A Previous Chapter

I finally did it. I've been putting it off for weeks partly because I dread it, partly because I was angry.

I dread digging up that chapter of my life. I hate resurrecting the past. Why must they make me do it? And they even state it has to be as detailed as possible. Like, hello! I'm trying to put the past behind me. And they have to race it in front of me. WTF!

Oh well, like Jesus said on the cross: It is finished.

This time, I really hope it'll be over. I've dragged it up over and over again. First in court. Then HDB. And now this. Really dunno what gives them the rights. I'm so pissed I didn't wanna go church today.

But it's been bugging me mentally and since I'm already feeling lousy today (only Chum and Hubby know why), I thought I might as well get it over and done with.

And I'm still angry with them for having put me through this.

Must It Be This Way?

I'm disliking it more and more. What shall I do? I have a lot to consider and one thing links to another and the logical way out is to get through it all. But I dun wanna have explain anymore and feel bad. If they weren't nice, I just can't be bothered. But there are those that are nice and I feel bad that I can't do anything to protect them.

When can my mind and heart settle down? Why can't it be a simple one that gets past day by day? Why is it that mine is so complicated? I can't take this much longer. I feel that my mind is gonna go crazy; my blood vessels going to burst and and my spirit unable to lift itself anymore.

Get me outta this please.

Another Classic Example of Gov Service

I was taking a cab back to the hotel after my sales calls the other day and the taxi-driver started talking about the new ruling of stopping only at designated areas within the CBD.

He was taking a passenger to Hitachi Tower at Collyer Quay and it was raining. So the passenger requested for the driver to stop slightly away from the taxi-stand cos it was sheltered and if she got off at the taxi-stand, she'll get wet on the way to the building. The taxi-driver obliged cos he didn't want the passenger to get wet in the rain. Then he saw this guy standing in front. When he passed by Hitachi Tower again minutes later, he saw the main still standing there and knew instantly that the guy's from LTA and that he has been booked for stopping at a 'non-designated' area.

So the driver called LTA to explain himself. So he related the scenario and promptly got a reply from the LTA representative. And the reply goes: "That's her problem."

That is what the driver was slapped with for being kind. A monetary fine equivalent to a day's earnings and a less-than-desired reply from a government body. When he asked me to guess the rep's reply, my first try was spot-on. Why am I not surprised! This is like the umpteenth time I hear people complain about employees of the government body. I hear more complaints than compliments about them all the time. And this is supposed to represent the service culture of Singapore? It is then indeed 'Uniquely Singapore'. So much for the SMILES campaign - Go the extra mile for service.

Service is not limited and confined to the hospitality or service industry. So long as your job entails you to come into contact with an outside party, you are rendering a service. What kinda example are we to follow if the government bodies has this kind of service (or the lack of it) attitude. If this is a minority, then we'll just let it go cos there'll always be some rotten apples among the whole batch. But when this is a majority, then shouldn't the training start from home? The government is urging good service. Then they should start training their employees. Afterall, we're their paymaster. It still baffles me why we should pay income tax when the money is what we worked for and not dependent on any help from the government. So why are we penalised for earning our own keep? Without us paying taxes, there is really no job for them. So what have they to be cocky about? Just cos they work for the government? Then all the more they should be humble and serve us well. We are, afterall, the citizens of this country. We already do not have any say in the recent price hikes of most everything. We at least deserve some basic courtesy and consideration. Remember the courtesy campaign that we had while we were in primary school? The lion mascot?? And in school we studied 好公民??? What a joke!

And all those people being interviewed by the news and approved of this ruling, you gotta wake up. No doubt, taxis are a hazard on the road. I myself do not like to drive behind a taxi and have cursed at more than one taxi. But think of it from another perspective; they are also trying to earn a living. Isnt this better than them robbing or begging? At least, they are doing constructive work.

What about the passengers who are paying a lot more for convenience? If we can't get sheltered from a little bit of rain, then what the hell are we paying so much for? Had the passenger in the cab been Mr Raymond Lim (Minister for Transport), would the rep still say "that's his problem"? Careful now...you'd never know how one person is related to another. You might just get the sack for a minute of mindless replies. Perhaps it's time you tried shuttling from one place to another the whole day. Then you tell me if it is desirable for you to have to walk to the building that you wanna go to. If you're taking a cab from home to go to one destination, then of cos you would say it's a good idea. But if you have to go to at least 5 different locations everyday and rush around to meet appointments and not be late? Try doing that and tell me if it's any good. Pieces of crap. Think, people, think! Dun be so shallow. You have a brain. Use it, dun waste it. You're not given a brain for decoration purposes. Cos you can't see a brain. It's hidden beneath your scalp. HELLO!!! WAKE UP!!! TIME TO THINK!!!

The world does not revolve around soil and vegetation anymore. You've gotta use your intelligence (if you have it in the first place) to stay abreast.

Talk about gracious living in a developed country. All the emphasis on art and culture are but a sham. It's just a show put up for the world to see. If you don't appreciate any of these fine stuff but is courteous and considerate, then I think you are more refined than someone who pretends to understand Van Gogh and Picasso but has no inkling of the elements of community living. I think a third-world country may be more polite than us.

Go The Extra Mile For Service? I rest my case.

