Of Terror

The face of terror is cold and hard, what drives humans to kill others and cause widespread destruction?

Terrorist mark out their attacks and remind themselves over and over again on what they need to do before the faithful day where they execute their plan..

Well-drilled in weaponary and merciless in execution, there is little regard for life..

When terror strikes, what can ordinary folks like us do? What would people with power and force do?

Striking back

Hit them hard and make sure they can never return again, hit them so hard they can never stand again

Of Condolences

My condolences to the family and friends of Ms Lo Hwei Yen, held hostage at Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai and victim of the terrorist attacks..

May there be peace for the world..

Of Work Rant

Most of us fail to do something that we would rather be doing, working seems not to be one of them. Just yesterday, wifey was commenting on my mentality of work. Let's get the idea straight, i do enjoy working most of the time, the times when i whine is where i find the work to be of low value and things are not exactly moving in the right direction.. but still, i generally enjoy the completion of task and letting the person that eventually needs to bear the responsibility feel assurance that whatever time bomb we were defusing or defused would never explode in our faces..

Discussions are always the beginning of a work process.. but it irks me when more time is spent on discussions than actually doing it... it irks me more when decisions are made to leave it in the hands of people to make decisions and get things moving from decision to actual work.. and then.. it hits.. something is not right, can we relook this? shall we have a discussion? you have time? its irritating when you have to redo 9 checklist that you spend hours, time and effort to complete (alright, hours is part of time, i just like long sentences alright)

while the work is now "split" among 3 people.. the fact that i have been looking at the same thing for the last 3 weeks makes it all the more irritating for me.. i have expanded my thoughts and energy into 9 checklist, now i have to make heavy changes to 3 while participating in discussions to verify the thought process

people think differently, people act differently, that's why there are always variables in decisions.. there is certainly no perfect way of doing it.. but we just got to get it down don't we.

the fact that i'm taking too much time to confirm my 3 just shows the level of motivation and energy that is left in me.. no, it's not the ORD mood that's creeping up, it's the fact that things should have been done and dusted with..

so who says you get to do what you really like? To be honest, i wouldn't know if i would like something until i have done it.. even so, i might eventually grow not to like what i liked earlier.. so people change and preferences and emotions change as well.. all this, in the context of work that is..

so what now? nothing la.. it's back to work, day after day..

it's just another midweek rant

have fun folks

Of Captain Cesc

Dear Captain,

We honour and salute you!

"It is a great honour for me to captain one of the biggest clubs in the world. It is a proud moment. I know it's a big responsibility but together with my team-mates, I know we have the spirit and commitment to get back to winning ways and fulfil our potential." 

Cesc Fabregas, 21 years of age
Arsenal Midfielder and Captain
24 November 2008

Of Disappointing

It was a thrashing and it was trash to see the score at 3-0, arsenal nil after reaching home at 1am..

3 goals and a match lost to Manchester City.. and now surely people all over will be screaming how Arsenal's season is over and that 4th place becomes the priority

questions over captaincy arose earlier and gallas was clearly not good enough.. if wenger did make 

any mistake, i am certain once again that gallas was Prof Wenger's worse mistake last season and this season..

come on lads, we have a season to rescue, wake up, forget the title talk and concentrate on the winning the next game, and the next and the next.. 

i can go on and on to blame and blame players which i have criticised over my previous post, but as a team, we must fight on..

it ain't over yet

Go Gunners!

Of Graduation Preview

Well, this is all abit way too early, but its a nice song that will be playing no doubt:

And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives
Where we're gonna be when we turn 25
I keep thinking times will never change
Keep on thinking things will always be the same
But when we leave this year we won't be coming back
No more hanging out cause we're on a different track
And if you got something that you need to say
You better say it right now cause you don't have another day
Cause we're moving on and we can't slow down
These memories are playing like a film without sound
And I keep thinking of the night in June
I Didn't know much of love, but it came too soon
And There was me and you, and then it got real blue
Stay at home talkin' on the telephone and
We would get so excited, we'd get so scared
Laughing at our selves thinking life's not fair
And this is how it feels

Chorus:
As we go on, we remember
All the times we had together
And as our lives change, from whatever
We will still be, friends forever

So if we get the big jobs and we make the big money
When we look back now, will that joke still be funny?
Will we still remember everything we learned in school?
Still be trying to break every single rule
Will little brainy Bobby be the stockbroker man?
Can Heather find a job that won't interfere with her tan?
I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye
Keep on thinking it's a time to fly
And this is how it feels

*Repeat chorus*
As we go on, we remember
All the times we had together
And as our lives change, from whatever
We will still be, friends forever

La, la, la, la; yeah, yeah, yeah
La, la, la, la, we will still be friends forever

