Turning the page

Dear friends,

If I still have many of you left, that is. Today marks the last page of a chapter in this not-so-awesome story. I doubt the suspense and drama has killed you yet nor left you begging for more so I'll cut it short. Another story is about to begin.

Stay tuned.

OPEN LETTER COFFEE SHOP TALK

Posted by a disgruntled forumner in the online citizen website:

Subject: Dear Prime Minister, tolong please …….
Coffee Shop Talk - Dear Prime Minister, tolong please…

From: ChinChaiOne
28-Apr 12:15

Dear Prime Minister,
We citizens of Singapore urge you to PLEASE MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

We DO NOT NEED your help.

Every time, you mention HELP, we have to run for cover!!!

Help the poor? Raise GST!
Help traffic flow? Up ERP!
Help passenger service? Up Bus fare/MRT fare!
Help us get taxi? Raise taxi fare!
Help us get good government? Raise Minister and Civil servant salary!

Everytime YOU WANT TO HELP, we all PAY FOR IT!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU…TOLONG LAH, please, we will HELP OURSELVES, no need your help liao.
We DARE NOT ask for help any more!!!

Sir, most honoured sir, I urge you NOT TO HELP Singapore INVEST also!
Everytime your wife invest, we all lose money! Kao liao, kum siah!
Just let us have a dose of bad governance, like recently the Mat Selamat
case, like dat….so far, it is ok,your incompetence, we ACCEPT!

PLEASE DO NOT help us have better security! Wait we all kena PAY FOR IT!!
I believe ALL SINGAPOREANS PREFER NOT TO HAVE CRUTCH MENTALITY!
I think it is ok lah, please just take your salary and enjoy life ok?

Thank you thank you,
I am very chin chai one, any how any how, no need to help oso can one..

The writer wishes to stress that these words are taken piecemeal from a forum and are strictly not his own.

It's all good....for now that is.

Been a long while hasn't it? Busy with some preparative work and other stuff, not to mention I'm back in a furious Gunpla groove aseembling them at near break-neck speed.

The recent months have been quite well actually with stock markets going up (in the process gaining back on some losing stocks and at the same time making small profits), won a small return on the lottery, and finally settling some hair-tearing stuff.

On the work front, things are not going so well though. Seems like I'll be stuck with cowering in fear over every phone call during the Christmas period....

Damn the a**hole weather....

Am I missing something here?

It's been a while. I've been kept occupied and generally felt lazy to do any thinking or writing. That hasn't changed lately but I thought I'd just add an entry for something that irks me.

I have never been much of a morning person, never will be. So it has never been pleasant to wake up to go to work. Storm clouds start brewing whenever the alarm clock sounds off the start of the rat race. A quick washup and playing with the cat muffles some of the rumblings as I head for the door and to the bus stop.

Electrical charges start building up once I step onto the bus. The ubiquitous annoying folks start to appear from every crack in the pavement. As if that's not bad enough, the thunder starts showing when it's time to board the train. From the queue-cutters to the "road blocks" to "sleeping beauties" that magically fall asleep whenever someone in need of a seat boards the train. And then there are the "scholars", people who insist of flipping and reading their newspapers even when everyone's crushed up in the trains.

Seriously, the civic level of the people in this small red dot has sunk to a pathetic low. I doubt it's ever going to rise to see the light of day again going by the liberal immigration policy of importing boorish "foreign talents" and the government encouraging the kiasu attitude that breeds selfishness.

Woe, woe. Doom is upon us. I'm packing my bags....

The writer detests the state of public transport and views it as a collaboration by private enterprises and the government to hood-wink the populance as "world-class". He doesn't have a good opinion of the general populance and the government anyway.

FUBAR - It's German

When a bird you have stays silent, do you:

1) threaten to kill it if doesn't sing?
2) make it to sing? or
3) wait for it to sing?

I'm guessing most likely you'll be choosing option 3 but let's face it, how many of us are patient enough to sit quietly and wait for things to happen? How many of us are even certain that things will even happen if we simply sit around? Many often take option 1 (even though they'd claim to take option 3 for this question) through the form of complaints and feedback in hope that the relevant authorities will listen and act on them. Unfortunately, we don't seem to be living in an ideal world.

Is option 2 really feasible? Are you able to take action against a big corporation? If you don't like the way things are run, it's not as if you can waltz in, snap your fingers and make things right. Not when the entire system is so twisted that by the time you're in a position to make a difference, it's just about time for you to retire. (This is of course not applicable to the "bright" young scholars who are propelled to their jobs based on their abilities to swallow and regurgitate piecemeal.)

Come to think of it, if people are empowered, emphasis EMPOWERED, to take action (option 2), will they even need to resort to taking option 1 (complaints)? And if one cannot stand the system, can one truely walk away from it all? Isn't that akin to simply running away without solving the problem? And where else can one run to when the entire system in the country is that twisted? Oh yeah, when joining the opposition is akin to committing social suicide, it boggles the mind to see how helpless one really is.

I'm perfectly fine sitting here and waiting for the bird to sing. I may not like the interval or the process but that seems to be the best option for me to take. Plus I'm cool anyway.

The writer is not happy with the many different processes but he has yet to launch official or formal complaints, simply because he is not that sort of person (Liar! You called me a slavedriver some time back! - Ed.). It would appear that this space is the only place left where he can air his opinions without any backlash or reprisal. Plus the blog doesn't bite back for the sake of biting.