Cheeky boy.

Wife told me this 2 weeks ago via phone but I never found the time to jot this down in my blog.  Pretty funny incident about my boy.

It happened while I was away and wife' childhood friend came back to Maesai from Bangkok for a visit.  She has a baby girl about 6 months younger then my son.  (My boy is 2 btw :P)

After dropping my daughter in school.  They have a little gathering at her house and boy boy was playing happily with the little girl.  All was normal until nap time.  The baby girl has a strict nap time and she went to sleep on her little mattress.  My boy, being alone, get bored easily and slowly drift into his sleep too.   Wife naturally just placed him next to his new found friend on the same mattress.  

10 mins later, her friend checked on the 2 kids and found my boy basically has all his hands and legs wrapped around her little girl... hehehe.  She smiled and jokingly complained to my wife that her daughter kena "eaten" (taken advantaged of) by my boy liao.  Wife went in and took a look and yup, my boy was hugging the little girl like a pillow.  Very usual of him.

An hour later, I guess the little girl sensed she was not alone on the bed and woke up.  Immediately she cried and make up a big fuss.  Here's the funny part.  My boy never likes people to disturb while he is sleeping (even my wife and I).  He would cry and throw a tantrum if anyone just woke him up.  So my wife was expecting him to make a big fuss but surprise surprise... he didn't.  He just smiled back at my wife, look at the crying little "girlfriend" and gave a funny sly grin.  Macham like (hehehehe, I got what I want liao) :P.  Wife and her friend broke out laughing.  Too bad I wasn't around, could take a photo of this little sly dog...  Wonder where he get that sly genes from ..... :P

 

Another chapter in my life.

35 years I have stayed in my old house and just last week, the movers came and moved out most of the stuff to the new one my sister bought.  At the moment I am still staying in my old house (for convinience sake) but daily, I still need to move some minor personal stuff to the new one.  And there's no more internet connection so I guess I still need to come to the new house almost everyday to surf...

The new environment is a good change to old one.  Fresh paint, new nieghbours (pretty lucky to have good ones) and new furnitures.  It was a pain in the ass to move actually.  It does not help if your father is an avid philatelist and collector.  Meaning we had box loads of stamps (yup tons of them) to move.   Moreover my whole family are avid readers so the amount of books in boxes are huge too.  My mum gave the movers a big tip as most of our stuffs are really damn heavy :P

I will be spending sometime to shift through the collection and maybe sell them off locally at a shop or through ebay.  Its interesting though.  Stamps used to be an important part of communications (writing letters or postcards)but nowadays, we are replaced by email, twitters or blogs.  Even through social website updates.  I'm glad though that there are still a lot of stamp collectors in the interweb which means I could sell some of them off.  Most of the stamps my late father collected are from PRC.  Anyone interested do drop me a message.  Or if you have a lead in buying bulk can drop me an email too.  I have a truckload of them now sitting just beside me while I'm typing this :P  

A man's story.

This is supposed to be published yesterday but I was too poof in moving and shifting all the stuff in the house.  As  my sister has bought a new flat.  My mum decided to move in with her into the new HDB flat while we clear out the stuff in our current apartment so we can rent it out for some money.  "Asset enhancment leh!!"  

Anyway, was clearing the stuff of my old man when I spotted this whole cache of diaries he wrote.  Memories just flooded where I clearly still remember, everyday, every night during news time (around 8pm).  My late father would sit in his chair and starts to write his diary.  He continued to do this until he was bedridden.....

Anyway, all of us read through a few entries.  His writing was elegant and very very neat and easy to read.  (Unlike mine which are terrible! :P ) Most of the entries are just boring stuff like what he ate, buy and other mundane daily stuff....  a bit boring but once in a while, we get to see some very interesting entries.  Like one which he felt a bit sorry and regretted on scolding my sister for waking him up and etc... little things here and there that make these diaries so much more meaningful to us.  I wonder my kids will get to read about my blog one day after I passed away and get the same feeling?  

I took a photo of the diaries on the bed before packing them into a box.  Its going to my sister's house first before we decide what to do with them.  There were also tons of old photos which I guess we still have a lot of things to sort.  

