Goodbye Mr. Jansen 1951 - 2013

                          
                                                A great loss to Singapore's Rock Music Scene

    I read yesterday that Mr. Atwell Jansen, the frontman for Singapore's foremost rock band, Heritage, passed away from a freak accident, a fall from his bicycle in Bukit Panjang Nature Reserve on Wednesday 7th August.

    I do not know him personally, but some years ago (2009), I had the good fortune of visiting a pub in Duxton Hill, and with my German friend Frank Rigley, my Malaysian Sales Manager Kannan, we witnessed some awesome rock music from the band Heritage. I was totally blown away that such an iconic band from the 60s and 70s heydays were still plying away at what they do best, making good music. And we had a front row table ! I remember writing a blog post about that visit too.   

   They did fantastic covers of Eric Clapton, The Who, even Queen. Atwell was either on the electronic Violin or played the harmonica while his brother, Jorden was the lead guitarist.

    What a loss, at a relatively young age of 62, 

Argyle Sweater

    
        This is one of my favourite cartoons, called Argyle Sweater, it is featured every Sunday as a single strip cartoon, so the punch line must be made in just one panel. I have 'got it' most times, maybe 8 out of 10, but one needs to be quite conversant in common English phrases and quotes to realise it is a play (occasionally a pun) on the phrase or even a word.

       In this case, this cartoon above is a play about the phrase 'selling like hotcakes' which means to sell so very well it does not need a dedicated salesperson. In Arnie Winkler's case, he has these cartons upon cartons of hotcakse and he can't seem to sell them, hence the title "World's Worst Salesman".

       Geddit ???

This song is for Mr. Everyman

                      Here's to Us.

      Let's face it, maybe only 5% of us end up as 'winners', the ones who have made that pile of cash, found the love of their life and retired by 40 or at most 50. They are the ones who are out in the Caribbean (or South China Sea) in their 72 foot yachts sipping on Mumm champagne and tanning their (bum) cheeks. Holidaying or globesetting is serious living, or so it seems.  

      The rest of us minions, like the song typifies, have to slog it out, day in day out, 40 to 60 hours a week living from paycheck to paycheck, raising families, coping with issues on relationships, family crises , business disasters, health costs, and rising costs of living compounded by an increasingly complex and expensive world. Retire ? You got to be kidding, seems to be the mantra I hear from everyone around me.

      Anyway, Mr. Everyman who struggles with job uncertainty, business failures, aged parents issues, growing children needs on a daily basis can take heart.  You are not alone. 

We must be resilient to weather any crisis and be stronger for it.   Our attitude  and our vales will determine whether we will be winners or losers in life.   

As the Song Says, "Here's to Us" . Seize the Day

What age and authority dictates, sound logic equates

            I will not so humbly attribute this statement to yours truly. Logic is the great leveller for everybody. We use logic in practically every aspect of our concious thinking. There are exceptions to this rule, and these are (not comprehensive in any way) :

1. Religion - faith will always trump logic, but then God works and behaves in mysterious 
    ways.

    Religion will always have their followers, so I will not even want to tread there. 

2. Consumer behaviour - this again is very hard to predict. Crazy unexpected queues for 
    non-sensical soft toys like Hello Kitty and the Minions in Singapore lead me to believe that   
    there is no hope for humanity. Maybe its just Singaporeans who have illogical bouts of 
    collective behaviour !
  
    The fact that it was touted as a limited edition, and reports of people throwing their junk 
    food away (actually that is quite a logical act, but the purchase of McDonalds food just to 
    get their hands on a soft toy is an illogical act in itself)

                                       Nothing better to do than to queue for my Hello Kitty 

3. Impulse Purchases - Branded Bags, Holiday feel good shopping, Fridge Magnets, 
    Crummy T-shirts telling everyone where you've been, the list is endless. Everyone has 
    that (or many) shirts or dresses in their wardrobe which has been hanging there and the 
    guy or girl is wondering, 'now why did I buy THAT ???'.   

    Logic does not have a linear correlation with age, in fact, sometimes the older we get, the crankier or eccentric we become. that is when we become 'one screw loose' or 'lose our marbles' or 'Woodbridge' (mental hospital's previous name) case.

     Common sense or logic is not so common then after all ? 

