Sunday, January 27, 2008

Goodbyes are never good and always depressing

You never want to say goodbyes to things that you love, cherish and treasure. This week, I bid another farewell to another colleague who will definitely move on to better things. I have really seen and bade farewell to many people and the feeling lingers for a while before routine work and stress come along and eat away that emotion.

To send her off and wish her all the best, we normally would plan a gathering to share laughter, joy, memorable nostalgia, and of course to inscribe the last moments of being colleagues. So, we did have a small group of people and share a great time eating, sharing silly jokes and extracting her plans for the near future. As for once you are no longer colleagues, you are bound to slowly lose contact and maybe lost touch altogether.

Sigh, one goodbye you wouldn't want to say is to our dear ex-Mr. President, Pak Harto. He passed away just a few hours ago. His health was never good in the past few years. Especially for the whole of past month it's deteriorating fast, and despite numerous attempts to keep him alive, we all know that it's only moments before he breathe out his last breath. The loss of this great leader will be sorely felt throughout the country, the region, and possibly the whole world. Yes, he may have been enveloped in greed, and self-indulgence, but nevertheless, he was the forefather of the emergence of Indonesia from the slumps of poverty, chaos and uncertainty towards the future. 30+ years he ruled and Indonesia prospered that much. The financial crisis cannot be entirely blamed on him, but what and how he knew best to control and grow the economy does not work in the modern times. Alas, the nation grew impatient and all the violence and outcry of the people forced him to relinquish his rule to appease the wrath of the people. For close to 10 years now, the economy suffered, bruised and battered under 3 different leaders. None can match his shrewdness and effectiveness, but his tenure was a tad too long and his grip was too tight. He was what Lee Kuan Yew was to Singapore, Mahathir was to Malaysia, Mao Ze Dong was to China. Without these great leaders, Indonesia nor Singapore would be overlooked by the global powers. That's why you see Lee Kuan Yew sharing some sentimental praise for him during his visit to Jakarta when his health was in critical condition.

I'm sure his passing will attract leaders from around the world with sympathetic condolences as well as grief for the loss of a great man. His legacy, both the good and the bad will always be remembered, but let's hope we do not lower him to a stature that he does not deserve.

So long, and goodbye Pak Harto. We will always remember you for what you have contributed and sacrificed for the better of Indonesia. Your act of greed and favoritism may not bid well to the hearts and soul of your countrymen, but I hope they realize that your deeds outweigh your wrong-doings. May you rest in peace and find solace that you no longer have to carry the burden of watching over your comrades, sons, grandsons and the future of Indonesia. We will not shed tears for you, but your tears will be felt in our hearts for a long time to come.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Cloverfield and Moving field

Aarrgghhhh.....It's an earthquake...no it's terrorist attacking!! No...it's a MONSTER! Funny thing is no one knows what the monster looks like and don't realize how angry that monster is. Bad thing is, these couple of friends are trying to get out of the country when alas, the beautiful damsel in distress is stuck (literally) in her apartment. The hero tried to rescue her on the expense of his friends and his brother who all ends up dead....But the journey was shaky and heart-pounding. You follow through the action like as if you are experiencing it yourself first-hand.

So, this monster that's invading the city is unfortunately so damn-hard to kill. All those firepower the military has does not seem to have any effect on it. It doesn't look like a lizard, nor godzilla, or whatever known species. It's like a mix of tarantula, praying mantis, and rather human like. So, let your imagination run wild unless you want to go see the movie and bear through the motion ride. At the end of the movie, the people died. The hero and rescued princess included. There's no idea whether the monster survived or died, on which I think it moved on to invade the whole US, wreaking all the havoc its fury has in its soul. Maybe it's frustrated that the water is polluted and want to punish the humans for causing it! Hahaha...

Thanks to this movie, I managed to barf out my fish lunch and having an uneventful after-movie experience. Anyway, it's worth watching for the story-line and the heart-wrenching moments where it carries you through the action first-hand. I wonder what to catch next? The Jumper? I'd like to be able to move anywhere in an instant! LIKE NOW....

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

I'm on TV!!

Tonite I got free ticket to watch the Fairprice Variety Show. This is a live recording from Mediacorp studio and it was a rare chance to experience watching a live show. The main attraction was Hagen, one of the contestant from the Superstar Project Season 1. So, we were seated with the supporters of Hagen where I had to hold the poster and sway a yellow lightstick.

Anyway, we reached there at 6:30 and was seated before 7 PM. There was a DJ that help to lighten up the mood and guide us through how to proceed in the live recording. Especially our section whereby we had to cheer for Hagen, we had to practice and shout out the cheer in certain section of the recording. He was also telling us that cameras might zoom in unexpectedly and reminded us not to do anything stupid or embarrassing during the show. When the show started, the hosts, Vivian and Chor Meng was quite energetic. In real person, these 2 celebs are much smaller and shorter than what I normally see on TV. They carried the show with ease as the TV director and all the crew effortlessly supported them.

Then there's the moment of glory whereby I was shot by the cameraman for some airtime. I wasn't entirely aware, but I suddenly received SMSes that asked me if I was watching in the studio. Even my brother SMS me. It was quite a surprise but a delight to know that I was famous for a short while. I think I was zoomed in quite a number of times as what my brother told me. I wish I can watch the repeat broadcast and see where exactly I show up on the show.