Depressing Monday

It’s a depressing Monday and I really dun wanna be at work here. By a turn of events, my future hung in the balance and I am stuck in this place that I really dun wanna be in.

It’s making me irritable and I hate it that there seems to be no other options than to stay. All the plans have to be discarded and it’s such a waste of time to have talked about it in the first place. Had I known this would have happened, I would not have wasted time and effort to think about it and find out information about it. But then again, part of me already suspected this will happen.

So now, all plans are gone and I have to start from scratch to see where I will be heading in the future. Not that there are absolutely no options. But that too seems to be coming to zilch. We'll see how it goes.

One After Another...Governance or Mercenary??

We received a mail today that got me riled. I was really pissed off upon receiving the mail.

Since the beginning of this year, the standard of living in Singapore has gone up drastically. Costs of almost everything has gone up and there are more things to pay for. More ERP gantries, increased taxi fare, rising petrol prices, etc. Everything, except the citizen's income, has increased by leaps and bounds.

And now, even a small carpark like mine will be installed with Electronic Parking System (EPS). When I bought the flat, it is stated by HDB that it is for the low income group. With a household earning of more than S$2k per month, nobody will be able to buy a flat in my block. And yet now, they are installing this damning machine. Our carpark is not like a multi-story carpark. For my side, the carpark can take no more than 40 cars. No doubt there is a bigger carpark further down. All in all, there are only about 150 parking lots. And they are installing EPS? What next? Maintenance fee every month for the machines? This ensures that the government does not get cheated of a single cent. Sure, the government is nice enough to give one-time off-set packages to last a lifetime (sense the sarcasm). And after that? Well, you either give up convenience and become like squashed sardines in a public transport, get to work late cos every bus that passes you by will be full and the bus doesn't stop so you can't get up, or pay more to take a taxi. So at the end of the day, you have to pay more (than owning a car) or wake up at 5am to reach work at 9am timely.

Isn't the widening gap of the rich and poor a topic in the recent debate? Well, are the citizens solely to be blamed for this? Isn't that the direction the government is taking? The widening gap of monetary ability of the citizens and the government. So the citizens are just taking the lead from the government (相遇政府的号召).

Let's go back to the previous notion of a baby boom. With such increase in the standard of living, who would want to have children to increase expenditure? With people working extra long hours to earn more or to simply retain a job, who would have the time or energy for sex? Since people are already working harder to make ends meet, who would have THAT much extra cash for IVF? When you have kids, you'll need to spend more on them for enrichment and such so that they can keep up with the competition. With parents being at work most of the time and children being left to their own devices, will these children then not tend to be led astray? With that happening, are we not inviting more social problems? Conclusively, are we not going in circles?

With more income for the government, the civil servants are not necessarily getting HUGE pay increment or bonuses. No doubt they get more than the normal working class. But the difference is not exactly that astronomical. But didn't we read in the papers that ministers' paychecks are increasing? Where did our taxes and extra payout go to? Hmmmm...food for thought.

The government bodies always have low budgets for events such as hosted dinners for visiting diplomats cos they are not supposed to be seen as being extravagant. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me. But I do see high-ranking governmental workers driving big cars. Maybe it's just my eyes; I do need to get a new pair of glasses. I've been mistaking a Camry for a Lexus. Or a Hyundai for a Jaguar. Sponsorship anyone (I dun happen to work for any government bodies)? Back to the low budget for good image. Even though they expect to pay pittance, they expect to get the best. From food to decor to service. If they are supposed to be humble, then why ask for quotations from luxurious hotels and superior service providers? Oops! Pardon my ignorance. Cos when any government bodies ask for a service, we are supposed to be good and supporting corporate citizens who will give them the best and absorb the costs. They pay peanuts and get the whole world. Oh, I forgot to mention the expected gifts that we have to give to the organiser or decision-maker as a token of our appreciation for being made a sucker. How privileged we are to be able to pay for the government's glory.

I just thought of something. Is there EPS at the Istana? Does the President have to pay for his parking there? It is afterall a workplace right? Should not the government lead by examples? Just an innocent thought cos I have never worked at the Istana and have no idea how things work there.

Sooner or later, Singaporeans will be forced to migrate. We can no longer afford to live in this country we call home. Talk about retaining talents. We are just inching forward to the reality of having one influx after another of foreign talents. Maybe in future, Singaporeans will no longer need to vote. The most important votes will go to the imported talents that come from Philippines, China, Europe and America. We will become a 'United Nation'. How friendly; how heart-warming! We welcome them with open arms, in the hope of being ousted out of our own homeland. Kudos to the foreigners and boo to the Singaporeans. Or maybe, we'll just let history repeat itself and merge with Malaysia again. My consolation goes out to LKY who worked so hard to bring Singapore so far. We have worked so hard to present our nation on a silver platter to others.

My thoughts bring me to another egg or chicken question. Is the success of a nation contributed by the citizens who toiled daily or the government who makes toiling necessary? Think about it.

Disclaimer: I love the fact that we have worked as one united people, to build a democratic society. This enabled me to voice out my own thoughts and feelings so that we can achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for ourselves; for the above is just my personal take of what is happening. It is not meant to incite any political or social unrest. Should you happen to think along the same line, then our education system has achieved its objectives to train us to be thinking individuals who are capable of independent thinking and deciphering information and not rely on being spoon-fed.