Seen Or Heard: Perfect Response

"He has the right to say that, but I was brought up by my parents to show modesty." Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke

Another Doomsday Event?

First it was the Y2K bug, then the asteriod hitting our planet. Lately the popular one is the catastrophic environmental changes. Meet the latest end of the world scenario. With all communication channels gone, you will have *hold breath*... no access to Facebook. That definitely will bring fear to some people. ;)

Learning To Drive?

Disturbing KorKor When He Is Sleeping

Look at Aiden cheeky face.

Manchester United Celebrate Chinese New Year

Who says Man Utd only care for English fans? Touched and impressed.

Handing Over

How times fly. Time to say bye bye to my good friend, Mr Tiger, who will hand over to Mr Rabbit. Seeya in 12 years time, my friend.

*Sigh* Another year older, getting nearer to the big 40. Yet my sons are still so young. I can understand how Mr Brown feels when he wrote the quote below. I just hope the boys will stay healthy and everything to be 顺顺. Happy Chinese New Year!

Many of my peers belong to the category of being married late and having children late in life. Friends in their late thirties and even forty are just becoming moms and dads. I don't know how we are all going to keep up with our kids as they grow up. Part of my reason for getting back in shape is being able to kick the football around with my son when he is in his tweens and teens. And having the reflexes to still play digital football with him too.

Spend Some Time For Your Parents

After watching this video, I should spend some time for my dad. :'(

Seen or Heard

Taken from an article at Temasek Review

Singapore aspired to be the Switzerland of Asia , in which it turned out to be a place with the Swiss standard of cost without the Swiss standard of living, education , wages and training and even respect

Under One Roof

Came across Google Reader through one of my colleague. Blind me, where have I been all these time? It allows subscriptions to all your favorite websites and update itself automatically with the latest entries. So rather than going to each website to check, you just need to log into Google Reader and everything is under one roof. How convenient.

Speaking of under one roof, iMerlion introduce another great app (I'm a sucker for iPhone apps), NewsApp Singapore. Much like Google Reader, it combines the feeds for Zaobao, Channelnews Asia, Today, the Straits Times and the Business Times. So rather have multiple apps for each news house, one will do. One apps to rule them all!

Foam Puzzle Mats Are Toxic

Angie just inform me of this scary piece of news. Shit man, my boys are chewing on their foam mat all these while. Damn, nothing is safe for our children these days. Can we have a safe environment for our kids to grow up in?

France is also banning the mat

Bubbles!

A Surprise Discovery

A surprise I found at the place where my sister in law held her solemnization last Saturday, one of the projects that I did at my first company. How fast times pass while you are slogging away through it. 10 years coming to 11 in the workforce.

Touching Video by Sony

This is so touching. I wept after seeing this. I hope I won't end up like the old man.

Even Maids Get a Pay Rise Now

Maid also get pay rise now, when is it going to be my turn?? Wait a minute, HK$650 = S$107, TW NT800 = S$35. How come is pay raise then?

SINGAPORE : The salaries of new Indonesian foreign domestic workers will soon rise.

17 major employment agencies in Singapore will increase the monthly salaries for the workers from S$380 to S$450. The increment will take effect by this week, they said.

Over the years, the supply of Indonesian maids in Singapore has been dwindling.

Employment agencies indicated that the shortage was due largely to demand from places such as Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The agencies recently met maid suppliers from Indonesia to try and resolve the issue. One solution is to provide better salaries.

Desmond Chin, group director, Nation Employment, said: "All the suppliers, they're facing difficult conditions to recruit. They are requesting us to match the maid's salary to HK$650, to match the salary to T$800, which is right now impossible.

"Maybe, we can do it step by step. So right now, we have agreed with the Indonesian supplier for the salary of S$450."

Many employment agencies in Singapore support the move.

The higher salary will not benefit the agencies or the suppliers, as there will be no change in the foreign placement fee.

Employment agencies said the change can help remove unhealthy practices among the agencies.

Tay Khoon Beng, director, Best Home Employment Agency, said: "If we don't have enough supply to applicants in the first place, eventually more and more agencies will poach one another's maids and offer 10 and 20 dollars increase in salary and transfer these helpers among Singaporean employers and this is even a worse scenario for us."

