A DIY Roti Prata meal for less than S$1.30...

Want to stretch your dollars on food? Let me give you some tips on how to prepare a cheap and good Roti Prata meal for three persons with each person taking two pieces of the prata. The entire meal costs less than S$4 which works out to be about S$1.30 per person.

Here is what you do. Buy a packet of Roti Pratas (6 pieces) at less than S$2 and one can of Amocan Curry Chicken at less than S$2. Pan fry the prata till golden brown and heat up the Curry Chicken in the microwave oven. A Roti Prata meal is now ready to be served.

Light of Love - by Jacelyn Tay.. check out details in the image

A quick and simple dish of DIY Fried Rice

A quick and simple dish of DIY Fried Rice with vegetables, egg, Chinese sausage as ingredients.

Give students a chance to prove themselves till GCE O-level!

When I heard over the news yesterday that the Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE) would be doing away with examinations for Primary 1 and 2, I thought that was truly incredible. Frankly, many suggestions of this nature to help lower primary students and parents cope with their children's studies have always been falling on deaf ears it seems, but surprisingly, this time round, they get heard. But, I think more should have been done and should be done.

There is no need to have Primary 4 streaming. This has "killed" many students from age 10 psychologically and mentally. They have been stigmatised since young with the "cannot study" label by their peers. Despite occasional publicity of one or two ITE students who are doing well later in life, majority have been inflicted with inferiority complex since young. Though officially there is no more streaming now, but some schools are still segregating their students the way it used to be.

If there is a dire need to retain this tradition of streaming the students, do it the positive way. Identify those fast and advanced learners, say the top 20% of the entire cohort and offer them special and advanced programmes, leave the rest intact. This top 20% of the cohort will be offered programmes like Higher Mother Tongue, Advanced Science, Advanced Mathematics, Higher English etc, since they are academically more capable!!! Important thing is leave them a choice to decide if they want to be on board these programmes.

At the same time, bear in mind that there are students who are late developers. In the past, have we not seen students who did not do too well in primary levels but when promoted to secondary schools, they started doing very well? Why set the limit, fix their destiny and decide their future on their behalf, when they are just aged 10? Isn't it very unfair and too imposing? Frankly, I think it is very detrimental to their psychological well-being and their future.

Against this backdrop, I think the MOE should consider allowing all students to progress straight through to GCE O-level. This will ensure that all children receive the basic education, basic enough for them to find a job when they graduate. With the O-level results, the students can then be offered places in ITE, Polytechnics or Junior Colleges depending on their academic performance or personal preference, and those whose results do not qualify them for entry into any of these learning institutions could decide for themselves their own future.

Learn from the eagle...

The eagle has the longest lifespan within its species. It can live up to 70 years. But to live to this age, the eagle has to make a hard decision. When it reaches its 40’s, its long and flexible talons can no longer grab prey for food. Its long and sharp beak becomes bent. Its old-aged and heavy wings, due to their thick feathers, become stuck to its chest and that makes it difficult for it to fly.

Now, the eagle has only two options: to die or to go through a painful process of change that lasts 150 days. The process requires that the eagle fly to the top of a mountain and sit in its nest. There, the eagle knocks its beak against a rock until it plucks it out. After plucking it out, the eagle will wait for a new beak to grow back and then it will pluck out its talons. When its new talons grow back, the eagle starts plucking its old-aged feathers. And after five months, the eagle takes its famous flight of rebirth and lives for 30 more years.

Why is change needed? Often times, in order to survive, we have to start a change process. We sometimes need to get rid of past baggage, old habits and some irrelevant traditions. Only when we are freed from past burdens, can we take advantage and make the best use of the present moments.

The little things in life may bring you blessings...

The following story was extracted from one of my emails...

As you might know, the head of a company survived 9/11 because his son started kindergarten. Another fellow was alive because it was his turn to bring donuts. One woman was late because her alarm clock didn't go off in time. One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike because of an auto accident. One of them missed his bus. One spilled food on her clothes and had to take time to change. One whose car wouldn't start. One went back to answer the telephone . One had a child that dawdled and didn't get ready as soon as he should have. One couldn't get a taxi.

The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, took the various means to get to work, but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today.

Now when I am stuck in traffic , miss an elevator, turn back to answer a ringing telephone ... All the little things that annoy me. I think to myself. This is exactly where God wants me to be at this very moment...

