Oh Frost!

The Road Not Taken
 
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
 
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
 
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
 
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost (1874–1963).  Mountain Interval.  1920.
 

It's a question of loyalty...

The other day I was called a traitor by a friend.

I was happily telling him my plans for the National Day holiday. I intend to go HongKong for a shopping trip and escape the National Day crowd. Since the holiday's going to fall on a Tuesday, I figure it'll be a good idea to book my holiday for the entire block of the week. That will give me like a super long week.

"Leaving the country on National Day?!" he sounded scandalous, "That's like turning your back on your own country!"

Singapore is such a small country. One of our favorite pastime for most Singaporean is to visit neighboring countries and tour. We need to venture out since whatever that can be seen and explored here we would have probably done so in our first 20 years of our lives.

Speaking of venturing out... my visa for Australia has recently been approved. That means I'm now officially an Australian PR. Come this December I'll be flying over to down under to try and make a new living for myself.

Why leave the comfort of home and go to a new country and be a 2nd class citizen? There will be people who are against this idea and feel that I'm just another starry-eyed hopeful attracted by ang moh culture. Well, whatever it is that they think, I have always followed my own instinct and so far I've survive. This shall be no exception.

The main reason for me leaving is not because I'm an SPG or what... I'm just doing what our fore-fathers have done. They travel across the continents in search of a better life. I might not be as poor as my ancestor, and I don't really know what I want...however, I do know what I don't want. And I can see my future in Singapore down the road. That is precisely why I decided to leave.

I'm trading in my home here, my job, my friends and colleagues, my culture and my comfort zone for the unknown. Will I make it? I don't know. But I'm willing to try. I'm not the first to migrate and I shall not be the last either. Am I a traitor? Well, being true to myself and having faith that things will work out... it's a question of where the loyalty lies isn't it?

A Tribute to National Day

The Singapore I want is ...

... where the people are more patient and less demanding

... a place where no more irritating children run amok on public transport and parents allowing them to

... public transport make more affordable to serve the public instead of thinking about increasing their profit

... a place where there are no big greedy corporation trying to steal our money through underhanded means

... a place where the local TV programes have more substance and stop insulting our intelligence with stupid plots and cliche scripts

... local TV programmes stop becoming a media where sponsors try to push products in our face eg. NTUC insurance, NKF, Jia Jia liang Teh, Yeo's, Maggi etc

... a place where our government stop treating us like idiots and push campaigns into our face eg. Posters on how to wash our hands - a step-by-step guide, Romancing Singapore, Courtesy campaigns etc

... when those working in the government sector get a wake up call and made to realise they have to slog like the rest of us

... a place where our government stop trying to think up of new ideas to get money from us

... when everyone can own a house without being tied down with loans and installments

... there are no ERP, CBD, GST, COE

Stupidity has no cure

That's right, stupidity has no known cure....and it's highly contagious. In some cases you are born with it. Scientist are still debating whether It's hereditary. But it's a disease widely known throughout the world. Most of us at some point in our life will catch it too. It's unknown, however, by which means it spreads.

Firstly, I'll like to state that I am by no means more clever or smarter than the person next to me. However, in my line of work, sometimes, unfortunately. I do encounter people with inborn stupidity.

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Case 1(This is a re-enactment of a phone conversation with a client):

Client:"Hi, did you receive the email attachment I sent this morning?"

Me:"No I didn't. I'm still waiting for it. I need it urgently actually. Btw, how big is the file?"

Client:"Hmm....let me check....(long pause) Oh it's 30MB."

Me (shocked but try to remain calm):"30MB?! I'm afraid my email cannot receive such a big file. 10MB is the max that can go through. Are you sure it's 30MB??"

Client (sounding unsure):"Hang on....let me check....(another long pause). Oh wait, it's not 30MB, sorry..."

At this point I heave a sigh of relieve. I was thinking maybe it's only 300KB. It couldn't be 30MB since all I need was an excel file for a chart.

Client (sound happy):"...hey, it's 30,000GB!"

I nearly fall off my chair.

Me:"............uh....sorry did you just say 30,000GB??"

Client:"Yes, 30,000GB. I'm very sure. Will you be able to receive it if I re-send the file?"

At this point I really don't know if that question justify an answer....

Me:"...erm, I only need the chart actually. Why is the file so huge? 30,000GB is an impossible figure for any computer to send through. Could you email me the pdf instead?"

Client:"Oh ok...(long pause. I suspect she was pdf-ing the file on the spot) Wow the pdf file is only 30KB! (she truly sound amazed) I'll email it to you then!"

Me:"Great! Thanks! Bye!"

It still struck me as really ridiculous when I recall the phone conversation. 30,000GB?!???!! What was she trying to send me??? Her entire country's server? In the first place, it's impossible for any computer unit to possess such a huge file. Anyone who is remotely familiar with working on a computer should know this. This client has no idea how ridiculous she sounds.

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Case 2:

I've got this gal friend who one day came crying to me. I asked her what happened and she recounted an accident she had in the toilet.

She was admiring her new engagement ring (1 carat diamond) while taking a dump in the toilet. As she was cleaning up after, her ring slipped off and fell with a plop into the bowl. Seeing how disgusting the mess was, she was rather hesitant to reach in to retrieve her ring. Then a bright idea struck her, she decided to flush the toilet instead. Thinking it will flush away all the shit and leave her sparkling ring behind. (ya, right!)

Well...the rest of the story you can imagine la.

Imagine flushing a 1 carat diamond ring down the sewers....man...that sucks big time. If I were her, I'll reach in and retrieve the ring, shit and all. But all I could do was shake my head in amazement and show my sympathy.

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Case 3:

This actually happened on a local radio station...

Deejay:"Hi, how can help you?"

Caller:"Hi, I'll like to dedicate a song to my dog."

Deejay:"Oh...so is it your pet's birthday?"

Caller:"No, I just like the song."

At this point you can tell the deejay was trying hard to make a decent conversation.

Deejay:"o...k....so you're an animal lover?"

Caller:"Oh no, I'm a student."

Then suddenly the commercial bit cut in abruptly...

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Untitled...so far

Woke up this morning and ask myself the same old questions...

"Do I need to go to work today? What excuse should I give if I choose not to go?"

Read somewhere that if you ask yourself these kind of questions when you think of work, it means it's time to move on...