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!Ay Carumba
2008-02-20 13:13:00
The Head Honcho came by the new office today (he's normally in some place else in the APAC region) and did his little walkabout while trying to catch up with the folks at the office-- you know, that little "how are you doing" ritual.I was out of the office on a meeting when he was in, and apparently he'd stop by my workspace because he had been attracted to this little montage pasted next to my PC:He then dropped me an email later in the afternoon saying "I like that little picture on your desk. Can I have one too?"Riiiiiight... But it's nice to know he's flying off to some other HQ tomorrow, so there's a chance he'll just forget about it.*gulp******

Some secrets are meant for sharing
2008-02-19 12:42:00
When I first browsed through The Secret at Borders some months ago, I thought Rhonda Bryne's bestseller was another one of those "feel good" self-improvement books that just rewrote something that everyone already knew and re-packaged for the consumer market.A couple of weeks ago, a cousin who'd dropped in over the Lunar New Year bought a DVD version of The Secret, and being bored, I watched the DVD with him, and discovered, to no great surprise, that the stuff they talked about was something that's already been done till death.But the cynic in me thought why not give this Law of Attraction thing one try, and see how it goes. So for a large part of the week leading up to LNY, I just pictured how pleasant my life would be if I just started with something as simple as having a smooth drive to work every morning (you know how I hate the peak morning traffic here on the expressways).For a start, the first couple of days, I went, "there, you see, this Law of Attraction bullcrap is jus...
More About: Secrets , Sharing

Alpha-maledom
2008-02-17 03:12:00
A former squeeze of mine and I met up for coffee the other day, and she was asking me a couple of things to help her understand her current beau-- a thirty something expatriate businessman who seems to tether the line between being an absolute sweet and sensitive gem of a guy to have and a total asshole on the other.Like she was asking how was it that he would miss out on important dates like their anniversary (it appears women like to make anniversaries out of anything in a relationship...) and had on a number of occasions chosen to spend time with his buddies than her on these "important calendar dates".Or how he would flip when she goes over to his place and starts decorating the room with things she bought that she thought he'd like but instead turns out to be objects of his disdain.She wasn't really complaining and all that, it's just that she finds him quite hard to fathom at times, so in between coffee and later some catching up on old times I rather not reveal here, I cov...
More About: Alpha

The day after.
2008-02-15 15:40:00
I didn't celebrate Valentine's Day yesterday. In fact, I've never found it a big deal to do anything out of the ordinary for the one day of the year that's supposedly a special day for romance or love. Neither do I say things like "when you're in love, everyday's a Valentine's", because that would be an exaggeration.All I know is, if you're happy and comfortable with that someone special in your life, that's all that matters, and everything else will just fall in place nicely-- you don't have to go all out and make a superficial show of things just because "everyone else is doing so", and be a total sucker to pay 20-40% more for flowers or chocolates or heart-shaped whatevers.The problem with "special days" is that everything's so damned commercialised, the only reason they're special is because it gives retailers a chance to go "yippie, another opportunity to jack up prices for these suckers!"I'm sorry, but I don't see what's so impressive or envious about guys who w...

View from the top.
2008-02-14 16:29:00
Here's some pics I took stepping out into the balcony of my new office on the top floor of JTC Summit:Overlooking IMM with Bukit Timah hill in the background The old JTC building, with Jurong Island in the backgroundSure, it's still a far cry from the penthouse office I've always been dreaming of working at atop Suntec City or One Raffles Quay, but it's still the penthouse. Not to mention it gives a commanding aerial view of the Jurong/Tuas industrial area, where most of my commercial interests lie. I'd take breaks standing on that balcony a couple of times a day, sometimes taking a smoke break with colleagues, at other times (like this evening) alone taking in the breeze, enjoy the sensation of looking down on the world at my feet (JTC Summit's the tallest building this side of the world within a 10km radius-- in fact, it's the most prominent landmark) and feeling a little closer to God (okay, so I exaggerate a little)I did say it would take a heck of a deal to pry me from w...
More About: View

Some thoughts.
2008-02-14 12:04:00
For once, I'd like to say I am thankful. Now I'm not a religious person by nature, but I've come to believe there is a greater force out there in the universe at work that shapes the events in our lives-- it doesn't matter if it's metaphysics, Law of Attraction, blessings, destiny, karma, God, Allah, Buddha, or just plain "it" you want to call it. Or it could just be plain physics: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction-- which probably explains how, if you can believe it, no matter how deep in the shit you are, there will come an opposite reaction that sees you elevated to greater achievements and success, if you only persevered and had the patience to wait for it. Equally, and in accordance to Newton's Laws of Motion: a body in motion tends to stay in motion, a body at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted on by an opposing force-- success breeds success, and hence, you get onto a "roll". But I am thankful for what I have today, and I don't think anyone...
More About: Thoughts

