Huh?

I read this on the news today: 5,000 passengers affected by disruption in eastbound train services.

"SINGAPORE : An SMRT spokesman has said that some 5,000 passengers were affected when an eastbound train service was disrupted on Saturday afternoon.

A passenger had jumped onto the track at Tanah Merah MRT Station and was hit by a train heading towards Pasir Ris.

SMRT said that to maintain services on the East—West line, eastbound trains were turned around at Eunos and Tanah Merah MRT stations, while the middle platform at Tanah Merah MRT Station was used for eastbound train services.

Announcements were made in all stations and on affected trains to inform passengers of the delay and to advise them that the trains may be more crowded.

Normal service resumed at around 3.40pm.

Passengers who were unable to complete their journeys due to the disruption can claim a full fare refund from the Passenger Service Centre in any of the 58 SMRT stations, within the next three working days.

SMRT is assisting the police in its investigation.

Half—height platform screen doors have not been installed at Tanah Merah Station.

So far, they have been installed at Pasir Ris MRT station, as well as Jurong East and Yishun stations.

By 2012, they will be installed in all 36 above—ground MRT stations in Singapore. — CNA/ms"

So, after reading the entire article, I had one question ringing in my mind... Is the person who jumped ok? Did he/she die? Seriously injured? Will he/she live?

But no, it seems that we're more concerned about the disruption of the train service.

Cup holder lady

Saw this picture on Yahoo! today. For a brief moment, I thought that one of the women in the picture was wearing a cup holder on her belt. (you can easily pick out which one)

Rush hour. Can't find a seat at the cafe. Not to worry.

Charlie Simpson

Good on you Charlie!

A 7 year old boy, Charlie Simpson, rode his bike around a park and raised over USD160,000 for Haiti, putting Singapore to shame with its $50k donation.

Sudesh Maniar, Director, Public Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: "Among other things, we have to consider the nature of our relations with the affected country and whether we can provide aid which will add value to the relief efforts when deciding what to contribute, as we have limited resources and cannot respond to every disaster in the same way."

But $50k? when a 7 year old boy can raise more than 3 times the amount?

Come on...

So... what's next?

A recent news headline: GIC booked losses for investment in New York property.
SINGAPORE: The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has booked losses, believed to be in the tune of US$675 million.

Soon after, we see this headline: Electricity Tariffs to go up.

And after that: 4 more Electronic Road Pricing gantries to be up soon.

And after that: ERP rates up at 3 gantries from next month.

Sigh...

Ridiculous

Haiti has just experienced a crisis beyond what they're prepared for. A 7.0 quake that has left an estimate of a hundred thousand people dead and the country in chaos...

It's really sad that our Singaporean news don't really give much coverage of this crisis and spend more time telling Singaporeans about headlines such as Youths spending more to look good and some actor's new ugly role...

But here's the ultimate jawbreaker .... The Singapore Government has donated just US$50K to help the situation at Haiti.

Singapore is a rich country. Yet we're really just giving "peanuts". The 2nd lowest on the list I saw was South Korea, which gave a helpful US$1,000,000.... then it was Singapore...at the bottom... no, not half of that (500,000)... just 50K. That's just 1.8% of what they pay the President.

Heartless? Cheapskate? Or does the Singapore government just care about the Integrated Resorts opening soon? Or is this due to the fact they made a huge mistake investing in the Manhattan project?

Kids and school

Saw an article on the newspaper yesterday with the headlline: "School's not a blast for all kids."

Seriously?? You mean, not all kids enjoy school? My gooodness, this is a shock to me! Because I've always thought that all kids LOVED school and are excited each day as they put on their uniforms and head out to class.

Longer life expectancy?

An elderly man was found dead in his own house in Singapore recently. Police believe that he had been dead for 6-12 months before they found him.

There was a news article on this and one paragraph caught my attention -

"Most Singaporeans live in densely populated public housing estates like Tan's because of land scarcity, and an increasing number of elderly citizens live on their own due to longer life expectancy."

He was 69... Live alone due to longer life expectancy?? What does that mean?

Singaporeans know that the sentence should have been read : "...and an increasing number of elderly citizens live on their own due to the lack of welfare in the country."

Wedding car

I've always wanted a Ferrari for a wedding car. But my girlfriend says "how can you be your own driver during your wedding? Really??? To drive yourself?" Well, since 99% of Ferraris are 2 door vehicles, that dream was shattered.

Today, like lazarus, it lives again.

I found out on the web a while ago that there's actually a Ferrari Limo. Yes a Limo!





This is just great news... it even looks like we could take off to our honeymoon after the wedding. But then again... This car is not available in my country. So...

Ignite Camp '09

Carmel Ignite Camp '09 just ended.

It really was a good camp. Different feeling as the last. The last one was hectic yet memorable... this one was more relaxed and we had more time to just get to know each other and have fun.

I realised that we've all changed... and for the better! This is something I wanna thank God about. Underground church was a cool event. My role was extremely difficult to play and I had to think of ways to create the effect I wanted. But in the end it all went well and I think it was really something I will remember for a long time.