And here's the funny part, my father passed away on the 3rd Sep (thus I want to write this piece yesterday) and the day I found the diaries was on Friday.  2 days before the 9th death anniversay.

Maybe he wants us to read about his life again?  :)

 

Another favourite - SOLD -

I did a crazy thing yesterday. I saw a minty 250mm f/5 Press lens at an incredible price and condition which I could not get my eyes off in E(vil)-bay.  

Since I do not have a day job at the moment, I do not have the luxuries to buy it on the spot.  You may asked "Didn't you sell off your Hassy for 2k?"  Well that money is actually used to pay off the credit card bills that I incurred from purchasing the Press Camera.  And actually I spent another $500 on another Super 23 with lens and back :P  So the 2k already down the drain liao.  Not to mention I restocked a lot of 120 film for my new camera.

 As I was venting my fustration in facebook.  Some RF photog friends gave me an idea.  Sell off my Hexar!  Its a great RF I got just about a year ago.  I think less than 10 rolls were passed through it only and I actually re-calibrated the RF patch myself.  Its a great camera and actually I used it more often then my Bessa R3M.  Actually, I totally stopped using my R3 after I got the Hexar.  Its that good.  

But I don't really need 2 RF bodies at the moment.  I'm shooting MF more often in Thailand and with my NEX 3.  The only time I find I'm using the Hexar was in Singapore, where I do street photography in an urban environment.  I also really need to downsize as all the lenses and gears I have that are mostly in my dry cabinet.  The Press cameras are huge.(and so are the lenses).. :P So I made the hard decision, sell the Hexar away and get the rare 250mm.  Anyway, I still have a Bessa if I need to shoot RF style. 

The dotted line of death.

I can't sleep.  I think its because quite a certain amount of friends ask me why I am so against Tan Cheng Bock (Yes, he's a nice grandfatherly figure and to a certain extent, trustworthy) after I thrashed him in my last post and decided not to vote him.   Why I am so against the Mandatory Death Penalty(MDP)?  Well first thing first we need to understand what is MDP in Singapore.  It's the capital punishment where someone would received if he breaks certain laws in Singapore.  And yes, its mandatory.  Why? According to their thinking, its because once they know there is such a harsh penalty, you won't even dare to try it in the first place.  Sounds good hor?? Use scare tatic leh.

But this world is not as black and white!  Certain people did not convict these crimes because they wanted to.  Or even worst, they are not even aware they were commiting the crimes!  Examples are these 3 recent cases tajken from an article by 2nd Chance.  Full article is here

Yong Vui Kong is 23 years old this year. He had been arrested at the age of 19 in possession of 42.27g of heroin. Unlike Ahmad Zahir Ismail, a gang member who was spared from jail and caning earlier this month, Vui Kong was sentenced to death under the Mandatory Death Penalty. Vui Kong is now repentant, and has spent the past 4 years studying, meditating (he is now a devout Buddhist) and trying his best to atone for his mistakes within prison walls. He is not asking for acquittal and release. He is only asking to be allowed to live, so that he may continue in his self-improvement and meditation.

Cheong Chun Yin was charged with trafficking in over 2kg of heroin. However, he maintains to his day that he had been under the impression that he was only smuggling gold bars for a friend from the pasar malam where he worked. He also cooperated fully with the investigating officers, giving them details and even the phone numbers of the man who had arranged the whole job for him. However, the investigating officers made no attempt to trace this man. The trial judge also ruled that it was “immaterial” that the officers did not make “adequate efforts” to do so.

Like Chun Yin, Roslan bin Bakar also continues to insist upon his innocence even though he is at the last stage of the process. Besides the testimonies of others, there was no concrete evidence proving that Roslan had been at the scene. Roslan also provided an alibi. His mother and step-brother testified in support, but the judge did not believe them.

Ok, So what does this have to do with the President of Singapore?  Well if you have read the book by Alan Shadrake, Once a Jolly Hangman.  The Death Warrant,  which is the last piece of document thats need to be signed and endorsed needs a signature.  Whose signature?  None other than the highest office holder, our President of Singapore!  Thats why TKL asked for a review in this matter as he do not wish to sign that peice of paper!!  

