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Friday Nite:
Dinner at Suntec then adjourned to Olio with friends, my birthday coming up and it didn't really cross my mind..hahah... getting old...
Got home only at about 12, did some Age of Mythology till about 130 then started falling asleep in front of the comp...
Wondering why town was so uncrowded on friday night......
Saturday:
Went down to Scout HQ in the morning to get some new patches for trading purposes, also collected my nametag patch, which murphy's law dictates does not fit where it should so if I want to use it I have to shift some patches......
Donated blood for the 7th time after that..... I think I'm getting used to getting poked by the anesthetic syringe cos I didn't flinch this time, when I usually do. (To those who have donated before you know what I'm talking about, to those who haven't, the anesthetic is the teeny weeny needle which hurts like hell, whereas that huge needle they poke into you to draw the blood.... can't feel a thing....)
And now they give away beanie babies when you donate blood...
After that, the usual saturday afternoon stint at DHS.... uneventful.... didn't have to plan the scouts activity, somebody else did it... so pretty relaxed... I could get used to this.
Turned up horribly late for a dinner thing cos waited for friend to finish with Lion Dance Training.... Another friend going to US for military course.... so had to do farewell dinner thing....
Sunday:
Went climbing in the afternoon at SAFRA Yishun, saw somebody I suspect is Cynthia Koh (Xu Meizhen), not entirely sure if it was her, though she not only looked alike, but had some of the same expressions and mannerisms (as far as I could tell).
Then went out for dinner with folks and totally stuffed ourselves silly with food cos we ordered set meal for 6 when there were only 5 of us.... heh heh....
Thoughts:
I think I'm getting stuck in a rut in life......
posted by Dan 4:11 PM
Foreign workers. Can do without them, can't do with too many of them.
Who do you believe? NTU researchers or MOM? Is either of them necessarily right or wrong?
Foreign workers coming in aid the Singaporean economy, creating more jobs for Singaporeans in general.
Thats the theory.
However, IF 4 out of 5 (according to NTU) or even 1 out of 2 (if you choose to believe a middle number rather than either of the numbers provided) jobs created is going to foreigners, then there is a stark difference between theory and what is happening in reality.
If some numbers were left out by the NTU researchers and they arrived at 4 of 5, it begs the question: Are there significant sectors of the job market which are predominantly hiring foreigners? And is this because of lack of locals with the relevant skills? Is there need for concern there?
I think Singaporeans are rather sheltered and seem to look to the govt to protect them, therefore I think if foreigners have the relevant skill and Singaporeans do not, then by all means hire them. If you want a foreigner to bring in something a local can't, by all means go ahead. But don't just hire a foreigner for the sake of hiring foreign talent.
Not all foreigners are talent.
There is no simple conclusion to this debate. Whichever number you believe is true, you are not 100% convinced, neither should you expect to be.
There needs to be greater care in this area in order to ensure that Singaporeans progress with the Singapore economy.
posted by Dan 10:18 AM
You are Professor X!
You are a very effective teacher, and you are very
committed to those who learn from you. You put
your all into everything you do, to some extent
because you fear failure more than anything
else. You are always seeking self-improvement,
even in areas where there is nothing you can do
to improve.
Which X-Men character are you most like?
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posted by Dan 11:16 PM
Todays question:
Is it wrong to question?
By question, I mean to actively seek out reasons and rationale behind policies and decisions so that they can be better understood and hence better accepted.
The next question is:
Why do people seem to dislike being questioned?
I think the answer is they fear they do not know the answers, so instead of taking the responsibility on themselves and seeking the answers to provide, they just stick to the "My decision is final" line.
Sure the decision is final, but I would like it a lot more and respect you a lot more if you make an attempt to explain it.
I know that it is impossible to please everybody, therefore I say "make an attempt to explain it". You must give a reason, I don't have to like your reason, but at least I can understand from there the priorities and basis on which you have made this policy.
It is time consuming, but THUS IS THE BURDEN OF LEADERSHIP. Don't like? Don't lead, don't make decisions, don't set policies.
posted by Dan 9:15 AM
RJC Teacher SAGA debate:
Support teacher or diss teacher? Speak your mind!
I think, teacher went a bit too far, but it is understandable, and might be justifiable given more information on what preceded the outburst. Who knows what happened before that?
What I can say is if I was in that situation I probably would have lost my temper a lot earlier..hahahah...
You cannot vilify the teacher without undermining the education profession as a whole. You would like to separate the two matters, but for now, that is not possible. Question the teacher in this case and you question the teacher's right to make value judgements on the ground itself, severely curtailing their efforts to educate whose young? YOURS! So who suffer? YOUR KIDS.
Teachers and parents are partners in education, not subordinate and boss. Like it (or not), parents have a huge role to play as well. You can't do without either leg without becoming handicapped, likewise the teacher and parent are the two legs of a child's education.
Kid who recorded the incident did commit a severe error by posting it on the net, however, without any additional information it is impossible to tell if it was malicious. What needs to be done is to counsel the kid, understand the motives and if there is a need to set the motives and values straight, then it should be done.
posted by Dan 9:10 AM
ICE is your chinese symbol!
What Chinese Symbol Are You?
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posted by Dan 9:43 AM
Here's a thought on our increasingly better connected world: -
Has anybody noticed that with the advent of new communication technologies, our oldest form of communicative technology seems to be going down the drain? With email, handphones, sms, icq, etc, people are losing the ability to TALK to one another. Talking has the human touch, the others are sadly lacking in it.