Anyhow, I saw something funny today.

That's all.

Just wanted to say that.

Not telling.

Just saying.

Yup. It was funny.

2012

I've just watched 2012. If you're looking for an action film, this should be a good choice for you. If you're like me - someone who lets his mind get into analysing why certain things were done in a certain manner, you'd be rather irritated during your movie.

Here are somethings that just made the movie too much of an action film and too little of a logical one.

Posters: Cars were lined up neat and nice on the freeway on both directions even though the whole road has collapsed leaving a HUGE canyon between the road and the city. With the minutes it take for all the buildings to collapse crumble and fall into the canyon, noone on the freeway actually swerved or did a U-turn trying to escape the collapse. They probably left their car and ran figuring they were faster than their vehicles.

Lead character: (out of many I'll pick one) While the roads were collapsing, he had to look for a map in a section where there were a pile of other maps and papers. And this was done in a camper van while the rest of his team waited in a plane for him to get the map. Wouldn't you just grab the whole lot (it wasn't a lot) and get onto the plane then look for it there?

Leaving an aircraft in a car: The aircraft was not yet in a landing speed when the car had to leave the plane. The car "jumped" off the plane. The plane was probably still travelling at 200mph when the car lept off the plane. Which meant that the car (facing the wrong way of the momentum) had to be travelling in reverse gear at close to 200mph for it to be safe. Nothing happened to the car. I would like to know the gear ratio of that reverse gear.

Scientist's best friend: While the whole of India was being tsunami-fied and all land communication was wiped out, his was still able to use his mobile phone to call his friend to say his last words. I want to know which telco he's using. I'm buying shares. It survives not only the financial crisis but the apocalypse.

Not a wise choice: You have the world's leaders with you on board. People with a track record of great leadership, brains and so on... With less than 15 minutes to go before the impact of the tsunami, would you open the gates allowing others on board, with the knowledge that the procedure might not be completed in 15 minutes which would then result in the wipe-out of the human race? It is better to have 50% on board than risk losing everyone. Yes, some of you may think I'm evil. But I would open the gates if in another situation, we had 30 minutes.

Still more to go... but I'm lazy to type 'em all...

Till next time...

SONY HD TVs

You know those horror movies like Saw where the bad guy appears on the screen with his image constantly grainy and flickering?

Sony HD should do an ad that spoofs this.

It should go just as the show does, just that the images are all crystal clear and there are a few endings:

1. They find out where the bad guy is situated because HD picks out his background.
2. They aren't too afraid after that and live happily ever after forgetting the entire incident.
3. They don't even pay attention to the bad guy speaking and just comment on how clear the picture is.

Ending tagline - SONY HD TVs. Makes a difference.

Thank You Lord!

Yup, big thanks to the BIG GUY...

I had an amazing night tonight. To cut the long story short, My brother and I actually got ourselves into the Paddock at the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix. I won't tell the entire story here so that people won't steal my plan and make it hard for me to do it again.

We spoke to engineers, got up close with the cars and parts, met up with most of the drivers, took pictures with them, sat around like lazy billionaires and just soaked up the atmosphere. It was truly an incredible night.

I remember praying "Lord grant us favour tonight. Incredible favour, because only You can..."

Visit to the hairdresser

Hairdresser's Assistant: "Sir, what would you like to drink?"
Me: "What do you have?"
Hairdresser's Assistant: "Tea."
Me: "Just tea?"
Hairdresser's Assistant: "Yes."
Me: "ok then."

In my mind I was already teaching him to rephrase his initial question to "Sir, would you like some tea."

I also realised that hairdressers love to talk to you while they're blow drying your hair. When it's peace and quiet with little snips of the scissors, they're usually mute. When the warm and strong air from the blow dryer is in your ear creating an internal heavy metal band, they start to speak to you ever so gently.

Hairdresser: "Ar ...th...cr...in...bat...no?
Me: "er.... ya."
Hairdresser: "Hahaha.....cot...you...tis...bel...fri..!"
Me: "er.. hahaha...ya"

I have no idea whether I have just agreed to go on a date with him or if he's telling me he cut off a large chunk of my hair by accident.

Don't waste your time.

Malaysia has announced that some of its recipes have been hijacked and is now claiming certain dishes (food) as theirs. Dishes such as Chilli Crab, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Nasi Lemak are all Malaysian dishes.

To me, this is just rather childish and they're really just targetting Singapore because many (even Malaysians) have called Singapore - "Food Haven".

To M'sian Tourism Min. Ng Yen Ye:

Hi, how are you? I just want to say that whatever you're doing won't change a thing. Italians have their Pasta, but the Japanese made it their own as well - Waraku's Japanese Pasta. And they're all available here. Tourists won't change their minds and go to Malaysia instead of Singapore because they think "Oh, wait a minute, it's Malaysia that came up with Nasi Lemak! I should travel there instead!" In my opinion, with the variety and quality of food we have here in Singapore, claiming certain recipes as yours won't really change a thing.