Will we think about tomorrow like we think about now?
Can we survive it out there? Can we make it somehow?
I guess I thought that this would never end
And suddenly it's like we're women and men
Will the past be a shadow that will follow us round?
Will these memories fade when I leave this town
I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye
Keep on thinking it's a time to fly

*Repeat chorus*
As we go on, we remember
All the times we had together
And as our lives change, from whatever
We will still be, friends forever

Of Finale

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I'm pleased to announced that i'm finally DONE with my degree programme, it has been 5 tough semesters and a taxing study trip before i completed my final paper today

While my final results will only be released in about 21 days, i say this with a smile:

I'm done, so long and thanks for all the fish

Of White Tigers

Contrary to popular belief, white tigers are not white due to being albino.. that's because the black stripes makes them non-albino..

so a white tiger is white due to a genetic condition that nearly removes pigment that gives that usually orange.. this genetic condition gives the white tigers a shade of white to cream-coloured fur while the stripes are go between black, grey or chocolate-coloured stripes

So all the spotlight is on the zoo's own white tigers due to an incident that has been over-published in the local media.. yes, someone died, its a human life.. 

but lets face it.. it was a suicide attempt that succeeded, would human intervention effectively prevent this from happening?

In Singapore's context, suicides do happen although not every case is reported in the news.. in a way, we wouldn't want that to happen either.. when the first series of suicides via the MRT were published, media publicity and public compassion resulted in charity for the families of the departed.. that has, sadly, induced a few other similar suicides in the following months.. possibly, people who had suicidal thought became motivated by the fact that the media spotlight would mean that their "plights" will be known and thus their families better taken care of by others.. such selfishness, but i'll reserve my judgement for now

back to suicides, majority of suicides in Singapore occurs at HDB flat. Sad but true.

Making sure that people cannot get into exhibits with dangerous like the white tigers in the zoo is like trying to prevent people who have access to HDB flats from jumping off them.. does it makes sense to make such an outcry over such an incident that a man, with all his ingenuity and ability to adapt choose to overstep the barriers in order to complete what he wanted to do at the first place?

i just wished this fellow choose somewhere better instead of the zoo

now this poor tigers are so stressed their can't be allowed back into their enclosure yet

hope we get the white tigers back soon

i have my zoo pass ready

Of Crap

crap, we lost again

crap, our rivals won their match

crap, our youth team thrashes premier league teams in the league cup

crap, we lost 2-0 to aston villa with one of my favourite players, clichy scoring an own goal

****

crap, people are over reacting over the white tiger mauls man to death thing

crap, if someone wants to be an idiot and climb his way into an enclosure, then damn him for placing the lives of the endangered white tigers at risk

crap that others are "raising alarms" that there is insufficient safety barriers in our OPEN CONCEPT ZOO..

noordin, rest in peace but damn you for all this crap too

Of Capsim Challenge V

The curtains come down and i would not say that i was completely happy with myself.. the final score for me was 867 out of a possible 1000.. in a way, i knew it somewhere around Round 5 that i would not make the cut for the finals..

While there is no point crying over spilled milk, i'll just complain a little about how i didn't really have the luxury of time to strategise my moves due to the sudden surge in workload in my job..

there.. really just a little complain

In terms of world wide ranking, i stand at a poor 110 amongst the 727 that signed up.. and i was quite a distance away from the top scoring team, which managed an impressive 970 against my 867..

it was also interesting that 2 people that i have no idea who they were found my blog becaused i blogged about it and they left comments about their performances etc.. a "new friend" from Curtin (i assume its Bentley campus in Perth) and another canadian chap that's studying in the US

All well ends well, a pity i would not be able to test myself against real people

Who dares Win

Congralutations and Best of luck to the 6 finalists, you have earned your place

Of Work Storm

Well, the last week and this week has been an upheaval in terms of office work..

While "People" is one of the main factors that would make a person like me stay in a job, "People" is also a similarly volatile factor..

And so, due to some complicated circumstances, my direct report in my current job would be leaving the firm.. with her last day very very soon..

in her absence, she has setup a system in place to ensure continuity and most importantly, part of the plan was conceived by her boss.. and so a team of 4 became a team of 5 with 2 people who are lower ranked than her helping with the load..

4 becomes 5.. good right?

Guess what, 5 is now.. 3! the magic number is 3 now, because our big boss has decided that 5 is too many and 3 would be fine.. of the original 5, only me and another colleague has experience on this project... now its just me alone though i'm not heading the project..

5 becomes 3.. but the workload isn't reduced mine you!

alright, the frustrations are clear enough.. so i would not even go on to talk about how scope of the projects would potentially grow since our big boss has this tendency of expanding and promising things with little regard for the actual implementation, man-hours and legwork needed to get things done!

