News quickie

This is just a quick one. I don't normally comment on local news articles because I don't quite believe what they publish anyway (read: not credible). However, I just can't help it when I saw this article published on Channel NewsAsia. Click here for it.

Anyway, long story short, I'm just really interested in the last 2 paragraphs, where MM Lee is quoted as follows:

He said: "I do not measure myself by the yardsticks of Amnesty International or Freedom House or Reporters Without Frontiers. I measure myself by the objectives of governance of my people. What must the government do? It must establish a system where there is peace, stability and opportunities for everybody to live a full life, which means good health, good housing, good jobs, good education, good hospitals.

"There is nothing which you want to read that you cannot read in Singapore. Everybody is on the Internet, everybody has got broadband, you have got cable television, access to all the information, you can blog, you can do anything you like."

While I have nothing against his personal yardsticks, I certainly don't agree with some of the statements in the second paragraph. For instance, "There is nothing which you want to read that you cannot read in Singapore." I'm dying for a copy of Playboy or Penthouse but hey, neither is available here. Also, I'd love to read the book entitled "Escape From Paradise" but unfortunately, it's banned here too. And I'm quite sure that the elderly who are living alone in those one-room flats have great difficulty in owning a computer, much less being "on the Internet", "has got broadband", "access to all the information" and able to "blog".

Heart hardened II

For the past few weeks, I've been frequenting the ABC market but never did I once encounter the elderly man again. Perhaps I went there early, perhaps he has moved on to hawk his wares elsewhere, perhaps...

After the NKF fiasco, I'm pretty skeptical of charity organizations, be them big or small. I figured out that unless I could see where my donations are going, I could've have jolly well been taken for a ride. Thus, I made it a point not to donate to any charity, regardless of the sob stories or poor tales I hear.

Yet, when presented with an opportunity to lend a helping hand to the elderly man, I dismissed it carelessly. I can see where my money is going to and he is the direct recipient of the full amount, so why didn't I have a heart and buy the tissue papers from him? I guess it's time for me to walk the talk and practice what I preach.

Heart hardened I

I discovered a new lunching spot yesterday. At the suggestion of Richard, I ventured across the overhead bridge that spanned the AYE at the back of the office block. To my surprise, I found myself right smack in the middle of small light-industry estate - and lots of eateries. I was exploring a nearby hawker centre - I think it's called ABC Bricksworks hawker center or something similar - when I found a stall selling fish soup.

There was a long queue there and typical Singaporean senses immediately alerted me to the remote possibility that food being sold there might be worth a try. Since Dear was a fan of fish soup, I thought I might give it a try today and if it's good, perhaps I could bring her to eat it.

And so lunchtime came and I eagerly embarked on my journey across the chasm of tar and speeding metal, homing in for the hawker centre. There was no queue, which made sense, as I was early. I placed my order for a soup mixture of fried fish and sliced fish. Killing two birds with one stone but at the expense (yeah, pun intended) of higher expenses.

As I was savouring the tasty dish, I looked around and noticed the growing crowd. Not that it matters, since I already have a seat. As I was about to finish my meal, a scrawny, elderly man appeared at my side, holding out 3 packets of tissue paper in his right hand. I didn't give much thought to this "tissue seller" and waved him off. What happened next proved to be disturbing to me.

He went to the table in front of me, where a middle-aged and elderly lady were seated. The elderly lady had her back towards me but from her silver crown and attire, it isn't that difficult to see that she is anything but young. She reached for her handbag the moment the elderly man approached the table and took out some coins. I didn't see how much it was but the elderly man certainly looked happy. As he swept the coins from the table, he muttered his thanks profusely. He left the 3 packets of tissue paper on the table and reached into the plastic bag that hung loosely on his left arm for 3 more before moving on to the next table. The two dames simply resumed their meals and conversation.

As I observed the elderly man making his rounds to different tables, I was wondering how the elderly lady might have felt seeing her contemporary hawking packets of tissue paper to scrape a living, while she is enjoying a nice meal. It was then when I felt a pang of guilt. I reflected on my actions and I felt ashamed of myself. To think that I actually waved the elderly off, without so much as a look. It was one thing to reject someone; it's another to be callously rude. Perhaps I wasn't expecting anyone to buy from the elderly man, which is why when the elderly lady did, I felt real bad. I could have done the same but I simply did not.

Looking at the shrinking silhouette of elderly man, I contemplated going up to him to apologize for my actions and even, to pass him the 2 dollar note that is tucked away in my shirt's breast pocket. I closed my eyes momentarily, took a deep breathe and stood up. Then, with heavy strides, I walked in the opposite direction.

Coffee talk and people walk

It seems that the culture of HP is quite fond of "coffee talks" - short, sharing sessions where managers share stuff with employees; it's really nothing more than those communication sessions that is oh-so advocated in those thick management textbooks. And whenever such a session is held, we'll all walk towards the usual gathering spot inexplicably - much like how salmon goes back to the same breeding ground to spawn their offspring - hence, the title of this post.

I had the pleasure of attending yet another coffee talk this afternoon, though I was not informed formally through email. Perhaps they left me out of the mailing list, perhaps no one bothered with a lowly employee like me; whatever it is, it matters not. At about 3pm, I saw colleagues streaming towards the elevators and given their herd size, it meant only one thing: I was to follow them too.

At the coffee talk, my boss's boss, Shalyn, painted a rosy picture. And she had lotsa numbers, charts and facts to substantiate her points too; absolutely no smoke grenades thrown here. I was listening intently but I could see some who had glazed eyes just simply staring at the screen. Were they bored? Could be. Did they find the stellar performance that the group had achieved irrelevant? Maybe. Or perhaps it's the dreadful Monday's blues exerting its insidious effect upon their minds? Whatever the reason is, I won't know and I'm not too keen to know either.

I am, however, keen to know what the improved performances meant for me. Which is why I was paying attention. After all, it makes no sense to tell me that "the group has made X dollars and improved Y% and achieved on growth of Z% and we will be looking forward to the new challenge of A". These do not translate into tangible returns for me, to say the least. At most, I know that we are doing good, excellent even. Which brings us to the next question: "So what?"

Towards her closing, Shalyn did give thanks to all of us and mention of a "bigger budget for the year end event". I don't know about the rest but this is the part that I was waiting for. It was a brief statement, nothing fanciful nor exciting, though she did say that it will be better than last year's. So, there you have it. An one hour session to inform the employees of the spectacular performance and... That's really about it. I am not sure how others felt but it definitely left me with a sense of wanting for closure.

Anyway, the session was concluded and we walked back to our respective cubicles and resume our normal lives. And at the end of it, all I could remember was how well the group had done and the vague promise of a "better year end event with a bigger budget". How cool is that?