The Singaporean dream

According to the kids, the Singaporean dream goes like, study hard; score straight As; land a good job; make lots of money; and you'll never have to work another day in your life. Obviously, there's some screwed-up logic going on in the conclusion, But they believe it -- it's the lie we tell them. 'Cos as far as schools go, we're only interested in the part up to the 'score straight As' bit. Mission accomplished!

Now, I wonder where their sense of entitlement comes from?

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The power of 'give'

The ideal motivator for work is to be in a situation in which we are able to give and keep on giving. We give our time; attention; compassion; or whatever else we have in so much abundance of, that the only thing to do with it is to give it away. It also helps that we strongly believe that what we have to give is what others lack but really have to have, no exceptions.

Everyone has the ability to tap into this abundance, each in their own way. To identify what we have that there is overflowing abundance of, just look for what we love most to do. It's the one thing we want to do to the exclusion of every other activity. That which we do or exercise most often is the thing we become best at. We would even continue to do that even if we weren't paid for it. Thing is, when we work hard at something enough to get really good at it, people will pay us just because we are that good.

Being employed, however, is a 'take' scenario. We do our job because we want to take our salary. Employers take our time and effort, and anything else they can squeeze from us because they damn well can because they paid for it. In a 'take' situation, everyone in the relationship runs dry pretty quickly because they are taking what no one is prepared to give without getting something back in return. As such, everybody gives only the minimum effort possible commensurate with the minimal wage one is given.

Because we put down our tools as quickly as we possibly can and go find something else we would rather be doing (which is clearly not the thing we are being paid to do), no one stretches, grows, develops or becomes good at their job. We hit a plateau, our career stalls and our employer starts to consider other options that may prove more value for money -- a machine, perhaps; or a hungry, young foreigner willing to give a little more.

So the best job to have is the one in which we are prepared to give without expectation of return. Not of the money sort, anyway. The return we should expect to get is the learning through daily experience, making us better at our jobs than we were the day before. I'm not saying that slaves have the best job in the world because for them it is all take and no give. I'm saying that if we can see ourselves doing it better and better every day, this is the job we were meant to do, salary notwithstanding.

... I've always dreamed of driving a delivery truck across country. I think I could get real good at that.

Corrective lenses

Wearing progressive lenses for the first time. It's gonna take quite some getting used to. Looking right down the middle, vision is sharp and clear as a bell. Being able to read text just by shifting the gaze down slightly is certainly more convenient than having to adjust my normal lenses for the correct focal length, or removing them altogether so I can read whatever is pressing up against my face.

However, to compensate for some amazingly high myopia, even with expensively high index glass, the lenses are super thick, making peripheral vision totally crap. With these babies on, I can categorically confirm that the world is curved around the edges. And if I happen to turn up my nose at you, it's not like I don't respect you. I'm just trying to read what's printed on your t-shirt.

Dance is only physics

One general piece of advice for all the dancers in today's performance: the more you push in the opposite direction, the further you'll reach in the desired direction. Otherwise, they were lovely.

Spock

Striving very hard to be firm but fair, keeping emotion in check so that logic can identify problems before they occur, and opportunities where there are problems.

Atlas

Once again, the feeling has returned. The one in which expectations on you are so high that only perfection is satisfactory, but you are only capable of delivering not nearly good enough.

Thankfully, there are people around who will share the load. The whole show isn't resting on your overburdened shoulders alone. If it feels like it does, however, that's your own ego talking.

Gift giving

Sudden realization: gift giving is neither about the giving nor the receiving. It's about remembering your relatives' names; particularly those whom you only meet once or twice a year.

All that remains

Clan reps took a little boat trip. Somewhere between Changi and Ubin, we held a simple ceremony in which we reunited the ashes of Uncle N with Aunt L by scattering them into the sea. It was a reunion 26 years in the making and today would have been their 59th anniversary.

Together at last...! :)

Riding off into the sunset

I'm beginning to dread scheduled vacation periods. Quite consistently over the past year or so, during these times, someone I know shuffles off this mortal coil and moves on to the other side. This is not to complain that my hols are ruined by tragic events, but to recognize that the old people whom I've always assumed to be a permanent fixture in my life are now so old that I can no longer take them for granted.

Uncle G was a true free spirit in his younger days. A traveler who went places, often on a motorcycle, is now finally free of the ailments and the ravages of ageing that tied him down these last few years. Have fun putting rubber to the asphalt of heaven!

Things that came in the mail

Not the snarky watch, but the replacement watch strap in black and Bugatti red from Clockwork Synergy. My original watch strap snapped for no apparent reason, so my wrist has been bare of a watch for a couple of weeks now. Also, an anthology of short stories by S'porean writers -- my reward for donating some cash to the "Singapore Literature Festival in NYC" via Kickstarter pledge. The other part of the reward was to have my name mentioned as a donor in the programme booklet (left). I'm just glad to have helped.

Lookin' good, dawg!

You've seen in recent photos the little scruffbag the dog's become. Today, we brought her to Petopia for a much-needed grooming. The wife liked the before and after pix of some of their satisfied customers, and indeed some of them look like adorable plushies in their 'after' shots. As for our dog, she looks neat and clean after her session, her sleek lines showing nicely once again.

