Fall colors in Portland

Hate the cold.. But I'm loving the colors. My first fall in US. Having been to US many times but terrified of the low temperatures, I always chose late spring or summer to visit America and miss the appendage freezing moments. Any impending regrets? I seriously hope not... But bball in such cold weather is really painful... And winter has not even started.

Hard Knocks

Been wanting to post for a long time, but never having the time or will to complete my thoughts which has been on my mind for a while now. Some days I just want to update on my current busy schedule, travelling a bit for work and home errands. If you follow my other blog, you probably know which countries I have been popping by; and possibly because of that, the blog is gaining traction and views.

What I really want for X'mas

I seem to have everything I want, that's because one can never have all the Jordan shoes, all the toys, all the sport cars in the world...especially when one is contented and out of space; what I really want for X'mas is something I need.

I finally got what I needed...and now I am complete.
Though I wouldn't mind a Tron toy, especially a Light Cycle! Or a new house...

NBA All Star Weekend

Get ready for the NBA All Star Weekend.


Oh and yeah...Happy Lunar New Year to all my friends!

Happy 2010 everyone

View from the 59th floor..compliments from Vandalin! 

The year has begun...and just want to get a head start on the New Year blog..2010 here I come!!
To my buddy and his boo. Have a blessed marriage and a wonderful journey together! Let's party tonight!

Optimism in my perspective

Back in the school days, it is quite often I get a "He is a happy-go-lucky...or the well-liked in class, especially amongst his classmates..." comment on my report card, which I intentionally left out the full picture that I was rather disruptive cracking jokes to girls and I am seen often to be bored displaying symptoms of ADD which requires me to pay more attention during lessons. And the truth of the matter is that my teachers were more than kind with those remarks, yet nothing escapes my sharp observant mom going: "You must be creating a lot of trouble for your teachers!" More often, the truth is found out during Parent-Teacher sessions or when my Principal/VP calls my folks in. Basically the following words were never found in my report cards:


Examples of Positive Adjectives that Describe Children Being Used by Teachers:

Considerate     Well-mannered     Responsible

Fair                  Friendly               Brave

Thoughtful        Thorough             Self-confident

Intelligent         Cooperative         Helpful

Honest             Respectful           Efficient

Talented           Self-disciplined   Sincere

Responsible Hard-working    Dependable

Creative           Generous           Kindhearted

Mature             Curious             Artistic

Enthusiastic

Bloggers Upfront

Well apparently bloggers now have to be clean about their write ups.

BLOGGERS and users of other new media may soon have to say so upfront if they receive gifts or money for their write-ups.

The Media Development Authority (MDA) has said it is looking at stricter disclosure rules.

Just for readers who think I work for Singapore Slingers since I do write up quite a bit about them. I am just a big basketball fan with nice friends like Nic and Daphne who got myself and Jase media passes to take pictures at courtside which we use for our blogs. So seriously no biased opinions here, other than critiques in hope for a better Singapore Slingers team.

And for all other reviews henceforth etc, I receive no monetary rewards or gifts in any way. Pretty much - unsponsored. But I do not mind being sponsored but upfront fact for any potential sponsors - I am known to many to be frank and in-your-face kinda guy. So expect nothing less but the truth.

Gift or Curse?

When I was younger, I wished I had super memory etching every formula there is in school. In the University courses I took, where open book is uncommon, the number of formula for one paper might sometimes exceed 30 and they go like this:

A simple one on Doping Concentration: C(z,t) = Q/sqrt(piDt)*exp[-(z/a)^2] where fixed dose Q= a/sqrt(pi)*c0, diffusion length a= 2* sqrt (Dt), where D = diffusivity of element and t = time, z is junction depth = a* sqrt [ln(Q/Nd*sqrt piDt) and Nd = phosphorus junction depth. This constitute to remembering one formula!

Yet some days you wish you do not remember things which agonises with every detail.

These 4 persons have the mental powers to remember every detail in their life like a VCR. A gift or curse? You decide.

Numbers changes with perspective - so think

I love numbers. Love maths since primary school, enjoyed it through my academic experience. Did well, mostly As except one stage where basketball over took importance over everything, did so badly in Secondary 2 that it scared my parents and they sent for a home tutor.