Happiness is...
2008-02-13 15:49:00
A friend of mine's at a total loss because he's got three job offers sitting on his desk, and he's wondering which of the three he should sign on the dotted line. Couple that with the fact that, after he tendered his resignation today, the boss offered an immediate pay raise of 20% and a promotion that was 2 years overdue in a last-ditch effort to retain what should have been a star of the company...an effort that was nevertheless pathetic in comparison to what the other 3 companies-- all MNC giants-- offered. There were only marginal differences between the three offers in terms of remuneration, regional exposure and job scope, and all three were renowned brands-- not just in consumer terms, but in employer credibility terms as well.In my daily job, much as I go around recruiting and whisking people off from their current employers to fill vacancies for my clients, part of the deal's having to sit people down, counsel them and provide advice on their career moves. Particularly ...
More About: Happiness

Toilet humor-less.
2008-02-11 15:08:00
I spent close to 10 minutes this morning waiting outside crowded cubicles because I wanted to take a shit and all the cubicles were occupied.On hindsight, I must have looked like a total idiot because while the 4 cubicles in the men's loo were already experiencing bombing runs by who-evers, the one single cubicle for handicapped persons-- nay, "persons with disabilities"-- the so-called "handicapped toilet" (what's so damned handicapped about it anyway, it's got its own running tap and flush that worked perfectly fine!) was empty, and like an idiot, I didn't go ahead and use it but instead looked like I had constipated for days over the Lunar New Year just waiting for my turn to go drop my motherload in the crapper.Forgive my ignorance, and somebody educate me if I am a little slow here, but would it be wrong of me to have used the handicapped toilet in this instance? For those of you new to all this and wondering what the fuck's the fuss about, let me share a little insight th...
More About: Humor , Toilet

Lost dog.
2008-02-10 07:01:00
...came across this notice outside of a 7-Eleven at Cecil Street the other day. I know it must be terrible to be missing your pet, especially in the festive holiday period, so here's hoping someone could help.If you had come across a brown female boxer dog in the Shenton Way area since 1st Feb, please contact the owner at 9674 1927, regardless of whether there's a reward or not. *****
More About: Lost

Crash the gongs, send in the lion dancers.
2008-02-06 05:20:00
Is it wrong of me if I said I would rather not have a long Lunar New Year break? I didn't say I rather not have Lunar New Year-- I just felt that the number of days off are a tad too many, and highly disruptive to an otherwise very productive week.I am becoming a fucking workaholic, that's what it is. But you know what it's like when you feel you're on a roll, when you get a certain "oomph" on the job, and you know things are moving full steam ahead-- only to hit a wall because everyone else is not working and busy having lo-heis and such!It's not that I don't enjoy the Lunar New Year; I do look forward to catching up with family, especially cousins and aunts and uncles who live overseas and are back in town. It's just equally, I'm afraid of losing the momentum come Monday, and I have to work hard at getting into things again, after all the fun and feasting and such.I suppose there is some consolation in the sense that my clients would be more understanding and enjoying thei...
More About: Lion , Send , Crash , Dancers

Jobs! Jobs!
2008-01-29 08:04:00
Here's some shameless publicity for some positions I am working on for my clients:Product Quality Assurance EngineerDirector, Category Management (Consumer electronics MNC)HNS OfficerMolding EngineerCustomer QA and Technical Service EngineerSenior R&D EngineerAll positions are with MNCs located in Singapore. For more details, email me.*****
More About: Jobs

Single serves.
2008-01-29 01:19:00
Everywhere I travel, tiny life. Single -serving sugar, single-serving cream, single pat of butter. The microwave Cordon Bleu hobby kit. Shampoo-conditioner combos, sample-packaged mouthwash, tiny bars of soap. The people I meet on each flight? They're single-serving friends. - "Fight Club"The thing about meeting people in the city: single serving acquaintances, more out of convenience than it is about really wanting to know the person. It's like you start making someone feel like a buddy 5 minutes into a conversation, but only because you're afraid to be seen alone. Like it's a crime sitting in the middle of a crowded restaurant alone, and people are giving you looks like, "what, no company?"Then again, it's all about how comfortable you are in your own skin. I could live with doing things on my own perfectly, it's just there's an inherent nature in me to want to get acquainted with people I have never met-- especially if she's a dishy dame sitting at the bar.Speaking of sing...

