It was an unusual day today. It started out well and end sort of well, but the middle was not so good....Actually was very bad. Yes, Mimi and I got into an argument, this time it was something that was unexpected and got escalated to a point that was not necessary. And of course, I have to say that this time was my fault (as the title says was my last comment before all h*ll broke lose). Anyways let not dwell on that.
So tomorrow begins a new chapter for my Mimi as she starts her new career as a Financial Analyst. I must say that I am very proud of her to be able to venture into unknown territories in her career and be able to do well. I am sure she will do well as a Financial Analyst. Everyone around her has warned her that is it going to be tough, but if it was not tough I doubt that the challenge will be there for her.
You know a lot of us, myself included, are often content with staying in a cushy unchallenging job and willing to ride things out from one increment to another and from one AWS to another. But I have to hand to people like my Mimi, who are not afraid to dip their feet into different waters and know that sometimes drowning is a possibility. She is quite an inspiration to me! Of course if you ever have the pleasure of seeing her, she may not give you the impression she is what I am describing her to be but believe me she is a giant to me. I guess that's why I love her so much, arguments and all..
I hope you, my millions of readers out there, will join me in wishing my Mimi all the blessings in her new "swim" into this pool and bountiful favour to be on her...
To my Mimi,
M
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Verbal Diarrhoea : Meetings – The Root of all Corporate Evil?
Are they justified? Sometimes they get so long and painful we often wonder, Why am I here and how did things get to this sorry state.
We play this corporate dance as we discuss (dance around) the subject in question with no resolution in sight. The irony at this situation is, we all know what needs to be done but no one wants to be the Hero or the 'Leader' to take the Stand and set the direction so we continue to dance.
Is that what we are paid to do; Dance? Well yes I guess if we can sufficiently justify it. Basically. In the corporate world, we can do anything we want to, if we can justify it. As long as there is a basis for it, there is no harm in doing it.
I wonder what sort of atrocities has been committed in the name of profit or making ones stock/share price go up. Look at the tobacco industry, the automotive industry. Did you know that Vehicle recalls are sanctioned only when the cost of recall is lower than the cost of vehicle owner/s suing the automaker for the defect? And don’t get me started on the tobacco industry.
Shouldn't this sort of behaviors be outlawed? Of course it should be but, how can you prove it in a court of law that such behaviour was conducted with the consequences in mind and that these actions were pre-meditated. Impossible.
Disclaimer: Whatever has been said here should not be taken against the author as this is a rant, a rave and a non-violent means for venting of human emotion. If the thoughts and the flow of the above verbage are erratic this too shouldn’t be taken against the author as the word “diarrhoea” implies a lack of control.
We play this corporate dance as we discuss (dance around) the subject in question with no resolution in sight. The irony at this situation is, we all know what needs to be done but no one wants to be the Hero or the 'Leader' to take the Stand and set the direction so we continue to dance.
Is that what we are paid to do; Dance? Well yes I guess if we can sufficiently justify it. Basically. In the corporate world, we can do anything we want to, if we can justify it. As long as there is a basis for it, there is no harm in doing it.
I wonder what sort of atrocities has been committed in the name of profit or making ones stock/share price go up. Look at the tobacco industry, the automotive industry. Did you know that Vehicle recalls are sanctioned only when the cost of recall is lower than the cost of vehicle owner/s suing the automaker for the defect? And don’t get me started on the tobacco industry.
Shouldn't this sort of behaviors be outlawed? Of course it should be but, how can you prove it in a court of law that such behaviour was conducted with the consequences in mind and that these actions were pre-meditated. Impossible.
Disclaimer: Whatever has been said here should not be taken against the author as this is a rant, a rave and a non-violent means for venting of human emotion. If the thoughts and the flow of the above verbage are erratic this too shouldn’t be taken against the author as the word “diarrhoea” implies a lack of control.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Michael Fay
I stumbled upon this joke from asianjoke.com as I was doing some research about Mr.Fay in light of the recent car vandalism fiasco in Singapore recently. I was wondering what happened to him. Anyways for people who don't know who Michael Fay is below is prose from Asianjoke.com that sums up satirically what went down.
Michael Fay By: asianjoke.com
There is an American named Michael Fay
He loves to take our public signs away
Sometimes graffiti on our cars he spray
Until by the police he was caught one fine day
The Chief Justice to Michael he says
" A small fine you shall have to pay "
" Four months in Queenstown Remand you'll stay "
" With six strokes of rotan coming your way "
This decision Clinton try to sway
For vandalism is a game their local boys play
We should find other means to keep crime at bay
Because caning is not an American way
Tried all means Fay's father and mother may
And even the American press got into fray
Desperate, the plea for clemency went President Ong's way
Authorized to pardon, hopefully he may
Finally, in order that Clinton's face shall not go away
Two strokes less of caning to Michael's dismay
George Fay, his father still shout " Nay! nay! nay! "
Once Fay out of prison, back to US they will forever go away
We ain't racist
We ain't sadist
We don't have a caning fetish
We just want some justice!
American press and the government was up in arms about this. But during my travels through the American Midwest, most of the regular folks that I spoke to seem to agree with that type of punishment, and said that the US authorities should practice that sort of thing for some of the crimes. Perhaps my opinions were skewed because most Midwest folk are Republican and if I had been in California things would be different.
Either way, when Michael Fay went back to US, his pattern continued where he beat his step-father so badly, the step-father actually said that he regretted lobbying for support to spare him off the rod. Then a couple of years ago he was stabbed to death in a bar fight. Rather sad I must say....
