Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Merry Xmas


I suppose many people are looking forward to this time of the year, where it is the time for celebration, time for love or whatsoever. I used to, as well because i too, like many people feel like it feels so good if someone is around to share your love, that sort of thing.





But no longer. Maybe i am not a Christian or an ang moh. Maybe i am at ease with the fact that i am single and loving it. To me, this time of the year is just a good time for me to stay at home.





Anyway, not important. Went shopping today. And my mind was doing some serious pondering while doing shopping.





I went to Carrefour to buy something this afternoon. Went to the cashier to pay for my purchases and i realised the cashier was a China lady. Nothing special to all, but it hit me out of a sudden that the China workers doing many of our jobs. This is probably not surprising to many, but quite a scary thought if you think deeper.





A couple of years ago, we brushed the Chinese off that they are doing jobs which we the locals do not want to take up, could be too tough or jobs that do not require qualifications. It was probably true few years ago, but the situation has changed drastically since then. Many Chinese are doing jobs in direct competition with us the locals. It just goes to show that the Chinese are moving up the job value chain rapidly.





We used to boast that Singaporeans are effectively bilingual in English and Chinese, but heed this warning: We are losing this competitive edge rapidly. Because the Chinese are learning English and bend on learning it well. And our English is not the perfect English that the English speak and our Chinese is half past six.





What is the lesson to be learnt? Not to be complacent and constantly pushing ourselves to differentiate from others. A third language is probably needed ( i am thinking of learning as well) and learn new skills fast. To the young ppl who have yet to enter the job market, get internships, traineeships and what ever ships u can during the holidays.





To draw an analogy, if we are doing a 2.4km route, Singaporeans are running at 10km/hour but The Chinese are running at 15 or 20 km/hour.





To my dismay, many of us are actually complacent with our current situation, because we are living so comfortably, drawing a salary 3-4k from our job. Many youths are worse, living a life too good for them. Spending money as if we have endless money in our bank. No good i must say





It took us 200 years to reach this stage of development, it will only take 20 years to wipe out everything if we remain complacent.





On a side note, shopping was ok, walked a fair bit today and a Massimo Dutti shirt







$80. Rather expensive, but hopefully it will spur me on for my work.

On a random note, I am starting to think of my resolutions for 2008. I never used to feel the need to list down what i want to achieve for a new year. Guess i should do so because i am visual person. Seeing the list can push me ahead



Sunday, December 23, 2007

Help!!!

I have invited a group of friends to my place and invited trouble!!

I lost money again!! *Screams*

Over mahjong. As usual, my losing streak continued, with me losing $30 in 2 rounds of mahjong. Not a lot of money, but the feeling sucks!

I thought my luck would take a turn for the better since i had been away from the mahjong table for close to half a year, but hell, NO!! Ultimate nightmare, I suspect the guys have been eyeing at my money for a looooong time and i literally become the Santa Claus before Xmas.

Other than that, it was a night of food and games.

On a side note, i went for a haircut yesterday afternoon. My mind went crazy. I opted for a haircut plus a wash cos my hair felt itchy. The main aim of the hair wash is to make the customer feel relaxed and comfortable. And these days, the shampoo lady( or auntie) would throw in some massage on the skull and neck that sort of thing. Obvious, i felt good when the auntie massaged my skull. Then, i thought did any customer make any sound during the hair washing? Those moans and groans, " Oooos and Ahhhss or Awww". Sounds sleazy but i was actually trying my best to contain my laughter at the thought of it.

Okay, shows my mind is full of crap when it is not working.



Saturday, December 15, 2007

Away from blogger for too long. Just too tired and lazy to blog. U shld understand working is very tiring and energy sapping. U just want to slack in front of the tv and then hit the bed.

Actually, there is nothing much exciting to blog about in particular. Life has been rather boring ever since i returned home.

Last wednesday, i went to Butter Factory for the first time. (yes, me being the sua ku sai). Not for partying, but bcos i had lunch with a broker last tuesday and he invited me to their company Xmas party. At first, i was kinda apprehensive about going because i didn't know anyone there beside that broker friend( obviously, he is not going to entertain me all night). But i felt obliged to go since he was so nice to invite me to the party and i am kind of going on my company's behalf kind of thing, u get the drift?

So went, and it turned out to be really fine. It was kind of awakard in the beginning, but i was introduced to some of the research guys there, and we just took things from there. It was quite a breeze to carry on a conversation since all of us are in the same line. It was really nice bcos it is quite important to network with those guys as well. Not bad for a start actually!

They left quite early, so i stayed for a while. Then, i met my BMT sgt and his friend there. I was sure he didn't know me bcos he was not in charge of me. Well, just plucked up my courage and introduced myself and asked if he was BMT sgt. Again, just took things from there. Quite happy to know the two of them better, u can never complain for having too many friends!

Did i mentioned that i got drunk? Not dead drunk but felt it when i woke up the next morning. Yeahz, it happens when you order one drink after another when chatting with the guys. Well, at least i didn;t have to pay for the drinks, since it was on the host company's tab!