Category: My Good Life

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Diary

So This Is Le Baroque …

New visitors of my site must have thought that I am quite a party animal – Attica, The Arena, and now Le Baroque. In fact, the Le Baroque visit was totally impromptu. My guitarist Jason has been talking about this new colleague of his for a long time (till now becomes ex-colleague) but I have yet had the chance to meet this “potential drummer” of ours. Being impatience that my band progresses much slower than I wish to be (quality of masculinity!), I took the initiative and asked Jason to introduce me to CW over email. Come to think of it, I don’t normally meet strangers without a course. But before I get into that, I have to share a phone conversation I had just an hour or two ago.

I woke up this morning felt like having a home delivered McDonald’s breakfast. So I called the hot-line. After waiting on the line for quite a bit …

Her: Good morning! This is Mc Delivery. Can I have your contact number please?
Me: (In my low and masculine voice coupled with the just-woke-up husky texture) Morning. My number is 6XXX-XXXX.

She paused, presumably looking at her screen …

Her: Is that … Ms Wong on the line …
Me: (Do I sound like a Ms Wong?!) Erm …
Her: (Giggle)
Me: (Speechless)

After that shocking survey I took, that was not funny.

Her: (Giggle) Can I take your order please? (Giggle)
Me: Sure … “Ms” Wong who is still sleeping wants a Egg McMuffin meal and …
Her: (Giggle)
Me: Mr Wong wants to have a Big Breakfast meal please. Thank you.
Her: (Giggle) Would you like … (giggle) … an apple pie for one dollar? (Giggle)

Not funny, so not funny. Stupid customer relationship system. Cynthia must be the one who placed the first order and from then on, my home number is now tagged to her.

Now, back to Le Baroque, all I know about CW from Jason is that he is an American, musically talented, and is now stationed in Singapore. And he plays drum! Okay, I have been hunting for a drummer for ages short of camping outside studios and nab any good drummers coming out the door. Perhaps that is what I should do. Cold calls, cold meetings, whatever it takes to make some progress. Ya baby. Do it like a man! Oh wait, I am a man.

I wanted to check out some places with good music. Jason recommend Le Baroque at Chijmes over the phone. So CW and I headed over to Chijmes. The thing is, it is actually fun to meet new friends. When we arrived at Le Baroque at 7.30pm, one of the waitress told us that the band would not start playing till 10.30pm. I thought we would have missed the band performance. I mean, how long would a meal and a few glasses of beer take between two strangers? Surprisingly, we left the bar just before midnight. The band was actually quite good though the music played was like back in the 70s or 80s. They have 1-for-1 beer selling at S$12 each (so S$6 for one) before 10pm.

CW is going to join us for a jamming session and this coming Tuesday, instead of jamming at my humble home studio, we are going to visit a real one with a real drum-set. I am so excited because it is my first. Stay tuned!

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Silly Me

Very High Femininity For My Personal DNA? What The …

I appreciate the fact that talented people create online surveys to let people with a curious mind to analysis themselves … for free. I really do. But for God sake, if you are going to tell a dude like me that I am with a “very high femininity”, please follow up with a free counseling as well. I was devastated for days, tongue-tied, and shocked. Short of wanting to kill myself and press that “restart” button.

One day, I visited my buddy Choong Yong‘s website and was attracted to his personal DNA. I moused over his DNA and am agreeable to the findings. Yep, that is the Choong Yong I know. I did the test myself and after 11 pages of survey – very comprehensive and innovated I must say – I was devastated with the results.

Yes, I love to shop, love to cook, love to collect discount cards from Art Friend, Kinokuniya, Jumbo Seafood – just to name a few – and I am aware of which of my credit card gives me dining privilege at which food outlet. I do enjoy housework as well as ironing my own business shirts. I am lousy in road direction and I relate better with my female friends. And I love to watch romantic dramas on TV and on the big screen. BUT! Let me assure you. I am a MAN OF STEEL from inside to outside, from top to you-know-where.

