yeah....Things will only get better

Had dinner with Pling at Harbourfront last night. Patronised this Thai cuisine stall at the food court. It wasn't too bad, though not as wonderful as authentic Thai food in Thailand.

DUH!!

Anyway... was on the phone this morning ordering some food for a function. Was doing in on behalf of a friend. He wanted to include some Thai food for this event and therefore we called up this Thai restaurant. Oh well, at the time of posting this blog, it's only 9 plus. Which restaurants or eateries open at this time anyway? But he insisted that I try. And so I did.

The manager wasn't around, yet. The person that I spoke to spoke in halting English. No where near proficient. And I don't speak Thai. He must have understood that I was placing order. I tried my best to do a quick search on the internet on how to pronounce dishes such as Pineapple Rice ( Khao Phad Supparot) and Kway Teow ( Phad Thai). Jay was online too and so he helped me with some translations.

Khao Phad Supparot Ha Sip ( 50 pineapple rice). That's how I placed my orders.

I looked at my watch. I 've spent close to 30 mins and yet I have yet to finish everything. I got kinda frustrated and muttered " Wah... Pek Chek ah.. jin jia kan kor".

Then there was silence. And I heard this over the phone

" Le eh tar teo chew way ah" ( You can speak Teochew?)

Yeah... foolish me. Most of the ethnic Chinese in Thailand are Teochews. There's always this possibility that they speak Teochew. I should have tried all possible means of communication.

I'm not lazy; jus that if making my bed is not as beneficial to not making my bed, I guess it would make more sense for me not to make my bed?

ChannelNewsAsia

By Chiang Yin Pheng


HOW many of us have been nagged at by our mothers or spouses to make the bed?

Well, the lazier ones among us who hate the chore now have one good counter: It does look slovenly, but it's healthier to leave the bed unmade because it kills the dust mites resident there.
Dust mites have been blamed for asthma and a host of other allergies.


Scientists from the Kingston University have found that unmade beds, which leave the sheets and pillows exposed to the air, dries them out more than if they were covered up with a quilt; drier conditions make survival challenging for those dust mites.


Warm, damp conditions created in an occupied bed are ideal for them, but they are less likely to thrive when moisture is in short supply.


The BBC website this week noted that an average bed could be home to up to 1.5 million house dust mites. Think of these critters feeding on scales of your shed skin and happily breeding and excreting waste in your mattress and pillows, which you inhale while you slumber.


Kingston University scientists have developed a computer model to track how changes in the home can influence the dust mite population in beds. They will be tracking mite populations in 36 British households and figuring out how changes to building features such as heating, ventilation and insulation affect mite colonies.


Researcher Stephen Pretlove said: 'We know that mites can only survive by taking in water from the atmosphere using small glands on the outside of their body.


'Something as simple as leaving a bed unmade during the day can remove moisture from the sheets and mattress so the mites will dehydrate and eventually die.'


He added that the research being done may help cut back on spending on mite-induced illnesses each year.


In Singapore, dust mites have also been identified as a major source of allergens. They are found mostly in beds, carpets and other soft furnishings in the home.


One in five children and one in 20 adults in the Republic suffer from the chronic respiratory disease, with most asthma cases being caused by allergies, mainly to dust mites.

Alright, I'm not a seasoned writer on local football. I still watch the S-League every now and then, just to feel close to local football. Somehow I still prefer the term "football"; soccer sounds so horrible. Most of the time, you play the ball with your feet, not too sure how would a game where people dress in armour barge around with a weird shaped object, with minimal usage of your feet and call that game "football" ?

The Yanks tried to differentiate their brand of football and the type played internationally and called it "soccer". Why soccer? Well, it's the short form for Association Football. Now, how did the term soccer came about? You take the " SOC" from Association and yeah.. Soccer.

Back to local football. Alright the Lions got into the final of the Tiger Cup. While I won't call it a huge accomplishment, but well, it's really quite a progress for them, or rather for us. Being a Singaporean, who has faithfully followed the Malaysian Cup back in the 80's and 90's, it's defintely a wonderful feeling to know that I will be joining a full house Kallang Stadium come 16th January. If you haven't experience a full house before, I tell you, it's electrifying. Wonderful!!

