Museum Day

On the recommendation of a flaky friend (more on flaky and flakiness in a later post), I visited the Singapore Museum with my family (today is the start of International Museum Day) -- for FREE! The Museum was renovated recently. Behind the orginal building, an annex of sort was constructed to add more exhibition space. See the photo below. The facade of the original building is on the right, whilst the main space is part of the new annex. This two buildings are linked by a canopy not unlike the design that will be used to link the old Supreme Court and City Hall -- guess great minds think alike.

On entering the museum, you see this gigantic and colorful David stature. I remembered the original statue was much smaller but could not locate it anywhere in the museum. I recall I was quite amused, when I visited the museum in my younger days, to see David's privates exposed. They still are. But my fascination has been replaced by a sense of pity for David, as he is erhmmm...not so endowned down there. But then again, maybe the artist did not wish to alarm the public! keke

There was an exhibition titled "Points of View". It struck a chord in me as the message is akin to the philosophy of "emptiness" in Buddhism. Like this exhibit made up of many PVC pipes. If viewed from far and at a certain angle, one can see two lines of words. But if one is in the middle of the dozens of PVC pipes, one is within the message but there is no message to be seen. Chim right?

I also liked this exhibit of a video of an underwater view of a swimmer. Very calming but I could not understand the message.

On the way back, I passed by this building which used to be the MPH bookshop. I have many fond memmories of spending my weekends here during my National Service Days, without money or a girlfriend, immersing myself in books.

What is Love.

Recommended reading by Mr A.
Source: http://www.elanso.com/ArticleModule/IsUpJXJ2NiR6SsNsQmPpJ2Ii.html

One day, Plato asked Socrates What love is.

Socrates said: I ask you to go across this rice field, pick up and bring back the biggest and best ear of wheat, but remember one thing, you cannot go back, and you just have one chance.

Then Plato did so, but he came back with nothing after a long time.

Socrates asked him why?

Plato answered: I once saw some very big and good wheat when i walked through the field, but i was always thinking that maybe there would some bigger and better ones, so i just passed by; but what i saw later is not better than before, so i had nothing at last.

Socrates said this is love.

Another day, Plato asked Socrates What marriage is.

Socrates said: I ask you to go across this forest, cut down and bring back the thickest and solidest tree as the Christmas tree, but remember one thing, you cannot go back and you just have one chance.

Then Plato did so, but he just brought back a not tall and solid but just good one.

Socrates asked him why?

Plato said: I saw some very good trees on my way in the forest, this time, i learned something from the last event of wheat, so i just chose this good one. If i didnot, i was afraid that i would come back with nothing again, though this one was not the best one i had seen.

This time, Socrates said with significance this is marriage.

One more time, Plato asked Socrates what happiness is.

Socrates said: I ask you to go across this field, pick the most beautiful flower, but remember one thing, you cannot go back, and you just have one chance.

Then Plato did so, and he came back with a fairly pretty flower.

Socrates asked him was this the most beautiful one.

Plato said: I saw this beautiful flower, picked it and thought this was the most beautiful one, when i walked in the field. And even I saw many beautiful ones, I still believed this was the most beautiful one, so i brought it back.

Then Socrates said profoundly this is happiness.

Again, Plate asked his teacher Socrates what affair is.

Socrates asked him to go through the forest again, and he could go back and bring back the most beautiful flower.

Plato went out with confidence, and came back, bring a bright but a little withered flower after two hours.

Socrates asked him whether this was the most beautiful flower.

He answered to his teacher: I was looking for the prettiest one for two hours and found this was the one, but on my way back, this picked flower was becoming withered.

Then Socrates told him this is affair.

The other day, Plato asked his teacher Socrates what life is.

Socrates asked him again to go through the forest, he could go back but must bring back the most beautiful flower.

Plate learned from last experience and went out with great confidence.

Three days passed, he didnot come back.

Socrates just walked into the forest to look for him and finally found him had pitched a camp in it.

Socrates asked him whether he had found the prettiest flower.

He pointed at a flower beside him and said this was the one.

Socrates asked him why he didnot bring it back.

