The Lane Cutters - Kiasu and Kiasi

The 3 ultimate peeves for me as far as living in Singapore are these : 

1.  The stifling heat and humidity which will hit you upon arrival (by plane / ship). 

2.  Lane Cutters on our roads

3.  The Costs of Car and Home ownership

Point 1 and 3 there isn't much we can do about it. 

Point 1 - Heat and Humidity 

The heat and humidity in Singapore has been known for decades, and it is exacerbated by  global warming. I intend to read more, much more on that and post my little anecdotes and simple ways which as a citizen, I can and will make a difference.

Point 3 - Car and Home Ownership 

This is again falls in our Government's purview and these ministers and highly paid civil servants have to make it their agenda to help Singaporeans cope with these 2 largest items in every citizen's radar. A home to settle down, raise a family and access to owning a car, at least for a certain time in his or her life. These costs should not be over burdensome, as we are all well aware.

Point 2 - Lane Cutters - Driver or Passenger to blame ?

I hate queue jumpers with a vengeance. A lot of these people are providing Ride Hailing service and they may claim they are rushing from point A to point B, but IF they had planned their routes in advance and use the Google Maps, there is no need to rush. No one wants to jam brake just as the car in front moves from his lane to yours. 

The situation is made worse when we have never ending road works in many parts of this island. So what was once an 3 lane semi expressway, becomes a 2 lane or even 1 lane start stop jaunt, flaring up many motorists at all times of day. 

Really, as an observation of life in Singapore, while it may get stressful at times, we need to cherish the time and our transportation planning can be made most seamlessly if everybody played their part by 

a) planning their trips with ample time to get to their destination.

b) telling the Grabcar and Taxi driver to not rush to the destination.

I hope this post reminds us that if we rushed through our lives, aiming to to earn the big bucks  by providing Grab and other Ride Hailing services, IF it comes at the the expense of our sanity or (even worse), we get involved in car accidents in our haste, then it would all come to nothing or even, as a result, we get a terrible driving record and possibly some jail time.

Its not worth it. 

Just my 2 cents  

It best to leave some friendships behind.

Deep Fried Calamari Rings 

Location :Scaled Restaurant, 8 Hamilton Road

Singapore 209179 

At this stage in my life where the number of years left are far less than the number of years I have lived, I can say that to be truly emancipated, I need to let go of certain friendships, and relationships. While its good to have a circle of friends, the true friends are those that stand up and be counted when the chips are down for me and you. Hence, we must be mindful of these people and discard the ones who are just :

a) good time drinking buddies or mates (some even from school)

b) mutual interest friends

c) relatives (yes)

It is a revelation to me that after so many years, I can be cognizant of who are my true friends and those who are just best left to meet once in a blue moon, maybe never again. An example is this : lets say I write up an article and I want some honest reviews for my 22 year 'baby', say my business . I send out a simple request with a link to friends and family. It only takes 5 to maximum 10 minutes of their time to fill up a simple questionnaire and review it. No money is transacted or requested, just some time and an honest review.

Some friends respond practically immediately. I am so thankful for these mates. Some say yes and do it a day or two later. Some receive the the simple request and say "yes". Some receive it and don't bother.

I would like to address the last group, the list of friends who receive the requests and don't bother helping in the slightest way - by filling up a simple 5 minute review. These people know me, my company, the products and services we provide very well over these years. 

Seabass Pate with Sourdough Bread, Caramalised Onions 

Location : Scaled Restaurant, 8 Hamilton Road. 

Singapore 209179

The reality of it all is that some friends are just 'free loaders'. They just want the nice free meals and time companionship without any of the responsibility (if any) or accountability. If the responsibility is just 5 minutes of their time, and they can't even fulfil that, when we have come and met multiple times, perhaps its better to relook into the semantics of that friendship and perhaps back off. These are what I would call, the 'entertainers', the people who make me 'feel like I am part of a bigger group' of like minded people. BUT they are fake. And I do know my fair share of fake friends. Thankfully I have sifted through my friends list and have been a lot more discerning. 