Turns out that beside being high on femininity with a score of 88 (“very” to be precise), I score very high in the following areas (feel free to mouse over my personal DNA above): empathy (94), attention to style (94), openness (92), aesthetic (92), and confidence (82). That certainly describes who I am. I love to create and I love to encourage and inspire people around me (hence “encouraging creator”), that too I think is about right.

But still … very high femininity? Meh … I need to see a shrink to fix this.

PS. Click onto the link at my personal DNA to do the survey yourself.

Categories
Silly Me

Gosh … What To Do With My 700+ Music CDs?!

Let me tell you one thing. The most powerful form of nagging is not how persistence it is but how subtle it is. You-know-who never explicitly nags me. She subtly nags me. The thing is, once someone nags at me, the guilty feeling of what-I-should-have-done is somewhat lessen. Nagging itself is a form of punishment. Having being punished, it makes the guilty acts somewhat justified. Make sense?

But, you-know-who never nags explicitly. So when I see her unhappy about some bad habits of mine, I feel darn guilty. However, I just cannot stop buying music albums. No way! My collection has split over from the CD rack in the living room to the common bedroom, to the storeroom, and then piles and piles of albums appear in the living room. I just cannot help it. You-know-who never nags about it but deep inside, I know she is stressed about it.

So, I have set my heart to sort this out once and for all – to end this years of guilt.

Day 1 – 2pm

Digitization of my album collection was the way to go. I was convinced. Last night I stayed till 2am in the morning to make way for a 240GB of music (formatting hard-disk). Day 1 at 2pm, I took out all the albums I have. I did a count. More than 700. That excludes the ones in storeroom. My first action was to focus on the main artists.

Day – 6pm

Took me a long time just to distill out the main artists whom I enjoy listening to. However, there were still a lot more to sort out. This approach was not working. Why not keep it simple and sort all the albums alphabetically? Those CDs that I will listen to in this 12 months’ time shall be displayed in the living room. The rest should be stored at the common bedroom alphabetically for easy access. If I wish to digitize any album for my non-existing iPod, I shall do so only in later days.

Day 2 – 1.30am

I travelled to Ikea and bought some paper boxes to store CDs. Once back, I started to sort out the albums alphabetically. I allocated each floor tile (in some cases, extend to 2 tiles) for each alphabet. I even labelled some of the tiles. Imagine … 700 squats and as the living room was covered with CD. I hardly have space to walk. I could not even access to my computer for more than 24 hours! Next, was the strenuous task of distributing each album into the appropriate tiles on the floor.

Guess which are the most popular alphabets? C & D for my CD collection is correct. P, M, and S is also correct!

I couldn’t continue. I must sleep. And I woke up with aches all over my body.

Day 2 – 11pm

After returned home, I continued to sort out what shall be displayed in the living room and what should be kept inside a box for easy access. All arranged in alphabetically order. Gosh!

All is done. I am happy. Let’s see if Cynthia will see the difference in the outlook of our living room when she is back this weekend. Provided if she hasn’t got the chance to read this blog. It would be a good surprise.

Edit: Those boxes of CDs will temporary disappear into the common bedroom … till I figure out what to do with them!

Categories
Diary My Favorite

What The PUK?

Cynthia is out of town. And it seems that the entire Universe has conspired not letting me to succumb to the typical fate of a “7-year Itch” like some of my friends so playfully pointed out. When I left the office this evening, my new colleague – a gentleman in his 50s – reminded me, “Cynthia’s not in town, don’t be a naughty boy ah!”. Over one meal, another new colleague of mine – a lovely lady new to Singapore – kept talking about loyalty as an important attribute of a relationship. Even my new blogger friend EastCoastLife in replying one of my comments mentioned that … go and make some babies, boost the population of Singapore, but wait till Cynthia is back!