C&C Saga
2008-01-28 02:34:00
La Femme got me the Command & Conquer Saga , an anthology of the C&C series comprising all the C&C games since the 1990's (C&C - The First Decade) and Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, and it's absolutely crazy. It's like reliving my teenaged days again when we were all nuts about fighting Soviets and US and terrorist groups online. I grew up on a staple of RTS games like C&C, Warcraft, Starcraft, Civilizations and Age of Empires, and nothing still beats beating the shit out of the GLA and Brotherhood of NOD in C&C. These days, I set the difficulty level at "brutal", and it's enough to make you go nuts with the electronic bastards coming at you every few seconds. And trust me, if you are a gamer, C&C Saga will make your mom scream at you again, just like she did when you were a kid and hooked onto the computer. So if you don't find me logging in too often, I'm too busy saving the world from a global nuclear threat or liberating the galaxy from...

I will survive...
2008-01-25 01:21:00
Apparently, this is one of the more depressing weeks of the year, according to a psychology research I had come across recently. It's a week when a. You realise that the festive mood is really over, and you would have spent the last 2 weeks clearing up backlogs at work; b. Christmas bills are coming in, and you realised you'd overspent; c. By now, you would have broken some, if not all, your New Year resolutions; d. Your supervisor would have informed you that your bonus wasn't quite what you'd expected, or you had been bypassed for promotion; e. You start getting the feeling it's still a looooooooooong way to go till Christmas. ...and a load of other things. Interestingly, by this time next week, HR will start to see increases in the incidences of sick leave (or "MC" in the Singapore context), and in another 2 weeks, people will start sending out resumes and CVs, or going for interviews in search of greener pastures. What a start to the year! *****
More About: Survive

It's all about the money.
2008-01-24 01:16:00
"What is your functional title in your company?""How many direct reports do you have?" ...honestly, it all don't matter to me now. Whether it's "manager" or "regional manager" or "senior manager" or "director" or even "The Man", I don't give a shit now. And it also doesn't matter if I am managing one staff or 200-- if I could choose, I'd rather not manage people under my watch, for why should I bear crosses for others? Increasingly, I find myself getting more and more mercenary these days: a job's just a job, and something to bring in the money. And as long as I hit my target-- try something like a take-back of at least $7.5k a month-- it doesn't matter if you asked me to manage a team of 10 executives doing business process improvements or a one-man ops manning telephones at the receptionist area-- just pay me my minimum expectation, and I'd even kill for you. The reason why I'm saying all this is because I find I'm no longer motivated by big titles and having people rep...
More About: Money

Load of crap.
2008-01-22 05:09:00
Sometimes I really can't help but wonder: is there something inherently wrong with Singaporean men such that they don't seem to have a habit of flushing toilets after they're done with emptying their bladders or dropping their deadly payloads? It's especially disgusting to walk into a cubicle when you feel like taking some time off on the throne yourself, and you realised the last guy made an absolute mess of the damned toilet bowl: unflushed after a B52 bombing run, long strands of toilet paper (you'd think the guy has an arse the size of an elephant), and wet streaks of a recent golden shower on the toilet seat. The man's like a Commanche attack chopper: fire off bombs and missles, and a Gatling canon, and all hell broke loose somehow. If only things could be as poetic. Really, is it too much to ask that the dude cleans up his own shit after he's done, instead of tormenting the next person with a similar urgent need? It's like a personal crusade to save water gone wrong......
More About: Crap , Load

Fight Club.
2008-01-18 04:35:00
I was all of 16 years old when I first stepped into a ring laid out with tatami mats donning protective headgear and padded gloves to protect my fists. Then a spirited and enthusiastic teenager who had just gotten his black belt in taekwondo, I remember an adrenaline rush and many doubts racing through my mind as I squared off against my opponent. From the word "go", I rushed in, arms and legs flailing, and wished that somehow, a padded fist or a leg would contact with some part of the guy that hurt, and have the bout end that way.It wasn't to be, for my first fight also saw me being knocked out cold for the first time.My second fight took place many years later, when I was 23, and by that time, I wasn't a hotheaded enthusiastic puppy any more. I fought because it was something that I enjoyed doing. I fought because I needed to know that, when squared off with someone who has been trained to fight likewise, I could stand up to the challenge and deliver the shots that could take hi...
More About: Fight , Club , Fight Club