M
Michael Fay By: asianjoke.com
There is an American named Michael Fay
He loves to take our public signs away
Sometimes graffiti on our cars he spray
Until by the police he was caught one fine day
The Chief Justice to Michael he says
" A small fine you shall have to pay "
" Four months in Queenstown Remand you'll stay "
" With six strokes of rotan coming your way "
This decision Clinton try to sway
For vandalism is a game their local boys play
We should find other means to keep crime at bay
Because caning is not an American way
Tried all means Fay's father and mother may
And even the American press got into fray
Desperate, the plea for clemency went President Ong's way
Authorized to pardon, hopefully he may
Finally, in order that Clinton's face shall not go away
Two strokes less of caning to Michael's dismay
George Fay, his father still shout " Nay! nay! nay! "
Once Fay out of prison, back to US they will forever go away
We ain't racist
We ain't sadist
We don't have a caning fetish
We just want some justice!
American press and the government was up in arms about this. But during my travels through the American Midwest, most of the regular folks that I spoke to seem to agree with that type of punishment, and said that the US authorities should practice that sort of thing for some of the crimes. Perhaps my opinions were skewed because most Midwest folk are Republican and if I had been in California things would be different.
Either way, when Michael Fay went back to US, his pattern continued where he beat his step-father so badly, the step-father actually said that he regretted lobbying for support to spare him off the rod. Then a couple of years ago he was stabbed to death in a bar fight. Rather sad I must say....
M
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Back from Penang
Yes I am back to Singapore, and it went better than expected. Was there since Wednesday but only managed to speak to him on Saturday morning. This was due to procrastination on my part and some missed opportunities. Overall it went well, he was rather fatherly and of course he gave some good advice and asked some surprising questions.
In any case, I was expecting it to be much worse. I was expecting questions like, "how much do you make?", "can you support my daughter?", etc
So now that that is out of the way, we can start to plan the wedding proper. All parents have been consulted and its now time for execution. First thing, book the date with the hotel and by God's grace hope that church will have someone who is available to do the solemnisation and we are able to find a church on the said date. Tenatively, its 23rd June 2007!. Yes almost a year away but here in Singapore, it usually take almost 12-18 months advance notice to book a hotel. So here begins another adventure.
Of course Penang was great as it always is. The food was non stop, Penang Laksa, Char Koay Teow, and many other favourite from my future mother in law's kitchen. On the whole Penang has a rather rustic charm of a small back water town becoming a big city. It still holds the old while the new is apparent all around. There are still many kampung around the place and they are wonderful to photograph ( will post some up when I figure out how to :-))
One surprise that greeted me when I came back home was a flat battery. Yes I have driven this battery to the bone for the past two years and now its time to get it replaced. The trusty GTI is developing a temperament, and is getting cranky with age. Probably, I deserve it with the lack of attention that I have been showing her.
Okay....I am rambling now....
M
In any case, I was expecting it to be much worse. I was expecting questions like, "how much do you make?", "can you support my daughter?", etc
So now that that is out of the way, we can start to plan the wedding proper. All parents have been consulted and its now time for execution. First thing, book the date with the hotel and by God's grace hope that church will have someone who is available to do the solemnisation and we are able to find a church on the said date. Tenatively, its 23rd June 2007!. Yes almost a year away but here in Singapore, it usually take almost 12-18 months advance notice to book a hotel. So here begins another adventure.
Of course Penang was great as it always is. The food was non stop, Penang Laksa, Char Koay Teow, and many other favourite from my future mother in law's kitchen. On the whole Penang has a rather rustic charm of a small back water town becoming a big city. It still holds the old while the new is apparent all around. There are still many kampung around the place and they are wonderful to photograph ( will post some up when I figure out how to :-))
One surprise that greeted me when I came back home was a flat battery. Yes I have driven this battery to the bone for the past two years and now its time to get it replaced. The trusty GTI is developing a temperament, and is getting cranky with age. Probably, I deserve it with the lack of attention that I have been showing her.
Okay....I am rambling now....
M
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
To Penang
Today is the day that I will be flying to Penang to ask my future father-in-law for his daughter's hand in marriage. Seems old fashion, yes but I think it is the right thing to do. I am nervous of course, but I think it should be fine. So I got them some token gifts and will probably do it tonight or tomorrow.
Will try to update more when I am in Penang. Till then, pray for me ya!
M
Will try to update more when I am in Penang. Till then, pray for me ya!
M
My New Home
After blogging @ MSN Spaces and suffering the reliability that MS gives, I have decided to move to a hopeful more consistent blog provider. Either way, I hope that with this new page I will be able to post more frequently rather than getting "The page cannot be displayed" message all the time.
Was rather frustrating when you really felt like writing but that avenue was not there. Oh well, so here we are @ blogger.com. seems like a better provider already. Of course it does not have all the bangs and whistles of MSN spaces, but simplicity is good as the idea is to post thoughts, feelings, impressions and words rather than picture albums and favorite music.
For the fun of it I will continue to leave my previous 3 posts on my old blog so if you wanna check that out go ahead. My fiancee is complaining that the clicking sounds from my keyboard is bothering here sleep so this is where I will end.
Cheers,
M
Was rather frustrating when you really felt like writing but that avenue was not there. Oh well, so here we are @ blogger.com. seems like a better provider already. Of course it does not have all the bangs and whistles of MSN spaces, but simplicity is good as the idea is to post thoughts, feelings, impressions and words rather than picture albums and favorite music.
For the fun of it I will continue to leave my previous 3 posts on my old blog so if you wanna check that out go ahead. My fiancee is complaining that the clicking sounds from my keyboard is bothering here sleep so this is where I will end.
Cheers,
M
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