But it was only when I started working in semiconductor industry before I realised numbers appear differently to everyone. How we crunch it, how we view it seems to make a different statement. This intrigues me further.

I used to do data analysis with semiconductor figures of gate oxide thickness, processing time of individual process steps, etch rate times etc...the list goes on and on. Think about how your IC chips in your computer or mobile phone come about. Hundreds of process steps, thousands of recipes, equipment, engineers and technicians handling - add these up and that makes data analyses in my job the toughest way of finding a defect or a particle in the chip which made it fail.

I recently had dinner with my US visiting VP of HR and the questions he ask entails our views of Singapore and he reveal he was a hip-swinging Woodstocker in the 70s with the V-sign going "Peace!". I realised my views were similar to his - we seek to challenge, never settling for being #1 and we need to be there to give an alternative view, to oppose not for the sake of opposing, but to seek the truth, the better solution. In some sense, I see his passion similar to mine.

Sometimes this leads to being labelled a maverick in many ways, from political views to even basketball teams. I realised if one has a passion for something he/she believes in, they tend to have views on it. I then look to my female colleague whom she prefers a status quo, everything remains as is - with the government, with life. Her answer to what would you change in Singapore if you have a chance to do it was - nothing.

Are we that perfect? I have to agree with this recent statistics that has surfaced.
Singapore is ranked third in the world by the World Bank in terms of GDP (PPP) per capita ($49,288). (source is from Wikipedia) We have a sovereign wealth fund which is one of the highest in the world, though recent losses have depleted ~30% of it, while many other funds have reaped a 30% increase in the equities market. We have the highest paid government civil servants in the world which will ensure that corruption is to the minimal.

But these numbers do not mean a thing if you look at it from another perspective. Something perhaps my female colleague has failed to see and quite often ask me why I am so biased - I forgot to tell her that I wonder the same about her. Our income gap, as measured by the Gini Coefficient, is the highest among the 20 most developed economies. This means the wealth distribution is of high disparity. So while our GDP is high, this is because the minority at the top has earned even more money while the poor remained or became poorer. You would think how could that be, the per capita reflects an average salary. Yes - average meaning we sum it up and divided by the working population. If the poor get poorer, with the rich earning more, it will make up for the shortfall. With the looks of cars queuing up to get into the latest shopping haven Ion @ Orchard, you will then realise there is no recession and where is the poor. Well you will need to search but not too far off. I have seen homeless people sleeping at City Link near the Esplanade side, they will not be there on weekends, but on Fridays as I made my way to my usual coffee place, they will be there. You can see the videos I posted earlier of old people rummaging through bins looking for food or valuables. Our foreign import policies have depress wages, made more Singaporeans lose jobs because of their cheaper costs which increases revenues of coffeeshop owners, engineering companies etc. Did my female colleague realise that foreign workers being alone, can survive sharing a room with 8 others, their eventual place of residence will be elsewhere etc. Did she realise that inflation is a foreign word to the back-broken aunties picking up cans, she just need to know where to buy $1 chicken rice and that $0.50 cannot get her on a bus ride anymore.

I am disheartened by my colleague's lack of passion in this sense. Our government need to extend out that hand when we know many old people refuse to take handouts because this nation builders of our past and heritage have pride. More pride than our civil servants who continuously justify "corruption-free" reasons with grossly over paid salaries. They make me spit at the words "civil" and "public service". And I blame my colleague for not voicing out, for thinking that not rocking the boat is the better choice; thus not caring about the fact that not everything is fine in Singapore. We cannot get complacent with the forever #1 thinking here. As we all know Singapore has already lost #1 airport status, we also know cleaners are sleeping in there because seriously Changi Airport Terminal 3 is so quiet, I wish students will all go there to study to give it some life. One day, be it Seoul Incheon International Airport, someone out there will surpass you and it is not because we are spending less money on our airports or ministers. But because of complacencies. Too much gratitude, wrong history learnings attribute success to a selected few and hence they have so much power in their hands. We worsen the situation by placing them onto that ivory tower, unable to see the lesser mortals.