Guess you can call this a 'during' shot. Apart from grooming, there are hotel and spa services as well. Upon entry, we are greeted with a spa-like sense of calm and the scent of lemongrass. First-timers get a tour of the facilities which look comfortable, friendly and safe. Hotel guests get to socialize in air-conditioned comfort while the groomers' schedules are not overcrowded so they can take their time, giving each client their full attention. The service is warm and personable and, thankfully, free of over-enthusiastic high-pressure sales pushing. They're not selling packages, but they do reward repeat patronage with appreciable freebies. As it is, the advice is to book a grooming session at least a month in advance. We've already booked our next appointment for the National Day weekend.

Little night light

Collected another quirky mail-order purchase. Meet the Firefly. It's a geometrically-shaped object you can hold in the palm of your hand and is powered by four AAA batteries if you want to carry it around. It also plugs into a wall socket if you just want it to stay put.

 What does it do? It's a laser lamp that casts a funky grid of blue light dots on whatever you're pointing it at...

like so. I'll probably use it as a night light until I can figure out what other uses I can put it to, like maybe to drive multiple cats nuts or something. I think it might also create a cool lighting effect on stage -- a star field or a magical environment that suddenly comes into being with a convenient push of a button.

I got this Firefly as a Kickstarter package that includes this handy carry-case and heart-shaped filter for a roomful of hearts instead of star points. Being a Kickstarter launch, inevitable production delays meant that I had to wait over a year before it finally arrived, just a little too late for Drama Night. But I'm sure I can find a use for it in next year's. For more details, check out the Parhelion website.

Last long walk

Probably the last chance to take a long walk for a while. We covered the entire beach front from Siloso to Tanjong as a circuit; then to complete the 'T' we looped around the 'Universal' globe at USS -- a little over 11,000 human steps. I don't see how we're going to keep this activity up when term starts on Monday. We'll have to be contented with short daily walks from now on. Bleh. Btw, the dog is a great coversation-starter with strangers who will pause and comment on how 'cute' she is. Too bad I'm not a stop and meet random people kind of guy. #Sentosa

Walkies

One frazzled-looking puppy who discovered that 10,000 human-sized steps traverses a distance from the Botanic Gardens car park A; through the Napier Road gate; up Orchard Road until Lucky Plaza; and tracing back the same route back to the car. Today was a good day for walking. Neither wet nor too hot.

Zippin' along

First citation for speeding, doing 76 in a 60 km/h zone. I've always tried to be a careful driver, and usually my estimation of speed is right on, but when you're on a dead straight road, fairly wide and little traffic around there are fewer cues to tell you what speed you're really going at without actually looking down at the speedometer.

The missive says I got off with a warning this time, but that I'd better not do it again. I value my clean record, so yes, I shall endeavour to be more careful and comply. How's that for an anti-climax?

Old faithful

Having computer trouble again. My primary desktop PC became increasingly unbootable and for two days now I've been running between home and the shop. Bought a new power supply thinking it would fix the problem, but it just got worse. Today the service guy decided it was the mainboard that was giving trouble. The good news: the warranty is still valid. The bad news: it will take weeks of hospitalization to get the necessary parts switched out.

So my old faithful stand-by PC has now been pressed out of retirement to serve me once again. Spent much of the day updating software (though that's pretty much it for Win XP support). It runs like an old man: slow, clunky, even video playback is juddery... but it works!

Unfortunately, PC gaming is completely stalled for now; but maybe now I'll have more time for my dog. Walkies, girl?

Reset

Ok, stop. Enough emo-ing and grow up. Thank you.

No martyr

So, someone lost their job over their beliefs. If he had so many problems with his CPF, I guess now that he isn't getting it any more he's got a lot less to worry about. Anyway, I'm sure he could just as easily crowdfund his monthly maintenance from now on. Lots of disgruntled S'poreans would gladly continue funding a martyr for their cause.

I'm no martyr, however. I'm not about to die for my beliefs, but would rather live for them. If they want me to roll over, sink into depression and fade out of sight, I'm sorry to disappoint them. I'm coming back swinging.

The Battle for Castle Black

It took a day to calm down enough and objectively assess what has happened. My costs are likely as follows: a permanent place on the D-list; at worst my pet project; at least a substantial amount of funding for it for the foreseeable future.

My gains: nothing.

I have however retained all my principles in refusing to compromise them to satisfy the one.

So comes my time of testing. At some point, those who hold fast to their beliefs will have everything taken away from them in order to prove if they will remain true or if they will capitulate and abandon them in the face of adversity.

And these are indeed hostile, adverse times. In stories like these, the victor is the one who fights to the end against the odds. But while in the midst of it all I can only see disaster.

The enemy is strong, the odds a thousand to one. Castle Black may have withstood the first attack, but there's more attackers that will assail the walls again tomorrow.

This is what I will face every day of my life now. There is no victory. Just to survive one more day is cause enough for celebration.

Helpful advice

For everyone who's all jacked up about the whole CPF thing, if you wanna stop worrying about it, be a CEO, don't be an employee.