Because its a joke.  The canbinet decides but the last piece of paper is signed by our President!  With no power to grant clemency or ask for a retrial!  

So now you see why its relevancy in choosing one who blantanly believes in Mandatory Death Penalty?  Again I am not asking you to change allegiance and vote for TKL or TJS.  Its YOUR CHOICE and I have MINE :)  Maybe if you try to believe TCB would think about it later and change his mind when he is President but I can't take that risk.  He has givein his views and his views are clear. Just follow the consitution and sign the dotted line of death.

And that's sad.  I wonder Nathan has he ever went down personally to the gallows to talk to the convicts before their demise?  $4mil a year to sign death warrants.  What a job!

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 down. Just left 2 to choose.....

This post is about politics in Singapore so again, if you are not interested, please redirect to somwhere else :)  

 

I loved political forums and I am so happy TOC managed to rope in all the 4 Tans for a good face to face debate.  If you, as a voting Singaporean have not watch the videos, I implore you to take some time to watch these 2 parts of the forum to have a better understanding of our 4 candidates.

 

Part 1

Part 2

In my previous post, I mentioned that all 3 candidates besides Tony Tan are credible and are much much better options as an elected, independant President.  This was a pre-conceived idea from the information I have gathered from online readings of their blogs and other writings by their respective supporters.  

But there are some very fundamental answers to certain particular principles and beliefs I have that I wished the other 3 candidates would answer before I could make a sound decision.  And all thanks to the TOC forum, I have more or less reduce the 3 Tans to become 2 Tans (actually more or less have decided on mine but I still want to know more of the 2 left. :)

As I have known all along, Dr TT was the usual PAP puppet, he beats around the bush on certain tricky questions and his views are the exact same copy of our ruling gahment.  

The one that surprises me most in this forum was Dr Tan Cheng Bock.  I actually like that guy (so was my sister).  I do have some reserves at first as he was still a bit tad too close to the ruling party but hey, so is the later Mr Ong Teng Cheong.

He did an amazing job in the 1st part of the video.  Such as seperation of PMO from Istana,  removing the election department to be under the PMO and directly under the President and etc.  It was really good stuff and his composure and the way he carrys himself was flawless.  I was truly impressed!

Then part 2 came yesterday and I found myself totally in shock.  This joker just shot himself with a handgun (and a bazooka later :P ) and that's it, he's out of my list.

He made 2 points that gave me the decision not to choose him.

Firstly, the death penalty.  He beats around the bush a bit but finally gave his final thought that he accepts it as a form of punishment and he would not even consider it to table a change in our harsh mandatory death penalty law in Singapore.  This is totally against my belief so I was a bit dissapointed.  If he did mentioned that he plans to bring it up to the PMO on looking into tweaking this issue or like TKL's smarter answer (totally forgoing the President's role in who is going to the gallows) then I might still give him some chance.  But the way he answers tells me he is just not going to rock the boat on this issue.  As I have once said, no human being has the morale judgement to end another person's life.  

The 2nd one is the killer.  At 1:00 hr where a lady asked about women involving in politics (especially in higher decision making roles)  Even Tony Tan did a wonderful job in handling this question.  But Dr Tan Cheng Bock has to shoot himself with a bloody Bazooka!  What did he say?

 He said:"Well, I think its a difficult area for women in Singapore, it's because the commitment is really heavy, so you need to get your permission from your husband."   

Then the crowd goes... Whoooaaaaaaaa.. I had to rewind the tape a few times to confirm what I heard.  This old joker is a classic male chauvanist in the new age!  Which independant and strong modern woman would vote for such a person???  My sister defintely won't after she heard this and she express shock and disbelief.

What's even more funny is that he knew he screwed up big time and while Dr Tony Tan quickly added a point (to save him from total embarresment I guess) that he's confident that one day there will definitely be a women PM or President in Singapore.  Dr Tan CB quickly agreed to this.  This is uber sad.  This is so low..  This is so PAP like...

