having only limited funds at his disposal. That built up his reputation as a man who sincerely wish to serve his people and a credible alternate voice in the Parliament.

He also shown the people that he is a man with vision and quick to correct his weakness as long as the criticisms were valid. One example i can think of is how he reached out to top candidates like Miss Sylvia Lim and Mr Chen Show Mao to build up his ranks when MM Lee commented that he did not have a First World Opposition. Another is how he envisioned ahead and calculated his move into a contest for a GRC. He only went for the broke when he was sure that his chances of winning were even. How did he level the playing field? That brings us to the next point.

c) At least 2 heavyweights in the team - Mr Low ensured he was not the only experienced politician and heavyweight in the team that contest for Aljunied GRC. He had in the same team, Miss Sylvia Lim who by this election is a experienced parliament member although she was not attached to any constituency. That lent a lot of consideration to the voters when they were deciding if the opposition team should be given a chance. Afterall, the team will be able to rely on at least two experienced politicians to guide the rest of the team members who are new to the political scene ensuring a smooth transfer between the incumbent team to the newly elected MPs from the opposition team. 

Pity to say, this is the point where i believe Mr Chiam mainly lost out on his bid for a GRC. He was the only heavyweight and experienced parliament member in his team. Had he at this election, had another able and experienced person with credentials similar to Miss Sylvia Lim in his team, more votes might have swayed his way and we could have seen another upset. It is evident from the percentages of the votes for the various GRCs contested in this election that one heavyweight in the team will garner you a slight advantage but not enough to win the contest. 2 or more heavyweights in the team will level the ground and give the opposition team a fair chance of winning the GRC. 

3) How PAP held on to other GRCs - one lousy team member in PAP team will not tip the scales and win the battle for the opposition parties. This is immensely evident for this election. From what i gathered so far, Minister Mah Bow Tan, Minister Wong Kan Seng and Miss Tin Pei Ling are some of the most unpopular PAP candidates fielded in this election and yet their teams continued to hold on to their seats in the GRCs they contested in. It shows that one man or woman will not make or break the team. Although the overall percentage of their supporters will drop but it is simply not enough to unseat them.

What voters did was to also take into consideration of the other 2 or 3 MPs in PAP's team that performed decently in the past and compare them to the opposition team of unknown and untested candidates. When cornered with such a choice, they will rather see in a team with the 2 or 3 decent MPs that has performed admirably (even though there is a member that they immensely dislike) than to see an entire team of untested candidates elected. I suppose this is what we termed as the "lesser of two evils" and the residents made the choice best to their knowledge. Ironically and sad to say, it is also this mentality that we lost a most respected former elected MP Mr Chiam See Tong. Simply because he did not have better and tested team members on his bench for his bid for a GRC.

In any case, the votes have been cast and i wish that no matter who is in the Parliament, be it PAP or the opposition parties, they will bear in mind that they are citizens first and party members second and work towards the common good of all Singaporeans. It is only then we will truly see a First Class Government and First World Parliament.

Turtle Party

With the general elections on going at the moment, there's a note by a kindhearted volunteer polling agent circulating in facebook informing the public that drawing a turtle in the box on ballot paper will not actually spoil the vote and instead the vote will go to the party that the box belongs to. Same thing goes for those drawing a big cross that exceeds the boundaries of the box in hope to spoil the vote. As long as the centre of the cross lies within a box, the vote will be considered valid and the party that the box belongs to will have that particular vote.

So, how true is it? i decided to check on the statue itself to see on what grounds and conditions will a vote be rejected. Here is the URL Statutes - Contested Elections to the relevant statue about contested elections and based on what i see under section 50, the volunteer is making a valid case. A vote is rejected only when it is unmarked or it is uncertain which party you are voting for (i.e. crossing both boxes) or when you identified yourself on the ballot paper (e.g. beside your cross, you wrote, "Yours faithfully, Mr Smith Tan." So, please stop doddling on your vote or you may unintentionally end up voting for the team that you didn't wish to root for in the first place.

50. —(1) The Returning Officer shall reject as invalid the following ballot papers only, namely, any ballot paper —

(a) which does not bear the complete official mark for the authentication of ballot papers or is not initialled by the presiding officer;

(b) on which votes are given for more than one candidate or group of candidates;

(c) on which anything is written or marked by which the voter can be identified except the printed number on the back;

(d) which is unmarked; or

(e) which is void for uncertainty. .

Blessings

Although the previous 2 weeks did not start out too well but nothing in essence is permanent. There is not one thing in this world that is not in a constant flux. And for this very reason when things are bleak, keeping this truth in mind can empower us with the ability to look beyond our current pain and suffering, to the future horizon with hope that things may change for better.

However, we have to be realistic here - though we can hope and work with our utmost efforts toward a better future, it does not necessarily guarantee one. Yet by doing nothing, resigning to the "fate" and living our lives in despair, is the most unkind thing we can ever do to ourselves, for that would simply implied we failed before we even tried. To surmise, there is no guaranteed success but failure is imminent if we do not even attempt at the betterment of our lives.

And so 2 week has gone by and being fairly fruitful in both material and spiritual sense. Materially fruitful as i went for the first job interview for a project manager role in a finance department (that may ultimately transform into a proper management reporting role in 2 years time) and sent out my resume to another headhunter from another HR agency who requested a latest copy of it.

On the other hand, i received spiritual blessings from Sister who dedicated some of her merits to me in good wishes that i will successfully land in a better job that will allow me to enjoy more time to improve my own spiritual life and health. She reminded me again that earning a lesser pay should not be a concern as long as one can make sure our health, both physical and mental are well taken care of and with time for spiritual developments.

No arguments with that especially not from me when i have used up all my sick leave last year and even had to cover some of the days that i'm sick with my share of annual leave.