He answered: If i did, it would be withered soon. Even i didnot, it would be sooner or later. So I was beside it when it was in its best blossom, and when it died, I would find the next; this was the second one i found here.

This time, Socrates told him: now you've already known the truth of life.

Thoughts on Pedra Branca

So Singapore won Pedra Branca, but not Middle Rocks. And South Ledge is still subject to more negotiations with our neighbours.

Whilst both parties have spoken through the media that they have done their homework extensively and that they are the rightful owners, when this goes before a third party, particularly a court of law, the onus is on the parties to provide evidence.

Like my old boss used to say, "Show me the data (or evidence)." And this cannot be more true in this case. At many a times, one really has to rely on the black-and-white.

In Singapore's case, a letter from the State of Johor declaring that they(Johor) do not have ownership over Pedra Branca was the key factor. On the other hand, on our neighbour's end, a so-called missing letter in which Great Britain (or the predecessor of Singapore in this instance) sought Johor's approval to construct the lighthouse would have tilted the balance of the decision. But, declaring is of no use, one has to produce documentation.

My office is going to implement e-registry/ filing. This is help in a long way to file as records some of the important correspondence which may be lost forever when officers get transferred or resign but did not take the time to print and file those emails.

One touching story from the Sichuan Earthquake

A touching story I came across online... ...

Breakfast for Charity

In my office, we organise what we call a Breakfast for Charity annually. You show up at this event, buy your breakfast, and the proceeds go to the President's Challenge.
This year, I am one of the organisers. With my other colleagues, we raised a total of around $800. Besides breakfast sets, we organised fringe events such as playing Wii and table soccer with the registration fee going to charity as well.
Breakfast set A: Scrambled eggs with toast and sausages
Set B and C: Muffins with tao suan, and home made chicken soup

The big boss checking the action out.
Set D: Home made steamed yam cake.
A colleague volunteered to be the DJ, using his own CDs.
Wii action: Even the directors joined in the tennis action.

Table soccer competition.


Such 'fun' activities are important for any organisation, because they help in the bonding between the colleagues which will ultimately lead to better working relationships.

A $140 lesson

On a whim during a visit to the supermarket last week, I bought two of these 'air fresheners' for the toilet bowls of my two toilets. Not that the toilets smelled, but it was a just for fun thing which ultimately cost me $140.
Over the weekend, on the Sunday actually, I suddenly noticed that one of the freshener was missing. Immediately, I flushed and noticed that the water was not draining away smoothly as usual, instead, the water level rised for a short while. So I deduced that the freshener had somehow dropped into the toilet bowl and choked up the cistern. I checked the Town Council website and it showed that the term contractor's cost was $23 per cistern but the limitation was that the contractor only worked during office hours. So I called the number printed on the sticker that was stuck on my doorbell (for a long time) and that contractor said that it would cost me $80 to $120. So I said the Town Council is only charging $30. He promptly told me to find the Town Council and hung up the phone. A point to note that once you call, the contractor will ask you straight for your address (block and unit no). It turned out to be their trick.

So, being the smart aleck, I browsed the Classifieds and the advert below sprang up to my sight. "CHEAP" and "FAST". Well, I decided I wasn't going to wait for dear ol' Town Council so I called up the number. On hindsight, when I read the advert again, this advert does not even have a company name, which should have sounded the alarm bells in my head.

So I called up and this man asked me, similar to the earlier contractor, for my address which I, rather stupidly, gave. I then asked him how much will it cost, and he muttered" Need to se then say". Damn, there was nothing to see, its just a toilet bowl, the choke is in the cistern.

But being the idiot (how many times have I said this, but I really feel cheated), even when he showed up outside my flat and I asked him how much will it cost, he still said he needed to see. He ignored my point that there was nothing to see.

When he saw the toilet bowl and there was nothing to see, he asked what has caused the choke. When I mentioned the freshener, he exclaimed and said he has seen many cases and they are one of the most difficult cases, and he might have to take out the entire toilet bowl!!! Wow, he got me worried and the only thing on my mind was to clear the bloody choke.

So he said with some conviction, that he hoped he didn't have to remove the toilet bowl and he will try to clear the choke. And so I gratefully accepted the $140 price (I managed to cut it down from the $150 he quoted).