The truth is, it doesn’t seem like it has been that long since Cynthia and I have dated. There are always lots of things to learn with Cynthia, lots of man-made challenging scenarios to tackle, lots of opportunities to play the hero role, and lots of surprises that are beyond my imagination.

The moment I returned home tonight, I have received a text message from Cynthia’s mother’s phone. It said …

Honey, please call Bandung now. Thanks.

I was puzzled. Why did Cynthia message me via her mother’s phone? Her phone is out of battery? She has forgotten to bring the charger? She needs me to DHL the charger to her? I was tired. Feeling sticky and badly in need for a good bath.

Or is it one of the test to see what my “response time” is like? Man, I surely don’t want to go into the complication of explaining myself why I take 27 minutes and 45 seconds to return her call. Defied the temptation of a nice hot bath, I called Bandung.

Her – Honey!
Me – Uh-huh?
Her – I can’t hear you.
Me – CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
Her – I $%^#*((@) my phone!
Me – You what?
Her – I $%^#*((@) my phone!

Somehow my imagination ran wild. And the connection was bad somehow.

Me – You LOST your phone?
Her – No, I $%^#*((@) my phone! I was at a shop ($&*()_)&#&^)@&) … and I …
Me – I am really confused. How did you lose your phone?

Okay. Cynthia did not lose her phone. But rather she locked her phone after putting in a new prepaid card she obtained from a shop in Bandung.

Me – Can’t you unlock your phone using a PIN?
Her – I can’t. I need the PUK code.

What the PUK?!

Me – What is a PUK?
Her – It is a code. I was paranoid when I first bought the phone (erm … I was the one who bought the phone … or she was trying to say “got the phone” instead?) so I did something to the phone.
Me – I know. But where can I find the PUK? Isn’t it in your head somewhere?
Her – Read the phone manual. Perhaps the code is inside!
Me – But the PIN is inside your head, no?
Her – No, no! It is the default code of 1234!
Me – Uh-huh … can I bath first?
Her – It is urgent! It is an emergency!
Me – But it is like 11pm in the evening … no?

Seriously, how urgent can that be? Unless she is expecting some calls … or messages … not from me! Perhaps those who seem obviously the itchy type are not exactly itchy (me!) but those who don’t seem like the itchy type …

Anyway, I did a quick read of the manual and like the TV series of CSI, I attempted to reconstruct the “crime scene”. I had no clue what PUK was and now I know.

On the day Cynthia got her brand new phone, she set the option of having the phone locked if an unauthorized SIM card is inserted without a valid PIN code. She was given the option to change her pin but she stuck with the default PIN code of 12345 (now, why would someone chooses that option without changing the default PIN code?!). Today, she slotted in the new SIM card and was prompted for the PIN code. She entered 1234 – which is the wrong one – and the phone was automatically locked, could not be used. And since her phone was locked, she needed the Personal Unlocking Key (a.k.a. PUK) from the operator to unlock the phone in order for her to set a new PIN code.

The good thing is that Cynthia’s mobile number is under my account. I own both SIM cards. I called up SingTel and chose the option of PUK retrieval, punched in Cynthia’s mobile number, punched in my NRIC … and I was asked for the 15-digit number that is printed on the SIM card. For obvious reason I didn’t have the SIM card. So I called Cynthia using my fixed line and put my mobile phone on loudspeaker while talking to a human operator this time.

At the end of the call, she thanked me for saving the day … once again. And she asked, “Who’s the guy on the phone? How did you know him? He is really helpful ya?”

Seriously, with a girl like Cynthia, how to get bored?

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Silly Me

Where Is My To-Blame List?! My Dinner Was Screwed!

You know how couples occasionally plan their evening sex first thing in the morning, romance with the idea the entire day, and then have a wonderful time in the evening waking up the neighbors throughout the night? The entire day today, I kept thinking of my home cooked dinner. You see, cooking at home as a professional worker requires lots of planning and coordination. For one, I need to defrost the meat one day in advance by taking it out from the freezer and transfer it to the refrigerator the night before. Ever since I have started working, I hardly have the opportunity to cook at home.

