Zombie Republic

Have you stopped and looked at people around you sometimes?

I've come to a scary realization that there are a lot of zombies in Singapore. I am quite worried that I might end up becoming one. I am close, I tell you.

Have you noticed a scenario like this?

Someone trips on the bus, you see many hands stretched out near that person. But all the owners of these helping hands have expressionless faces. Once the near-victim is standing, and safe. The hands retract. No smile, no 'Thank you', no 'You're welcome'.

How about this?

A cleaning lady clearing tables at a food court. You say 'Thank you'. And she snaps out of her zombie curse, and looks at you in a funny way.

Sometimes she might actually break from her curse and start conversing with you. But most of the time, she goes back to her state. Looking down, at the piece of cloth she is wiping the table with, with a scowl on her face.

What is happening? I think all the debate about raising our service standards would come to naught if we can't stop the zombie curse. We would just have trained zombies, reading lines, saying thank yous and have a nice days.

It's the frenzied pace we Singaporeans live at la... I think. Anyway this reframing makes me realise that sometimes it's not that Singaporeans don't care, but that they are not aware. Which is actually worse, but makes me feel better about people...

I've been robbed... by the BANK!

If you have a DBS Cashline account, be very very wary. (Ok... that sounds odd)

Unlike Credit Cards, the interest is charged daily, irregardless of when you receive the statement. Meaning to say, you sign the cheque, transaction is made 20 days ago, you just received the statement, you have to pay 20 effective days of interest, at 17.5% interest p.a.

Ok, my maths really lousy, but that's a LOT OF MONEY LOR!!! In my case, for a loan of $138, in 13 days, it is close to $1 already. Thankfully I called them up immediately after receiving the statement, if I blur blur, and wait a few days more, will be even worse.

Despite being as careful as I could, I've been robbed... again... by the bank.

In the name of competition...

Now countless pleas have gone unheeded. It's an argument that is old, but yet unanswered.

Is the privatisation of public transportation really for the good of Singapore?

The situation now is the rising prices for taking public transport. Now i'll just list down some of my observations.

What they say :

• Rising oil prices and other operation costs.

What we see :

• Duplication of resources. An MRT engineer at SMRT does almost exactly the same thing as an SBSTransit engineer.
• Wasteful 'competition'.

• A free shuttle service is provided for commuters between dhoby ghaut, little india and chinatown.
• The route is already provided for by SBSTransit's north east line. Thus, adding a free shuttle service is a wasteful cost to SMRT.
  

What they say :

• Introducing more than one service provider introduces competition, thereby forcing existing providers to become more efficient, and provide a greater level of service.

What we see :

• Unique routes. To get from point to point, there are not really a lot of real alternatives to take. Hence, each company has a monopoly on their individual routes, so there really is no real incentive to improve efficincies.

• This is a point I will not be able to prove. As a commuter, I see no tangible improvement in the service provided by either company. The grumpy impatient driver driving the bus I have take ten years ago is the same grumpy, impatient driver that he is, only a little grumpier and a little older. Previously, he was a TransIsland driver. Now, he's an SMRT driver. Same difference...
  

Before you think that I am blaming the 'gahmen' for wasting money etc... Let me try to balance the argument up a little.

The short term suffering of the middle to lower income aside, our 'gahmen' is once again guilty of nothing more than the usual foresight at 'doing what's best for the nation'.

Privatisation allows the companies to venture out of our tiny red dot, to do business.

Profit-motivated companies will face less restrictions at venturing than a stat board would. SingTel is doing this. SPServices is doing the same. DelGro Corporation, the parent company of SBS Transit is actively doing business overseas as well.

So, don't expect the gahmen to Nationalize (define :- Opposite of Privatize) our public transport companies, ever.

In the end, "LPPL"... Logic still works out for the greater good of singapore. Aiyah, poor people in Singapore, work harder la. Don't take bus lor, walk lah... GST increase? Work harder la. Don't eat lor. Charge us for air? Don't breathe lor.

ICT Day Seven - Ten : Out Pro lor!

Finally out processed today. The hardest day to get through by far. Back hurts like hell today. Spent the entire morning playing 'bluff'. Tricked Michael Thiam like crazy.

Questions :-
1) Why did the entire battalion have to play cohesion games at the very last hour of the very last day of ICT, when the rest of the day was spent doing nothing?

For cohesion. Depends on what cohesion means. The entire bunch of reservists felt cohesive enough. As I was f**king out loud about the inefficiency of the out process. Someone from another company, another platoon whom I have never seen before told me to "relax... last day liao. Just tong finish this stupid thing, and get out."

2) Why were meals indented for the entire battalion for the entire ICT when we could have left early for most of the days?

Must be because SFI kao bei that they waste resources and earn too little, since most reservist personnels do not want their food. "Right hand pocket, put to the left hand pocket"

3) Why survey is done before out processing?

Because out processing is the most time consuming, and has the most inefficiency.

4) Video cameras and phones are really banned in camps because of security meh? In out ICT camp, need security one meh?

No.

SAF Spent a lot of money on these series of commercials to make soldiers look damn garang...



some bloody idiots make stupid video clips... makes soldiers look damn gu niang...



Aiyah... whatever it is... its over. Now its time to focus back on work. and focusing on getting my back healed by Monday.

ICT Day Six : Report Sick

Nothing much to say. Except that in one day, I managed to read half of the book I had started one week ago. "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" by John Gray.

I stayed overnight in bunk on Sunday. Reported sick on Monday. I must say that the waiting time at the Medical Centre had shortened tremendously.