They have 0 interest in your well being or your person. Why do I even bother to meet with them let alone do things with them ? Of course you will accuse me of being selfish, and only taking the approach by assessing "What can you do for me" first - hence we can be friends. It should be ideally a pure connection, that when the time comes (good AND bad) we stand up for each other - though no one is counting the number of times it happens, right ?  

 Sweet Cheeks Biscotti Chocolate Ice Cream 

147 Tyrwhitt Road

Singapore 207561

So, the bottom line for me is this. I am my own man. I have family, relatives, friends, acquaintences and associates - and then some. There will be people who don't like me, envy me, say bad thigngs behind my back. There are those who if not for monetary gain, wouldnt drop in on FB, Linked In, Whatsapp and say 'hello' to me. There are those 'freeloaders' who if not for a free meal, wouldn't help me in any way.

Its time I said "Bye Bye " to these Useless Deadbeats. The list is pretty long. .I am fortunate that the true friends list is just as long, so it equals up. 

Seize the Day - and with people who mean something to me - now and always. 

 

60s and 70s Pics - carefree and totally - a major accident at 6 years of age.

I was a curious Kid

This post is a throwback to the most enjoyable and carefree years of my life. Its true that at certain stages in life, you have moments of joy and prolonged happiness. Like my marriage to my lovely wife, the birth of my 2 sons, the many family dinners and overseas trips throughout the years, they they all gave this lucky guy happiness and joy

 

However, for me, without even knowing it cognitively, the carefreeness and no responsibilities (not irressponsibilities) of a kid for the first 12 - 14 years of my life were the happiest.  Play, eat, get into trouble, sleep, go for gatherings, school with little or no homework,and repeat day in day out . No excessive tuition (like the poor kids of today), no gifted and banding of our IQ levels, just good (not clean, we were mostly filthy from outside gallivanting) fun with zero connectivity. No PC, no portable IPad, No IPhone, No Airpods, No handphone, no social media, no TikTok, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, nothing.

Yet, we had so much fun it was incredible. A truly different world.   

Wow, I wished those times would have lasted. 

It never does. So to look back at the 'good old days' with wonder and smile is a privilege I have. True, times were tough for Singaporeans in the mid to late 60s, our country was going through separation from Malaysia, we were very poor GDP per capita PPP was like less than US 500, the threat of communism taking over the region was real, and there was a lot of gangster activity in many parts of Singapore. It was truly an extremely difficult time to be an adult in Singapore in the 60s. 

   

From Left : Uncle Phoon, Lorraine, Rick, Mum, Aunty Mona, Wendy and May

For us kids, it was the complete opposite, it was an other worldly bliss full of birthday parties, playing daily with the neighbourhood kids, going for piano lessons every Saturday, learning karate at the Palmer Road YMCA, going to Presbetarian Church Sunday school at Selegie road, and later (around 1973) we had regular swimming lessons at the Singapore Swimming Club at Fort Road. My brother and I trained under the legendary Mr. Neo Chwee Kok, the Flying Fish who represented Singapore at the 1958 Olympics.

We did reasonably well as swimmers, I represented my secondary School House as the Swimming House Captain, and swam on the periphery of the school swim team. I was also selected to be the Boys Captain during the 1977 - 1980 swimming days for the Singapore Swimming Club. We swam at numerous meets in South East Asia, competing at the Sanya Samaki Swim Tournaments in 

a) Bangkok

b) Jakarta

c) Penang

d) Manila 

Those days are etched in my memory for the rest of my life. I will post some of those photos in the later days, weeks and months.

Back to No. 6 Adis Road, where I lived from 1962 - 1978, a full 16 years. What did my brother and I do for fun ? Well, we got creative and made our fun, through real CONNECTIONS with our neighbours. 

We did kite fighting, making our own glass string, climbed trees to pluck rambutans, walked around our house and neighbourhood to look for leaves which were pressed together and catch the striped spider to fight with the neighbours, rode our bicycles (we had Chopper Bikes made from Raleigh company in the UK), had fighting games, hide and seek and every manner of nonsense you could think of from sam seng boys we would do, on a dare or just out of plain boredom.