I must be joking about cooking at home right? Ya, I get that a lot. Actually, cooking at home does not take too much time – especially the Cantonese dishes. And since you are my number one friend, I am going to show you how. This not-too-naked-chef has 18 years of cooking experience and my dishes have won over many hearts. No joke joke. People say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I would say the way to a girl’s panties heart is good home cooked food.

To save time, first and foremost important is to switch on the rice cooker. It may sound obviously duh but hear me out. The sooner you switch on the rice cooker, the sooner you can have your dinner. Between the moment you switch on the rice cooker and the moment food enters your stomach is … depends on the power of your rice cooker … it is 30 mins cooking time and 10 mins of cool off time with my antique cooker (according to my mother, that 10 mins does magic to the end result). That’s right, only 40 mins or less. If you are quick in preparing the food, you may even have half an hour doing other things outside your kitchen.

What it means is that the moment you step onto your home, forget about taking off your contact lens, forget about changing into your PJ, forget about stripping naked, go straight into the kitchen and cook the rice.

I love a brown and white rice mix and tonight, I was going to have steam egg with minced pork and lettuce with oyster sauce. Nothing fancy. Just simple home cooked food.

After switched on the rice cooker, I opened the refrigerator and took out the ingredients …

AARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!

The lettuce was rotten! Goodness gracious me! What the … It was just … one week or so ago! Crap!

People around me know that I have this To-Blame List and whenever I take it out, they will duck their heads and run for cover. I took out this To-Blame List and since Cynthia was not around …

1. Blame NTUC for selling lettuce that rots.

Fine. I would have to do without lettuce. To cook steam egg and minced pork is pretty easy. Marinate the meat with soy sauce, sugar, salt, corn flour, and for me, I like to add Chinese wine and sesame seed oil. Standard procedure for all kinds of meat except beef as salt will make the meat chewy. If you like dry scallops, soak a few in water beforehand (if time is a luxury you don’t have, just boil it), break them into small pieces and mix with the pork. Since egg cooks a lot faster than meat, stir fry the meat first till cooked and place it onto a dish.

Oh, for the Muslim readers, feel free to replace pork with beef.

As for the eggs, depending on how much meat you wish to eat. For 200 grams of meat, I usually put in three eggs. Smash them up, add some salt, and add enough water to increase the volume by say 20%. Pour the egg mixture onto the cooked meat.

Then … just steam the dish over boiling water for 10 minutes.

And right after I cooked the meat …

AARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!

… the gas ran out! Not to worry, I have a backup cylinder … and …

AARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!

That one ran out too! Com’on! This is not happening! What was I gonna do with cooked meat and raw egg mixture? I took out my To-Blame List and started to think of my mother who was in my place two months ago cooking heavily each day, started to think of Cynthia … and …

2. Blame Shell for not filling up my gas cylinder just a tiny weeny more.

Extreme situation calls for extreme measure. Think, think, I can do it.

Eventually I cooked the dish inside my oven. Took 10 mins to warm the oven up to 140 degree. After 20 mins of baking, the egg mixture was only half cooked. I removed the aluminium foil that covered the dish and up the temperature to 180 degree. After an additional 10 mins of cooking time, the end result was just like the picture shown at the beginning of this blog.

I did not know what to expect. Actually, the end result did look better than the steam version. Except that the surface was not soft and moist and it was tedious to wash the burn marks off. It did taste somewhat the same. Oh well …

Question in my head throughout the meal was … how come it took so much longer to cook the dish inside the oven? We all know that water does not go beyond 100 degree but yet, it is so much more efficient to steam than bake. Anyway, the power consumption of my oven is 1.15kWh. That works out to … 1.15 (consumption per hour) x 2/3 (cooking time) x S$0.2052 = S$0.16.

Hmmm … I thought it would cost me a bomb to cook with my oven.