     Cherish the logic you (and I) have. For that separates the normal from the truly brilliant. Go beyond that and people may call you Mad.  Normal people want to follow rules and regulations so that they do not have to apply logic to the situation. That applies to 98% of the population.

    'Just Follow Law'.

    Seize the Day. 

  

Perception = Reality ?

                



    Recently some events here and overseas have set me thinking, if one has developed perceived ideas or views based on what he sees or experiences, then it will form his opinion on the subject ; what happens when he or she is not there to witness firsthand ? Then the media, local print or social media will be the first line of receiving that data or information.

    It is intuitively true that some media, social or print, will tend to have an innate bias, or slant towards their own society or government, even so called International magazines and print newspapers like Time, Newsweek, Financial Times and Asian Wall Street Journal will present a fairly rosy picture of their 'home turf' and sensationalise the problems of other countries 'out there'. It gives a 'feel good' factor to those (say Americans) who read about the problems in Europe and Asia without stepping out or even experiencing first had what had just taken place in, say, China, or Pakistan.  Hence there is a 'perception bias' created by the media to us, the recipients. Whether you and I are aware of it or not, is very critical to know if we want to create an independent mind, with independent decisions based on unfiltered information.  

    Even when the media is doing its job of just reporting freely and fairly, but if the entire event was staged to cause a certain perception, and the media is none the wiser, we the recipients of that piece of information of will be led to think, 'hey this is how it is' . We will tend to form our opinions and beliefs based on what we see, read but not experience. 

    With repeated instances of the same issue cropping up, we, in our busy lives, will take the repeated occurance and plant it into our concious  and subconciousc mind, hence, confirming the 'fact' and it becomes 'reality'.

    I will cite some examples in another post. Seize the Day.

         

I'm going for No. 8

            This year marks my 51st in this world, it seems like just yesterday that I was an undergraduate, and then started working in a small MNC called Trio-Tech, got married, started my business in the early 90s, endured the Asian Crisis, went through turbulent times with 2001 September 11, SARs crisis, business disagreement leading to my partners and I agreeing to disband our company, in 2003, I started my own business (again) and now 10 years ago, we are at 2013, and I am going to run my 8th marathon at the right young age of 51.

            Sure, we say life begins at 40, then 50. Who are we really kidding. The fact is that we may have the good fortune and blessings of health, that is something to celebrate, so I am celebrating being 51 by running my 8th (and hopefully 9 - 10th) marathons by this year and (latest), next year.

            I will need to be disciplined in time management, and make my runs worth it. There is only 4 and 1/2 months to go. Will I be able to do it in below 5 hours ?  That is my set goal and I have not gone under 5 hours in 2 over years - the last being in 2010.

           I can and will. Seize the Day.

Haze in S.E. Asia - 16 years on ; Nothing much has changed

         Once again, Singapore and Malaysia are the unfortunate recipients of the unhealthy smoke blowing from our big neighbour Indonesia. The fires are going on unabated, with firefighters trying their best to stem the spread but again, many people just watch helplessly as the tragedy unfolds again, in epic proportions, reaching on Friday 21st a "hazardous" level of 401 at 12pm. Many people are falling sick, especially the old, infirm, young and those with existing health problems. It is definately "NOT ACCEPTABLE".    

         Why are we, time and again, subjected to this man made disaster ? The politicians have made little headway, through high level haze meetings through ASEAN with Indonesia, to date not ratifying the pact for haze control.  So 16 years on, we are in fact worse off, in terms of this environmental disaster. So, millions upon millions of Singapore citizens and residents are put on additional health risk, of lung related disease and worse. What about the cancellations of tour bookings, millions of visits and business opportunities cancelled, going elsewhere and general frustated sentiments ??   






        It is especially frustrating when, in Singapore, we are known for our efficiency and proactiveness  and this man made environmental disaster happens again and again. It is good that now, the S'pore ministers are pressing their Indonesian counterparts to name and press the requisite charges on the guilty companies and organisations. I hope for the sake of us all, we can have the good temperament to ride this one out. Singaporeans should be more resilient and patient as there is nothing else we can do. 

        Enough is enough, we need to take action to stop this once and for all. Meantime I wish all Singaporeans and neighbours good health and take good care by cancelling or reducing all extra activities outside, drinks lots of fluids, and pray for a speedy, permanent resolution for this.