I must admit that we Singaporeans, especially the Chinese, are one shy breed. We dun express ourselves well n have a lack of confidence in a conversation. Often these traits resulted in us having difficulty in communicating with people we are not familiar. This is simply because we are scared of how the other party will view us when we say something wrong or did something that may "ma lu" (embaressed) ourselves. And ever since the introduction of instant messaging (IM), it is the prefered tool for communication more so when with someone u hardly knew. Yes email also can do this, but the response is just too slow while phone calls requires that we speak out n express what we are thinking.

My workplace provide a special version of IM just for our company usage. I kinda notice that when we want to discuss something with a colleague, especially those from other departments or vice versa, we just open our IM, check the other party is online n drop him/her a message. And during the conversations, we can joke n discuss work issues without any barrier. IM oso allows us time to think about our replies and what we can say without any pressure of the sight of a waiting listener. We can just hide behind the IM window, giving us a false sense of security n therefore boasting our confidence.

Now i am not saying that IM is bad. I have learnt during my Uni subject on good communication process, one of the barriers during a communication process is non-verbal language. Thru IM, u dun see the other party n the other party dun c u. Hence all the uneasiness n non-verbal languages goes out the window. I have another good use of IM, chat with your friends or complain ludly thru email with close colleagues on the boss, and the best part is.....all these while the boss is thinking u r working. Hohoho ;p

Ah my eyes! My eyes!

Saw the variety show, Never Say Die, which invite all the rejects from all those American Idol wannabe telant competition in Singapore to compete for a one-year contract with Mediacorp. So here we see 10 "very" memorable rejects doing silly antics on the stage n trying to be funny. Looking at the talent on display, no wonder they say Singapore is a country lacking in humour. I dun find any of the acts funny at all, in fact it is downright disgusting. Not matter how the TV station claims that they are honestly giving these rejects a 2nd chance, i feel it is more like a ploy to humilate these people to let the whole country laugh at them. I call it the William Hung Syndrome. Even since that chap got famous for his appearance on American Idol, millions of untalented people are trying to do the same. Only thing I admire about is the bavery the contestants shown in enduring the laughs n finger pointings they will have for the rest of their lives.

The 9 "William Hung" Wannabes

Some strange and funny blogs I came across today. I especially like the one on the singapore parking idiots. It is featured in an article in Today by our local celebrity blogger, Mr Miyagi. Gosh... hope I won't be figured on that. Heehee...

Parking Idiots In Singapore

AirCon , Salesman and Me

Income tax woes

Sianz... it's that time of year where we need to file our income tax again. Last year, i kanna tax around $95 per month. >:( That's a lot for me. Imagine what i can do what those money. Just heard from my colleague that she last time got tax at $100 due to her retrenchment package. Bloody hell, stupid gahmen! People retrenchment money also want to tax! Damn IRAS better dun tax me this much this time. Or else I............will write more complains here. :(

On a side note, check my Toto ticket yesterday on Singapore Pools n found the winning numbers are 4, 12, 13, 20, 30, 43. And I got 4, 6, 12, 19 ,29, 43. Argh..... as always 3 match numbers only. Why oh why can't the 19 and 29 be added by 1! Only comforting thing is even if i got 5 numbers match, the winnings is only $1k. sigh.....

BMW Autopark

I guess no one gonna failed their parallel parking in their driving test with this. Wonder will there be one for vertical parking? Hmm.....

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Continuing on cars, my friend seck tien (moongster mnemonic) spotted this Initial D's Toyota Sprinter AE86 Trueno on his way to work. Wonder where this Takumi fan gonna race here. Mount Faber? Hehehe

Smile... you are on Bus Candid Camera!

The gahmen is up to their antics again, doing some bo liao thing. Was reading this week's news n notice that our LTA (Land Transport Authority) on Tuesday announce that they are studying the possibility of installing CCTVs in public bus (LTA begins feasibility study on installation of CCTVs in public buses). And this is part of enhancing security in our public transport system. As usual, they will give the example that some developed western country have it so it is also necessary for us to have that too. Can someone give an award for the "genius" who thought of this? Come on! do we really need this? Imagine there are so many buses on the road everyday, how many buses can you monitor? This idea is totally inpractical. Ok, even if they only monitor the more crowded buses, i dun wan to have the feeling of been watched while riding the bus. With the new flats built so close to each other each days, getting some privacy is so difficult in Singapore without having the feeling that someone observing your every move. So can i have a little bit of privacy please? I am willing to sacrifice my safety for some privacy any time thank you.

And lastly, if this really goes thru, you know what will comes next. Yes fare hikes! Using the excuse that they need to mantain the system n employ some "well-trained" personnel to sit there n spot out the suspicious characters. Yeah right.... Well.... WE DIN ASK FOR THESE! So go ahead people complain all u like, cause in the end they will still go ahead with the plan. I tell you, the annoucement is not for seeking your approval, more like telling u what they plan to do, just like the casinos, correction, should b Integrated Resorts.