Categories
Party

So This Is The Arena …

Click to enlarge

Previously, I did a coverage on Attica. If there is one thing good about FHM or Maxim (besides the Dawn Yang pictures … gasp!), it is some of the write-ups on the clubs in Singapore. I read about The Arena and I really wanted to check it out. So I did … with Cynthia and our buddy KF.

Coincidentally, there was some big event in the Clarke Quay area last weekend (The Straits Time did a coverage on that) and besides firework display, there were some dancers in the open area as well as some Salsa singers. If Clarke Quay is going to be so happening, I am going to station there every week.

Oh … again … time for caption. This time round, up and down and left to right (click onto thumbnail to enlarge).

(1) A couple swinging in mid-air doing their dangerous routines, (2) The Salsa singers, (3) The first band in The Arena at 10pm, (4) Cynthia and I right outside The Arena … no cover charge! (5) Cynthia and our friend KF … he is a bachelor … ahem, (6) The 2nd band called Madison, (7) I think I like the 2nd band better, (8) because the lead singer is a hottie.

The concept of The Arena is quite unique. There are tables and chairs everywhere. In a way, it is like a sit down live concert. The DJ plays mainstream music (I like!) and as for the bands … they play commercial cover songs. One thing good about The Arena is that they have bands after bands. We entered before 10pm and they have their resident band taking the 10pm slot played for 50 minutes (we like the guitarist) and within 10 minutes, another band from UK took over. We left after midnight and I bet the bands would return and play till wee hours.

There was no cover charge for us. The bands are professional. The only comment I have is that the songs can be a bit outdated (like 3 to 5 years back and some can be considered as oldies like Bangles and Tiner Tuner). Cynthia and I will definitely return … very soon.

The quote of the night? During the break between the band performance (that could be quite loud), KF looked around and casually commented: I need to come back here one day … so many girls here! I bet he will.

PS. Our friend KF is single and available. He is tall, intelligent, sensual, and humorous. If any of you wish to date him, please let me know! I can do the arrangement … gladly so.

Categories
Diary

Proud Owner Of My First Printer … Silly I Know

This must be one of the silliest blogs I have penned, I know. But I am so excited by this new toy I bought weeks ago. As in why it was in a box for weeks … oh well, since when we buy things that we really need and instead, we buy things that we spontaneously want? The irony is, it is not at all a spontaneous affair. I have been toying with the idea of having a printer of my own for years if not a decade. So what held me back?

To cut a long story not so long, there were many questions in my head. Like, why do I need a printer for? Where am I going to put my printer (space constraint in my humble apartment)? And can I afford one (I always have this impression that it is really expensive to own a printer together with the running cost)?

I know why I need a printer. Mainly to print out the music scores of the songs I have written. It is not a lot really (about 10 to 20 songs a year) and I usually have the revisions handwritten onto the piece of score printout itself. Now that my band is getting more serious in working towards performing live, my band mates need the songs to be properly transcribed in large font formats (like this). And because the fonts are so big, each song is fitted into two pages. Since song revision is an ongoing process, all of a sudden, I have a strong case to need a printer. Besides, it is always nice to re-print my own song scores in a fresh piece of paper together with the recent revisions. As I have imagined, once I have a printer, there would be a whole lot of stuffs that are nice to be printed. Like my work-in-progress novel and some of the random materials from the Internet like maps.

Once I have established the case, it was time for some research on pricing. Between an ink-jet and a laser printer, it was a no-brainer for me. Having the need to constantly print something over the 6 months duration in order to keep the head of the ink-jet printer moist and the need to change the ink cartridge every 100 pages or 6 months whichever is sooner? By the time I print a stack of my songs for my guitarist and another stack for my bassist, my ink cartridge would have been half gone. And I love the outcome of a laser printer. The only problem with laser printers is size. So, a color laser printer is out and so are those that come with a scanner. Give and take I guess.