Employment agencies said it is up to employers to increase the salary of existing maids. They are also wary of the possibility of a small group of maids who may try to terminate their contracts so that they can be re-employed with the better salary.

Some employers feel any salary increase has to be gradual.

Samuel Teo, an employer of an Indonesian maid, said: "The other thing is that I also feel that, of course, when you pay more, you're expecting a very high quality from the maid. Will the maid be able to deliver?"

More than 70 per cent of maids working in Singapore are Indonesians and employment agencies said demand for these maids is still strong.

With the proposed salary increase for Indonesian maids, employment agencies also hope to increase the retention rate, giving them the incentive to work longer in Singapore.

Makeup Act

I am still trying to understand why some women like to put out their makeup when they are on the public transport, be it train, bus or cab. holding a sharp eyebrow marker so close to the eye in one hand with the other hand holding a shaking mirror is not considered a safe act if to me. Other than the risk of blinding yourself, there is also the chance of drawing a big fat clown lips when the bus suddenly brakes (surprisingly I have not see that happen yet).

Don't understand the logic here. Why can't they put on their makeup at home, make sure everything is ok before stepping out. Are they in such a rush or late for an appointment? If it is, they should prepare earlier (oops, I forgot they spent all those time selecting the dress that does not make them fat). Hiaz, they are right the men and women are really from different planets.

P.S. At least I'm not the only one who felt this way.

Katy Perry - Firework

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag,
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper-thin
Like a house of cards, then blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep?
Six feet under screams, but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there's still a chance for you?
'Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the Fourth of July

'Cause baby, you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "ah, ah, ah!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "ah, ah, ah!",
You're gonna leave 'em all in down-awe-awe

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane, comes a rainbow

Maybe the reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it's time you know

You just gotta ignite the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the Fourth of July

'Cause baby, you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "ah, ah, ah!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
You're gonna leave 'em falling down-awe-awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time you let it through-ooh-ooh

'Cause baby, you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "ah, ah, ah!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
You're gonna leave 'em all in down-awe-awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

Dylan Learning To Walk @ 8 Months

Don't ask me, I have no idea what is he saying. ^_^

A Quote to Remember

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Marianne Williamson from her book, A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

Japan's Santa Claus

Amid all the selfishness and cruelty we seen lately, it's heart warming to know that there is still kindness and compassion in this world.

TOKYO - Japan has been enthralled by the mysterious comeback of a 1960s manga comic book hero that has sparked a nationwide wave of gift-giving by anonymous donors to underprivileged children.

The spate of donations started on Christmas Day, when presents were left at a children's welfare centre near Tokyo, with a note saying they came from "Naoto Date", the alter ego of professional wrestling character "Tiger Mask".

The widely reported gift struck a chord with Japanese who fondly remember Tiger Mask -- an orphan-turned-fighter who helped other parentless children -- and has sparked more than 30 copycat acts of generosity since, Kyodo News said.

Bags with presents, ranging from the initial leather school bags to stationery, toys, robot models, cash and food, have been quietly left by anonymous people at shelters, orphanages and centres for the disabled.

In one case, an envelope with 100,000 yen was left at a shop selling school supplies, with a note saying: "I'm a copycat. I think Tiger Masks are everywhere across the country. Please use this for children."

Japan's Health, Labour and Welfare Minister Ritsuo Hosokawa declared himself "deeply moved" Tuesday by the snowballing acts of kindness, as TV stations and newspapers kept close tabs on the latest appearances of Tiger Mask.

In the original cartoon story -- a manga book series in the late 1960s, followed by a TV anime show -- Naoto Date himself grew up in an orphanage and was initially recruited by an evil syndicate of villain wrestlers.

In the story Date however decides to help other orphans instead, dons a mask of a tiger -- still a staple of popular pro-wrestling matches in Japan -- and fights the villains to donate his prize money to the children.

Yoichi Miyata, 38, a manager at the Iwate prefecture shop that received the 100,000 yen cash gift, said: "Naoto Date is an iconic children's hero. He takes many of us back to our childhood, including myself."

Blabbing Blatter

Biggest proof that you don't need brains to be head of a big organization. Any idiot can sit in that position.