Vibe of the City

You know, there are quite a few things about Singapore that tend to annoy me. Everything looks, feel and taste the same; there are way too many rules for every freaking thing; there’s always a queue to join day or night, and every bloody thing cost money, money & more money... just to name a few.

But I must admit, there is a certain energy about this place. An invisible pulse that gives a subtle urgency to everything. It’s in the pace of the streets, the sound of the air. You feel the rush, you feel the chase. It spurs something in you and makes your heart race that bit faster. The city drives you; it makes you want & almost need to run the race. And not just run, but run.. and WIN.

It’s the vibe of the city - the vibe of Singapore.

ASS (Abbreviations on Singapore Side)

I’m starting to suspect Singapore has a love affair with acronyms / abbreviations.

For starters, all the highways here are in three letter acronyms. There’s the AYE, PIE or CTE (SLE), BKE, KJE, KPE, MCE, TPE, etc etc. How do you ever listen to traffic reports? To buy a car you need something called a COE and pay for ERP, else you’re stuck with the MRT. Bus services are under SBS. You can fly in by SIA airlines. Work permits are applied through the MOM. The local town council is JTC, apartments are managed by the HDB. Other government ministries include the PUB, CPF, MOH, CWO, EDB, MCB, just to name a few! Universities here include NUS, NTU & SMU which I assume are all under the MOE. Interestingly, they originally wanted to name NTU as Nanyang University of Technology...but decided against it because the abbreviation would have been NUT. Unfortunately, Anderson Secondary School had no choice but to stick with ASS.(hahaha)....   For banking, there’s DBS, OCBC, OUB…. If you’re sick, drop by the NUH or SGH. Where I work, projects & facilities are known best by their acronyms like SOP, PAC, SAR, SPT. But before you attend that, you need to attend SIC/SOC courses conducted by the NTUC.

AND.. to top it off… you buy stuff using your NETS card, and everything you buy has GST!!

Here's one for you. WTF?

You want the full list? Check it out here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Singapore_abbreviations

Here's to the Night

Here's to the nights

We felt alive

Here's to the tears

You knew you'd cry

Here's to goodbye

Tomorrow's gonna come too soon

Here's a toast

To all those who hear me all too well

Uncovering Audio Diamond VII

More Free Music at MP3-Codes.com

I'm not a Bushman, I'm not Australian.. but I sure love this track Waltzing Matilda by Tommy Emmanuel (Australian!) & Chet Atkins... which I later found out was the unofficial 'national anthem' of Australia. You can read about it here. If you watched the movie Australia starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman (both Australians mind you), the song is played in the opening credits, albeit in a slower, more traditional orchestra style. This is the most awesome and catchy version I've heard so far.... and get this.. It's a GUITAR DUET.. How cool is that eh? 

Most days, I suspect I'm the only one in the entire country who listens to this particular track.. Most people I know don't even know who Tommy Emmanuel is, or the late Chet Atkins for the matter.

Also, I'm starting to wonder if anyone else listens to bits & pieces of country, instrumental, techno, trance pop, religious, jazz, bossa nova, oldies, mandarin & japanese songs like I do.


I'm thinking.... IM WEIRDER THAN I THOUGHT.

Fortunately, I don't listen to rap music. :-S

A Glimpse of Heaven on Earth

 People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child - our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

 
When was the last time you stopped to stare at the sky?

When I was younger, I used to spend hours staring at the sky, looking at the shapes of the clouds. It was always fascinating. The longer you stared, the more you could see it taking the shape of things you knew like maybe a horse, a dog, a butterfly or even a face. And as the wind blew and the bus I was in moved along, so would the clouds change in shape, forming a new sort of image all the time. Almost anything could appear in the sky and it was governed only by my imagination. For some reason, I could do this for hours on end, usually on those long bus rides alone up north to go see my mother.