Initially I was fixated on getting an entry level of HP laser black and white printer that is sold for S$250 with a complimentary S$50 cashcard. I always thought that printers are astronomically expensive but S$200 is kind of attractive.

After a rather long chat at PK Computer, a computer shop at Funan …

Me: … I don’t know if I shall buy it here. If I go up to Challenger, there is a S$20 discount for members (Okay, I lied … I am not a member).
Sales assistance: How about I suggest another model that is more value for money?
Me: (Showing interesting) … Hmmm … what do you have for me?
He: You may want to consider this Canon printer … (and then all the sales pitch).

Turned out that a Canon printer with a slightly better stats cost only S$229 before a cash rebate of S$70 directly from Canon. Now, that is what I call … not bad! A laser printer from a reputed brand for S$159.

Still, I was not satisfied.

Me: Erm … you know, this brand is new to me and I haven’t done any price research yet …
He: Sir, this price is already very good! We even absorb the 2% increase in GST. This promotion only last till National Day!
Me: I know … hmmm … I like doing business with you. What’s your name?
He: XYZ (I seriously cannot remember his name right now) … (and he continued to do his sales pitch).
Me: Okay, XYZ. My legs are tired and I really don’t feel like walking around no more. Give me a good price and I will grab one.
He: (Not moving the price on the ground that it was a promotion item)
Me: (Not taking out my wallet on the ground that I must get a discount)

In the end, he gave me a S$4 discount, which is not bad. It did cover the car parking fee and more.

I chose a Canon because its toner is 10% cheaper than the ones from HP. At home, I did a calculation. Each toner cartridge cost S$95 (before I bargain it down of course) that can print 2,000 to 3,000 pages. Say I am sensible in what I print and taking the mid point as an estimate … cost per page for toner alone is 3.8 cents.

As for the paper, there are two types – the 70 grams and 80 grams. The 70 grams type cost 10% cheaper than the 80 grams type. However, I love the feel of the 80 grams type. I choose Double A brand almost without a thought – the power of advertisement eh?

To buy a stack of Double A paper (500 pieces) in Raffle Place is S$5. And you would have thought that since Raffle Place has so many people, so many shops to compete against each other, the price must be the lowest eh? Funan actually sells the same stack of paper at S$4.65. That is a 7% difference – enough to cover GST. So, one day during lunch, I walked from Raffle Place to Funan to buy a stack of Double A only to find that I was stuck in that area because of the rain. Oh well, I have to pay for a train trip to return to office area. The moral of the story? Go figure out … ha ha ha.

Okay … back to the running cost … so far we have:

Cost per page = 3.8 cents (tonner) + 0.93 cents (80 grams paper) = 4.73 cents

Since the printer comes with a toner cartridge (half) and if I am going to keep it for 5 years, the yearly cost of the printer is roughly S$20. Judging at my usage, I reckon the cost is in the region of 5 cents per page.

I know it is silly. But it is always good to know.

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Diary My YouTube

Vidoes And Pictures From The National Day Parade Preview, Enjoy!

Greatings people! I have finally sorted out my pictures and did some basic video editing. Hopefully you will like it as much as I do. Enjoy!

To recap, this is how I got my precious pair of preview tickets and this is how I felt after the preview. I know you all must be rushing to click on the play buttons below but I do have some nice pictures to share together with a short journal. Please do …

I must apologize for the quality of the video as this is the first time I have used my 3x optical zoom camera to take video. I had no idea what format the video would be (I don’t have the software to edit certain formats) so I tried to keep each clip as self-contained as possible. And I had no idea that I cannot zoom once I start video recording. Duh!

So, the first clip was shot far far away. The famous free fall display by the SAF Parachute Team known as “Red Lions”. This year, the platform is a small area floating by the bay and as you can see in the video, at the perimeter of the stage there are tall structures that can be dangerous for the team. Since the background music is a bit plain, I have decided to mix DJ Tiesto’s new track “Driving To Heaven” into the clip.