I used to complain to anyone who would listen about my bad experience with the medical centre last year. The system at the medical centre in camp was extremely inefficient. I had reported sick last ICT in the morning at 8.30a.m, and only received my status printout and medication at 3p.m. in the afternoon. By 10a.m. I had seen the MO, and was waiting for the results. Having waited an hour, I asked the medic on duty periodically for the results, starting from 11a.m.

By the fourth time I asked, at around 12.30p.m. The medic told me that everyone went for lunch. (Including the medic who was around at 12p.m. whom I was checking with constantly) Somehow, he, and the others who was there, neglected to tell me. I was waiting like a idiot for so long, and they happily went for lunch without telling the supposedly sick patient. (I had a fever, by the way.)

Anyway, this time round, the whole process at the medical centre took less than one hour. I got my "Attend C" status (can go home) and some medication by 9.30 a.m.

But why could I finish half a book, you ask?

This time it is the procedure of my unit that is the problem. Since my company is off for exercise, I come under the jurisdiction of the ME Platoon for that day. However, the ME Platoon was leaving in the afternoon, they were handing over the 'sick party' (the lost and wounded) to a Warrant Officer in charge of the ICT unit.

Thus "the sick" were told to wait for instructions as we were to have a briefing with him. Estimated time of arrival? 11.30 a.m.

I was told, "Why don't you sit around the office, and relax? We will be leaving at noon, then the warrant officer would brief all of you."

The time was 9.45a.m. when he said that. 2 hours away from time of arrival of the esteemed warrant O'. Of course I didn't wait. I went to bunk to finish half of my book, had a short nap, and still made it in time to meet my guardian for the next 3 days.

At the office, the warrant officer basically said that, since the rest of the unit is out for exercise, we cannot possibly join them. However, we cannot possibly "zhuo bor lan" (his exact words) either.

I am not sure if he got confused over our medical status, or whether he was genuinely being nice to us sick folks. In the end, he allowed the "Attend C" to go home and report to him after their "Attend C" status is over, but asked those on other excuse to report to him thrice per day, although meals were not provided.

Whatever, I was just happy to leave. My back was killing me, I was coughing pretty badly, and the MO gave me lozenges and gargling solution for it. Up till today, the medical centre still maintain the policy of 'no antibiotics'.

I am staring to sound like a old lady. (Literally...)

ICT Day Two : Day at the Range, Leadership in the SAF

Spent the whole day at the range.

Interesting new format now, makes the whole shoot feel more like an arcade game. It just got harder to get Marksman now.

Anyway, got a call from Chye Kwang to tell me everything is smooth in office. Glad to know that everything is ok, even though Teck Yew is on leave too.

Just got home. Its 10.30pm by the time I reached. I stay within 15 mins bus ride away from the camp. I can't imagine the others.

Tomorrow book in again at 7.00 a.m.

Anyway, I noticed something in the range opposite to ours today. Another company was having a shoot. A 2LT officer was arguing with a Staff Sergeant over something to do with ops.

Watching from a distance, of course, I could not really figure out what they were talking about. However, this triggered an insight I got from watching commanders lead in my years of the NS experience. Being of the rank of a corporal, I could, obviously, watch everything, and just pass judgement... but I have seen some really bad commanders in my NS cycle.

The kind of commander that totally sucks is a combination of

• one who cannot say no to the superiors, and is "super siao on" at trying to impress
  

• one who cannot admit that he does not have as much experience in certain areas as, say, a NCO, who could have been in service for more years than he, and could have a better approach to do things, or have an insight on situations.
  

The problem with this combination is that, on one hand, while trying to impress his superiors, he could fall flat on his face because he might not be realistic when setting a task, and his subordinates fail at achieving the unrealistic targets that he promised. On the other hand, he would also lose any respect that the subordinates originally had of him.

So? Complete failure...

Of course, in the Army, subordinates cannot leave his charge so easily, neither could they disobey his orders directly, so things would go on looking fine on the surface.

In the long run, the net result would be inefficiency. You would have people who cannot lead at all, in leadership positions. These people would not leave, since they know that they are inefficient, and would not survive in the real world. Instead, they would serve long and well in their positions and depend on their ranks to lead.

Result?

Inefficient SAF.
Fucked up person who will be ill equipped for the real world when age finally catches up and he has to leave the forces. His only skill? Managing people, which we know he can't do very well anyway.

By the way, I am not really passing any judgement on such leaders. By the sixth one I meet, I have already gone past that. I just find it kind of sad?

There are a lot of personnel stuck in these kinds of position. The whole problem is... many of them might not even realise the truth, since they are sheltered by the system.

Thankfully its not like I am in the Army. It is much better in the 'real world'.

The haze... Do we have a right to blame?

Just a quick note after such a long time of not posting.

Been busy lately, and really pushing myself to write down my thoughts before I lose them.

Anyway, the stupid haze had been coming back and forth for weeks now. Who is to blame for this? The Indonesian government? The farmers?

I don't know. But I was downright dissapointed with Singaporeans who added to the problem. Last Friday was the Chinese Lantern Festival. Was at West Coast Park with a couple of friends for a barbeque.

Saw some people throwing sparkling fireworks onto trees. It had not been raining for days now.

Dry trees + Sparklers

=

Fire + Smoke + Burnt Tree

Wah lau... I mean, at least when Indonesian farmers are doing the burning, it is for a reason, right? They want to clear the land for their crops, right?

What's with these Singaporeans? Do it because they damn bor liao or what? The funny thing is ... these are probably the people who kao beh about the haze ... and the loudest lor...