Future of Singapore?

Home-made spaghetti.

Wife going out to meet friend for dinner, so there's no dinner for me at home. Dun really fancy eating outside food (an excuse for being lazy :p). Decide to cook my one and only speciality. Spaghetti! There's some left over spaghetti sauce in the fridge. Just add in some mince pork n chopped green pepper and WAH LAH! Dinner's ready ^_^

Are you hungry too?

Difference between C. Ronaldo n Others Wannabe

Saw this on Mr Brown site. Cheers for the staff who decide to stand up against unfair treatment n lousy managment. Too bad such things will never happen in the kiasi society of Singapore.

Detailed of this can be found here.

I Hate Chain Mails

Just got another lousy chain mail today regarding forwarding mails out to help save some dying person blah blah.... The mail looks like this with a picture of the supposed dying girl.

"Hi, my name is Amy Bruce. I am 7 years old, and I have severe lung cancer .. I also have a large tumor in my brain, from repeated beatings. D octors say I will die soon if! this isn't fixed, and my family can't pay the bills. The Make A Wish Foundation, has agreed to donate 7 cents for every time this message is sent on. For those of you who send this along, I thank you so much, but for those who don't send it, what goes around comes around. Have a Heart, please send this. Please, if you are a kind person, send this on. PLEASE HIT FORWARD BUTTON NOT REPLY BUTTON. YOUR'S FAITHFULLY AMY BRUCE

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SUNIL P JOSEPH, Blk 550, #10-235, Jurong West Street 42, Singapore 640550 "

I mean come on! U really believe in this? U really believe there's any technology that can track the number of times a particular email is forwarded? If it really does, the supposed foundation must b very rich now since everyone forward the mail 2 everybody on their mailing list. No wonder the internet is so slow these days. It's because all the bandwidth have been wasted on these type of mails.

Going Taipei From April 7th - 11th

Just book tickets to go Taipei from 7th - 11th April. Very excited about the trip. Ever since came back from the Taipei trip, have been planning to go back there since my my business trip there last January. Now have to start reading and researching on where are the places to go n things to eat. One of the best site is the Taipei MRT Homepage. It has detailed maps of every MRT stations n its surrounding plus introduction of places of interest around each station. A definite must visit site for Taipei free n easy goers.

Feeling guilty...

Felt that i have left the software team at my workplace down. People like TJ, Erica, Yuhuai n Kavitha have been working days, nights n weekends to rush out our first prototype. Yet I feel that I have done not much to help out. And now after things are completed, TJ announce that we are all given days off for our effort. This makes me wonder do I really deserve it? Hopefully I will be more involved n got a part to play in the next build.

What's wrong with Singapore n acronyms?

I notice that Singapore has this addiction to acronyms. Everything program, organization or event we must think of some nice acronyms. Oh... by the way, did u notice Singapore like to have a national movement for every minor issue. But tat is another story. Back to the acronyms, we like to come out with some fancy acronyms tat r catchy or remember easily. Take the latest "in" movement, GEMS which promote good service. GEMS stands for "Go the Extra Mile for Service". Or the Progress Package, where Progress Stands for "Providing Opportunities through Growth, Remaking Singapore for Success" I mean it does not even match back to the acronyms. Why we die die must have an acronym movement? Can't they just call it a good service movement? Too much of this will make it quite bo liao.

My First Blog Entry ^_^

Finally created my blog. Been thinking of creating a blog for a long time and finally get my lazy self to actually put this in action. Funny that so many events have happen that qualify as a first blog entry and yet I din put any of them down. By the way, pardon my occasional IM/SMS short hands n my poor grammar. :p

Let's see what are the major events that has happened for the past year, wedding/banquet, honeymoon in Korea, business trip to Taipei, business trip to Micros HQ (Columbia, Maryland), left GES to join Flextronics, business trip to Microsoft HQ in Redmond Seattle, Flextronics retrenchment, Paintball with Flextronics SW Team, Mum pass away :'(, Join Motorola. All I can say is it has been an eventful year. I have experience ups n downs especially with the sudden passing away of my mum. The lost of my mum is really a huge blow 4 my family. It bring a lot of change 4 us n we r still getting used to it. Our family becomes much closer. Something we hardly are when mum is around. She will always act as a liaison between father n us. Nowadays our father has opened up n starts 2 talk n jokes with us. I also feel very guilty about my role in this process. I see both my sisters working so hard 4 the family while I hardly contribute or help them. Though I admit I am quite an insensitive person, I really wish I can do something 2 help them out. Every time I offer my help, my sisters will reject them citing that I have my own family to take care of. This makes both Angie n I much more guilty.