Wrath
2008-01-16 06:57:00
Ok, forgive me for being cheong hay (Cantonese for "talkative") today. Got a case of verbal diarrhea after being clamped up thanks to no access to Blogger at the workplace, and now that I am able to, it's catharsis: all hell breaks loose.Some of you know how I seem to have a love-hate relationship with God. It's a fact: I do. On the one hand, I acknowledge His power, His hand in things; on the other, I refuse to submit helpless into His will totally, believing instead I have a fighting chance in things, with or without God.But one thing I will not stand for is when I read-- or hear-- how people link in one breath words like fuck or motherfucking or whatever obscenities you can think of, with "God" or "Christ" or "Jesus" or "Holy Mary".Because when I hear someone say things like that, my reaction is this: uneducated, insensitive boor. I refuse to even cuss and swear at you because it's totally degrading.*****
More About: Wrath

2 weeks notice.
2008-01-16 05:59:00
"I don't understand", Neo said as he came to me this morning. "And you're the HR expert here, so I will ask you this: how come when I resign, I'm being asked to serve notice and stay in this damned office, and nobody gives me anything to do for the remaining 2 weeks? I may as well go report to my new employer and make myself useful??"I looked at Neo, the gears in my head churning and thinking now where the hell in HRM101 did the part on serving notice come in? and then I realised I didn't have a good answer for the guy."Maybe the boss didn't like you, that's why?" I smiled sheepishly. Neo mouthed a "yeah right, fuck you" and walked off.Then again, it was a good question. I mean, most folks in HR will just tell you "because it's part of company policy" without really asking why is there a need to serve notice when you tender your resignation, or why are there discrepancies in the notice periods required. For some people, it's one month's notice (and then they sit around and ...
More About: Notice , Weeks

*gasp*
2008-01-16 00:45:00
Worst thing you could ever have with centralised air conditioning: a dead rat in your compressor unit. The rest of the day will smell like we were all bathed in shit. Thankfully, I only come in as an onsite consultant, so that gives me certain previleges, shall we say, like not having to stay in the corporate office all the time. Man, the place smells really bad, and I really pity the poor folks who have to stay indoors, locked away at their workstations, and probably smelling like something died on them come 5pm. One of those days, I guess. *****

The Great Pretender
2008-01-14 00:38:00
If I ever gave anyone any false hopes, it's all either part of the job or part of the game. I have a tendency to lull people into their comfort zones when it comes to networking or socialising, and once I do that, it's back to getting whatever I want out of them.An ex-girlfriend used to say I excel best at "mind-fuck" and I'm a manipulator-- back at the office where I used to be, I could look like I didn't give a damn about the politicking that was going on when in actual fact, I try to get on top of the power play and somehow got almost everyone on my side while they're thinking I'm the nice guy at work. That's where I got 90% of my intel, and when you consider I do HR, intel like that is valuable indeed.Do I lie to get what I want out of the women I've met? Certainly. Then again, tell me which guy hasn't? Undoubtedly, I don't belong to the category of "nice" guys that Mommy dearest would approve of: you know, decent chap with a stable job, neatly combed hair, talks like ...
More About: Great , Tender

Philosophical rants and all that shit.
2008-01-12 01:35:00
Question: do our personalities shape our opinions of things, or is it our opinions of things that shape our personalities? For instance, is it my personality that affects my opinion of working in a manufacturing industry when really, I am more of a corporate sector sort of person, or is it my opinion of jobs in the manufacturing industry (whatever the status) that shapes how I act and behave at work? (Note: just a casual observation-- doesn't mean a thing, and I am not trying to put down people working in the manufacturing sector) Again, is it my personality (read: lifestyle choices) that leads me to only date a particular type of woman, or is it my opinions that led me to act and think thus; is the attraction derived from the kind of person I am, or from my perspectives of things (including myself)? A psychologist would say our behaviours and attitudes are shaped by our beliefs and internal value systems; a sociologist would say these beliefs and internal value systems are "social...
More About: Rants , Shit , Philosophical

Camouflaged.
2008-01-11 15:50:00
...taken with my Nokia E65.Wish I had a better camera with me at the time though.