Thumbs up for all of you that made the effort to get the tickets. I was at the Bishan Stadium the other day and saw a Hougang NPC Police patrol car parked in front of the stadium. Well, you do see police cars parked all over the place, especially in secruity-tight Singapore, what's the big deal? But well you see, Bishan NPC is just a 10 min walk away from the Satdium ? In other words, Bishan is under Bishan NPC and not Hougang NPC, which is technically speaking, another division. Saw two officers alighting, full in their patrol gear, yeah.. t-baton and all that. They looked around, as if scanning for any suspects. Slowly they made their way to the... ticket counter.

Haha...well these officers got their tickets no doubt about it. I guess Bishan Stadium is closer to the National Stadium? It's difficult for them to visit Singapore Pools outlet in uniform to get tickets so I guess, that's one of few rare occasions that you'll see a Hougang NPC Patrol Car in Bishan.

Well, at least the officers made an effort to get the tickets to support the Lions. I've gotten a call yesterday, late at night.

" Hello ah... still got tickets or not?"

Haha... well... just like what I've posted in an earlier post, Singaporeans are famous for last minute stuff. This is no exception. Just too bad if you delayed and delayed and ended up with no tickets. Heard that the black market is selling them for up to 200 bucks.

Oh well.. I won't sell mine. Try somewhere else perhaps.

How many of you actually put away issues until the final minute? And then you panic, struggle to get a solution to it, or engage in some kind of fire-fighting?

We see it everyday... at all ages

Hands up those of you that actually delayed until the last min before your started on your revisions for tests and exams? Or those of you that attempted to do some form of training just before your IPPT? And I mean one week before and you began to hit the gym almost everyday, only to tire yourselves and end up failing the test.

Some may be to due to poor planning while others, well, they simply can't be bothered, i.e. SBC.. Simply Bo Chup!

Is this a typical Singaporean mentality?

Was reading this article writen by the Commanding Officer of Pasir Ris NPC, ASP Tan Wern Yuan.

"Experience, however, is a double-edged sword. One of the most challenging tasks in the world is to change the way an adult sees and responds to things. The more we accumulate of life's experiences, the less able we are to view something without prejudice. We acquire perceptions over time that urge us to compartmentalise fresh ideas rather than evaluate them as if we were seeing them for the first time. "

Yes indeed. This is indeed refreshing coming from an uniformed organization like the SPF that values experience.

As an Officer of the National Police Cadet Corps, I have come across a fair group of people who have been through the so call "baptism of fire", having risen through the ranks from Cadets to CI to that of an Officer. They defintely have that wealth of experience that we are looking for, if that experience that we are indeed searching for is that of what we can loosely term as " hard skills". That would be things like the ability to instruct how to tie knots and lashings, pitch a tent, execute perfect drills and so on.

BUT are we really looking for such people to become officers? We may only be a corps for the kids, but by no means, it is any simple thing. We need to improve; we need to move on. We need fresh perspective.

I don't deny the importance of basic ground knowledge. However, just like what was described above, the more we acquire, the less able we are to view something without prejudice. This itself is a huge barrier that prevents one from moving forward. It is evident in the SPF. Ooi Kar Keat told me that the best Senior Officers that he had ever met were the direct entry ones, not the rank and file fellows. This is definitely surprising; after all we are often of the opinion that one having gone through the various ranks can actually have a better knowledge of the situation and is in a better position to execute his responsibilities better. Perhaps old habits die hard.

The greatest challenge for us, or for that matter for any organization, would be to balance and manage existing ground knowledge and at the same time, be able to "view things with fresh eyes, as if we are seeing them for the very first time."

Reference:
TAN Wern Yuen, First Impressions,
OneLife , Police Life Monthly, Volume 30, (pp31-32) Dec 04 Special

Wah.. the police have issued a public warning.

MEDIA RELEASE 11 JANUARY 2005

Police Advisory To The Public Attending Tiger Cup Matches On 15 & 16 January 2005


The Tiger Cup 2004 3rd and 4th place match between Malaysia and Myanmar will be held at the Jalan Besar Stadium on 15 Jan 05. This will be followed by the second-leg match of the finals on 16 Jan 05 between Singapore and Indonesia at the National Stadium.


Police are deeply concerned by the behaviour of some fans at Sunday’s (2 Jan 05) semi-final second leg match between Singapore and Myanmar. The unruly behaviour of people at the National Stadium marred the recent game and could have escalated into unnecessary violence. Police would like to remind the public that whilst they are enjoying the match and the excitement, they should not take the law into their own hands and behave in an unruly manner. Following Sunday’s match, Police have charged three persons in court for acting rashly and causing hurt to a public servant. We will not hesitate to take action against others who engage in senseless acts of hooliganism.


