Tin Pei Ling

PAP introduced a young damsel to be contesting in the Marine Parade GRC this coming elections and some netizens start going apeshit digging up her private stuff and all.

Pei Ling has one picture holding a Kate Spade gift and posing with a act-cute peace sign. Then there is the youtube clip of her act-cute stomping of her feet at the end of the reel.

I ask.

What is the big deal? You never see girls with act-cute poses and act-cute stomping feet meh?

Then how is it that she has to be different. Act-cute very siah suay meh?

Let us not judge a person by his/her age.

Let us not judge a person by his/her age difference with his/her partner.

Let us not judge a person by his/her partner's profession.

Judge the person for the work he/she has done, is doing and will do.

Judge the person for the manifesto he/she stands for.

Let the ignorant netizens mock and scorn all they like for ultimately, it will be the constituents' votes that matter at the end of the day.

If she has done well at grassroot level for the past 6 years, then rest assured, the people will vote for her.


Too bad, she won't be able to have her mettle validated as she is entering parliament via the no-pride backdoor, if the incumbents candidates in her GRC win, with or without her.

Still, it would be a refreshing splash of colour into parliament like what we have done with Slyvia Lim, Eunice Olsen and Siew Kum Hong.

I think parliament will be such a drab place to be if it were filled with John Major/Margaret Thatcher-scholars.

Someone please kill me then.

So I say let her be who she is. If stomps her feet, pose act-cute peace sign with a Kate Spade bag in tow all the way to an election victory, then so it shall be for the people in the Marine Parade GRC has spoken so.

Image Credit: http://www.tremeritus.org; https://sg.news.yahoo.com

- Voxeros

Dance F●r Japan

By now, we all know that Japan is undergoing a difficult phase, trying to get their lives back, after a mercilessly triple whammy devastation of an earthquake, a tsunami followed by a nuclear plant crisis, all in record magnitudes.

If you think the worst is over, I can only tell you that on contrary, the difficult part has only just begun.

Japan will next have to battle for the need for medicine against diseases. The need for clean potable water. The need for food not tainted by radiation. The need for homes to be rebuilt. The need for infrastructure to be restored. The need for normalcy to be returned to the people. The need for money to get all of the above done.

This is where we come in for they will require assistance not only from within, but from the other countries, in time, in effort, in spirit, in money and in kind.


Dance F●r Japan, a brilliant branchild of Stephanie Phua, was first brought to my attention by my xmm Ellen, who is also part of the team putting this event together. It is a Singapore youth dance showcase with 3 universities, putting 2 shows, all with 1 heart to wish the good people of recovering Japan well.

However, it isn't as easy as 3, 2, 1 for it is a massive effort that is nothing short of a mini miracle. 3 weeks was all they have to put this together.

Dance F●r Japan
Date: 10 April 2011

Venue: *SCAPE Auditorium

Times: 3pm (Matinee), 8pm (Evening)

Ticket Price: SGD 20.00

(100% of proceeds will go to helping Japan)

Website: http://danceforjapan.sg/
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/emIeHK

There will be collection boxes for those who wish to contribute more than just the ticket fare to Mercy Relief. They will be present for the event as well and be happy to answer any queries you may have with regards to how we are helping Japan.

I am waiving my standard publicity fee of 3 curry poks, 2 soft-boiled eggs and 1 kopi-O gao.

So I say make a date on your calendar and come down for this event. Bring your wallets and cheque books along.

For the rest of us on the interneck, spread the word of this event around.

Be it a blog plug, a tweet, a plurk, an FB line on your wall or even a status update on your Live Messenger.

Do it. It is for a good cause!

Image Credit: https://www.smu.edu.sg

- Voxeros

Each Crab Smaller Than The One Before

一蟹不如一蟹 (Each crab smaller than the one before) - Old Chinese Proverb

This is the original proverb to the more familiar 一代不如一代 (each generation is worse than the one before).

Oh how we used to hear stories from our grandpas how they have to walk for miles everyday just to go to school and how my generation is so soft with all the modern creature comforts.

Or how we used to hear from our seniors and Enciks in the army how tough it was during their times from steel helmets to bucket system latrines.

What about how we used to lament at our younglings where all look so sickly and pale coming out after a day of school, freezing in air-conditioned classrooms. How their school bags, at one time, come with wheels, handle and a domestic helper to pull it.