But the bus rides got lesser, and I think maybe my sense of imagination slowed down considerably…. And I stopped looking at the sky. I didn’t look up anymore. And I didn’t for a good many years. Somehow, it had stopped fascinating me. Maybe it’s because I started living in the city with no clear skyline. Maybe it’s because I grew up and no longer marveled at life’s simplicities. This realization made me a bit sad. When did I start to forget how to appreciate these simple beauties of life? Wind chimes no longer enchant me; I don’t poke on the morning dews on leaves anymore; and touching the leaves of pokok semalu (a.k.a sleeping plant) and watching it close no longer makes me jump with excitement. I knew it was the same sky, same kind of dew, same plant, just a different me.

I do know it’s inevitable that we all grow out of looking at the world with fresh eyes. We all grow up, we all lose our innocence, and we all stop experiencing life with wide eyed wonder.

But I try to look up more often these days. I don’t want to stop marveling at life’s beauty, however simple, however common. I've been trying to make it a point to consciously take note of how the sky looked each and every day and appreciate it for what it is. Some days, it’s bright and sunny, some days it’s cold and cloudy, but some days when I’m lucky, when the sun is at an angle and the cloud is just clearing, I catch a glimpse of what I’d like to imagine heaven looks like. It is literally like looking at heaven on earth. When you think about it that way, you really marvel at the majesty of God.

It’s amazing how I ever forgot that.

Distance Doesn't Matter...

I’ve been thinking a lot about distance; thinking it, feeling it, trying to understand it.

Relationships, friendships, bonds, connections..…… everyone talks about how distance kills the bonds people share with each other. We’ve all heard countless stories of long distance relationships doomed to failure, friends drifting apart and old pals fast forgotten.

Is it really true? Is distance really the relationship slayer everyone says it is?

If it is, how is possible then that I have known people who have fallen in love and gone on to marry people they got to know from thousands of miles away? How is it possible that some of us feel closer to friends sitting on the other side of the ocean than the ones sitting across town? How is it possible that we take time to meet and bond with people who are around no more than a few times a year than we do people who are there all year round?

In these modern times, people call, text, Skype, chat, Facebook, tweet, type emails, send postcards and even write letters to one another to keep up and nurture the bonds of love and friendship. It’s more convenient now than ever before to keep in touch. But at the core of it, this has got NOTHING to do with the physical distance, and even lesser with the technology. Technology buys you the convenience, but not the time. It gives you the means, but not the will to act.

Just look at how we are with people who are within reachable distance of us.

Have you ever found yourself rejecting an invitation for coffee or dinner with someone, anyone, because you thought the 30 minute drive across town is ‘damn far’ and the traffic jam is just ‘damn crazy’? Have you found yourself being ‘too busy’ to meet someone because your favourite show was on TV that night or some other vague random thingy you know you were going to do? Or maybe, we were just too tired from a long days work and need to go back home to rest, but not before a few hours of Facebook and Youtube?

And yet other times, we magically find the time, energy and money to go out late nights, morning breakfast’s, coffee breaks and even short holidays when the occasion calls for it.

Personally,  I believe distance doesn't matter; only your heart; only your desire. If there is a desire, you WILL bridge the gap. If there is a desire, you WILL defy the oceans. When you have the heart for it, nothing is impossible. And sadly, when we don’t, everything’s an obstacle. Distance becomes nothing than a river you build your bridge over to reach out to the ones you love. But when you don't, it becomes a good excuse why you don’t.

I'm not saying distance does not make a difference at all.. It does…. a lot. We always crave for a physical affirmation of an emotional bond; the stronger the bond, the stronger the crave. That’ why we all feel the need to pat each other on the back, hug, shake hands, kiss, and most simply, be around one another.

But it’s not really the physical distance you should really worry about. That’s easy to bridge. It’s the emotional distance; the detachment you feel in your heart towards people, regardless of where they are. Think about it.

“I've learned that true friendship continues to grow, Even over the longest distance. 

Same goes for true love.”

Unknown

“Time or distance cannot touch the friendship of the heart.”

Unknown

“Though miles may lie between us, we're never far apart, for friendship doesn't count the miles, it's measured by the heart.”

Unknown

Beware of Retarded Subsidies -1st May 2010

I read this in the news just a few days ago:

New Fuel Subsidy Plans Beginning 1st May'2010

I couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at the whole idea. Sounds completely stupid if you ask me.