Everyone has but one vote, though we all know that without a level playing field, many of us have yet to cast a vote, especially me despite over 10 years of eligibility. If there is one thing I would like to change in Singapore; it is not for a level playing field for the oppositions, it is not for more NMPs like Sadasivan who has stepped up and make me believe there is hope; but I wish for a discerning voter who can make sense of the numbers that the state media feeds you. Do not look at the 2006 Happiness study and think that we are a happy lot, look at the 2009 one and decide for yourself. So they might break up the population with GRCs, they might dangle carrots or cash rebates, but to the discerning Singaporean - we should know better. So think before you vote, it decides your future generations - the policies made now affects them as well.

It is just numbers

Singapore's population grew 5.5% last year to reach 4.84 million, due largely to the influx of foreigners. The number of residents (Singapore citizens and permanent residents (PR)), rose 1.7% to 3.64 million in June last year, said a report released by the National Population Secretariat (NPS) recently. There were 79,167 new PRs in 2008 - up 15,540 from 63,627 the previous year and 20,513 new citizens, an increase of 3,179 from 17,334 over the same period.

What worries me is that the governments pursuit for such numbers is perhaps meant to beef up our replacement numbers. Singapore's total feritility rate of 1.28 in 2008 remained below the replacement level of 2.1. Besides, China and India, I believe the bulk of the developed countries such as Korea and Japan are also facing such problems. But unlike Singapore, they do not lower their criteria to allow immigrant entries.

My first thoughts on this is, can our resources (prosperity) support the intended 6 million population target? Will the new citizens/PRs be here to stay? Let's call them CPRs.

Quite often I heard of friends and aquiantanaces making plans to leave Singapore. In search of the greener pastures. Even housing agents have bought bungalows in Johor in hope of a better lifestyle in Malaysia in time to come. Will the CPRs be also making plans to leave Singapore for greener pastures in the future? What the existing citizens observe now, is most likely to observe in time to come. The push factors causing people to leave, if left untouched, will still be the reason 10-20 years down the road. The CPRs left their motherland with ease, and came into Singapore with ease as well. What is to say they will stay 10-20 years down the road? A bond? We paid for their education, provided them with subsidies and jobs etc, is gratitude suppose to be the anchor? I hope the thought process of our HR retention scheme in our Singapore Inc company is thorough enough.

Too often I have heard of many foreign scholars using Singapore as launch pads to go to Australia, US, etc. What makes those places so attractive? Should we be looking into the pull factors instead? For one, I know the migrant policies in Australian and Canada make it hard for entry as compared to Singapore's.

I believe the focus is to listen to the people and stop the mass exodus of the true blue existing Singaporeans; and also raise their migrant entry policies and ensure the new CPRs become stayers. But we all know why the government choose to please the new CPRs more than the current whiny lot. Jet Li and Gong Li being Singaporeans does not mean anything but a number. Yes, they can afford 20 million bungalows here, just as easy as they can purchase one in Malibu or Hawaii.

I think the government should stop looking at figures and numbers and seriously listen with their heart. The disastrous outlook if the new immigrants like the existing whiny-fed-up citizens all choose to treat Singapore like a hotel, where there is only money to be earned and nothing to belong to. What is to stop them from leaving? Certainly a third causeway will not.

Engagement

Sometimes I get obstinate and insist on my point of views. My hope is just to engage my friends. I may sometimes get anal about things because seriously I do not see a crime highlighting the fact that the poor and the unjustified do not have a voice in Sillypore or many other parts of the world.

Similarly to performing charity acts by donating to the poor begging on the roadside only to find out they are on social visit passes living in hotels, dressing well and perhaps wearing gold wrist watches. To turn sympathy into money-making schemes is not just wrong, it should be a crime. True that no one can stop a healthy man who decided to shave his head and don a robe, canvassing little strings or amulets for money. But in some sense it stopped me from donating after learning the truth.

I used to donate to flag days of all sorts, even performed quite a handful. I fervently donated to TT Durai's KNF golden taps, Rev. Monk-stunt-man wannabe of Ren Chi's assistant's shopping etc...
It's just sad knowing that we were all taken for fools. But in some sense there is no lives loss, or anyone hurt in that process of charity except stupid fund-raising stunt shows which only Mediacorp artistes were injured.