AND THAT brings us to the picture that has been circulating over the intarwebs over the weekend.

Army boy in the picture, jugding from the haricut and how "green" the uniform still is, is possibly a chao recruit. A soldier, regardless if he is a chao Recruit or a high flyer Major, is a defender of the his sovereign land. Protector of the country's people and assets.....

..... with the help of his domestic helper. *facepalm*

Image Credit: https://www.citynews.sg

- Voxeros

Super Gurkhas

• Strategy Page (03 Feb 2011) - One Gurkha, 40 Bandits, No Contest.
  
  
• Daily Mail Online (25 Mar 2011) - Gurkha Who Single-Handedly Fought Off Up To 30 Taliban Awarded Gallantry Cross

Yet another heroic story about the almighty Gurkhas.

The news yesterday was a 1-vs-30 Taliban insurgents, coming off a Rambo movie with grenades, machine guns, land mines and RPGs. The whole works except the kitchen sink.

Still, I thought the 1-vs-40 train bandits in Indian in October 2010 was way more exciting where the fearless Gurkha was armed only with his khukuri knife in close quarters of the train cabin.

In any case, both are enjoyable reads.

Anyway, I am reminded of an entry I did on the sad plight of the mighty Gurkhas in Hong Kong. Click below.

• JayWalk Online (22 Sep 2005) - Gurkhas In Hong Kong

Image Credit: http://i.dailymail.co.uk

- Voxeros

The MP's Office

That, believe it or not, is the Meet-The-People office of a Member of Parliament in Singapore.

Mr Chiam See Tong, Member of Parliament of Potong Pasir, has been using this humble cubicle to serve his constituents every Thursday for the past 27 years..... and counting.

Read the article here.

• The Online Citizen (25 Mar 2011) - That Makeshift Cubicle At The Void Deck

Image Credit: http://theonlinecitizen.com

- Voxeros

Bell Nuntita

Caught this youtube clip from PatLaw's blog and I must say, I was blown away by the surprise.

Bell is genetically not a female but wow is he/she a chiobu or what!

Here is what I like about Thailand and her people. Society accepts ladyboys with open arms.

Sure the interview towards the end of the clip mentioned that his/her dad beat her due to the fact that the latter cannot accept him/her being a female.

I say that is just the minority old conservative foggies mindset. Most of the folks in Thailand just accept them for who they are.

And that brings a smile to my face. :)

Perhaps this is something our homophobe gahmen can learn.

I don't really use the words gay, lesbian, trannys or word to the same effect for the simple reason that they do not need to be labeled.

They are people. Just like you and I. People.

Image Credit: http://correresmidestino.com

- Voxeros

Morning Condensation

It was one heck of a foggy weekend so much so that we got weather alert, citing heavy fog of visibility under 200m.

Well, this was the aftermath of that weekend on Monday morning. Water condensation everywhere, the doors, the marble wall panels, the windows and the slippery-as-heck floors.

Usually, we only get that in the early part of the year where the season is starting to thaw out after winter. The cold snap was somewhat of a relapse and no one is for sure if it is due to the Super Moon or the nuclear fallout in the region?

Any guesses?

- Voxeros

Panyee FC - Make The Difference

How do you have a football team if you don't even have a square-inch of soil?

Impossible? Well not the lads from Koh Panyee. I absolutely love this very inspirational short film made for the Thai Military Bank. It was simple awesome.

Kudos to Leo Burnett & Arc Worldwide.

WELL DONE!!

- Voxeros

The Asoks - A Year On (Part 3 of 3)

The first two parts were about the incumbents and for the final installation of this series, I shall touch on the new Asoks that have joined us later on.


Asok #7

This is a chap in his 40s. Yes. 40s and restarting his career after an unsuccessful stint in the US.

We put him in charge of our retail outlets due to his similar experience when he was in the US. Sad to say, he is struggling to keep this business unit afloat. Fortunately, this is a very small SBU and so we can afford to lose it, if the day comes that we decide to flick the OFF switch.

This is a guy with a strange personality which a penchant to flip flop so much that I deal only with him via email in Black & White. Not that he is a habitual liar or anything but this fella has the memory of an autistic goldfish. This is a fella that will come to you with a problem, only to come back a few days later with the same question and is stressed that he is stuck for days, grinding his operations to a standstill, when I specifically gave him the solution earlier.