 

We had a see saw which was really fun 

My parents had 3 dogs, Jippy (mother), Mickey (for John) and Scamper (for me). To this day, I still have the bite marks from Scamper (my dog) on my left wrist when I went and tried to pull her from her sleep. She was a temperamental dog, and had occasional mad bouts in her behavior. If I had a time machine, and went back to the late 60s and early 70s what would I change ?

Nothing.

Merry Go Round with 'S' on it 

Finally, an event which changed my life. I was about 5 to 6 years of age. We had a black and white TV set in our living room on the second floor of our house. We watched Combat, Beverly Hillbillies, Banana Split and Little House on the Prairie almost religiously - yes we had nothing else to do in the evenings. Another favourite show was the Flying Nun starring Marge Redmond and Sally Field (in later episodes), I actually thought I could fly. That was how naive and dumb I was at 5 years of age. 

Botanic Gardens watching the Swans

At the back of our house, there was a water pipe stretching from the 2nd floor to the squatters at the back. One day, I decided to try to reach for the pipe by jumping from the top of the wooden stairs and catch the open pipe and swing along like Tarzan. With some egging from my brother, I jump and missed the pipe by a mile.

I remember tumbling down the whole 10 steps and I blacked out.

Next thing I knew was the good tenant Ken Omemori called my father urgently and he came rushing home and transported all of us to Singapore General Hospital. I went for surgery for a cut which took 6 stitches from the legendary Dr. Yahya Cohen, my Dad's then best friend.

I had a brown patch of plaster on my right forehead testament to my youthful gunghoness and stupidity.

The year was (I believe) 1967.

Carpe Diem. 

 

WHY QRA ?

 

Why QRA ? 

Why QRA ?  

Let me state the reasons :

QUALITY 

The "Q" states Quality. Quality in our mission, our ethics, our people, our products, our services, our procedures and our prices. 

Customers come to QRA for Quality. High Quality. 

RELIABLE 

"R" stands for Reliability. Customers can rely on us to provide the stated test services, our repair services, our products and our people can stand up and be counted upon. We show up when the chips are down, on the table and up. 

ASSURANCE

We assure you of nothing but the best from us. Our products, our services, our people and our pride in giving you the assurance that you can count on us every time and at any time. 

That is the WHY QRA answered. 

Start with Why

 

Fresh from a trip to Chiang Mai Thailand, I have reread this classic by the Forever Optimist Simon Sinek. "Start with Why."  In it he dissects the brain into 2 areas, the Neocortex (frontal lobe) responsible for :

a) logic

b) reasoning and deduction

These 2 aspects form the What and the How of problems or circumstances. For example, 

a) How did we get to this point - for any situation

b) What is so great about the IPhone (for example)

and Limbic brain which is for the feelings and emotions aspect of our cognitive awareness. The Limbic brain addresses or answers the Why question.

Many times, people never think about the Why in their decisions, because 

a) it has been decided by the higher authority like the Government or Company Rules

b) it is too difficult to stand out from the rest of the people, hence the "follow the crowd" principle.

In short, the neocortex is the "minds" part of the "hearts and minds" phrase in convincing while the limbic brain is the "hearts" part or the gut feel which accounts for the "Why" question of 

"Why we do what we do".  - The question we must ask ourselves, ever so often.

Some Inconvenient albeit near meaningless Questions I should ask myself :

1. Why do I follow a half baked English Premier League team called Wolverhampton Wanderers ?

2.  Why do I watch half baked movies or series on Netflix when there are better choices of my time after work ?  

3. Why am I meeting (certain) friends more than I should when they only add to my baggage and time wasting ?

There are many Why questions which are relating to my business and personal life which I should and will not make public, but if anything, this book questions ignites the Why I do this and Why I do that.

Of course, I do not need to justify every action but every now and then its good to take stock.

Pause and reflect on life.  

