Brillant !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwpbtmFK4BM&feature=related

The song just came on air. This is one of those songs that I cannot go near to for it makes me bawl. Could be due to the strumming of the guitar, the melody, the singer’s voice or his style. However it is the lyrics that strike a cord in me.


I strongly feel that it is written from the songwriter’s true experience. It is a born loser’s one minute ecstasy after spotting a beautiful girl in the subway. That was probably the most beautiful thing that happened to his lousy, dead boring life. That sparkled his imagination as he dive into his mental escapade. The depiction of love so pure and simple yet bittersweet until the last two brutal verses bring things back into reality. Such heart wrenching vulnerability.

Now let’s imagine things from another standpoint.


You walk in the subway. You wear your usual clothes, mind your own business, do nothing in particular. By just being yourself, there may be a chance that you bring happiness to somebody’s life albeit a brief one. It makes a change in his life. Isn’t that wonderful?

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New world

It is always nice to know that we are not the only nation with wacky procedures and regulations.

Our domestic helper is arranging to ship a big carton home. Besides a packing list, her country’s import customs department also requires photocopy of her passport; Not just the front page with her photo and personal particulars but every page of her passport. That means 30 photocopies of A4 sizes are needed. Nobody can explain to us the motive of such requirement. The only reason that I could think of is that the customs office wants to scrutinize the past traveling itinerary of the sender. But why? What has it got to do with the goods that is in the carton box anyway? Imagine the tons of unnecessary paper wasted, the human effort that requires to handle them, the space to keep these papers.

There’s a lot of absurdity to keep up. Welcome to the new world.


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Post Office in the 21st century

It took me about 20 minutes to purchase postage stamps today. There was a long queue at the post office, a scene quite common in the recent years. No, it is not a queue to purchase “first day cover” stamps. (that is so 80s)

Paperless electronic mail system is gradually replacing the traditional letters. In order to survive, the post office has to engage new business direction and diversifies their product and services. As a result, the poor staffs behind the counter find themselves in a weird situation, trying to define what their job really is. Ditto for us too.


Nowadays, post office does not merely sell stamps, greeting cards and administer the delivery of packages. Remittance of money is nothing new too. Post office also accepts payment of hospital bills, CPF top up, exam fees and insurance renewal. It also deals with Readers’ digest bills, Pacific internet bills and road tax. Well I must admit being intrigued by its division of “Equipment dropping off (IBM, HP equipment)” What does it actually means?


But today’s visit is really an eye opening. There are several items on sale. Get ready for this. There are electric iron, rice cooker, vacuum cleaner and hand phones! I wonder when will they start selling tomatoes and potatoes too. Who knows, in future, it may be named Super-post or ShengSiong Post.


I suggest you make a trip to your nearest post office because soon it is going to be extinct forever.

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Gray sky

“As you are aware, your mum’s creatinine level is gradually building up but still it was within normal accepted level. But this time, it is different.” As the blood test result appeared in the computer terminal, I was shocked. Never before has it result worsen by 60% within 3 months. In conclusion, mum’s kidney has only 4% function. It also signifies the arrival of the end of the road. I shook my head in disbelief as perspiration kept rolling down on my forehead. For the last few months, we executed faithfully every advice given by the doctors. Daily diet was carefully followed. In the end, those efforts just went down to the drain.


What are we supposed to do? Or what am I suppose to do?

“There is nothing much we can do. Just observe her. Her body will tell you and give you signs. If she is unconscious, then you send her to the Emergency department.” The doctor says.

My sky suddenly turned gray.

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The customer is always right

As soon as I placed the plate of spaghetti onto the table, the guest whined peevishly. “There is cheese! Why do you put it?”

“This dish comes with cheese in it.“ I replied.

“I cannot eat cheese.” The guest raised his voice.

“You instructed me not to use put oil in the spaghetti but you did not mention anything about cheese.” I reminded him.

“If I cannot take oil it also means that I cannot take cheese.”

Oh, it is nice to know that someone regards oil and cheese as the same thing. Anyway, the customer is always right. So the chef cooked another plate of spaghetti without oil and without cheese.

A few days later, the manager informed me that it was my fault for not informing the guest beforehand that the plate of spaghetti comes with cheese. In my opinion, the logic is a bit twisted. If that is what should be done, then I should also inform the guest about the salt, pepper, parsley, water, wheat (for making the spaghetti) etc. If a guest orders a complicated roast beef, then is it necessary to inform him about the various spices, oil, wine, rosemary, thyme, salt, sugar etc Nobody does that, come on.

If someone is allergic to cheese, there is also someone who is allergic to pepper or salt. So it is usually the guest who inform the restaurant what he does not like in his plate. Not the other way round.

The policy in this restaurant stipulates that the waiter pays for the mistake he makes. The plate of spaghetti costs $28.00. My daily wages is $24.00. So it means that I have to pay $4.00 to work in a place, something that I believe doesn’t exist in any part of the world.

Ok, to avoid argument, go ahead and deduct it from my salary. But since I have paid, I want to have that spaghetti, the one with cheese in it, which they considered was my mistake. I am the one who pays, so that makes me a customer too.

So where is my spaghetti? So whoever threw that spaghetti away the other day, should pay for it now.

