What’s the point?

of the candle on my cake.

Let’s take stock.

I am spending unholy amounts. On underwear, especially. After i spoke recently of how i am not gonna spend fortunes cuddling my privates. But i must say, the cK Steel collection is really flattering.

On top of that, despite the vitriol towards DBS for their support of Focus on the Family (even if it is for children’s projects), a lot of my expenses have been charged to my DBS card. And am gonna charge even more to my DBS card later today. Why do all the undies and other people’s gifts come with discounts tied to DBS cards? Clearly, am selling my principles for $1.75 off each flattering undie. Has turning older made me more ‘pragmatic’ (dirty word, dirty word)?

I know i asked for a low-key celebration. But it would have been nice to have at least 1 greeting on my Facebook wall. (does this constitute unreasonable behaviour?)

I told myself to accept that the fairytale will never happen. But still i harbour hopes. Last night, almost hit on someone. Funny thing is, when i imagined bringing him back home, i didn’t get images of him naked in my bed. I was seeing images of him meeting my family. Gosh, am i getting that old? Or did i just turn lesbian?

Of the 4 guys i recently lusted after, ran into 3 last night. 2 were right next to me at some point in the night. Almost approached them. Almost. What could i possibly say or do to interest them in me?

Drunk messaging can be really hazardous. Surprisingly, still grammatically correct!

Made a resolution to kick / cut down one habit. Still going strong! (to keep me motivated, am rewarding myself with more shopping! Hope non-DBS card promos this time.)

Told myself not to read the blogs of hotties cos reading of their adventures is really depressing (oh, do i choose hunk A or stud B or model C?). Just bookmarked another 2. Damn it.

That aside, there is a conspiracy going on. Each time i think of going to the gym (i mean, just thinking, not even so far as getting out of bed), it starts raining. Every time. I mean, every single time. Each and every single time.

Well, just stopped raining. Good. But now, it is sooo hot …

ps. Oh oh oh, must say must say … i lost weight! Tummy still there, but i lost weight! I lost almost 9 kg! … thanks to the totally screwed up machine at the gym.

After triangulating the results with data generated from other vaguely sane machines, learnt i actually … lost weight! But only about 2 kg lah. Still, not bad, not bad. Can eat free cake from cafe - got bday voucher to redeem cake. Cho chweet! But so paiseh to go cafe and eat cake alone. Nyeh! ( i dunno what the ‘nyeh’ is supposed to mean, just popped into my head, so i typed it out)

So, Tan Kin Lian says he will run for elections (whether President or General) if he gets 100,000 signatures petitioning him to do so.

A long time ago, i stated that TKL’s intentions in fighting for hgher bonuses from his former employer were irrelevant - what mattered was that he was helping people using his knowledge. In the current matter, i take a different tack.

Many new PAP MPs enter parliament without actually contesting elections cos there are walkovers. The others are part of GRCs with heavyweight old-timers (often Ministers) and they ‘ride on the coat tails’ of these existing MPs. Seems some of these ‘talents’ will not contest elections if they dun have a virtually guaranteed path to parliament. Can name me one new PAP candidate who ran in a Single Member Constituency (SMC)?

Seems TKL was a PAP member for 30 (?) years. And he seems to have imbibed that form of thinking.

If he will only contest elections if he is guaranteed of some level of success, how different does that make him from the newbies fielded by PAP?

Sure, you could say that he also said that he will contest only if the populace actually want change, hence this petition requirement. He is asking the people to take ownership of their choices.

Err, i think it is evidently clear from all the ramblings in the Forum pages and blogs and Hong Lim Park that a number of people want change. He himself said that he left the PAP cos he thinks they have lost touch with the ground. So, from this, it is clear that he wants change. If he wants change, isn’t that reason enough to contest?

I still think that people should run for elections in politics cos they want to make a change, contribute to society and serve the people. This is obviously idealistic. And it is a thankless job. But once that is not the goal, then i think one should think twice before taking part.

As such, I dun think i support TKL in his current stance. Of cos, if he does run, i will vote for him IF i think he is the better candidate. If not, i may still vote for him cos i want to vote AGAINST the other candidate. Sure, sounds like a protest vote, but the beauty of democracy is that the vote belongs to you. You decide what you want to do with it.

And i am now beginning to see the SDP candidates in a slightly different light.

It seems Singapore has $42b in reserves for healthcare, according to Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan. Of this, $40b is in Singaporeans’ Medisave.

I have never heard any government point to people’s own savings and call them the country’s reserves. Aren’t reserves supposed to be funds that the government accumulates and taps on when the citizens need it? Or are you telling me CPF and Medisave funds are actually the government’s?

What is that magic number?

It is the cost of the blinking light panel in trains that tells you which station is next.

Yesterday, had my first encounter with it. All of us were so amused and people were so curious they were touching the panel to feel the buttons.

However, i must say i was disappointed.

One part of the panel blinks to tell you whether the door opens on this side or the opposite side. (the opposite side will therefore have the opposite door info part blinking). Door had opened and light on this side was blinking "Door opens on other side". Duh!

Worse still, after passing station X, and as we were about to reach station X+1, lights were still blinking for station X. Add to that, the LED panels strewn throughout the cabin above the grab poles, were also indicating station X.

No point having these high-tech cool looking things if the info is inaccurate. Ditto for the bus arrival panels at bus-stops.

Stop wasting money!

I guess it is a coincidence. Have been seeing the trailers for the new Jim Carrey movie, Yes Man. And then i chanced upon this blog post on one of my favourite blogs, Get Rich Slowly.