Next time your morning seems to be going wrong, the children are slow getting dressed, you can't seem to find the car keys, you hit every traffic light, don't get mad or frustrated; God is at work watching over you. May God continue to bless you with all those annoying little things and may you remember their possible purpose.

To my blog readers: Have a Happy and Ox-picious "Niu" Year!

Wishing all my blog readers a Happy and Prosperous "Niu" Year! "Niu" in Chinese means "Ox".

One-dollar currency notes that are no longer in print

One-dollar currecy notes were first issued in Singapore on 13 November 1906.

Blue Turquoise

Do you know what "PP" stands for?

Postage Paid Impression is the solution for bulk mailing of homogeneous local and international mail to be posted out regularly. There are only four basic designs to choose from as mandated by Singapore Post, and the four designs as shown in the picture below are Vanda Miss Joaquim, Traveler's Palm, Merlion and Changi Airport.

By the way, Vanda Miss Joaquim as seen in the impression above, was chosen as Singapore's national flower on 15 April 1981.

A story about Soon Hock Fish...

Soon Hock Fish or Marbled Goby is one of the high-end fresh water fishes luxurious diners seldom miss in the local restaurants.

Interestingly, it was the fish that had provided our family with some supplemental incomes during my teen days. During those days, my brothers and I employed many different fishing techniques such as fishing lines, casting nets and even some self-made one-way fish traps to catch, capture and trap the Soon Hocks.

This fish has a unique behaviour not known to many, especially during late night. It seemed to enjoy coming to some shallow ends of the shore where the water level is about ankle-deep. We would usually shine a torch into the water as we walked gently and softly along the shoreline in the night. I believe we never missed catching it when we saw one because it meant so much to us. We knew it when we saw it because we had somehow developed sharp eyes for it.

The special thing about Soon Hocks we caught was that we had to sell them alive. So, we had to put them into a covered pail or plastic bag with water and brought them all the way to town the following day and sold to a regular restaurant that would always bought from us with a reasonably good price. Even in the 1970s, it was already fetching a good price as far as we were concerned.

We were so thrilled and felt so good when we got paid and would immediately rush home to hand over the proceeds to our mother to be used for household expenses.

What is the opposite of "Tuhan"?

Interesting Malay words ...

Tuhan (pronounced as to-han) means God; hantu (pronounced as han-to) means Ghost. They are just the opposites.

Not just Monday or Friday!

One day, a retrenched Mr Been went for a walk-in job interview. As he arrived at the company, he approached the receptionist and was asked to fill in an Application Form while waiting for his turn to be interviewed. So, he took the form, sat down and started filling in.

Just a moment later, he was seen pausing for a while at the section that states "Sex: M/F" and he was undecided. After deliberating for a while, he decided to leave it unmarked.

Later, during the interview, as the interviewer was scanning the information on his form, he noticed that "Sex: M/F" was not marked. Then, the interviewer pointed that to him. He blushed a little and embarrassingly he told the interviewer, "Sir, it is not just Monday or Friday, honestly, my wife and I have sex everyday!"

Attitude is EVERYTHING!

A matter of TRUST...

Many companies install manual punch card machines or electronic attendance clocking system for their employees and some even install CCTVs within the company's premises. Have you ever wondered what the underlying reasons are? No doubt there are some administrative benefits from these installations, but more importantly and psychologically speaking, it is a subtle indication of a lack of trust.

There are two theories on human behaviours, namely Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X assumes that people are generally bad, lazy, cruel, dishonest and not trustworthy; theory Y assumes that people are generally good, diligent, kind, honest and trustworthy. How we act depends on how we think. If we think negative of others, we would naturally adopt Theory X in our approach in management. We don't trust people. However, those who believe that people are generally good and honest would do away with those monitoring devices. There is no right or wrong in this situation but a matter of belief or value system one holds.

Applying Theory X, we basically say, "I won't trust you until you prove that you can be trusted."; whereas if we apply Theory Y, we would say, "I will trust you until you misplace my trust."

An "Empty-Eggs" mystery unfolded!

I spent my teen years in a small family poultry farm surrounded with swamps. There was once, over several days, when we went to collect the eggs after the hens have laid them, we were in rude shock to find that the eggs were just empty shells. There was a small opening nicely pricked at one end. This phenomenon took place daily and we were really puzzled.

Eventually, we decided to monitor the situation by setting up our own "Private Investigation" team. We hid in ambush during the hours when the hens were about to lay their eggs.

