Precious Water

I was walking past a HDB estate and spotted this guy washing the floor. In fact, its not the first time seeing this but this time around, due to the recent heatwave, I decided to take a picture. The weather has been sizzling in the last 2 months or so with temperatures going up to 35 degrees celcius and rainfall has been minimum. Rivers are drying up and reservoir water levels have been dropping. It's not really noticeable to the casual visitor but if you fish the reservoir like I do, you'll noticed the falling levels.

Why did I take this picture? Well, I figured this guy is wasting alot of good water. Its like you can also wash you car by spraying it with a high pressure jet or you can wash it with a couple of pails of water and a brush, sponge or cloth. You'd probably end up using alot less water using the latter method...

Its nice to see workers keeping our estates clean but these workers should be taught to use a more water efficient way. I'm not blaming the workers. They are just doing their job. Just look at the amount of debris on the floor... wouldn't a big brush together with the water do a better job?

Do you really believe this?

This article appeared in the New Straits Times of Malaysia a few weeks ago. It showed a Malaysian fishing boat trying to lift a dead whale shark out of the water. The fishermen who brought the Whale Shark back claims they were trying to save it... or were they?

I mean, these are experienced guys of the sea. You see a huge whale shark that is probably injured or sick swimming on the surface and you tow it back to shore to save it? And 20 Nautical Miles (almost 40km) out to sea? They should have known that towing it backwards for that distance is going to stress it and probably kill it, not to mention bringing it back to shallow, polluted, dirty waters of the port.

So, were they actually looking for a quick sale of huge shark's fin, but unfortunately got caught by the media and changed their story to "trying to save it"? Or were they really trying to save it? You decide!

Meanwhile, I will just give them the benefit of the doubt for the time being. Innocent until proven guilty!

This Dude said I had bad manners!

A few weeks ago, I saw an ad in the papers about "Formula for Prosperity" which I thought was quite interesting. What was more interesting was the speaker, a "Dada Vaswani" who sounded and looked like one of those Indian Gurus. My interest was piqued and I decided to attend the seminar. Interestingly the seminar was attended mostly by Indians and I could not really make out what kind of religion this was. It was preceded by some singing before the honorable Dada Vaswani made his appearance.

This guy was quite impressive. He is 92 and seems to be sharp as a needle and relatively healthy. He still speaks well and has a sense of peace and tranquility in his demeanor. I know many people who are barely 80 and can barely walk or talk coherently. Amazing! I am already impressed!

Which is not the reason I wrote this article by the way.

I was sitting quite near the front and I was in shorts. Indians seem to dress up quite well (at least from what I saw) and I had this well dressed, elderly gentleman sitting next to me. I am kind of used to crossing my legs when I sit... sometimes even shaking them a little. As I sat with my legs crossed, this elderly dude leaned towards me and told me to uncross my legs. I asked, "Why?" and he said, "It's bad manners" and started shaking his head. Since when was crossing one's legs bad manners? Not sure if this is Indian culture but I've definitely never heard of it. Here's what the dude look like. Old, white hair and with a spare tire round his waist.

Well anyway, I was kind of caught by surprise and I started thinking how I should respond. I could tell him off and to mind his own business. But hey, look at the white "mane" he has. Much as I was tempted to tell him off, I decided to show the "elderly" a little respect and kept my comments to myself. I uncrossed my legs... boy was it difficult to sit with my damn legs uncrossed. You know how a habit is like... once you are used to it, you just cannot do without it.

Well, I sat a while and decided to look around me. I looked left (see those ladies sitting beside him) and some of them had their legs crossed as well. Hey, double standard!

I looked right and hey, sure enough, there's a lady right across the aisle crossing her legs (see picture below). So how come they can do it and I cannot?

Anyway, I didn't want to pick a fight cos it's a "Sure Lose" situation for me. I mean, if he beats me up, I lose. If I beat him up (which is more likely the case), people will say I am a bully and I lose. If I raise my voice, I am disrespectful and I lose. Damn, this is a "No Win" situation for sure. Like between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea! Either way, I die!

So I sat a little while longer and somewhere about halfway through, I decided to leave the seminar and go home. It was a pretty good seminar actually, but I didn't want to sit among losers and let their negative energy affect me... let alone, sit with someone who thinks he's God Almighty!

Anyway, I did learn something. The iPhone is pretty good at taking candid pictures... as you can see, this dude sat beside me and did not even know I took quite a few pictures of him. Same goes for the lady across the aisle. She even had her head turned towards me and did not realize a thing. Way to go, Apple...!

I tawt I taw a "puddy" cat!

"I Tawt I taw a Puddy Tat" is a 1947 short animated cartoon, released in 1948 starring Tweety Bird and Sylvester the Cat. The bird's inability to enunciate certain letters is the reason for the pronunciation of his famous catch-phrase that forms part of this cartoon's title. This is the first film whose title included Tweety's speech-impaired term for a cat.

I went to Sitex 2009 yesterday morning. I knew it was going to be crowded so I decided to get there early. I reached there at 10am only to realize that the show opens at 11am. Then at about 10.15am, I saw a lot of people walking in and I decided to do the same.

While reaching the door, I was singled out by this security guard lady who rudely pointed me to a corner, all without saying a word. I asked, "Why?" and she said, "You don't have a pass!" Damn, what is happening to Singaporeans... she could have just told me, "Sir, only passholders are allowed in a the moment. Please come back later at 11am." That was rude!

OK, so I don't know what to do, I have about 40mins before the doors officially open and decided to sit at the outdoor food area. I wanted to order a drink but the queue was too long, so I decided to play around with my camera.

