Self Employed Again

It's been more than 2 weeks since I last posted.  I am back in Thailand and have been busy looking for a job at the local schools.  Bad news is that the law changed again (as expected from Thailand) and this time, the requirements for government school's ESL teacher is a pain in the ass to apply.  Why? Because you need to have an education diploma which needs to be apporved my the Ministry of Education.  What does this mean?  It means a lot of good ESL teachers currently in government schools will be kicked out of the country as they will not be liable to apply for a teaching position anytime soon.

So I guess its bad news for me too.  My back-up plan (B) is put into first gear for the past 2 weeks and I started to hunt for a location to start my own little tution center.  And yes, I have found a perfect location.  Just down the road from where I stay, a new school was built and there are a lot of new shophouses being built around the area.  Piyaporn is going to be a very busy little village.  The school is not new actually, it's old location was at the old market and because there is a population boom in Maesai, they need a bigger school compound for the increasing number of children in Maesai.   Which means a good opportunity for me. :)

I was actually a bit "dry" financially so I was lucky my mum could helped out a bit.  We took a corner unit and bought another unit just next to it so I have a much bigger space.  It makes sense to buy instead of renting as its a good investment in property too.  Time to diversfy some stocks to property.  Singapore cannot buy (too expensive) so buy in Thailand :P

Anyway, will post more once I'm free.  Still have some business plans need to draft out.  

GE 2011 - Afterthoughts

Just one more post on politics before going back to reality.  So the score card is 81 - 6.  So how did I feel?  Dissapointed.  Why?  I was actually hoping that more oppositions would be voted in.  My personal score card that I think is a passing mark is 15 to 20 seats in the parliament.  This, although could not form 1/3 of the parliament to block constitutional changes but at least it cuts a deep deep wound in PAP's ranks.  If we are able to cut that deep, the PAP would listen. (Less than 55% mandate)  I was actually hoping SDP would win the Holland BT seats (4), SPP Mr Chiam to ttake the Bishan-TP (5), WP in Ajunied (5),East Coast (5),  Hougang (1), Joochiat (1) and NSP in Mountbatten (1).  But I guess reality wasn't the case. :)

We need to cut deep as 61% to PAP is still a clear "strong" mandate.  They won't listen and precisely just after the elections, the PAP still insist GRC is a good system, increasing GDP policy is here to stay as a benchmark for progress and Ms Kate Spate is a correct judgment call for fielding her. Where's all the humble apologies and promises to listen to the people our Prime Minister has spoken of?( I think its thrown all the way back into the rubbish chute liao.)

Some friends consoled me that I can't be too greedy and expect a sudden change in the politcal landscape. Some also argued that such changes and rocking of the boat is not good. We need gradual change they say.

I'm sorry but I disagree on this as there is an old Chinese saying "If we are sick, we need to solve the root of the problem instead of just scraping the surface."  That's what I think we should have in 2011 GE.  ROCK the boat :).  And there's a few reasons why.

1) Economy is sound at the moment.  Osama was shot dead too so we are technically in a very stable situation for a change.

2) PAP made lots of blunder in the past 5 years.  Its a good platform to battle and the oppositions have enough ammo to argue why we need oppositions in the camp.

3) Poor selection of new candidates. *enough said

4) A lot of 1st time (virgin) voters who are politically apathetic and willing to vote to try something new.

5) Better selection of new opposition candidates *enough said oso

In short, we have the 天时，地利，人和。(Time, Resources and the people) to give the current Government a good wake up call.  But I guess Singaporeans just love to play safe and I have no choice but to respect their decision.

I am also dissapointed as I am 35 this year.  Which means I am over my prime (physical) and its going downhill from here onwards.  I might not have the chance to see radical changes to the electoral of Singapore.  Please don't kid yourself that PAP will scrap the GRC system.  They will retain it as its still the most powerful tool in winning elections as it has proven again on 7th May.  Almost 40% people voted against the PAP but only 6 seats are won by the opposition.  This proofs that the system is still workable and will be here to stay.  They would only consider changing it if they lost more than 2 or 3 GRCs.  Which means by that time, the people are already not afraid of losing a minister in the team.  So that's why I was very particular of winning more seats rather than the actual voting %.