Bingo! This creature was sighted coming up from the swamp! It seemed to have made it a daily affair without realising that it was its last lunch. We were watching and tracking its movement with undivided attention as it clumsily crawled into the poultry shed. Immediately, the entire investigation team was mobilised and we quickly moved in and slammed the wooden door. The creature was trapped within the shed without any chance of escape. Instinctively, it still tried to escape by digging into the ground.

While discussing what to do with it now that it was trapped, we were on guard outside the shed and suddenly it stuck out its head through a gap at the foot of the wall, we made no mistake and nailed it right to the ground with an iron bar. When it became motionless, we dragged it out of the shed. Being a Science student who had done dissections during Biology classes, we overturned the creature and dissected it lengthwise. As expected, the whole eggs without the shells were found in its belly.

During our childhood days, we were quite used to eating the meat of wild boars and turtles, so the monitor lizard was not spared either. I remember my mother literally skinned it, slaughtered it and cooked it into tonic soup with herbs for the family.

Some tips for employees !

Since a couple of decades ago, lifelong employment, job security and employee loyalty have become things of the past. Prevalent worldwide today are contract work, short-term employment, retrenchment and unemployment.

Employers have to adjust and adapt to the fast-changing global business environment and ever-rising cost of doing business, and when they could not catch up with the changes fast enough, they would start bleeding financially. When that happens, they would have to think of cost cutting measures and the easy way out is to retrench the employees. So, in this particular context, employees have to learn to manage their own careers as well because companies can no longer guarantee them a lifelong employment or job security.

As the employment conditions have evolved and changed, so must the employees' response and attitude. Frankly, it is irrelevant to talk about employee loyalty now, what is to be expected from employees are their responsibilities and integrity because they are paid to do the job. So, it is only right that the employees put in their fair day's work. They have to learn to think on their own two feet and fend for themselves, they should not expect the companies to take care of them and their future anymore.

Let me offer you my two cents' worth of career advice: "Even if you are very happy with your present job, never stop looking for a job." Think about it. Upgrade yourself constantly and make planned career moves periodically.

What are those terms on the Electricity Meter?

Most of us have been paying our electricity bills month after month for years, but has anyone ever taken a close look at the electricity meter just outside our home?

What do those terms and parameters mean? What is Email Metering? What are "FL", "F" and "S", do they represent Flow, Fast and Slow?

How do we know if the meter has been properly calibrated? How often are they calibrated because most equipment need to be calibrated on a regular basis to ensure conformance to certain standards? Are they calibrated according to the housing type, which seems to be a criterion used for most business and financial calculations? Why do some households claim that their bills are consistently high despite little consumption? Is it because it is not calibrated or recalibrated?

Spotted Dove and Green-winged Pigeon

Apply for or renew your Singapore Passport at Post Office

You can now apply for or renew your Singapore Passport at all Singapore Post Offices. For the uninitiated, ICA stands for Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

Insightful messages of Gerald P R Sacks

Just read a book entitled "Power Phrases, Expressions and Closing Questions" by Gerald P R Sacks and found the following messages insightful:

The risk of not taking risk...

"Those who risk nothing, do nothing, have nothing and will be nothing. They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they will not learn, feel, grow, change, love and live life to the fullest potential. Chained by their attitudes, and bound by shackles to the dungeon of despair, they become slaves who have forfeited their mental freedom. Only people who are willing to take risk are free to create wonderful things in their lives."

Pick your friends carefully...

"Surround yourself with positive thinking people - who would become your friends, who will support you in every way and in whatever you want to do. Be careful of others whom you think are your friends, but who are jealous, negative and do not have your best interest in their hearts."

Don't sweat over small stuff...

Do not torture yourself and waste your life over small matters. In other words, do not sweat over small stuff. Think big and look at the bigger picture.

Bless others; but do not take pleasure over others' misfortunes...

The recent announcement of GCE O-Level results saw a good number of students attaining 10 A1s and one of them even had 11 A1s. It was a tremendous success by any account. They should have a good celebration. We should offer them our heartiest congratulations.

But, not everyone around them or those who read about their success would feel and do the same. Some would feel that they are just being lucky and some may think that it was nothing great. We just have to give it to this group of people who are always sour about others' success. They simply get jealous over others' success or achievements. I have come across such people in my personal life.

Worse, this same group of people when seeing others fail in their endeavours or missions would usually take pleasure or gloat over their misfortunes. People with such unhealthy behaviours usually may not even realise their own weaknesses.