Fist of all, other than the obvious congestion problems already pointed out in the report, those brilliant buggers in the government propose that everyone use their MyKad to buy petrol. Everyone has to register their MyKad to the car they drive. The logic being that if you're a rich dude, you won't get subsidized. If you're not so rich, then OK, you get petrol at RM1.90/litre.

Let me give you 3 reasons why this is retarded.


#1 The MyKad is the cheapest, crappiest piece of plastic ever be produced by the government. Take your MyKad out and give it a bend. MRT cards in Singapore are better made than our Mykads I tell you. And what about the microchip? Mine failed for no good reason, and couldn't be read in banks, immigration checkpoints or even ATM machines. It's poorly made by some cheapo manufacturer that the government designated. No one ever uses their MyKad as a TnG, ATM facility or driving license because they know it's UNRELIABLE. And now we're supposed to buy petrol with it? So if my MyKad fails (again), do I need to take the bus?

#2 Rich people are smart. They don't pump their own petrol. Their drivers do. AND, they probably don't own the car directly. They do either through a holding company or something. Who's MyKad are you swapping at the petrol kiosk? Ever thought of that yet? What if the driver is a low income guy driving a big car owned by his boss? What if someone's driving their dad's car? Will the subsidy be linked to the drivers income, the car owners income or the car capacity? And how do you prevent the person qualified for a subsidy from driving his rich boss / brother / neighbour's car to pump it up for them, and earn a small commission? What if a rich guy buys a small car in his own name, but pumps into his limo owned by the company (that he owns). HMMMM???

#3 Your economic status is free for all to read. If the MyKad can be used by the Petrol Station to identify your income tier, doesn't that automatically give them a database of names and income range? Where is this information coming from? The income tax department? The bank? Do we really want people to know how much we earn? Isn't that strictly confidential? And what about the traffic police who stops you for jumping the red light? Will HE get to know how much you earn once he asks for your MyKad? And we all know what can happen if Mr. Traffic Officer knows you have a generous income. People get thirsty for coffee.

And those are just some reasons at the top of my head. Imagine how long this list will be if people actually sat down and thought this through properly. But I guess that's something our government hasn't had time to do, what will all this important developments on sodomy trials, 'Allah' issues and debates on whether Beyonce should be allowed to perform here. It's funny how the papers report lurid details of Anwar Ibrahims alleged homosexual rendezvous, down the the brand of the undies worn, but won't even reveal the name of the government political secretary that was caught red handed with 2 million dollars cash in his apartment.

If the issue is smuggling of petrol out of the country, why can't we step up the border control across Thailand to prevent smuggling? Limit the percentage of petrol Thai vehicles can carry in their tanks going out the country, just like in Singapore. We don't need some sophisticated subsidy system at the pump, just for the immigration borders to do their job better. Beef up the guards along the border. We have a military right? Last I checked, Malaysia wasn't in any war, so I'm pretty sure them soldiers could spare a bit of time guarding our border. Oh wait.. they can't. They're busy selling off our jet engines in Uruguay.

If the issue is about ensuring subsidy only for the poor, then gradually cut back on the subsidies across the country. Everyone buys it at the same price. There are something called receipts right? Receipts can be tied explicitly to each car, not the driver. Let the owner of the car file in their petrol receipts yearly or quarterly to the tax department to receive a cash back in lieu of their eligibility for subsidy. That way, those who can afford it will not receive it, and those who need it WILL.

It's probably not perfect, but doesn't something along those lines sound a bit more logical at least?

The government keeps talking about how they want to prevent non deserving people or foreigners from receiving subsidies on petrol. It is after all the tax payers money and should be spent wisely. Spent wisely, I agree. But implemented stupidly? I don't. If this proposal goes through, are they going to set up a nation wide electronic system to monitor petrol buyers which would cost millions? And WHO I might ask will be the beneficiary of such a contract to implement this? HMMM??

1Malaysia Boleh...... macam macam pun boleh la...

Consider yourselves warned people.

:-S