In face of uncertainty, one can only girth one's teeth and hope that tomorrow will be a better day..

till then.. 

What doesn't kill you makes you stranger

Of Capsim Challenge IV

Left office close to 10pm tonight and only managed to start working on my decisions for Round 6 since the weekend break..

A brief look at my results so far:

As expected, i had a slow start as i wanted to avoid emergency loans and keep my profits level at a healthy level while keeping loans in check.. my score of 91 for round 4 is my highest so far and i'll hope to do better for the remaining 3 rounds of simulations...

If you noticed, there's someone that commented on my earlier post on Capsim.. this person was searching for more information on capsim when he came across my blog, well.. welcome to my blog then, our interest in capsim could be a starting point for friendship and i wish him/her all this best in this slugfest to get to the finals..

For those who were more interested in other tangible results, i'm no.2 in terms of cumulative profits in my industry and managed a decent profit of 32million in round 5 (versus 54mil in profits for the person who commented on my post)

There's always a mountain that's higher than the other

Quiz: Which is the tallest mountain in the world?

If you answered Everest!

Well

You are wrong!

i'm sure i'm right about you being wrong, so google it and get your facts right!

Of Euthanasia

Channelnewsasia:

SINGAPORE : Doctors, caregivers and religious groups in Singapore have said there is a distinct difference between euthanasia and the Advanced Medical Directive (AMD) which the Health Ministry wants to simplify. 

While the AMD extends a person's autonomy on how he would like to die, euthanasia is seen as an act of killing. 

And experts said Singapore society is not ready to legalise euthanasia. 

As Singapore's population ages, the country is in the midst of a debate on how one can die with dignity. At the centre of it is the Advanced Medical Directive. 

The Health Ministry is studying how to make it easier for people to sign up for the AMD - a document, where you can explicitly state how you want your final days to be, if you are terminally ill. 

The issue now is a confusion between what is AMD and what is euthanasia. (Full article here)

Those who have heard about my views about old age in the past would not be unfamiliar with what i'm about to say. It has always been my opinion that when i reach old age and become frail, my health is unlikely to hold up and that would potentially mean a less meaning life for an elderly me.. i should have a good 35 years ahead of me before i start worrying, but all this recent talk about euthanasia got me thinking..

Euthanasia is now viewed as a form of killing, the question here is.. the death occurs to one who is terminally ill.. doctors, religious organisations and people who think they know better are arguing that Euthanasia is wrong, they argue that no one has the right to take away the life of a terminally ill, despite the hardship and pain that the patient and family go through in the final journey of the patients life..

how then does a terminally ill patient compare to the life of a criminal awaiting death-roll? In Singapore, to be hung for your crimes is not a surprise: Murder, Drug Trafficking and Kidnapping all carry the death penalty on our shores.. the death penalty take life away from criminal too.. is it more morale to end the life of a criminal that wishes to live than ending the life of a terminally ill patient that wishes to be released from the suffering?

While our dear Health Minister states the obvious "this is a morale dilemma that Singaporeans have to face", the ball is not in our court to decide how and when things end.. in Singapore, it is also criminal to attempt suicide

I might as well clarify this since we are on the topic of suicide.. Section 309 of the Penal Code states that anyone who ATTEMPTS suicide is culpable to criminal offence.. attempt is the key word here.. it was almost ridiculous when i first heard that people have the impression that people who COMMIT suicide are handcuffed..

Now why in the world would the Police, or any Police want to do that? Handcuff a body? Is the body likely to run away? An offence committed? Well.. he or she did ATTEMPT suicide, hey, it was even successful! But there is no logic in handcuffing the dead and our police, despite its shortcomings, aren't fools who apply the law as it is.. 

So for the record, while it is an offence to attempt or abet suicide.. the actual act of suicide(successful one i mean) has no resulting offence.

My apologies for looking at the morbid topics of euthanasia and suicide without empathy.. i know it'll be just as hard for me when i face death.. but surely you would know by now how morbid i can be

Live on, life is short

Of Capsim Challenge III

Ah, 737 participating teams for the Capstone World Wide Fall 2008 Challenge and i'm one of them, no. 265 to be exact.. some numbers for toto perhaps?

Round 2 was completed last night, as of now, its a 24-hour window to make decisions, a more hectic schedule awaits those who get into the finals, and more importantly, a berth to play against other teams instead of just programmed bots..

Already, the bots are showing to be smarter, by having different companies focus in different market segments, higher resources are available to compete for a same market share.. so for someone that me who is banking on a Broad Cost Leadership Market Strategy, the difficulty becomes fighting 5 bigger guys in each specific segment then..