Self-awareness and self-awakening is important for such people to get up from their arm-chair and engage in self-examination and soul-searching, which hopefully would help them develop a more balanced perspective when looking at things and dealing with people around them.

A DIY "Yong Tau Foo" meal for less than S$2...

If you like a simple soupy meal, buy one packet of Yong Tau Foo from FairPrice Supermarket for S$1.85 and cook it in a small pot of soup. Add some vegetables if you are more health-conscious. You can have the Yong Tau Foo soup alone, or it can go with a plate of rice. This portion is more than enough for one person. It's rather filling! Try it out!

Know the meaning of "Rambutan" and "Durian"?

Rambutan, a kind of tropical fruit, is a Malay word. The root word is "rambut" which is "hair", when the suffix "an" is added to the word "rambut", it becomes "rambutan" which literally means "hairy fruit".

Similarly, the word "durian" is derived from the root word "duri" which means "thorn", when the suffix "an" is added to it, it becomes "durian" which means "thorny fruit". It is pretty meaningful, isn't it?

A SIGN that is NOT customer-friendly and tenant-supportive

Hougang Green Shopping Mall was reportedly one of the worst shopping malls in Singapore in terms of human traffic. I happened to be there recently at about 12.30am after a night cycling exercise with my two boys. We were parking our bicycles at the bicycle parking bay and I saw this notice mounted on the wall. If we went strictly by the notice, we should not be even parking our bikes there but parking them anywhere else within the mall is also forbidden.

We were going there for some bites because some food outlets there are open 24 hours, there are also AXS and ATM machines (UOB, OCBC, and POSB) within the shopping mall. But, the notice is not so customer-friendly. The notice is put up by the management but the stalls are operated by the tenants. I spoke to someone around there and it seems that the management is hard to talk to.

As a customer, I just feel that the management is discouraging customers from patronising the stalls at night. But, the stalls need to do business and pay the rentals! So, the rule or decision of the management is not customer-friendly and tenant-supportive.

Frankly, I do not know the rationale behind "No Overnight Parking" and "No Parking After 11pm" rule. We are talking about bicycles, NOT cars for which you need to pay parking fees. It could be that people get carried away in trying to control everything in a crazy manner regardless of its relevance.

Three MEN who "ACTed BLUR" !

I was at the Singapore Post Office at the fourth floor of Hougang Mall, exchanging the old ez-link card for the new one that is CEPAS-compliant. While queueing up, I saw three separate incidents involving people who seemed to "Act Blur" which in Singlish (Singaporean English) means "to pretend to be ignorant about what happens".

First of all, a man aged 40+ while standing in another queue waiting to pay his Medisave (must be a self-employed) suddenly saw his friend (with wife) in my queue waiting to exchange the ez-link card. I think they have not met each other for some time and hence started chatting in Hokkien dialect across a distance of about three metres with momentary pauses. It was so loud and I could not help but hear every bit of their conversation. At one point, he just drew out three ez-link cards from his wallet and blatantly asked his friend to exchange them for him pretending not to see the stares from people in my queue. His friend apparently did not feel too comfortable judging from his body language. The wife apparently showed gentle signs of disapproval. But this man just "acted blur" and went straight to pass the three cards over to him. His friend had no choice but reluctantly took over the cards.

Next, when I progressed to the second spot in the queue, a man aged 60+ walked briskly right to the counter when the previous customer had just left. He was immediately served by the counter staff. Someone in the queue murmured, "Wah! Steady la. No need to queue.". When I finished my transaction at the next counter, before I walked off, I gave him a light pat on his right shoulder and said to him gently, "Uncle, please queue up in future." He was so quick to respond, "Is there a queue? I didn't know." and the counter staff added, "Uncle, you did not queue ah?". Another case of "Act Blur".

Thirdly, there was this man aged 50+ carrying some grocery bags and some remnant Kopi-O drinks in a plastic bag all in one hand. While trying to retrieve his ez-link card from his pocket, he lost the grip on the Kopi-O plastic bag strap and the entire bag dropped onto the floor. Good thing, it did not spill. But, as he picked it up, droplets of Kopi-O began to drip onto the floor. While engaged with the counter staff, he used the soles of his black rubber shoes to sweep and wipe off the droplets and pretended that nothing had happened. He "acted blur". But, the dripping got more intense, so his sweeping action got more and more rigorous. Eventually, the whole area where he was standing was so messy and dirty. He just walked away looking straight to the exit when he finished his transaction.