After reading quite a bit on the power of positive thinking and how Thoughts Affect Reality (TAR), I guess it is time to start saying YES and actually live. But, strangely enough, i have just decided to do the opposite.

Maybe i will change my mind after reading How to stop worrying and start living by Dale Carnegie. Let’s see if i can get to that book at the library and if it will say anything so radically new that i havent already heard.

Till then … NO!

Just learnt from this report that Lim Swee Say is an advisor to the DBS Staff Union. Seems he is not happy with DBS’ retrenchments.

"We are disappointed by this sudden decision". "There was no prior consultation with the DBS Staff Union." "His criticism came on day 2 of DBS’ retenchment exercise." Btw, Lim Swee Say is secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC).

HELLO?

You are the Sec-Gen of the country’s largest union and you keep telling us people to trust the govt and the unions to work together to ensure best outcomes. You shouldn’t be ‘disappointed’ that there was no consultation with the union, you should be INFURIATED! Why would anyone have any faith in the unions when it doesnt do its job? (ok, i know the unions have no credibility to start with, but that is beside the point when someone is paid over a million dollars to do the job)

And your comments come on Day 2 of the exercise. Anyone recall when the news of retrenchment first appeared? I believe it was about a week ago. So, once the news appeared and you knew that there had been no consultation, shouldnt you have stepped in to tell the bank to discuss options with the union before proceeding at all? What were you doing all this time? Busy looking at your "monthly" CPF Statements?

You are seriously seriously overpaid.

They say life begins at 30.

Is it possible there was an unexpected delay of a few months or years? (you know, track fault, engine problem, minor operating system defect, supply unable to meet sudden everwhelming demand, knight in shining armour lost in forest and refuses to ask for directions etc?)

Will life begin at, say, 32 for me? Or maybe 32 yrs 1 mth or something?

Or do i grab it by the balls and say ‘1 Life, Live it’?

If i cant find someone to live it with me, how do i figure out how to live it alone?

Questions, questions. While the answers to those questions are brewing in my head, will think of how to ‘reinvent’ my ‘look’ for that ’special’ day

Learnt this new word: manscape. A mix of ‘man’ and ‘landscape’.

It is when a guy grooms his hair. And we are not talking above-neck here.

Question was, if a guy ‘totally’ manscaped, would it be like doing it with a newborn baby?

Ewww.

Just got my latest SP Services (ie. Utilities) bill. Was expecting a huge jump cos last month’s usage was super-duper high due to to Deepavali preps and i was a temporary refugee camp for a couple of weeks. Add to that the 21% tariff hike.

Surprisingly, bill was much less than i expected the jump to be. Then realised that it was an ‘estimated reading’ bill. Aiyah, this was not a charge based on actual usage then.

But something interesting emerged. The estimated readings used were a replication of the previous month’s usage. Hence, that allowed me the opportunity to compare in isolation the 21% tariff hike.

Last month’s bill was about $95. This month, it was $103. $8 increase. Purely due to tariff hikes.

That aside, looked at my usage in comparison to the national average consumption for my house type. By individually working out the costs for gas, electricity and water based on the average usages, a 3-room flat could be paying about $148.

Note: this does not mean the average 3-room flat bill is $148. It will be only if the flat uses 276 kWh for electricity, 77 kWh for gas and 15 Cu M of water (exc any possible higher rates or tariffs as i do not know the bar to cross for water conservation tariff).

I think $148 sounds like a lot for the occupants of a 3-room flat.

On the Bright side, there was a $100 U-Save rebate! So, this month, i am basically paying nothing!

Next month, when the revised bill arrives? Sigh.

Been hearing all the stuff about how using tissue packets to reserve seats is ungracious?

I always thought it is due partly to how we view eating. It is a big BIG thing in Sg. We don’t just eat, we interact. Notice how everyone has to sit together at the same table? It isn’t cos we just want to eat, we want to spend quality time together. And the whole office goes out as 1 group, which aggravates the reserving issue.

From what i have seen and heard, in other countries, going out for lunch is just to get some fuel in the bodies so you can continue working. But in Sg, it is a social event. We make sure we chat, gossip, comment, even with our mouths full. You seldom see people just grabbing food and gulping it down. So, cos we want to spend quality time together, we need to find seats together. Hence, the mode of reservation.

I have seen foreigners just grabbing a bite and standing around at those small shared tables like at Tangs basement or at Takashimaya foodcourt. Very similar to people just buying a hotdog and chowing it down while walking back to the office. If we all became comfortable doing that, there will be no need to reserve. But we don’t just grab a bite, we have a communal feast reminicent of wedding banquets in other countries.

What my colleagues and i do is leave one rep to reserve our seats while the rest procure their meals. While this still involves reserving, i think people are a lot more amenable to people booking seats than tissue packets doing that job. There are also the cases where there are a few empty seats to spare at the table and when asked, we always tell them how many are occupied, so the requestors still get their seats when there are more than the group needs.

Just remember one thing … never leave me to do the job. Being extremely timid, i have ended up giving up seats at my table when another group insists on taking those ‘reserved’ seats. I am so much less useful than a pack of tissues, damn it!

Sure, when the Hong Lim protest corner was set up, there were views that it was tokenism and nothing much will come out of it. However, look at many blogs these days and you see reports and even videos of the Minibonds and High Notes protests held there.

So, the idea was to contain the protests, yet the new media has totally destroyed the illusion of boundaries. Not a bad side effect of blogs etc dun you think?