Wh@ssup?

I am grossly late to the party. When everyone was posting on their brush lettering pieces, I was wondering: What's the fuss about? On Saturday morning, I participated in a brush lettering workshop with Cherlynn and my sister. So here were some of my practise pieces.

And to our surprise we met Shiwei, our AHS senior who happened to be one of the organizers for the event. And we have a Saturday morning well spent, chilling over Vietnamese food afterwards.

Pecha Kucha Night 2017

In May, I've attended an event which was randomly advertised on Peatix. So some interesting personalities were giving short snippets of the social projects they had engaged in. Some were rather inspiring. Of the 8 speakers, I will highlight 3 who left lasting impressions on me.

The Quirky Japansese HDB couple

Tamae Iwasaki and Eitaro Oganwa spent their free time working on a project to explore all the different HDB flats and gives us a glimpse into the living spaces of Singaporeans. Through crowdfunding, they had gathered funds to publish their book, which mind you, weighs 5kg+. It was amazing to witness the a pet project built with much love and passion.Their adventure was also featured on The Straits Times.

Coffee Break

Amoy Street has got a popular coffee shop with a modern twist. Faye Sai took over her father's business and transformed it into a quirky mix of the traditional and the modern. It's curious to see how hands on she was, working as a hawker and passionately sharing her trade. Despite having earned a degree, it was a mission she saw herself being responsible for. Anyone free to join me for a coffee break? *flutters eyelids*

Capturing Singapore with the foreign eye

Jon Siegal is a UX designer who has lived in Singapore for six years. He captures some of the most alluring pictures on local living. It's intriguing to see much of our spaces and communities keenly observed not by locals, but foreigners who are fond of Singapore.

Time to start digging up all that this lovely city state has to offer. And nope, this is not an advertisement for NDP.

Pecha Kucha Night is a yearly event, keep a look out in 2018!

协商

长大后才知道有时坚持己见未必能达到做最好的结果。一味地退让妥协，也会变得委屈，更不是长久之计。协商才能促成双赢的局面。

多少人不是为了争一口气，而使得情况到达没法挽回的局面。成长就是一个协商的过程。 小事不必太过执着。有时候付出多一些，反而能得到多一些。

我纳闷的是，情感怎么不被牵扯进来， 如何用理性的方式就事论事， 不感情用事呢？ 毕竟，很多心痛都是个性使然。总不可能让一个感性的人减少痛楚；也不可能让一个理性的人感觉痛楚。

唯有协商才能叫脑子多填几分柔情； 叫心脏少挨几分悲凉。

Notes on a Discussion

Crisis could be pretty real for Singaporeans. And we are still too complacent about many things.

When I first read the Hard Truth years ago, I found LKY rather paranoid about Singapore's future. He talked about our nation being built on a fragile foundation. Many changes has took place since, proving that his fears were not unfounded.

Back when I was in Malaysia, my cousin mentioned how Malaysians sees a bleak prospect for Singapore, with many Malaysian companies withdrawing their businesses from Singapore. Also, Chinese companies has much presence there, and a huge influx of PRCs who are working in Malaysia, bringing in their own talents, not necessary creating more opportunities there.

Meanwhile, there seems to be plans underway for a canal through Thailand, which could mean Singapore losing leverage on entre-pot trade.

Even our skills and technologies no longer gives us leverage when skills transfer through Tianjin and Suzhou industrial parks has already been massively replicated. What do we then still have to offer?

I think the future really involved a lot of upskilling. Who says we will forever be leaving this comfortable life our forefathers has painstakingly built for us.

The kind of Singapore our children, and our children's children will be born in lies in the resilience of our generation. There'd always be people hungrier and more driven.

“可怕的是，还有很多比你聪明的人比你更努力。” 时时警醒自己，也共勉之。

The shit is real (And raw)

So. I survived.

Only three hours and all drained.

When I first arrived at Toa Payoh NTUC, I was trying to familiarize with the layout. Weird. No household goods or toiletries.

After combing the second round did I realize there is a hidden corner and a second level. Rather confused and realized I was a lone shopper, who doesn't know where all the different logistic stuffs are placed. The first two orders were overdue, leaving  me frantically running around. A  friendly old lady, whom I would later learn to be the chief cashier, guided me to find all the leftover required items and replacement. By this time, already breaking sweats. Not to mention crossing fingers praying that I didn't mix up anything.

Next two orders came for the second hour. And already cursing in my heart, 2 orders (30+ items) within 15 mins is an impossible task!

Bobian.

Angel co-ordinator came along, saw me. 10 mins in, and her baskets already fully filled.

"You look familiar." I was told.

In a frantic rush, everything was completed, about half hour late, and holding up the delivery man.

So it happened that the coordinator came on her own accord to help out. And she happened to be an AHS junior cum ex-church mate. Goodness gracious!

65 line items over 3 hours, average of 3 mins to find an item. Not to mention to queue and call customer about replacements, and to pack the goods for delivery with uploading of receipts and such.

We ended the day over drinks and fries. And my understanding of hard earned money.

What a day!

The New Way of Exercising

So about two months back, I have signed up to be a concierge shopper for Honestbee. Went for few rounds of orientation and today will be the real shit. Arhh...

Mum feels this is quite redundant, for I would have to spend some time commuting, simply to complete a two hour shift, and earning probably a $20 bucks, which less transport, food and travelling time, it'd be reduced to nothing. However, for me, I take it as an exercise, and almost like a gaming experience, except that it's physical, and the challenge is to be as accurate as possible.

Well, not too bad to actually get paid to play, and do some exercise in between! Update on the progress soon! Whoots!

The Power of Habits

After a few days of bomb dropping from the LEE family, it started to get quite irritating reading their incessant arguments. It happens. I have quarrelled with my sister on uncountable occasions. At most, I share my thoughts and feelings with my students, letting them draw inspiration for their essay writing or joke about it. I don't use social media to get sympathy or air dirty laundry. Jane Wells has some wise words to say. "It's better to bend than to break. People are capable of living up or down to your expectations of them."

Isn't it better to share something positive on the social media?

Recently, I have read The Power of Habits and pretty enjoyed the book. Most impressionably in how habits in a company can transform culture radically. The case study of O'Neill left me awestruck. By focusing on safety, just one aspect, and one common goal for the employees, it brought about chain effects to all aspects. Right down to changing the reporting system for efficiency, replacing old unsafe machineries resulting in increased productivity, more transparent communication which spurs  other ideas. These dramatically bring up the performance of the company and reduced fatal accidents.

I wonder if it really matters who is right, or who is wrong; what is right or what is wrong. Principle is hardly a good rule of thumb in relationships. Yet relationships were often sacrificed in justifying who or what is right, failing to examine each' positions or their perspectives. .

Really, in life, grasping just a few central key ideas helps things fall into place naturally. I suppose for the Lee family, the key idea might be kinship.