By "acting blur", people do get things done quite efficiently. By "acting blur", people do get away with some mistakes or awkward and embarrassing situations. These are the happy-go-lucky type of people. They usually have "thicker skin" so they don't feel embarrassed easily. But, majority of Singaporeans are still quite conservatively shy, well-mannered and reserved in public.

Do all graduates make good teachers?

The Primary Education Review and Implementation Committee has since October 2008 started its review on how to improve the primary school education. One of the changes most likely to take place is to have only graduates as teachers. Naturally, there is already a fear that the schools might lose a pool of good non-graduate teachers. The fear is legitimate. But, I think we have got to be very objective in looking at this whole issue fundamentally.

Do all graduates make good teachers? Are all good teachers graduates? I think what is important in teaching is the ability and experience to impart skills, knowledge and attitudes. With that ability and experience, comes the passion and commitment. Being a graduate helps in some ways but it is not the deciding criterion. I personally know of a non-graduate teacher who was a master teacher and was even teaching the trainee teachers in NIE. She really went many many extra miles to help her students. We need good teachers like this, not just graduate teachers. So, non-graduates do make excellent teachers.

I recall my younger day experience when working in an MNC, where good engineers were usually promoted to management positions as a form of reward for their long service with the company and soon after that, the managers were severely critised for doing a lousy job. Why? The answer is simple. Not all engineers make good managers. Period. Some people are more technically-inclined while some are more people-oriented. Don't put the right people at the wrong job. In the same token, with all due respect to those with PhDs, not all PhD holders teach well. Having a good solid head knowledge and knowing how to transfer the head knowledge to students in a way that is practical to and understood by the students are entirely two different things. Not all graduates make good teachers!

In the early 80's, there was a big talk about graduates marrying graduates and the offsprings would be more intelligent. I am sure we have personally witnessed many cases that prove the contrary and there are also many intelligent students from parents who are not so highly educated. Not all graduates produce smart children.

The media had previously reported instances of local graduates not being able to work well at the workplace even though they were academically qualified. Not all graduates work well.

What the teaching profession needs is first, the heart, then the brain; first the passion, then the mission.

Packaging is important in creating FIRST IMPRESSION...

This is a gift from my in-laws, bought from Taiwan during their recent holiday trip. It is a box of 10 "Green Peas" Cakes with a very impressively elegant packaging which would undoubtedly have left a great first impression on the tourists' minds. It makes a wonderful and classic gift. Whether the pastry itself tastes great or not is secondary because most of the customers are tourists who may or may not come back for the second time. At least, the packaging is attractive and appealing. But, to be fair, the pastry itself tastes reasonably good if you do not have a natural dislike for green peas products.

Simple gadget to make your lime or lemon juice...

If you like to make your own fresh lime juice or lemon juice, but hate squeezing the limes or lemons with your hand, this gadget would be just for you. It is quite an innovative design.

Some health and environmental concerns brought about by some religious rituals...

In a multi-religious society like Singapore, tolerance is the key to harmonious co-existence of believers of the various religions. Religious practices and rituals are supposed to be something rather personal. And, most religions encourage doing good and not causing harm to others as part of their fundamental teachings and a way of life for their followers.

A typical situation that arises regularly is the burning of the incense papers performed by many Chinese who practise the Chinese traditional beliefs and religions. Such activities take place on various Chinese festivals and more so during the Seventh Month (Hungry Ghosts) Festival.

With all due respect to the various religions and their followers, I am not sure if people who carry out such burning realise that the rate of asthmatic attacks and breathing difficulties increases drastically during those festive seasons and some of them were even hospitalised because of the air pollution that triggered their attacks. Would that be considered causing harm to others? Most sufferers would tolerate the agony in silence under the banner of Religious Harmony. Would a religion with its best intent, allow such harm to be inflicted on others especially through air pollution created by its religious activities, when people basically have no control over the air they breathe into their lungs? As I am writing this blog, the polluted air with burning smell is filling my room. By town councils providing the big bins for burning the incense papers, does it mean that they endorse such religious practice? Does the Ministry of Environment take issue with the air pollution caused by such burning? What is the government's stand on this vis-a-vis the Religious Harmony Act?