Then it dawned on me, he's just another President who will not rock the boat enough.  He will try to persuade and inform but once he gets shot down.  He would either keep quiet or quit (as in he mentioned he will quit if has a great disagreement with the gahment) .  In short, my feeling is that he will not try hard enough to do something about it.  This is my reading and understanding of this man from the results of this forum.

Again, these are all my personal views and judgment call.  Although Dr TCB is out of my list but I still think he is still much better then choosing Dr TT.   So vote wisely my fellow Singaporeans.  Choose a President that could represent your beliefs and principles rather than who can really win Dr TT.     

The Four Tans.

Politics again!!!  Do quickly close this tab or browser if you heck care about the upcoming Singapore Presidential Election.  If you are really interested in my opinion, go ahead. :)

 

I'm writing this piece because a lot of my friends are asking for my opinion and again, I hate repeating myself so I post here and ask you all to read my blog instead :P.  Its a big event this time as there will be four contestants, not just 2.  If 2, it will be easy lah.  You guys/gals will know I anti-establishment (especially PAP gahment) so generally I would vote for the "other" one that is not endorsed by PAP.

Well, it really depends.  As the President is supposes to be independant.  And the late Mr Ong Teng Cheong has proven to us that although he was a former PAP and strongly endorsed by the PAP ghament, he still stood up for us and had a good brief "encounter" with the PAP gahment last time.  So to be fair, I don't just brush off Dr Tony Tan yet :).  I need to research a bit first ,and thats what I think all of us as a responsible citizen of Singapore should do.

If the candidate is truly independant.  Then its a non-issue at all if he has been a PAP member.  And actually, out of the 4 of them, only Tan Jee Say (TJS) is not a former PAP member.  But TJS also joined SDP during our latest election leh... so oso not that independant.  The major concern here is partisan politics should not be brought into the PE.  Its a different thing totally.  So if you start off from this point by understanding the underlying concept that PE is supposed to be non partisan, then it will be easier for you to choose.

From recent reports from TOC, TR, FB postings and even the main stream media.  We could already see that although PE is a non-partisan election, it has turned out to be Anti-PAP versus the Pro PAP camp again.  Not that healthy and smart actually and this is quite bad for our political awakening as an apathetic Singaporean.

So here's my breakdown of the current situations and see if you guys could guess who I am voting for :P

Dr Tony Tan
From what I gathered, he's a bit too close to the PAP and has the most number of "Unions" supporting him.  One of my friend and I chuckled when he mentioned that its the first time he realised we have so many "Unions" in Singapore.  From his past acheivements, I would say frankly that while he was the Minister of Defence, he did brought in a lot of good changes to the military and NS benefits.  But that was just the past, we need to look at his future post and frankly, I would say he's suitable for the job (for his stylo milo hairstyle and looks) rather than substance.  If our President is a figurehead with no absolute power, I actually dun mind him being our President.  But that is not the case actually, our President do have some limited powers ands o definitely, I won't be voting for him :P

So one out,  3 more to go and this is the tricky part.  All 3 of them to me are credible and much more independant then the former.  So I would vote any of the 3.  But I am not going to tell you which one I picked :P  hehehe

A lot of people say because of so many choices, the opposition votes are diluted and the above mentioned DR TT would win.  Maybe so but I sincerely believe we should choose on our own beliefs rather than being irrational and think that we have to have anyone beside Dr TT as our President.  That means asking around and see who people might vote and ask them to change allegiance.  Or worst still, asking 2 of the candidates to withdraw from the race.  (Luckily no one did!)  This is in my view, a bit shallow and not that good for politics to flourish in Singapore.  This is partisan politics and we should avoid it at all cost.  

People have their own minds and we need to repect their choices.  That is true democracy.  Althought sometimes I bad mouth those 60% who voted for the PAP in the last election in my blog of FB.  I sincerely don't blame them as it's their vote and choice.  I just do that for my own amusements and fun (rather unlike Thailand where they march the streets and stage military coups).  I also take my benefit of doubt that they had made their decisions through rational and informed choice rather fear and plain ignorance.  I sincerely hope the next 5 years will be better and there are some positive changes I see in recent events.  Maybe we just give them more time? 

So 3 Tans for me to choose.  Maybe I should take out my D&D dice to do some rolling.. :P