Only I will know where I am - if that makes any sense - 

 

Tissue Paper Nation - Singapore

Packet Tissues at Tiong Bahru Market this morning

 

One very weird social behaviour of Singaporeans which  makes us stand out from other nationalities is the use of packet tissues to 'chope' or reserve tables at hawker centres and food courts.

People here normally 'chope' the tables with the 30 cent packet and then make a beeline to their stall to buy their prawn noodles, economy rice, dou hwa beancurd or chwee kueh. I guess the psyche amongst Singaporeans is 'chope' first and buy your food. 

I just came back from Chiang Mai and that culture is not visible or prevalent there. Plenty of Chinese and foreign folk buying stuff and then looking for a table or a spare chair or two to eat and drink.

We DO share tables at hawker centres, so the fact that Singaporeans are kind and helpful generally is still prevalent. 

Its this Tissue Paper Power which makes me laugh at the impracticality and kiasuness (scared to lose out) of some Singaporeans. 

Chiang Mai - former capital of the Lan Na Kingdom. Beautiful and Restful

 

Before the Kingdom of Thailand, there were actually 3 different kingdoms. See graphic above.

White Market at One Nimman 

I just finished a visit to the former northen capital of Thailand ChaingMai. Roughly 3.5 hours by plane from Singapore, it is a very nice getaway for Singaporeans who may be tired and slightly overwhelmed by Bangkok's commercialism and Pattaya's sleaziness.

Chiangmai is a very restful place, and it emits a lovely small town vibe and with the right mix of locals and tourists I would recommend it to anyone who needs a short getaway for 4 to 6 days. 

There are lots of tours to participate, like the many temple tours for example. In addition, there are numerous walking trails (with guides of course), white water rafting for certain times of the year and the elephant conservation park for the city folk like me.  

Crane showing off its plumes 

My personal favourite is the Chiangmai zoo, it is at the end of Nimman road, and accessible by the many transport options like Grabcar, tuk tuks or even just take a long walk (half an hour) and you reach the place. I have visited it 3 times these last 2 years, and I enjoy just mosing around the enclosures, watching the animals basking in the enclosures and also during feeding times when they do come to life.  

With a friend from Singapore, Fang 

One Nimman is a walking street just like our Bugis Junction and it is airconditioned and provides tourists and locals alike with all the many trinkets and souvenirs to take back home for the memories. Food choices there are plenty, with Thai favourites like the Paad Thai noodles, Boat Noodles (I tried some yesterday and it was delicious), crab meat fried rice and the fried crispy pork fried rice. Desserts are plentiful, from Thai durian sticky rice, ice creams of all flavours , Red Ruby and the all too famous Mango Sticky Rice. 

The one standout Chiangmai dish I tried and was fully satisfied was the Khao Soi (see previous posts), just whip out your Google Review and choose. My favourite was the Muay Khao Soy and Soi 12 off Nimman street.    

Price wise, things are a lot more expensive than they were a year ago. The cost of living issue is a global one, with supply chains and cost of harvesting and manufacturing going up quite a bit. Food especially good food is around 75% of Singapore's prices. So come prepared.

We had a steak dinner for 2 just the other night at a supposed 4.5 star place on Nimman Road, 2 x Wagyu striploins, some mashed potatoes, a caesar salad and 2 non alcoholic drinks. The bill came to around THB 1,900 or $75. The quality of the steaks was not as good as even our  NUSS Guild House which is above average 

Wooloomooloo, Origins Steakhouse or even Bistecca in Singapore all of which are in my opinion, world standard are on a different league.   

Do visit Chiangmai for a nice chill holiday, find decent even top notch hotels for a fraction of what you pay for a 4.5 star or 5 star one in Singapore. Dine like a top executive in some very nice places, with warm welcoming smiles all year round. Visit the zoo like I did. Try the Thai massages if you are so inclined (I am not) and walk and shop to your heart's content without the harriedness and hustle and bustle of the large metropolis like Bangkok.

It will do your soul wonders. 

Carpe Diem.