And then, the “Red Lions” dived again … in the dark. I quickly took out my camera and after the first landing, I regretted because it did seem a bit too far away in the dark. I zoomed in and restarted the filming. The background music was good so I have decided to retain the original film. Check out the UFO-like objects towards the end of the clip. What the heck are those?!

Of course, what is National Day Parade without the fireworks display, even for the preview?

PS. This blog is dedicated to my friend GS who is now stationed in Vietnam and she is going to miss the actual NDP on TV. She loves Singapore as much as I do. I have been really excited and honored to be involved with her switch of career. She is determined to get immersed in the industry outside of Singapore and in a couple of years of time, she shall return and contribute much to our nation. Also, to my friend JT whom I have the honor to work with and is now stationed in India. She is going to miss the NDP broadcast as well. Good news is, she will be back next year – after her 3 years stint.

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Diary

National Day Parade Preview – How I Felt After The Event

Click to see larger print

If someone was to ask me couple of years ago how I felt about National Day Parade (NDP) as a first generation immigrant, frankly speaking, I could only connect at that symbolic level. Not that being symbolic diminishes the importance of the event. Quite the contrary, the power of something as symbolic as a country’s flag and the image of her leader raise emotion and brings hope to the citizens. Question reminds: how can I get connected to even this symbolic level as an immigrant?

I was born as a British Subject and brought up in an environment when people worship money as God. I have lived, studied, and worked in various different countries excluding my tour destinations (in chronicle order) – Hong Kong, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Singapore, United States, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Mauritius. There is no perfect world. However, whenever I returned to Singapore after an overseas trip before I took up the citizenship, I always felt at home. And still am. There are many things that Singapore is not. For me, I love what Singapore is. And I have accepted what Singapore is, is not, and her past as one single package. No one has asked me to be a citizen. When I have counted exactly 2 years of stay from my passport (I had many business trips back then), I headed to the then SIR building on the next day with all my papers ready – alone – and sent in my application. Now you see why I have no problem in connecting to this symbolic level from day one.

In the past couple of years, I have had the honor and opportunity to work with the Singapore Armed Force (SAF) in the capacity of an external consultant. I have visited units across the three services and met with officers from the ground to the top. SAF Officers are all humans, of course, just like you and I. They all have their worries and concerns (like the early retirement at 45 that was not what they signed up for), some may wonder what the non-military jobs are like for them, but they do share a strong set of core values that I witnessed throughout my course of work. And it is because of all these great people I have met as well as the people from the unit that leads the NDP effort for the second consecutive year that give me a new perspective on what NDP is about.

NDP is part of nation building. It is also part of the effort to raise image (under the umbrella of “Total Defence” as well as the government) and identity (of citizens) that in turn, links to nation building. By definition, a nation comprises of people who speak the same set of languages, culture, and history living in a particular area under the same government. And it is what NDP is about – people. It is because tickets are not sold but rather distributed, at the preview, I have seen the very young and the very old. I have seen people from all walks of life. To me, it was as though we have taken a small portion of Singapore – be it as people, or the Total Defence force, or our military assets, or our government – and put it into one area for this special celebration that people all connect with one another. But that was not all. As the event of the actual day will be broadcast nationwide, viewers from home will be joining the celebration as well.

A lot of people have put in a lot of hard work to make it happen. My heartfelt thanks to all of them. Is it an event worth celebrating at this scale? Sure it is. It is the founding of our nation. And how would you feel if you have to participate in organising the event including all the previews (extra work on top of your normal work duty and you have to start doing it one year in advance) not just for one year, but two? After the show, I messaged my friend from SAF (who helps organising the event) to thank him for the tickets and told him that I have thoroughly enjoyed the event. His reply was:

Me too. Every show is a wonderful journey of a brand new experience.

I don’t think all who participate in the event actually think like he does. Would have been nice though.