Please use your efforts, time and money in a more rewarding way.

That's a lot of cash for one man.

Yahoo! Singapore posted this picture of Ng Teng Fong today for an article on Singapore's wealthiest people. He happens to be ranked up there on the number 1 spot with a chunk of cash that's enough to buy 56 billion Japanese Rice Crackers worth S$1 each. Yes that's a very long way of saying he has S$56 billion.

But this picture truly shows that money is not everything. Richest man in Singapore looks to me like he's rather poor on happiness. And I checked some of his other pictures online and he seemed the same or, in some, forcing a smile.

So guys, don't let money be the goal in life. (I'm not saying that that's his goal in life)
Get something Joyful, something Eternal, something Special, something Unshakeable, something Sovereign.

Ps. I had a great birthday outing with Wendy. We tried mini-golf and it was surprisingly fun thrashing those little kids. We had a lovely dinner and the talk was just wonderful as usual. We headed to the arcade and challenged each other on the Xbox 360. We then went undercover and spied on some people (not in a bad way), then we had soya beancurd for supper and again had a nice chat. In my previous post I was wondering what good would fall into my lap... I should've noticed the geat gift that was already with me. Let the cash continue to go to people like Ng Teng Fong, let rust continue to invade the LP640 and let Robert Pattison continue with his acting... I've got Wendy.

09/09/09

That's today's date. 090909. Cool. And it's way cooler because it happens to be my birthday.

Those born on 08/08/08, you had your day, today's mine. I wonder what good things will happen today. Will a huge load of money fall into my lap? Will someone driving a Lamborghini LP640 hand me his keys? Will Robert Pattinson quit acting?

Well, I'll just wait and see and keep you guys updated.

Till then, Happy Birthday to me.

Can't Put a Finger on it.

You get your month's pay.
You take a percentage of it out.
You place that into a system.
Your palms sweat.
You don't know what you'll get in return.
No sign of a guarantee.
It's too soon to know what lands back into your hands.
You do it again.
Another month.
And another.
Still your heart races.
Your returns are a blur.
You continue doing it.
You're now 68 and have just retired.
It's time to see your returns.
..... what are they?

No, i'm not writing about betting on horses, the lottery or the stock market. It's called CPF. A scheme we have in Singapore that pretty much works like how I've described above.

It is compulsary for working Singaporeans to give 20% of their salary each month to this scheme.

Is this TAX? nope, it's called CPF not TAX. We do have our own income tax as well. That one does contain the letters T, A and X.

Is this an investment scheme? er... I don't know of any compulsary investment schemes around.

Is this a savings plan? Maybe... but you don't know how much you'll get at the end of the day. And you can't decide to take your money out. So maybe not as well.

Is this a gamble? No. Because gambling does seem to provide better odds. (but do not gamble)

Is this protection money? No. Our government does not operate like loan sharks. And furthermore, there isn't much protection from the scheme.

Well, I don't have an answer for this now but I'll continue to find out how to best describe this scheme to all you who are not Singaporeans.

Schumacher is back!

This is just fantastic.

Schumacher is coming back to F1 to stand in for the injured Felipe Massa. Which means he's coming to Singapore. His first ever night race, and his last. It's like "one time only, the 7 times world champion shall demonstrate his ability..."

And you know what? I've got seats so good, I can probably see his pits sweat.

Now that's fantastic.

On another note, Lewis Hamilton is a loser.

Have a great day.

Muscles

I realised that men who go to the gym or rather, men who are beefy and muscular, have just two types of clothing - either something from their baby brother's closet or something that's just way too baggy to be hung on a hanger at a clothing store.

Sometimes its a mixture of both in one outing. An aero-dynamic t shirt from OshKosh B'gosh and a baggy MC Hammer bottom or they may even just cut a hole in a curtain and wear it around their neck as a top with shorts so tight that their own skin's jealous.

I believe it's a dress code. It's probably how the guys at the counter know who to approach for gym packages and other gimmicks. It's a wink and a smile for those dressed for hammer time, but for those in a normal Gap top and bermudas... a registration form is coming your way.

Words of advice for the beef boys: You don't look nice and you're probably going to be asked to help out in moving furniture by a skinny dude.

A Letter

This letter is for the cockroaches living in my car right now.

Hello immigrants,

How are you? Good I believe, since I saw some of you little ones running happily on my carpet. I would just like to inform you that dooms day is coming. And it's coming soon.

Yes, Mr. Killyouall is going to be knocking on your door pretty soon. You probably won't even know it's time. You'll be busy foraging for little bits of food and BAM! you're dead. You can't run from your destiny. You can try, but you're all going to be thrown into a no-mercy war zone soon and unfortunately for you, you're on the losing side. Don't even bother packing your bags and leaving, I'll get you even if you infest my neighbour's car. Passing your cookie-crumb inheritance to your young ones is a bad idea too. They'd be faced up alongside your entire clan.

Thank you for your time spent in my car. I hope you have a pleasant night's rest.

Regards,

Your worst nightmare.