Well, so much for the eventful day. We capped it off with a dinner at the Prata House which was delicious. In all, what a day. I hope to get some other chances to see other recording in Mediacorp.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Non-working PC and a week of frustration

I was out for more than a week - in terms of being online that is. Missed chatting with friends on MSN and maybe updating my blog and my facebook. I still haven't recovered completely from my coughing and had to down those fried and heaty stuff for not wanting to miss out. :)

Sinfully as it sound, actually I am getting better after having those food. I had the SSCI Dinner and Dance on last Sunday, 6 Jan 08 and it was awesome. Went early to help out with the rehearsal for the SSCI 188 team, where they re-enact the famously made-in-Singapore musical of chinese getai. To the joy of our group, they won the 3rd price which was the award of $100. We spent it on a good Arnold's Spring Chicken treat. I tell you, this is the firsts of what of those forbidden food I was supposed to avoid.

This past week also marked the departure of one of the dear colleague. Together, we were part of the group that handled the soon-to-be EOLed project, T-Rex. I will miss her dearly as we went through lots together, but I do wish her all the best as she deserve better. So, now it leaves us (the original crew that got banded together accidentally) with the guys and 1 hard-knock lady. :D

To wish her a good journey ahead, it's a so-called tradition to treat her to lunch, and we did so in the nearby Chai Chee Seafood restaurant. This is my second sinful treat that I was supposed to avoid. Yet, I ate them, and tolerated the suffering as I coughed throughout the whole working hours. Sorry my friends...I do get quite irritating when I cough and cough and cough. I can barely complete a sentence and as I continue to speak or try to joke, it will be disrupted by the hoarse coughing sound.

Then on her last working day for Sanmina, we went to Blue Jazz where we had western food and beer for dinner. Okay, maybe this is a bit dragging it far, but anyway, I had to. Not that it was forced, but out of savouring the last moment together as colleagues. We will definitely arrange outings together, but it's not like we are able to organize as easily as before.

Then, last sinful trip of the week, I went out with the other side of the plant colleagues on Saturday. This time we went to Kuishin-Bo, Japanese buffet in Suntec City. Yes, those tempura, fried and grilled stuff, and the ice-cream. I tell you, I hope all this "poison" can cure me. Hahaha...indeed, I think I should keep eating them as I do feel much better now. Then we spent the rest of the day catching up and sharing nonsensical stories.

Then, I had had it. I had to fix my computer. Too much went on for the week without jotting this down on my blog. So, well I got down to repairing the computer. First, cleaning the inside of my PC. Dusting, blowing, dis-assemble its parts and re-attaching them back. Then, I was supposed to reformat and re-install my Windows. Alas, as I managed to completely install a new fresh Windows, I realize I installed it to the wrong location. So, I lost my saved content on that drive, but I somehow managed to get my PC working without having to re-install a new Windows on my old drive that I'm supposed to reformat. I hope this don't go bonkers again or I'll be quite pissed.

Sigh...I can't upload pictures yet, but I promise you to upload some in my next update. It will include some of the events that went on in the past week. Till then, good nite folks!

Saturday, January 05, 2008

First entry of 2008...

Sorry for the delay folks...I'm still not totally recovered from my sickness bout, but at least 2008 had arrived. 2007 flew just like that and I felt so bad I neglected this crib. Well, one resolution for 2008 is of course to fill in more entries this time round.

2007 is truly an amazing ride. Work wise, there's a lot that happened. Took over totally new project, new commodities, new suppliers, new colleagues, new boss, and of course new challenges. No doubt it's not easy to learn everything again, but in a short time of less than 1 year, I can truly say this is the first time that I had benefited from working in my post. I have also seen people come and go in a whiz. Some close friends, some not so close and those that I never knew came and left. I had a hard time adjusting at first because not only the value of my commodity is more than doubled or tripled of what I used to handle, the complexity also increased just as many-folds. Imagine handling orders worth tens or even hundreds of thousands. To some, it may be a breeze, but to a noob who just took over from handling meagre thousands, it's definitely a different kind of pressure. Another headache is the pricing fluctuation which is like a stock market. Prices changes just as fast and as furious like the shares prices. Not that it changes everyday, but the monthly changes can mean lots of things in terms of the PPV or the valuations of the parts on order. At times, I worked til very late at night just to catch up with things that I need to do. Then imagine having excesses tagged to your name. I mean every possible bad things and situations related to this commodity that can happen, did happen to me. And as I tried to clear and sell them, it eventually become a second job to me. So, not only I'm the buyer, but I become the seller as well.

Anyway, 2007 passed. I survived the ordeal a much stronger person. I can only hope for better things to come.

2008 - I wish to be more healthy, lose a few kilos hopefully, be more fit. I also wish to have more friends, and hopefully meet a special someone. I also wish to earn more money. And I wish I have another thrilling ride as I am feeling lucky this year. It's the year of the Olympics, year of the 2008 Euro, and the year of the first nite F1 race in Singapore, which I am anticipating with much eagerness...So folks and friends, tune in to this channel and I hope you stay with me for all 2008. See you very very soon...