Now, I have actually wanted to include some videos and pictures I have taken into this blog but it will make this blog a bit too long to read. And since I am still in the mist of sorting the videos out, it may take another day or so for me to publish them in my website. But I promise you, the videos and pictures should be out as soon as possible. Thanks for reading and your patience. Staying tuned.

Categories
Diary

An SAF Officer Called Me Unexpectedly During Lunch – Sir Yes Sir!

As a first generation immigrant, I am exempted from National Service (NS). In the past 3 years with my previous employer, Ministry of Defence was my biggest client. So, I often joked with people that I was serving NS in some ways. My work required me to travel from one base to another meeting different units, different people. Looking back, though colleagues from my current job often ignore my experience with my previous employer and get fixated with my first employer (something to do with reputation I suppose) making me wonder if my past couple of years of working experience has been obliterated from my resume, I enjoyed being able to serve my country as an external consultant. Besides, being a civilian on the military ground has lots of added advantages. Since I don’t have ranks at all (not even like those who have gone through NS) and I don’t wear uniform, the SAF Officers (and Warrant Officers) have treated me very nicely. After all, they all wish to be an exemplar of someone who embraces fully the SAF core values. What better way it is to take the opportunity to raise their image through public commoners like myself?

When I received a phone call from one of the SAF Officers whom I have worked with during lunch, I immediately got into that “Sir, Yes Sir!” mode. Though he is a great friend of mine and has agreed to be a reference for my current employer, formality cannot be bypassed.

After all the introductory conversations such as “Long time no see, Sir. How are you, Sir?”, he popped the following question in all sternness.

“Are you a Singaporean?”

Many thoughts shot pass my mind. What does my country want from me? Some secret high profile high risk tasks that require my expertise? An undercover team to be deployed into East Timor asap? Will I be called into the Pentagon … erm I mean Gombak HQ for briefing just like in the Tom Clancy’s books when Jack Ryan being called in as special consultant to the military?

I took a deep breath with my chest held high and suddenly a familiar sense of patriotism overtook my anxiety and curiosity.

“Yes Sir. I have been a Singapore Citizen since 1998, Sir.”

And he continued, “How would you like a pair of ticket to the preview of National Day Parade?”

You kidding me?! For someone who tears seeing our National Flag flies up in the sky (hang by 3 helicopters during their rehearsal near to the condo I stay), going to watch NDP will kill me … with all that emotions. And the great thing is, it is a preview. Because on the National Day itself, our band has a tradition to jam at my home studio, just like what we did last year. That would have been quite a sacrifice because I have been waiting for months for this jamming session to happen. Everyone are just so busy with their lives.

I really wanted to scream “SIR YES SIR! I WANT THEM BAD SIR!”. Well, in the end I think I did scream due to overwhelming excitement but I cannot make a decision without Cynthia’s consent (part and puzzle of how to sustain a healthy relationship making our decision and not my decision – however symbolic at times). She may not be able to make it and what am I to do with an empty seat? I would rather pass them onto the next couple.

So I replied, “Can I get back to you? I need to give Cynthia a call first.” He asked if I could get back to him soon. I read his mind of course so I replied with a sense of urgency, “I will get back to you within 30 minutes, Sir!”.

He was laughing and said, “You really sound like you are in the military!”

Well, I may have left the military project but a part of me is still inside. When I called him up within 5 minutes, he said he would deliver the tickets to my doorsteps in the evening.

And he did.

I am so honored. Now, stay tune for my NDP Preview write-up. According to him, this coming Preview will be more or less like the actual one and the firework will be no less than 75% of the actual day parade. Man, I am so excited.

Before he drove away from my doorsteps, I frantically asked, “Sir, where is the parade going to be? Is it near Esplanade?”

He smiled, waved at me and said, “Head to Esplanade. You will see the whole army there. You won’t miss it.”

I laughed thinking of “the whole army” and I saluted him as he drove away.

Related Blog Entry: Vidoes And Pictures From The National Day Parade Preview, Enjoy!