Out of nowhere, I "tawt" I "taw" the nicest pair of long, slim and straight legs walking towards me. Naturally I looked up to see what it was attached to. I was a little disappointed but still, my mind was going, "Nevertheless, that's a nice pair of legs!", trying my best to stay positive after two not so positive experience early in the morning.

Then she stopped about 20m away and I realized she met a friend. After the customary hug and kiss the younger generations are so obsessed with these days, she fished out a packed of fags and started (what she probably thought was) "stylishly" knocking it against her wrist. Out pops two cigarettes and she generously offered one to her friend who gamely accepted.

As I was snapping away, she walked towards me... and I thought she's going to bash me and push that lighted cigarette into my mouth for taking her pictures. I started making up imaginary excuses in my mind when I realized they were just both seeking some shade from the blazing sun. Whew... close shave!

They then continued their puffs, ever so stylishly, as if parading on a catwalk. Maybe they "imagined" all the eyes sitting at the outdoor food court on them.

I've noticed more and more girls than guys smoking these days, and I often wondered "why?". Is it stylish? I'm not sure. In fact, I don't think so. Maybe it's just a passing fad, but then, I've noticed this for the last 10 years or so, so it cannot be a fad! A pack of cigarettes cost about SGD10 and imagine, smoking a pack a day... that's SGD3,650 per year... a tidy some of money which can be put aside for many uses.

I "tawt" I "taw" the nicest pair of legs, became, I "tawt" I "taw" a big turn-off. I tuck my camera into my bag and proceeded into the exhibition hall! Nevertheless, I cannot deny those were a nice pair of legs!

Another inconsiderate driver!

I go down to the Beach Road, Funan Center and Sim Lim Square area quite often on Saturday... to buy some stuff, to hang out with fishing friends etc... The area around Beach Road, Bussorah St area is always packed with people and cars and finding a parking lot is really really tough, especially on a Saturday afternoon. This is the reason I always ride my bike down. Not only is it easier to find a motorcycle parking lot, you get to park for free most times.

Well, today I was there and was looking around for motorcycle parking lots. While I did finally find one, I came across this lorry parked at one of my favorite lot, taking up two motorcycle lots in the process. This is really irritating.... and I see it all the time. As a driver, most people do not feel the frustration motorcyclist feel when their lots are taken up by 4 wheelers... but put the situation in reverse and there's bound to be some unpleasant consequences. Try parking your motorcycle in a car parking lot anywhere and I bet it will be toppled, moved away, destroyed before you know it.

Do drivers do this to motorcyclist (ie take up their lots) because they feel they are bigger and hence have more rights? Or is this the same reason many drivers squeeze motorcyclist out of their lanes as and when they want to, knowing very well that the motorcyclist have to give way as they are more vulnerable?

I question this because I see it all too often but this is the first time I actually took a picture of it as I had my iphone with me then.

Before anyone criticizes, bear in mind that I am both a driver and a motorcyclist, so I get to see both sides of the picture quite well.

In any case, I'm posting these pictures in stomp and I know what kind of comments I'm going to get... from drivers! I'll post them here once there are comments just to make this post more interesting! Keep watch!

Humble enough to admit your mistakes!

Humility is not one of the People's Action Party (PAP) strong points. They've built for themselves a reputation for ruling with an iron fist and a "Do what I tell you and not what I do!" attitude. But people do change as they grow older and more mellow.

I was pleasantly surprised when I read today's Straits Times. In an article about learning and teaching Mandarin, MM Lee Kuan Yew, the "strongman" of the PAP admitted openly that he made a mistake (see cut-out above). This is certainly rare but very nice to hear.

Much as we know that success is often built on humility, it is almost easier said than done. MM Lee has achieved much in this life... possibly more than any politician I can think of. But what's even more important is that he achieved all this while being an underdog. Singapore, this, little island, this little red dot (as Dr Habibie of Indonesia once called it when he was president), was never given a chance against the bigger countries. With no natural resources, no space, no huge domestic market, insufficient freshwater supplies, Singapore is now a leading country in Asia.

What more proof is needed. Just look at this current recession. Singapore was the first country in Asia to exit the recession. OK, sure, there are countries like Indonesia or the Philippines who can claim they never even went into a recession... but look closely and you will see that Indonesia like China, have a huge domestic market and natural resources to depend on. The Philippines' lacklustre performance even before the recession only guarantees them that they could not fall any further. Hey, when you are down on the floor, you cannot go any lower!

I'm not a big fan of MM Lee and his dictatorial ways but I'm proud of what he has done for Singapore. Then, of course, you cannot argue with success too. Maybe that was the only way out at that time... Let's learn a humble lesson from the man himself!

Amusing Sign... and Bad English...

Went to Far East Plaza over the weekend as I wanted to buy a new handphone and found that one particular shop there was selling them at very attractive prices. However, the shop was hidden behind a row of shops and it was not easy to find and I had to walk almost the whole second floor of Far East Plaza before I found it.

But then, I have not been to Far East Plaza for a long time (probably 3 years) and it was interesting to see some of the changes that had taken place. Actually I think it's going backwards, much like Lucky Plaza. In some of the corners, you will see some sleazy tattoo shops, sex shops and questionable massage joints.

But then, this post isn't about those shops; rather, it's about this interesting sign I saw in one small boutique. Nothing special about the sign other than the poor english it was written in. The sign reads, "This shop is under CCTV surveillance. Shoplifting is a serious offence. Shoplifter will be handle to the police."

Well of course we all know where the mistake is... What they really meant is "Shoplifters will be handed over to the police"!

We all received these bad english signs from Japan, China, Taiwan and even Korea in our emails and we all laugh when we read them. However, little do we realise that we can find them in our own backyard too. No wonder, the papers have been harping on our poor english lately!