I wrote on my facebook that this is one of the good excuse for me to be a real "quitter" and return back to Thailand.  Some friends question my loyalty and love for Singapore.  Well, I sincerely do love Singapore.  I was born here, I grew up here, I studied here, I served my NS here and I worked here.  All my relatives and friends are here too.  But sincerely, I am not a saint or a great person to induce change in my country.  Majority Singaporeans have spoken through their votes and they want Singapore to continue to be such a country I do not want to be part of, so what can I do?  I don't want to hurt it so my only choice is just to leave it as it is :)  For those who want to ask me what I want in Singapore, I think my friend's blog entry is exactly what I wanted.  Feel free to read it and be inspired :)

Of course I am not going to renounce my citizenship.  Its also near immposible for me to get a citizenship in Thailand.  I will most probably return once and a while to look here and there (and cast my vote every 5 yrs of course!).  But finding work and staying long term in Singapore is not an option for me anymore.  I did my part  this GE and I pledge that I will continue to do so until my vision of Singapore could be fullfilled in my lifetime, so this is not really farewell but a new beginning for me.  Thanks again for all the concerns and encouragement.  See you in Thailand! :)

Lensbaby Composer Pro with Sweet 35 Optics

Image taken from Lensbaby.comSkip politics for today as its the cooling off day.  So I was surprised this morning when I received my package from Mr Postman.  Yipee!  My new toy has arrived! When Lensbaby announced the Sweet 35 Optics with built in internal aperture (as like in normal manual lenses),  I knew I would get one as 

1) It is easier for me to change apertures when I shoot, the main frustration and constraints I have with using the other optics are the tedious aperture disc that could easily be mis-placed (I already lost 3 of them from the old set)

2) The wider 35mm focal length.  I prefer wider angle of 40mm rather than 50mm which is too tight for my taste in shooting (especially so in an APS-C size sensor).  So 35mm is pretty good as I could crop it a bit on FF.  And its around 50mm on a APS-C sensor.  

3) Closer min focusing distance at 7.5" (about 20cm) which means I can go real close to my subject.

I bought the Composer Pro bundled with Sweet 35 because its seems cheaper then getting the Optics alone.  And the Composer Pro is really good too!  The ball is metal and the build quality is much better then the previous plastic version! Focusing and tilting is more pin-point accurate then the original one.  Anyway, now I not sure what to do with my old Composer.. maybe sell it or keep it as back up :P

I ran some test shots immediately this afternoon around cityhall area and so far its quite positive.  Only problem is when the optic is focusing at infinity or furthur away, I have some issues trying to see what aperture I'm on as the optic retracts into the composer's body.  It's just a minor hassle but not a big con.  Here's 2 shots taken from my Nex-3 with adaptor.  Rest of the photos are on my facebook :)

 

A post dedicated to His Excellency, The late Mr Ong Teng Cheong

Wife's BFF and her daughter is leaving for Bangkok (they came back here for Songkran) tomorrow so the missus and the 2 kids are staying overnight at her house.  Which means I have the whole night to myself to pen this "little" entry on politics in Singapore.  I was wondering should I write political stuff on my blog as this is more of a family and photography blog.  In the end, I think I still need to write some entries down as I thought it does affect my family and future.

First of all, let me declare that although I am anti-establishment since Day 1. :P I am not those that oppose for the sake of opposing.  The reasons of being anti-establishment is because of my parents (who says education does not play a part :P), especially my father hated the PAP party because of the anti Chinese educated policies in the 60s.    My late father, who although hated the PAP but still respect them as they did managed to get Singapore to the world stage.   I rarely spoke to my father about politics (as per normal with Singaporean families) but during the 1997 elections.  I remember I curiously asked my parents who would they be voting for.  Mum says oppositions at the first go.  My father kept quiet and later after I kept pressing him more, he said voting is secret so I never really know the answer till this day.  

But its interesting as I also vaguely remember my father said this casually to me too during the 97 or 2001 election (can't exactly remember when but he did).  "If only Ong Teng Cheong took over as the PM instead of this Goh Chok Tong!"   

I never realised or think about it what he meant till recently the election fever came again.  I started to ponder and look at the old cabinet lineups of the PAP.  So interested with our cabinet ministers and their acheivements, I started searching for pass cabinet ministers that served our country.  Then I realised something.  Mr Ong Teng Cheong held the same position as Deputy Prime Minister together with Mr Goh Chock Tong in the same year!  see Wiki link here 

I fondly remember H.E Mr Ong Teng Cheong as our first elected President and his contribution to Singapore.  Especially the fallout with PAP gahment part on our national reserves.   I guess it was because I was in my prime so I took interest in politics.  But I never really knew what he had did during his term as a PAP minister.  So again, I googled it and I was surprised to find this excerpt from wiki

 In January 1986, Ong sanctioned a strike in the shipping industry, the first for about a decade in Singapore, without telling the cabinet. He said that he did not inform the cabinet or the government because they would probably stop him from going ahead with the strike. There was a major corporate and cabinet backlash against his decision; however, the strike lasted only two days, and a deal was struck.

During his tenure as the Minister of National Development, Ong was a proponent and advocate of the Mass Rapid Transit system. He later became the 2nd Deputy Prime Minister in 1985.

What balls he have that he dares to ignore the PAP's party whip by sanctioning a strike!  This is true leadership and character!  Can you find such PAP candidates in the current lineup?? No way man!  Now I really understand why my father said that he would have made a better PM of Singapore then Mr Goh Chok Tong.  It's because he cares about us, the common people,  the working class and put himself before any (PAP) party interest.  