Besides the air pollution, there is also environmental pollution. Often, heaps of ashes were piling up in the middle of pedestrians' pathways after the burning rituals. Also, the ashes from the bins were usually blown off by the wind and get into those residential units at the lower floors of the HDB flats. It does cause lots of inconvenience to those residents.

Just thinking aloud, would the followers of such religions spare a thought for and be more merciful towards others in terms of health and environmental concerns? Are there no other alternatives that are more environmental-friendly and yet do not compromise the religious principles? It is known that some have replaced oil lamps with the electrical equivalent and fresh flowers with artificial ones. Would the religious leaders of the concerned faiths provide the necessary leadership for change? Would the Religious Harmony Act be reviewed to address such issues? Would the burning be confined to a certain area beyond the residential compounds, similar to what has been done under the No-Smoking Law. Blatantly speaking, would these followers burn the incense papers in their own house so they could confine the ritual and the resulting air pollution to within their own residence? Obviously, they wouldn't like the idea. So, according to a Chinese cultural teaching, it is said, "Do not give to others what you personally do not want."

NRIC registration in school now ... better late than never.

It was reported on Channel NewsAsia that "from this year, Singapore students who turn 15 can register for their National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) at school, instead of going down to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) Building at Kallang Road."

Frankly, I thought this no-rocket-science idea or arrangement should have been thought out and implemented long ago when almost the entire 15-year-old cohort is in schools. Well, it is better late than never. I think the person who came out with this idea and decision should still be commended.

By the way, under the law, it is mandatory for Singapore citizens and permanent residents to register for their NRICs when they reach 15 years old.

Would the school ranking be different IF ...?

The following paragraph was taken from the Ministry of Education (MOE) website concerning School Ranking System:

"Nevertheless, the ranking system in its present form may have led to an over-emphasis on examination performance, at the expense of a more holistic and rounded education. It may also be entrenching conventional approaches to education, and inhibiting schools from exploring approaches which may help develop their students' abilities, e.g. in innovation and creative thinking, but have no assurance of producing superior examination results."

In recent years, MOE has made changes to broaden the school ranking system, so as to support and encourage schools in their efforts to provide an all-round education.

But, I always have a puzzling thought on the significance of the ranking. I am not sure if top ranking schools such as Raffles Institution would still be ranked top if it were to take in the worst of the PSLE candidates; on the contrary, put the top PSLE students in a neighbourhood school and see if the neighbourhood school would emerge top. So, my point is, "what makes the school ranked top, is it the quality of the students or the quality of the school? You may like to ponder.

Accident - "Beyond One's Expectation"

It is so heart-wrenching to read about so many accidents every day that happen not just here in Singapore but abroad as well. Many families have lost their loved ones. The latest was the Bangkok Pub Blaze that happened on the New Year's Day and just across the Causeway, four friends died as their car slammed into bridge pillar.

The word "Accident" in Chinese Language ( yi wai) literally means "Beyond One's Expectation". It is true! Nobody expects accident to happen, but it could just happen anytime, usually without ample notice. Some accidents can be prevented by being more cautious and careful on our part; but some are just beyond our control. For example, a person may be waiting for a bus at the bus shelther but if a motorist suddenly loses control and rams his car towards the bus shelter and hits the waiting passenger, there is nothing much the passenger can do.

My mother used to say, "Setting out in a car is like going into the battle field, the risk of death is always there." But, that does not mean that we stop going out of the house, driving a car or taking a plane. Even if we stay at home, accidents may happen at home, too.

So, at the end of the day, if we have taken every precautionary measure and accident still happens, we just have to accept it as what many called fate, or some call it the will of God.

You mean we are NOT GRACIOUS enough?

Singapore prides itself for many firsts in the world and we can get a good list of them. I think we are also the first to have Courtesy campaign. Obviously, when we have such a campaign, it simply suggests that we are not courteous enough. The same rationale applies to Safety campaign, Productivity campaign and Quality campaign just to name a few.

Next, I think we are also not kind enough, so we have the Singapore Kindness Movement. Lately, a bank officer quit his job to start a non-profit organisation aimed at mobilising a "Gracious Movement" here in Singapore. So, it means that we are still not gracious enough.

As a matter of fact, I think we are not showing enough of our second natures. All these second natures should be part of our upbringing at home. It should also have been given a higher level of importance and priority and be taught and imparted to school children from young as a part of the so-called holistic education in schools and they should be the desired outcomes of education in schools. These are EQs.

