You know what really grinds my gears?

Rainy Singapore.

Ok, more precisely, rain when i want to play tennis.

Pissed as anything, had been looking forward to my lesson this morning.
Damn.

be considerate please!!!!

you know, one of my pet peeves is irritating singaporeans standing still on the right lane of the escalator. they just stand there, oblivious to the people behind them who are in a hurry, and just happily hold up the line. it is so irritating when one is trying to rush for a bus or a train and lo and behold, a couple is standing infront of you, hand in hand, occupying across the entire step.

its a phenomena i have never seen before, in all the First World countries i have been to. its not as if you HAVE to walk on the escalator. if you would like to take a leisurely ride on it, just move to the left! its that simple! would you break up with your girlfriend or boyfriend if you just do not hold hands for 30 seconds??!! geeze.

its completely ridiculous! and you know why? because singaporeans are really an inconsiderate bunch of people. they are completely oblivious to people around them, their needs and presence even. (note: i am not trying to compare between nations and people, although it may appear so. my point is to highlight singaporean behaviour)

i have given up trying to be nice to these inconsiderate people. nowadays i just barge my way through without even saying "excuse me" . or do i need to say "skews" instead so they might understand?

disgusting

so yesterday i called tay up and we agreed to go play table tennis. i have a renewed interest in the game, and tay had kindly agreed to train me. we decided to go to Macpherson Community Center to play. we had been playing there for several years already, until i moved abroad for my studies. we had very much appreciated the free facilities there, as Community Centers' should be.

when we got there, we did not find any table. a "quick" check (well, more like a slow check... that woman made us wait for almost 15 minutes) with the staff later, it appeared that one can NO LONGER play table tennis in the Community Center except only on Saturdays, 10 am-12 pm, a pathetic and paltry 2 hours. the sports hall where the table tennis table was, is now used exclusively for FEE PAYING badminton players. the table has been removed completely, stored somewhere.

and then it all sinks in. tay had called Macpherson Community Center up earlier that morning, and checked if there was still a table there for us to play. the staff told us yes, the table was available. but he actually had the cheek to discourage us from playing because, get this, "badminton players might be interrupted by the table tennis players". tay had not thought much of it then.

this is blatant profit seeking behaviour! because badminton courts require booking fees, the Community Center gives priority to the badminton players! and the thing is, its not as if the table tennis table occupy the same space as the badminton courts. they are in the same hall, but the table tennis table was at an isolated corner of the hall. instead of thinking logically, which is to put a simple barrier around that corner, they choose to ban play completely. and why? because they can derive revenue from badminton. and why waste precious revenue on buying the barriers? they probably cost a princely 50 dollars or so.

granted badminton as a recreational sport is more popular than table tennis, but i am questioning the fundamental reasoning here. i love badminton very much too, don't get me wrong. however the reasons behind removing the table tennis table completely are highly dubious.

and the story does not end here. we went to 2 more Community Centers and both of them had removed the tables in favour of badminton. in Geyland Serai Community Center, the table tennis players had to, get this, buy their own tables and place it in an isolated room upstairs, sharing the room with the aikido classes. and its not open to public. in Eunos, there were no tables altogether for the public! in the end, at Eunos, somehow we found a table located in the middle of no where. indignant, we just dragged the table out and played table tennis defiantly outside the main office. the venue was horrid, the lighting absent but we had to make a statement.

Table tennis has been the only sport that has brought some measure of international success to Singapore. i dare say, even more so than sailing. li jiawei and company had achieved true international success. yet if our community centers are not willing to support the sport among the masses, our future success will be just that --> a visage of imported, naturalized foreign players.

we are not asking for much. just a simple table at an isolated corner, is that too much? exercise some common sense please, our Community Centers. don't let the concept of profit and self sustaining revenues cloud the greater good.

heart attacks and "no idea"

the market can really give one heart attacks. was whining to my friends how the ridiculous 6% swings in one hour are making me panic. seriously, what the hell, SIX percent?! thats like easily 20 billion or more in one hour!!!

i am worried not so much because i have investments out there --> anybody who knows me well enough would know i have liquidated everything and gave it all to buy myself out of slavery. i am worried because i fear market sentiments are gonna be messed up, and my firm fails to get sales... sighz. the woes of a private sector guy.

anyway, i have added a link to the current Dow Jones so all my faithful few readers can quickly reference the market. Its on the right -->

anyway, venga boy sent me a great clip, also centered on the recent stock market turmoils. watch this. jim, i hope the Fed discount rate cut made you a little happier and more relaxed. man, i cannot be a trader for sure.

Morning Cereal

this is the single most disgusting looking cereal on earth.

kellog's pure oat bran.

i have no idea why my mum had to buy this. why can't we just stick to Post's Banana Nut Crunch?!

"Why didn't the Garmen do this?"

I caught myself complaining about the government with regards to the poor standards of public transport.

Was that fair? Actually on hindsight, probably not. The companies run quite autonomously I believe, from the government. Of course I am certain the government is directly involved but thats not my point...

My point is, why do we Singaporeans always instinctively blame the government for every little thing? (I find myself writing more and more in the style of Carrie Bradshaw... haha)

Actually I think its a chicken and egg problem. Our government has taken credit (justifiably I must add) for a lot of the good things that have taken place in Singapore. And they have been quite unshamedly proud of their work.

As a result, we Singaporeans have been brought up to believe that our government is responsible for our lot and fate. And that I believe, is the reason why Singaporeans always blame the government first.