Even worse, communication seems to be worse overall. In spite of technology, groups and organisations seem to be suffering communications breakdowns at rates much higher than prior to technology.
The proliferation of the house phone, in my mind, seems to be the peak of human communications. After all the other stuff comes in, communications seem to suffer because of it. SMS' often convey the wrong message, email often results in misunderstanding. Not to mention the most common excuse, "I didn't receive that message".
What is technology doing to the human race?
posted by Dan 9:36 AM
I've been neglecting this BLOG a lot in the recent weeks for some reason. Maybe its because this entire week I'm on course at NUS, so I don't have whole day access to a computer, or maybe I'm just getting lazy and bored... heh...
Anyway, I've already called it quits on the problematic tuition family. On hindsight, its a wonder I lasted this long.
Heres a thought on the Slim10 saga:
Why risk your already shaky life by heading to court in such a condition? I would have thought that those who have had a brush with death would treasure their lives more? Rather than get so desperate about a 4 mil compensation? I've heard the money argument before, saying she needs it to pay her bills.... but is that the real reason....
posted by Dan 10:30 PM
Apologies for the lack of posts in the last few days, I have been busy. Last weekend was really rough and only today, thursday, I feel my energy level is back to normal again.
The show started on Saturday, in the morning I went down to Dunman, unexpectedly, because some stuff had cropped up and I had to fight fire...... (In case you didn't know I am an Assistant Scout Leader at DHS)..... Anyway, they were having a camp, which I organised and was supposed to run, but couldn't because... my brother was getting married that afternoon.....
So..... no prizes for guess where was next on the programme...... home to get brother, bring him to church, hang around a bit. 12 noon already.
1230 I headed home to change, dress up, fetch the folks, bring them to church.... arrived at 1345.
Entertain relatives till Mass started, sat down for Mass, after Mass, help the parents and talk to guests till about 5 pm when we eventually left church for home.
That night was a family dinner at the Ritz, (Wedding Banquet on Monday.. not Saturday) that lasted till about 10 pm..... so from there I dropped the folks home... and picked up all my barang barang and brought myself to Dunman High for the camp.
Arrived at 1030 pm or there abouts, already tired. Discussed some problems occurring in the camp during that day and solutions to help matters. After that, I had to implement the solutions (i.e. give the trainees extra training) by the time they slept it was 230 am. The rest of us showered and discussed some other problems all the way till the next morning (i.e. no sleep)
Went to Sunday Mass at 915, was a zombie on legs, struggling real hard to stay awake. After lunch, settled the folks' lunch and went back to Dunman, slept an hour and then went back to activities....
Everything ran smoothly till after the campfire, then something came up and the older ones and the teachers had to settle it. So we worked on it until 2 am, when I decided I wasn't any help, so I went to sleep until the next morning......
Monday 9th June break camp day.... cleared up and settled stuff till 1 pm, by the time I got home 2 pm... slept till 430 and then had to leave for the hotel for the tea ceremony....... and then busy till 11 plus that night, by the time I slept it was 12 plus....
Tuesday I had to work...... It was horrible, here's a piece of advice, take the next day off as well......
posted by Dan 2:20 PM
If you're wondering why there are two, I was tied.....
posted by Dan 8:52 PM
Here's a quiz.
You are a dog. You are loyal and love to be with
your friends. Everyone sees you as an all
around great person because you listen and give
truly good advice. Its people like you that
usually get all the luck in life.
What's your inner animal?
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posted by Dan 1:14 PM
Today on STREATS Vocal page, somebody suggested putting laws in place so that people need to "qualify" to have children, so that society will not have the problems of needy/abused children growing up into unstable adults. Noble thought, but untenable solution.
Sounds like something out of a nightmare movie/novel than real life.
It strikes me to that somebody would not realise the problems created by such laws.
Not to mention it treads all over basic human rights.
Have our human rights been ran over so many times that we are just plain numb now?
posted by Dan 9:55 AM
Interesting read
posted by Dan 2:27 PM
Today on in STREATS Vocal page, some idiot/twit/biatch suggested that pregnant women should not expect to have seats given up to them and they should take a cab instead.
How totally stupid/disgusting/crazy/ungracious can the person get?
Just because pregnant woman don't say thank you that much. I think we all don't say thank you enough, like opening our mouths will result in gold dropping out. Talk about judging yourself before judging others.....
And it appeared to be written by a woman. Congratulations......
What is this world coming to?
posted by Dan 9:35 AM
Today while I was driving this frikkin' taxi started changing lanes, cutting right into my path and got really close to my car. And all this time I was sounding my horn. Talk about not being able to take a hint, not to mention he started switching even when there was no space. I was incensed and I believe justifiably so.
Now THAT was a REALLY good start to a new week.
posted by Dan 1:56 PM
As of 6th May I have less than a year to ORD. =)
Yes its a long time, but well, milestones are milestones.
posted by Dan 1:53 PM
US soldiers shoot some Iraqi civilians dead and then there is a grenade attack on American soldiers.
Israeli soldiers shoot some Palestinian civilians dead and then there is a grenade attack on Israelis.
Both equally conceivable right? Well only the first is true. Iraq can potentially become another Palestine, as long as US influence remains, be it in the form of Jay Gardner, or some puppet government installed by them.
The longer they stay, the more pissed off the people will be, and who can blame them?
posted by Dan 8:41 PM