But, I think we as a nation, have got carried away in developing the IQs and have in a way neglected the developing of EQs which are deemed to be more instrumental in a person's success in life. While a nation develops swiftly economically and technologically, we should often reflect and go back to the basic, root or core values.

At least, this is quite pleasant for reading...

The good written English used in this business flyer makes it pleasant for reading as compared to those published in my blog on 23 December 2008. Click on the picture below to have an enlarged view of the print.

Natural foods will become future medicines...

As Sky Fruits are widely known to enhance blood circulation, hence they are good for conditions such as Erectile Dysfunction or commonly referred to as Impotence that occurs in at least 40% of men after age 40. Many men have started taking Sky Fruit on a regular basis and have found the results encouraging. Incidentally, Sky Fruit is reportedly good for medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

About RESPECT...

Respect seems to be intentionally missing nowadays. In our daily lives, we would have probably witnessed many instances of disrespect for others amongst the adults and numerous instances of children's disrespecting their parents, exhibited either through verbal or physical assaults.

One of the most important things we should learn is respect. Respect is usually accorded by virtue of authority, seniority or civility. For example, we respect the Prime Minsiter or the School Principal because of their authority, we respect our parents or superiors because of their seniority (because they are more senior in the family tree or organisational chart) and we respect our peers and friends out of civility.

Some people say that respect must be earned. But, I feel that respect by virtue of authority and seniority just have to be accorded because the person is already given the authority or seniority by virtue by his position, whereas respect out of civility is the one type of respect that needs to be earned. That is usually the case among peers, friends or other members of the society. Until and unless the children understand the above differences, they may not know that they have to respect their parents no matter what.

Respect is an attitude. Being respectful helps a person succeed in building excellent interpersonal relationships in life, which are fundamental to success in life.

Education - Man's Best Inheritance

"Education is the basic element in the survival and prosperity of the state. The promotion of education should be the responsibility of every citizen. It is man's best inheritance." ... Lee Kong Chian

Against the backdrop of economic downturns, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong calls on parents not to compromise on education and Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong says investing in education is key when dealing with economic uncertainty.

"Education allows us to learn more skills. When you have the skills and you've got the knowledge, you have the whole world of jobs before you. So when the economy recovers, those with good education and skills will stand a better chance of getting a job" ... SM Goh Chok Tong

Sungei Pinang and Sungei Serangoon at low tide

The picture above shows the new flyover that is still under construction, spanning across Sungei Serangoon joining Buangkok Drive to part of Tampines Road presumably.


The picture above is Sungei Pinang at low tide, where it joins Sungei Serangoon. Some "fishermen" are frequently seen casting their fishing nets here for Tilapias.


The picture above shows a section of Sungei Serangoon at low tide. Some joggers usually come here in the evening after their jogs to catch some fresh "sea" air.

About Judging Others...

The following verses were extracted from Matthew Chapter 7 (Contemporary English Version) of the Holy Bible and they give a good perspective on Judging Others.

1. Don't condemn others, and God won't condemn you.
2. God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.
3. You can see the speck in your friend's eye, but you don't notice the log in your own eye.
4. How can you say, "My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye," when you don't see the log in your own eye?
5. You're nothing but show-offs! First, take the log out of your own eye. Then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend's eye.
6. Don't give to dogs what belongs to God. They will only turn and attack you. Don't throw pearls down in front of pigs. They will trample all over them.

New resolutions for 2009 as we reflect on 2008

Time and tide waits for no men. Whether we like it or not, we are already into the first day of 2009. As we reflect on 2008, I am sure we would be most grateful that we have lived the last 365 days despite so many uncertainties, challenges and even impossibilities in our personal or professional pursuits.

There are many areas of life that we could reflect on and as we do so, our hearts would be filled with thanksgiving. The seven key areas would include our physical health, mental health, spiritual health, family life, social life, career/business/study life and last but not least our community involvement.

We should evaluate the results attained in each area against the goals we have set for 2008. As we take a good look at the results, give ourselves a pat on the shoulder if we have done well; but just in case we have missed the mark, don't be too discouraged, find out the reason why and start working hard towards achieving it in 2009.

Having a good reflection and self-examination would enable us to know what we have done right and what we could have done better. We should then make new resolutions in each of the seven areas of life as mentioned above, set new and higher goals and standards and take on 2009 with strong faith, great confidence and renewed enthusiasm.

It can only get better. May all our dreams come true in 2009! Cheers!