I want my spaghetti. The customer is always right, remember?

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House regulation

A center for dementia patients has just recently opened in Jurong area. Its vicinity to my house makes it a perfect choice to enroll my mother in. After a brief interview, the person-in-charge said to me “I am sorry. Your mother is having moderate dementia. Our center only accepts dementia patients of early stage.”

That is so nonsense.

Why would someone open a center for dementia patients and select patients based on their degree of illness. Center for cancer patients cures everyone with cancer, don’t they? Despite whether they are beginning stage or end stage.


Then came the expected standard Singaporean answer “It is the regulation.”

Yes, I know it is your regulation. But regulation was made up by you people. So my question was why your regulation was made in such a way? Since so much money was thrown in, why not offer your service to every dementia patient? Why you chose the easy way out; To cure only beginning stage patients when the serious patients are the one who really need help?

“It is the regulation.” She repeated firmly, as if unable to comprehend my doubts. This is how Singaporeans are brought up, without asking questions to the authority. It will be pointless to insist any logical answer because there will not be one offered to the public.

So I turned to another Dementia center in Chua Chu Kang area. The supervisor replied “Sorry, since your mother is in a wheelchair, we are not able to accept her.”

I was really surprised by this ridiculous answer.

“Excuse me, I have problem with your logic so help me out here. Dementia affects mainly the old people. Most elderly have physical mobility problems. That is the nature of aging. It all comes in a package. So how can you expect all dementia patients to walk without aids?” I asked furiously.

“It is the regulation.” Came the cold reply.

 
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New year celebration

I love going to the movies on the first day of the Lunar new year. With every established is closed, watching movies seemed to be the best option. Tickets were easy to obtain because everyone was busy visiting their relatives. That was then.

As I stepped into the mrt (metro), I realized the congestion of person. Even in the streets, the crowd is no different from a normal Monday. Recently there is a tendency of having many shops and restaurants opened during this festive period. We all benefit from this convenience. Thanks to some hardworking F&B operators, who harvest the opportunity by doing business today.

If one has money, he can live like new years’ day on a daily basis. Although the person who said this might be low on the meaning of the Chinese new year, in some way he is not totally wrong. How celebration is done? It is no other than eat, drink, new clothes, a non working day and gathering with relatives and friends. How could one fully enjoy all these if there is worries about financial issues? So, let’s work today. We can celebrate the new year some other time.

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Breaking my record

Every Chinese new year’s eve, I like to take a walk in Chinatown street market after dinner. It is almost like a pilgrimage for me. Don’t ask me why. It does not seem or feel like Chinese New Year without that trip. There were a few occasions which I stayed till the next morning.


This year, I broke my own record.

It is absolutely the shortest time that I remained in the market. In less than 30 minutes, I was heading home. What happened? I don’t know. That is the problem. I do not even know why I lost interest for a routine that I faithfully followed annually. Could it be the warm weather? Or the inconsiderate crowd? Or the uninteresting merchandise on sale? Or my age? Somehow, one thing I am sure. The magic is gone.

Close encounter with an American Idol

The guy next to me is “invited” by the group of Borneo tribal dancers onto the stage, joining them in the fire-eating dance. Shows like this always like to pull someone from the audience to embarrass them or to make fun of them. The one being hailed on stage is suppose to be happier afterwards.

Hey, wait a minute. I recognize him. He is Kris Allen, the 2008 American Idol winner. From the newspapers I know that he is here in town to promote his new album. Tonight must be one of his night out together with his staffs (personal assistant, entourage, PR personnel etc) And all along, he was standing right next to me. “It’s the American Idol.” I told my friend. But he does not know nor recognizes him. Same for the rest of the audience. I don’t blame them. Even for me, a die-hard fan of the “American Idol” series, did not notice Kris Allen by my side until he was hailed up to stage.

He is really a simple, down to earth guy-next-door. Wearing just a plain white T-shirt and a pair of faded jeans, he blends in so well with everyone next to him. He is not loud nor interested in calling attention. This is the charm that made more than 40 million Americans telephoned to vote for him last year. Not an easy feat at all.

I adore the American Idol show. If not being 20 years overage, I would have tried my luck in that show too. So being in such vicinity to someone /something connected to the show is as good as it gets! As Randy Jackson sometimes says, “Yo Man !”
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Revival of the 80s

What do you remember of the good old 80s - the era of break dance? How about big frizzy hair, head band, white knee length socks, ground cum neck breaking dance moves? “Out-of-the-world” size audio cassette player hefted over the shoulder, churning out music in ear blasting volume. Then we expect Irene Cara to burst out singing and everyone in the gang kick out a frenzy dance performance.


Today I got a chance to relive that period. Well, not exactly in the same way.

As soon as she boarded the bus, the tranquil silence was broken. Our private thoughts were immediately forgotten, replaced by the attention we have for this young girl. She was surrounded by a big cloud of music. Unfortunately, neither was the sound system good nor the brand of music involving: Someone was trying to make music out of moans and hiccups. Her looks was as irritating as her music and she was so arrogant in her manners. Everyone turned back to give her an eye. She was indifferent and had non intention to lower down the volume. And the chunky cassette player? Oh it has evolved into a small hand phone. This is 2010.

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