All event organizers are reminded that they are responsible for the safety and security of the public as well as law and order at such events. This will not only contribute to the overall success of the event but prevent any injury or damage. Police are working closely with FAS and CISCO to ensure that the last two games in the Tiger Cup 2004 will be conducted in a safe and enjoyable manner for all fans who come to support their teams.


PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
11 January 2005 @ 10.30 am

Not too sure how many of us actually participated in observing that minute of silence at 1800 hr yesterday. Well, I did. Just that I was driving along the ECP towards Changi. However, that minute wasn't at 6 pm. Somehow the congregation at the Singapore EXPO observed that minute at 1756, according to my time. I do not expect cars to pull over at the side of the road, ships to embark at the piers, aeroplanes to force a sudden landing, Prowlers stop prowling the camps and doctors helping to deliver babies to stop for a minute. Or for that matter, request that the infant delay a minute in rememberance of those that left us?

Pling felt guilty for not observing that minute of silence. She told me that she was on a bus. Perhaps the main issue here is to remember those that left us so abruptly; that's what the minute of silence was actually for. If it's not possible to be really silent, well remember these people in your heart. You don't really have to know all of them; this tradegy didn't only happen to them, it happened to us. All of us.

I don't have to draw a map of South East Asia to point out that Singapore is safely nestled in the middle of the Malay Archipelago. I suppose most of us can picture this. ( Ok, unless I have readers from America or Europe, which to the best of my knowledge, there isn't, otherwise you should know the location.) And of course, the main reason for not producing a map here is that I don't wish to infringe on any copyright laws. ( Streetdirectory.com is so particular about it.)

Here in Singapore, we are sheltered by the island of Sumatra. The pictures of the mass destruction brought about by the tsunami on Aceh were scary, but such scenes could have happened in Singapore too, just that we were well protected.

Government Buildings flew their flags at half mast yesterday as a mark of respect, in rememberance to all that perished.

Winston wasn't too please with that. With due respect to the victims, when a young Singaprean drafted into the military to defend our nation died the process of training, did we lower our flags to half mast?

Interesting point to note. That's his point of view. I understand where he's coming from. Somewhere, it does appear that we do not value our people as much as we would have expected to.

But to say that it's an insult to fly our flags at half mast in remembrance of holidaymakers and terrorists, that's way off.

Alright New Year's Day's over.

And yeah.. we're into the new year of 2005. Well, kinda sad to start the new year on a not so pleasant mood. The tsunami that destroyed so much ( yeah.. uncountable mah) reminded us how insignificant, how weak mankind actually can be. For all the wars we have started, for all the destruction we have brought about, they really pale in comparison the kind of damage Mother Nature can inflict on us.

I shall not go into the damage brought about by the tsunami, you can read them all in the papers on from the net; some sites even have clips to show you.

If there's anything that can be attributed as a silver lining, ah well, perhaps the unity shown by the rest of the show in rendering assistance and support, in one ways or another. Singapore too has gotten into the act, wasting no time in sending it's armed forces and civil defence forces to aid in the rescue works. Singaporeans have donated more than 10 million Sing dollars so far to the Red Cross Society and the amount is still increasing. There's some dissapointment here when you learn that some of the wealthiest Singaporeans can still have reservations with their donations. I shall not brand them as being overly misery, after all, donations' purely voluntarily... you can't forced anyone to do it. It does seem to me that this amount donated seems like to help them reduce their payable income tax?

While money seems to be the prefered form of donation, some would prefer to contribute items. However, not every single item's really required. Make a trip down to any collection centre such as SSA, I'm sure you would find many interesting stuff. Not too sure how a pair of roller blades can help the victims. That inclusion only added unnecessary work to the volunteers sorting out the items.

As usual, the media woudl like to do some reporting on this. Somehow I find it uncomfortable that things like the Singapore Government spending a certain amount of money helping the victims, or the types of hi tech equipment the SAF has , are in fact hogging the headlines. Not that I'm against the press from reporting this or the tv station from filming this, but just that is there a need to place so much emphasis on it? Anything more than this would seem to be a propaganda showing off what we are doing where in actual fact the bulk of the reporting should be on the rescue works, the victims that survived and how they are coping and so on. As long as we know that the Singapore government is supporting the rescue works, I'm sure that it fine.