I really regretted that I did not attend his funeral (no state funeral because he humbly did not want it as stated in the media and I believe it) and pay my last respect to this great man.   Here's a video made by someone as a rememberance of him.  Do turn off the music.. its a bit too cheesy for my taste but the message is there.
 

And my favourite quote from him as the President of Singapore 

"My loyalty is first and foremost, to the people of Singapore. It has always been so, and will always remain so". - President, H.E Mr Ong Teng Cheong 

Some updates.

Before I begin.  Just want to apologize to some of my facebook friends who might have been bombarded with various Singapore election thingie ever since parliament has dissolved.  I avoid posting political stuff here in this blog as I prefer it to be more about Thailand and my family here.  Not about politics.  So you if wish to read more about my views in SG politics and coming GE.  Do add me as a friend in facebook.  Just click here and you should be able to add me :P  

Maybe later after the Nomination day or even the election I will blog about it.  For now, I just prefer to leave this blog alone for such matters.

So some updates.  I have uploaded some photos in my facebook account.  Most of them taken in March or April.  

The first series is actually supposed to be a 36 in 12 hour challenge organised by ndroo of Fuzzyeyeballs.  But I can't finished it as it rained and I got distracted by the kids :P.  Its a pretty tough challenge and you can see the other participants result over here.  Pretty impressive and labour intensive for ndroo to compile this.  Mu Kudos to him :)!  I can never be that hardworkding! :P

The second series are random digital shots taken with my NEX or a900 over the months.  Most of them taken during the Song Kran Festival period.

A reader, now a good family friend of ours also stopped by Maesai recently.  Too bad they did not stay longer else I could have plan something for them :).  And for my other readers, if you do plan to come to Maesai,  do drop me an email so I could at least do my part to show you around (If I'm around of course!)

 Will be back in Sillypore on 5th of May.  Not only because of election but my Visa is running out on the 7th May.  Yup!  What coincidence!  7th May is the Singapore General Election Day and its stamped onto my passport :P  

 

 

These 2 sure have my genes.. :P

Apologies for not updating this blog for more than 2 weeks.  Its just that Songkran is here again and I was busy preparing for the festivities.  I'm not going to write too much about the festival as I would be repeating myself.  Basically, its water fights and visit temples, relatives and friends.  You can read more about it here and here .

Anyway, this post is about my 2 little monsters :P hehe.  There is a new Robinson mall just opened at Chiang Rai (opposite the Big C Hypermart) and we went there to take a look.  It's pretty big and I would consider it to be quite impressive for Chiang Rai's standard.  Its vert common to have such malls in Bangkok or Singapore but all the way up North here in Chiang Rai?? That's a first.

The parking system is a bit haywire though.  Very stupid design which there are no clear signages and only one or 2 entrances.  It was also jammed with people (we actually went there on a weekday but due to the school holidays, it was still packed).  It took me almost 40mins to get a space and we went straight to The Pizza Company to have lunch.

So today's video is about a silly incident we have at the restaurant....  I have finished eating so I whipped out my camera to some photos of my kids and starting taking a video without their knowledge.  Here's the result.

 

So I have a 4year old girl (going to be 5 soon), teaching her little brother silly stunts and the little bugger happily follow suite... Wife said that's the genes in my family in work and I have to agree with her this time.. hehehe 

Our new pet(s).

The (s) is in a parenthesis because I plan to take one out and cook it for dinner.. ;P.  Here's the story.  My son, due to some reasons, loved the birds.  He stares and adores at the colourful birds in Jurong Bird Park and I think he is attracted to the colourful feathers.

The funny thing is my silly wife bought some clay like sculptures of roosters and the boy love it.  He loved it so much that one day while shopping around, he saw one that was as tall as him and he cried all the way until my silly wife gave in and bought the thingie without my knowledge (I was in Samui doing my TEFL).

Then a week later (while I'm still in Samui).  Wife's cousin who adores my boy bought the real thing..... A rooster from a local market.  It has no name so when I was back.  I was introduced to this new family "member".  Of course I am not happy with it.  Initally it will be fun but then I will be the one looking after it.  (Just take a look at my dog Cindy, wife bought it but never bothers about her now :@

Then another surprise, just 2 days ago, another cousin brought in another one.  This one is much prettier and cute.  So I told the kids we can only keep one and we need to give the other one away or kill it for supper :P

Girl girl already gave a name to the pretty one, his name is "KoKo Crunch".  So I say ok, the I will slaughter the one without a name.   She then said that one has a name too.  It's "Gad Tai" (rabbit in Thai).....

"When did you named him that?" I asked.  "Now! So it has a name and you can't kill it!" replied my girl....

Anyway, I am adjusting to the new pet(s).... Both of them are already pals and they sit and walk together, even bloody do their cocka doo dle doo in the early moring. :( Here's a short video of them I took.

I still want to cook "Gad Tai" for dinner though...  Need to plan that some other time.. hehe