But surprise, surprise, after a few nudges with a crude looking piece of metal, pouring a few buckets of water and a few tugs using the suction 'pump', the cistern cleared and he exclaimed "You heng ah, very heng ah!" By then, I was a little skeptical and said that "Uncle, your $140 very easy to earn ah."

He looked at me quizzedly and said"No lah...you very heng ah!"

===========================

Ok, so end of story. So two lessons learnt. Don't use this type of air freshener and get the Town Council contractor. Even if you call the contractor on the classifieds, do not reveal your address and ask for a quote and call a few to get a good feel of the market price.

Baby Keegan

Keegan is all of 9 months old now! A handsome boy with a dashing smile.

W's criteria for a girlfriend

Had dinner with my camp mates yesterday evening at the Guild House. Dinner was a very satisfying bbq buffet. The knowledge that ICT was impending did not deter us from going back to the buffet line time and again for more grilled food. I noticed W was more disciplined though, he only had one or two helpings of grilled rubbish and stuck to his salad. I could only admire his discipline from a distance.

You can always count on W for some laughs and he did not dissappoint. His being single always makes for good conversation and our discussion turned to his criteria for finding a girlfriend. The rest of us were engineer-trained so we rightly tackled the source of the issue -- he being picky.

W had 15 criteria. I thought he was pulling our legs, but as it turned out, he managed to cough out 15 criteria and more eg 1a, 1b.

Lest I bore you, the no.3 criteria brought out the most laughs. The girl had to be a good singer! And this was a priority over no.5 (or was it no.6) that she had to be filial. The other criteria more 'normal', like being sociable, being able to engage in a decent 'intellectual' conversation. He even got the age of the potential girl thought out!

I thought of a story my friend GM told me way back in NTU. In the story, the protagonist searched high and low, travelled the world to find the woman of his dreams. After years of searching, he returned home....alone. When his friends asked him did he find the woman of his dreams, he said "Yes, I did." "Then why did you not bring her back?", his friends inquired.

"She was also looking for the man of her dreams, but it wasn't me.".

W, hope you are reading.

Amazing performance

A Tragic Day

Two of our technicians were killed when a trailer rammed into them in the wee hours of the morning -- they were carrying out some work on the side of the road and their van was parked behind them (reports in Wan Bao today). For reasons that only the trailer driver will know, the trailer rammed into the van and the van smashed onto the two technicians. Although I do not know them well, I have bumped into them on and off in the 2-3 years I was in their section. I never thought that one could get killed in my line of job (even in operations), but risks are everywhere, so it appears on hindsight. In this instance, after pondering over, this was really unfortunate and could have been avoided if not for negligence on the trailer driver's part.

I am deeply saddened by this and felt a deep pain throughout the day especially thinking about their last moments and how their families reacted when they heard the news.

Condolences to their families and may they rest in peace.

18 bronzed men od Shaolin

During lunch today, the few of us were talking about the movies we watched when we were young. I mentioned about the old wuxia kungfu shows, and the hero normally has to go through a series of trials and tribulations. There is this show about the 18 bronzed men of Shaolin. Link below folks:

http://www.56.com/n_v42_/c30_/2_/12_/laikuanggen168_/zhajm_119245481468_/1150000_/0_/20758156.swf

Passion Fruit

Call me a 'sua-ku', but I will readily admit I only knew what a passion fruit was a couple of weeks ago. And after I tried my first, I was hooked. Passion fruits are best eaten when fully ripe, that's when the skin ceases to be taut and will yield to the touch. To access the deeply aromatic flesh, simply cut open the fruit in half and use a spoon to scoop out the goodness like I have done below. I mix it with plain yoghurt, healthy and fruity.

Ironing - the worst chore ever

Of all the chores that I have to do, ironing must count as the most tedious. And because of this, I like to iron many in one shot, then leave off ironing for the next weeks. Last Sunday, I spent THREE hours!!! ironing 12 shirts. Maybe my technique is really lousy.

Magic Mop

This post is for WY as requested during our dinner outing yesterday. Yup, this is the sud sud mop which I have just purchased at BHG. Makes mopping a breeze. A must-have for all 'moppers'!