I believe it has something to do with his thick skull where when he doesn't get it, he really doesn't get it, no matter how much you explained and taught.

To sum it up in a Chinese phrase, his 脑筋转不过来.

Can I get a facepalm?

Still Alpha-Male is unwilling to give him the boot coz we can't really find anyone suitable to replace his position. I, however, do not foresee this person reaching Year 2.

There is a reason why he failed in the US and I am thinking it will be the very same reason here soon.


Asok #8

Another nephew from Alpha-Male's clan. Late thirties and going nowhere with his career in Taiwan. Was in the F&B line as a busboy then later on a cook and is a licensed bartender.

Alpha-Male took him in and gave him another SBU to run. Fortunately, he is doing well. He certainly has the street-smarts from his year's of working to overcome his lack of academic qualifications.

He is a very hands-on person but when it comes to numbers, he is a lost boy. I have to teach him the basics of how to work out his costings as well as to do a simple P&L, explaining the difference between fixed and variable costs.

In short, I am proud of this Asok for he has fully made good of this second chance in life.


Asok #9

Asok #9 joined us after having working in Shanghai for a Taiwanese electronics components factory for about 3 years. He is now the understudy of the Prince-In-Law doing sales.

We had a corporate split this year and his SBU is now an independent company. It was a great learning opportunity for him to be expose to the various parts of a business, from learning the set up of a company to office/warehouse leasing to logistics planning to human resource management.

A very keen learner but at times share the same stubbornness as Asok #7 when his 脑筋 also 转不过来.

There are people who refuse to budge when they can't see the road ahead of them. Asok #9 however is willing to take the blind step forward (after much coercion and threatening from us). With that faith in his mentors, the reward is that breakthrough epiphany that has gotten him stuck initially.

Asok #10


Another rose amongst the thorns as she joined us as a designer overseeing product packaging as well as trade fair booths design.

Very sociable person who has quickly endeared herself to everyone. Certainly a welcoming contrast to Asok #4 whom the latter has earned the unfortunate nickname of SiaoPor (Looney Woman).

The only issue is that she kena makaned by Asok #1 over the CNY holidays and has since been a lovey dovey couple. While this may not be a bad thing, I still harbour some reservations about eating and shitting in the same place.

So now the talk over the dinner table is how they planned to be engaged at the end of the year.

Again, I have some reservations over this although I do wish that my worries are unfounded.

Image Credits: http://bp0.blogger.com/; https://dilbert.fandom.com

- Voxeros

The Asoks - A Year On (Part 2 of 3)

Asok #4

If I were to describe Asok #4 in a single sentence, I only need three words.

"Sum Ting Wong"

Initially, I admired her for her guts to venture out here as a girl, in an unknown land. While I don't mean to be sexist, Taobaoland is not only not a gender equal place but a very skewed one at that.

You need to be one tough cookies to make an impression here.

She appeared one of the more intelligent Asoks amongst the lot but I was sorely disappointed that all that had faded soon after.

As I slowly got to know her better, some aspects of her mentality just totally goes against my grain.

1. Lack Of Perseverance.
   
   She has a basic grasp of the English language but like most of these folks, they can't speak but able to read and listen by picking up the keywords and guessing the gist.
   
   Writing is easier coz one can take all the time in the world to draft with the help of the dictionary. While the spelling is relatively accurate, the choice of words can some time be very obscure as they just copy whatever words shows up on the translator without knowing if it fits. Grammar leaves much to be desired as the word arrangements in a sentence between English and Chinese are often in opposite directions.
   
   She approached me for help in improving her English which I was happy to help after office hours and since she has a blog, I suggest that she blogs in English in draft mode to let me vet before publishing. So for a couple of times a week, she will print out her blog draft on a piece of paper and I will go through her entry, proofing and explaining her errors along the way.
   
   Sadly, this only last for around 3 weeks as the quality of her writing has gone from bad to worse. I soon begin to realise that her efforts starting to dwindle. It got to a point where it appeared as if I was simply editing her draft for her so that she can post her blog.
   
   I stopped teaching her immediately for I did not feel that it is worth my time, if my efforts were not reciprocated.
   
   
   
2. Pride.
   
   For every new initiatives that began as a project, there were a lot of nitty gritty tasks e.g. info gathering, number crunch, data porting, to do which essentially can be very tedious. She has a tendency to push it to the local staff to do it as if these menial tasks were beneath her.
   