Allow me to defend my strategy though.. a simulation like this judges based on a number of factors.. and these factors are reflected in a balanced scorecard or BSC. That means that a company must do well in ALL aspects of the business in order to obtain a good BSC score. My strategy involves keeping my 5 products in all 5 segments throughout the 8 years, this meant that despite spreading my resources across 5 products for Research & Design, Marketing, Production and general spending on Total Quality Management and Manpower Investments. The strategic benefit of this strategy means that i have 5 products fighting in all markets, maximising my potential to earn in each market, that would also mean that my competitors will have me and a competitor in all segments, fighting for a piece of the pie

I'm sorry if i bored you with my strategy, it can change as the game changes over time.. let's see how my strategy changes for this challenge then

Now for Round 2, i have made progress in terms of sales and market share, however, in terms of earnings, i still lag behind my competitor bots:

 

I'm loving this phrase more and more: WHO DARES WIN

Of Grace & Respect

And so, a black man has won the seat for the white house, what does that mean exactly for Singaporeans? Well, you'll read about all that in your local papers so i shall go on to explain how policies favoured by Obama works for a country like ours.

"And, to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president, too."-Barrack Obama - Victory Speech, USA Presidential Election 2008

What the above signify is that the United States of America can indeed be united, and that all citizens of the USA are respected, taken care of and heard.
With the whole world looking at Obama, perhaps his aides can draft no better speech than the one he has given. I can't help but think about our own elections and the reactions of the winner thereafter

What Obama promised to be a all-inclusive USA for every citizen reminds me of PAP's Election manifesto of "Staying Together, Moving Ahead"

One only has to look closer to see how we aren't really together even as we move ahead.. Residents of Potong Pasir and Hougang who voted for the Opposition are discriminated when it comes to Upgrading Works on their HDB flats, flats that require upkeeping and the same flats that HDB sold to them as Singaporeans that requires upgrading. But for the reason that they voted for another Singaporean from a party different from the PAP, the government excludes them for upgrading. Well, maybe some will argue that they are included, just that they are so far down that queue that i wonder which Minister will be on board by then..

Obama then went:
"I just received a very gracious call from Sen. McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Gov. Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead."

Respect for his competitor, respect for a fellow American that has worked hard because he loves the same country.

And Singapore?

Firstly, i doubt Mr Chiam or Mr Low from the Opposition has PM Lee's number to call and congratulate him after his election victory in 2006.
Secondly, i don't remember PM Lee having any mention for the 2 Opposition leaders who were voted into parliament by Singaporeans, instead, i remember a speech where Mr Lee mentioned about "buying votes" and having to "fix them", refering to the opposition members in parliament.
If i had to go on and on to discuss about my misgivings, it would take more than this few minutes to draft this post

So for now, i rest

Well done Mr Barrack Obama, respect man.. respect

Of Grace

"And, to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president, too."
-Barrack Obama - Victory Speech, USA Presidential Election 2008


What graciousness in Victory, my thoughts and references to our own leaders up next

Of Capsim Challenge II

And so it has began, the Capstone World Wide Fall 2008 Challenge is in progress

Decisions for Round 1 has been uploaded and the scores on the proforma didn't look good enough to win, its a long race against computer bots though and the tortoise might just win the hare..

having said that, there are distinct differences between a Tortoise, Turtle and Terrapin even if they all start their names with a T and share a somewhat common scientific name in some part of their .. eh.. scientific name

Tortoise are your flat footed, tree stump foot kind of animal which munch mainly on vegetation and can grow to a sizable.. eh.. size, just think the Galapagos tortoise

Turtles, however, have feet that are suitable for swimming and spend most of their time in water.. these are also the ones that seek the same beach they were both in to give birth again, the males.. they don't really bother to return, the mating is done out at the seas and the female makes the swim back up shore.. turtles are also made famous by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.. which i suspect aren't really turtles.. how? blame the rate for calling them wrong names then

Terrapins, finally, is also the love of one of the ladies in the blogs i read column.. to be exact, the terrapin is the author of the blog, not my friend.. so oh well.. back to terrapins, the red eared slider is the most common breed found in Singapore, that means almost every aquarium who are selling baby/youthful terrapins and also the ones that are abandoned in our local reservoirs, lakes, ponds and anywhere else barely habitable for these creature.. so the next time you think you want to get one from the pet shop for yourself or that kid who doesn't really know about caring for these creature, please, think again

Oh and yes, the capsim challenge, results for Rd1 decisions are out.. on profits alone, i'm in 4th place out of a total of 6 teams in the industry(other 5 are bots)..







7 rounds to go


Who Dares Win

Of Next

Coming up: Locked on Target

Team Asuma lead by Kakashi!