Turning back to the scenes of the movie "Slumdog Millionaire", not sure if you remembered the storyline, I hope that many did not just enjoy the cinematography and love story. The fact that many have thrown criticisms of the stark reality that the child stars are still living in the slums as the movie enjoys its resounding success. In the movie, we witness kids being taken off the streets and maimed or blinded in order to earn more from begging. I saw the reality of it when I was a kid traveling to Bangkok back in the 80s and my parents told me of what they do to those kids we see begging on the streets, my parents made me throw in some coins into their milk tins, perhaps in some ways to learn that I should give when I am able. But I swore never to donate ever again whenever I go to Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines etc. The need for knowledge in this sense is not just for your conscience's sake but for the little kid's sake. Yes, many have rebutted in my face saying it is just loose change, but the kidnappings, unjust deliberate mutilation is the result of the sympathy. In this context, when the giving stops, it stops. The kidnappers will realise it is no longer a lucrative act.

Thus I choose to continue pissing off my friends in order for engagement, if it is what it takes to get one to start thinking. What's most important is that the final goal is achieved.

Software agreements and PS3

I was trying to download a free viewer to read bonding diagrams which were generated by Autocad. Found it interesting I need to agree to this before I can download it -

Export Eligibility Requirements Please confirm:

I am not a citizen, national or resident of, and am not under the control of, the government of any country to which the United States has prohibited export of technical information, such as (as of 03/24/06): Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria.

I will not download or otherwise export or re-export the software, directly or indirectly, to the above-prohibited countries nor to citizens, national or residents of those countries.

I am not listed on the United States Department of Treasury list of Specially Designated Nationals, Specially Designated Terrorists, and Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers, nor am I listed on the United States Department of Commerce Table of Denial Orders.

I will not download or otherwise export or re-export the software, directly or indirectly, to persons on the above-mentioned lists.

I will not use the software for, and will not allow the software to be used for, any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, for the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons of mass destruction.

I understand the free viewer gives capability for, perhaps "risky" users to open up engineering diagrams - perhaps nuclear bomb-making schematics. So my point in this is, how can the above agreement, which I need to click yes before download, be limited from anyone from sending it to terrorists? Duh..ip tracking, monitor software sending, FTP uploads checks...but then again what's to stop a transfer using physical means like mailing an SD card/thumbdrive to those restricted countries above?
What's to stop me from encoding it to be rendered impossible file tracking and then send it off digitally?

Coincidentally, I used to work for an FPGA company which makes chips used for aerospace and military usage and we had to sign such export documents. Point to ponder then is who's to prevent these physical chips from arriving in the shores of such militants and terrorists? I remembered reading once that the restricted nations can easily buy like Sony PS3s and the processing speed of one quadrillion calculations per PS3 microprocesser chip can be combined and can be used to simulate the effects of nuclear explosions. Which I guess we know now how North Korea and Iran has been able to achieve nuclear power programs which is a deadly threat to the world. Buy PS3s!

Purpose of this thread is to show that the controls in place are laxed, why even have controls at all? The evil will always find ways to get what they want. So how can we actually deal with it?

Merry X'mas and a Happy New Year to all

Just before the year ends, I would like to enter my final 115th blog entry for the year compared to the 9 post I made from 2004 to 2007, I guess I made quite a progress.

This has been a tumultuous year for me, losing some good friends and going through tough experiences which only strengthened my belief that "What doesn't kill you only makes your stronger". It also marks good things such as the start of many new found friendships I made from attending a Singapore Slingers game and shooting a free throw amidst a drunkard state to win some $ to treat a bunch of bloggers.

Blogging has open many avenues of expression and I am just glad my name is briefly mentioned by my fav blogger Mr.Brown whom I have faithfully followed since my army days back in the 90s when his SNEs were downloaded on my PDA.

It was a year which I managed to travel quite a bit, start a new venture and recharged my soul and even gotten myself a great new job.

So I hope despite all the impending financial meltdowns and possible loss of the many things in such turmoil times - we could all sustain kinship and friendship. These are things which should mean something to all of us and not material wealth.

May all be blessed and stay tough in the darkest of times and may 2009 prove to be another refining fire which we would all walk away from - stronger we will emerge. I will be on leave from X'mas to New Year, so feel free to contact me for some hoops or food.

Missing

Well it has been a long time since I blog about the government, or social issues. But just a observation that our leaders seem to have lost touch with the citizens and might be suffering from EDD (empathy deficit disorder). From all the minibonds fiasco and loss of investments on our SGD185 billion treasure chest, we are seriously missing empathies and common sense. For more thought-provoking thoughts - check out this site.