   
   
3. Expat Princess Mentality.
   
   Speaking of local staff, this probably annoys me the most. She has this Me Taiwan Superior-vs-Them China Inferior mindset where she feels the local Chinese staff are supposedly below her. So while she is just a management trainee, she behaves as if she is some kind of manager ordering some of the local staff to do her bidding.
   
   One such incident was taking the company car to send her out of town to meet a friend for dinner, WAIT THERE, and then send her home. Since when the hell was she entitled to use the company car for private matters? The driver also one kind of gong gong fella, obediently fulfill her bidding. We later found out and the Admin Manager gave her a big dressing down consequently.
   
   
   
4. 
   Acting Wounded.
   
   I believe the Chinese phrase for it that would more accurately describe it is 装可怜.
   
   I remembered the day Asok9 first arrived and joined us. We entered the elevator to our apartments and it just so happened some asshole local resident smoked in the elevator before us. She suddenly convulsed into a cough fit.
   
   Problem was, the coughing was so exaggerated what we all saw right through it. Asok9 threw me a WTF? look to which my rolling of eyes was the perfect answer to his query.
   
   Seriously, we weren't sure if we were offended by the fake acting or that fact that she thought that we'd be fooled.
   
   
   
5. Sum Ting Wong.
   
   A strange incident happened some time ago. She didn't turn up for work one day. Initially, we thought she was ill as she was coughing (real this time) the whole of the day before.
   
   So when the Admin Manager called her up to verify her medical leave which she didn't apply, he was told that she has a day off because she did OT the day before?
   
   HAR??? Got such thing one meh? You do OT, next day you get Off Day? Where got so good kangtao one?
   
   More importantly, where got such thing as happy happy create own HR policy one???

The last one really gets my goad for since she does not report to me, she is not in my jurisdiction. Alpha-Male did at one time lobby for her to come under my wing which I flatly reject and I picked a local staff instead to be groomed as my Executive PA.

For some strange reason, Alpha Male still wants to retain her while I would have sent her home in a heartbeat. So anyway, we posted her to the Shanghai office for a 6-week assignment and hope she would be able to flourish there and perhaps score a permanent placement there.

I wish she would do well there. I seriously do.

Image Credits: http://bp0.blogger.com/; https://dilbert.fandom.com

- Voxeros

Seeds And Nuts - Thereafter

Remember my "bird food" entry dated 10 Feb 2011?

Well, exactly one month later on 10 Mar 2011, I ate my last scoop from the tupperware.

Yeah, one month's worth of lunches taken care of by the little humble tupperware. Well, to be honest, not exactly 1 whole month considering the fact that I have days where I am not in the office during lunch time (weekends, business trips, lunch appointments, etc).

Still in any case, it was a delightfully healthy lunch plan and I was never once sick of them. I guess that fact that I love seeds and nuts helped.

On hindsight, it was a right decision to invest in a good quality tupperware that I was able to seal them in tight. Storing the whole tupperware in the refrigerator probably helped too.

Time to take a break from the seeds and nuts in the interim while I make a trip to Hong Kong to stock up.

- Voxeros

Cathay Pacific Rugby Sevens 2011

The Hong Kong Sevens is just around the corner and title sponsor, Cathay Pacific Airways, has come up with a TVC which I thought was pretty amusing.

Overall, I love the execution but I found myself asking if tripping and swinging a meal cart crashing into people are the right messages to convey to the audience?

After all, isn't Cathay Pacific Airways all about comfort and hospitality?

- Voxeros

V-tech VitalFix Super Glue: The Kid

A very funny TVC made in Malaysia.

I love the rustic settings and it reminds me very much of my childhood days during the 70s.

Was I like the sticky-to-mom kid in the ad when I was a kid myself? I hadn't the faintest collection but I have a feeling I might have been.

*shrugs*

- Voxeros

Jennifer Aniston Sex Tape

Caught the above from PatLaw's blog.

 
A very well scripted viral ad that spoofed all the cliches likelip sync (think Numa Numa, Back Dorm Boys), cute puppies, dancing babies (think Ooga-Chaga), kick in the nuts (think Jackass) just to name a few.

And of course, Jennifer Aniston and her trademark Hair ala Magnifique!

Very well done! Kudos!