Dad knows best?
2008-01-11 07:10:00
Was having lunch today when the little kid at the table next to mine started asking his father some really tough questions like why are there stars in the sky, who made the sky etc. Daddy, in all wisdom, merely replied "God did", but the kid didn't look convinced. "Who made God then?" he asked. ******Reminds me of myself when I was a kid. There was this incident, I remember, when I was four or five, and had been fascinated at how you could get money out of ATM machines, so I asked the one man who seemed to know everything: Dad. When you're a pint-sized toddler, Mom and Dad were probably the smartest people on earth who knew everything. So anyway, I asked Dad my question, he thought for a while, then replied, "Well, there's a trained monkey inside the machine. The bank sends the money to him, then he pushes the cash out of the hole." Wise guy. And to think for a long time after that, I actually believed him and would peek into the machines whenever the guys at the bank was toppin...

So far, so good.
2008-01-11 00:26:00
It may be a little early to tell, but it seems like my fortune in the year ahead looks promising. Remember I said last year that, in terms of career, there were 2 things I was looking out for: either run my own business, do my own thing, or get into a mid-level position in an MNC? Well I got both working my way, and at the moment, I'm getting an offer from one particular MNC I can't resist: very attractive remuneration package, plus they're okay with me running my own consulting business so long as it doesn't conflict with the company's interests. And if I can leverage on the latter to benefit the position, all the better. Just as well. Being a one-man operation is somewhat taking its toll on me, and I would now probably get someone else to help run the show (a cousin just graduated and seems a promising candidate) while I try infiltrate and move up the ranks with regional exposure in the field of HR-- not too bad considering I switched industries from marketing comms to HR bar...
More About: Good

Creature of comfort
2008-01-09 15:42:00
Ok, I admit: I am spoilt. But I really can't help it if I'm someone who craves for material comforts.Take my vacationing plans, for instance. I don't believe in budget travel, and I'd rather forgo a trip to, say, Tokyo if it means I need to put up with budget hotels. The last time I went on a vacation to the Land of the Rising Sun, I saved for close to a year before setting off-- if only to enjoy a nice stay at a 5-star hotel and dine at some of the better restaurants around.And by golly, if there's anything I'm particularly fussy about, it's the stuff I put into my mouth. I'm a fussy eater, and when you think about how I like to dine at the finer places, it's no wonder then I need a certain income level to sustain my lifestyle.If there's one thing I'm incapable of, it's being fiscal and being a good saver. I probably spend more on clothes than most of my other guy friends, I indulge myself with spa treatments once a month, and if ever I start changing cars, you can be s...
More About: Creature , Comfort

Case study thoughts.
2008-01-08 13:53:00
Here's some food for thought: you spend 20 years building up something good, but it only takes one year of really bad planning and a couple of dissatisfied customers, and then you're screwed.******
More About: Study , Thoughts , Case

Another way of looking at things, I guess.
2008-01-06 17:31:00
I find it strange sometimes the way jobs come knocking on my door in the most curious of ways. And they seem to come knocking at times when I am not actively searching... which, I have learnt recently, is not a bad thing, because then, the offers the prospective employer makes always gets more and more attractive.But seeing that I'm not in a hurry, I'll just let things pass until such time when someone makes an offer that's so attractive I'm sold.That's right. Everyone has a price in this job market of ours, and you'd be surprise to learn that, for all the job loyalties people claim to have, there will be a price they'd gladly sell out for, because there isn't a perfect job.Anyway, someone did ask if I would consider going back to the public sector, and I'm not dismissing that, but only if it's a senior leadership position. Much as there's a desire to serve and make life better for others, at the end of the day, I'm pragmatic and mercenary-- anyone can have my expertise ...
More About: Things , Guess

OMG...
2008-01-02 13:50:00
...I'm on YouTube. Taken by someone who was doing his shodan grading. Good job, Mike, especially in that 20-man kumite!...and then I have my little 0.005 sec of fame. :P

Snap, crackle, pop.
2008-01-02 13:34:00
So I'll let things settle down for the moment. You know, like letting the leftover bubbles fizzle off from all the festivities and all, and trying to snap out of the grand-daddy of all hangovers from 7 days' worth of partying and socialising starting from Christmas Day.And now that we're done with the toasting and the feasting and the groping and all, you realise as you step in to work today that you've got one heck of a backlog to clear...starting from the lack of updates on your blog.What a sad, sad life I lead. Another year dawns, and this year, I've practically said to hell with resolutions I'll probably not keep anyway. Why bother? Life's all about experiencing all things good and bad, and in any situation, you only live once, so really, there's no need to start trying to toe the line to keep up with norms and all. I say to heck with it all-- just live your life like there's no tomorrow, and in all instances, never give yourself a moment where you go "gosh, I really sh...
More About: Snap