- Voxeros

MM Lee: "I Stand Corrected"

Twitter / JayWalk: "Stand Corrected" - A way ... via kwout

• AsiaOne (08 Mar 2011) - MM Lee: "I Stand Corrected"

Looks like our MM Lee is doing a 180 on his comments on the Muslims in Singapore.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that the elections are looming around the corner, bearing in mind the Muslims forms 15% of the Singapore population.

Coincidence?

Regardless of the turnaround, the comment in question was already in print.

Will there be a recall of all the books? Or at the very least an addendum insert in all unsold copies?

*ponder*

- Voxeros

Honest Tea

Great outdoor ad campaign cum social experiment. I do agree that the folks on the East are more honest than the West but I may be wrong since it is just my own impression which resonated with the results in the above clip.

Besides, you can't say their findings are conclusive either, since the sampling rate is grossly insufficient.

Anyway, this reminds me of the Take-A-Penny-Leave-A-Penny soap dish that I saw in several mom-n-pop grocery stores as well as gasoline stations when I was in the US.

It is just a soap dish that you will find next to the cashier's counter and it is filled with pennies.

What is it for, you ask?

Well, in convenience stores, you always come across items with strategic pricing like $0.99, some outright unexplainable like $4.13, prices ending up with decimals as a result of multiplying the GST (or VAT depending on where you are), or simply decimals as a result of store discounts.

So what this dish does is that should you come up with a bill of say $10.01, you just take a penny from the soap dish and give it to the cashier with your $10 thereby circumventing the hassle of having to deal with change.

This system will only work if everyone observes the Honour System where in the reverse scenario, when your checkout comes up to $4.98, the 2 pennies you get back in change from the $5 you paid, goes back to the soap dish.

I hope one day this Honour System, also demonstrated in the Honest Tea (pun play of Honesty), can be a reality everywhere.

Sadly, I don't see this happening soon. Heck, we probably even need to chain the soap dish to the counter in some places, lest someone make away with it. :(


Image Credit: http://whatsupwindsor.com

- Voxeros

The Asoks - A Year On (Part 1 of 3)

It's been a year since coming up to Taobaoland and perhaps it's time to look back at the year and see how the Asoks are doing.

While I am glad most of them managed to survive the first year, I am slightly disheartened that I didn't find any superstar performer amongst them. While some are quite good, it was still short of stellar that I was hoping for.

There were several changes to those who remained while we have new blood as well as some who left.

For the uninitiated, click here for the Brief Introduction to The Asoks.


Asok #1

His portfolio for changed twice, during the year, as the Business Units that he was in didn't perform well on each occasion. I won't fault him for that as we do have our weak spots in the company and he had the unfortunate luck of being in them.

So right now, he was been transferred to the National Sales Management department monitoring sales of our offices across China.


Asok #2

Left.


Asok #3
I couldn't use him as he wasn't able to fulfill any of the criteria that was required to work in my department.
Fortunately, we found a spot for him when I took over the Logistics department and he seemed to have a knack for that.

By June, I had him transferred to the Shanghai office as they are in need of an XO in the logistics department. While we all think that it was a right move, coupled with glorious praises from the Shanghai manager, we weren't too sure when the year-end stock take ended up in a disastrous mess.

3 stock takes over 7 days and they still couldn't get their numbers right until I have to send a team over from my side only to settle the entire warehouse inventory within 16 hours.

We are still in the process of evaluating what went wrong as I planted the team to be there for 6 weeks for a full logistic audit and at the same time migrate the warehouse over the 3PL.

Asok #4
This one was a piece of work so much so that it deserves a entire entry dedicated to here. How she spiraled from promising to nuts remained a mystery to us. Stay tuned.


Asok #5
One of the two 宅男 which from the beginning I didn't think very much of him but as I got to know him better, he has potential. Currently assisting Asok #1 in the National Sales Management department.


Asok #6
The ex-Starbucks barista, in my opinion, is your ultimate 宅男. Every Sunday morning, he would walk 3km lugging his laptop on his backpack to his favourite coffee shop and stayed there the whole day.

Reason? They have faster broadband for him to download his week's quota of animes. *facepalm*

Asok #6 left and return to Ta1wan to join some online gaming company which I felt was more suited for him.

Image Credits: http://bp0.blogger.com/; https://dilbert.fandom.com

- Voxeros