SAVING GAIA....

Saving Gaia....save our Earth. It is everyone's duty to do so. However small is Singapore, we are playing our part. The amount of harm we caused the Earth, we are killing it slowly. The above video is by courtesy of Singapore MediaCorp. I love the message, the song and the kid who sang the song. Kudos to all these kids...they are the "future"

We are pleading to you to give a little attention the our Earth. It is a place we all live on and our next generation and next generation and future generation will continue to live. Even if we are no longer around, we hope our decendants will live a happy and safe lives. It is still not too late. I am sharing this and hope whoever comes to my blog love this video too.

…spur of the moment

Many of us acted at the spur of a moment without thinking and the results can be quiet alarming. At a spur you flew up in anger and hit someone. At a spur you have hunches to buy a set of numbers that win you big prices….but to act in a spur could be irrational and may get one into trouble.

I read with mixed feeling of a teenage who burnt the National Flag. Is it just a flag? Did she see the meaning of this flag? All these years of education, what was taught to her? Is it the failure of the education system or failure of her upbringing? Did her parents know what she is up to?

At 10pm at night, why is a 13 year-old still hanging around a park? It is not weekend nor is it school holidays. Her friends said they did not know she did it…so why? Are there no more games or things for her to be interested in that she did what she did? She had friends with her and they did not stop her, or are they even aware of what their friend is doing?

A National Flag represents a Country. It is as important as the land you live on. It gives you identity and provided you a place called home. We say The Pledge in school everyday – We, the Citizen of Singapore, pledged ourselves as one united people…it holds the country together. It has the aspiration of the country and the people – ‘regardless of race, language ore religion’…. that we work towards religious harmony.

The daily saying of the Pledge obviously did not appeared important to this 13 year-old or many teenagers. So it is just mouthing and carries no meaning. There is no pondering to the meaning and associate it with the National Flag. What will our younger generations become?

Around us, there are people who care about the country. There are more out there who do not know the meaning of the National Flag and the Pledge to their homeland. There are people out there who are Stateless, they are not even qualified to have a National Flag. I hope it is teaching her the values of the Flag, her Home and Herself. She is a juvenile does not mean she can get off lightly. How does schools see this act? What actions will they take?

My Country, My Home is makeup of everything here that we call Singapore. It is not the Government, it is the People, our Values and what we see ourselves.

With National Day around the corner, it is time we fly the Singapore Flag and I will always fly one in my Blog because I am proud of who I am.

MOVING OFFICE...

Sitting around for one year and for me it is better off  working. The job I was looking for is actually backend admin work, 9 - 5 type of routine. Work that keeps me busy and yet fulfilled. Responsibility but manageable. I no longer longed for lime light, big post and high pay. Actually I am working only to maintain my car, give myself some coffee money, enough to donate and sleep with a peaceful mind.

However one can never hide ones ability and I landed a job I was happy like above BUT recently with the yearly reviewed (although I am only with them 6 months), I got my confirmation before due date, got my promotion and increment and even blessed with the maximum of bonus allowed. Alamak! No, don't misunderstand me, I am grateful that I am useful but I have to take on more.

I was entrusted with finding a new office within reachable location by MRT. Town/CBD areas are getting too expensive for us who needs at least 10,500sq ft.  Between us we found a location. I should be happy as it is 5 minutes drives from home and I save like crazy (i.e CBD and the exorbitant car park), Naturally I am also entrusted with renovation. The search for IDs was fun looking at designs. Pinning an ID down and working with them in details was both fun and tired. The selection of designs, the furniture, colors and all nitty gritties are part and parcels of the work.

When I realized that even if I have thoughts for the well beings of colleagues, taking into consideration as many aspects as I can...I forget that I am not the head of the company. My enthusiasm overrun me. In the first place I took the project with faith, now I wonder whether I can shoulder the blame if things don't go right.

Liaising with the Landlord is another pain. I actually don't blame them. It is a new building and many things need to be done. Due to our urgency as the lease of the old office is up soon and the delay from all the consultants are making me sit on needles. Yesterday I lost my temper !!! Such and idiot was I. But with 26 days more to go and renovation not even started yet...do you expect me to stay cool?

A girl friend once told me...'Lian, you are only a staff and that's much you can do. If the thing cannot happened on time, it is not your fault. Just communicate to the management and they have to think of a solution and lose sleep...not you'. How true, but can I? Anyway I have a good Boss, so he is the good cop and I am the bad one.

Doing this project is not sitting on roses, roses have thorns. I expect many criticism and blames. People grumble when there is a change, both internal and external when things are not to their convenient.

I hope people won't come and tell me....'you did not let me check the Feng Shui and thus .........

FEELING RECIPROCATE

Can one really reciprocate a feeling? Recently I have a friend who told me a story. She was hurt by a friend whom she loves, she said ‘Lian, I can even die for her’. I saw tears in her eyes and I know how hurt she was.

They use to meet every Friday, their families go outing together. My friend took in the children of her friends when she left for a long trip. She supported, not just emotionally but also monetary. She said she did not expect anything in return. I told her ‘you did ask for return because you expect her to do same for you as you have done for her or at least treat you as best friend and priority is for you’. The expectation is subtle, you think it is not there but actually it is there. We are all very human after all. When we treat someone nice, we expect someone to treat us nice and when that did not happened, it turned to sadness, bitterness and ended being very angry.

I have gone through all these. The expectation of friends is ‘FAKE’. People are ‘thick’ because they share common topics of discussion, interest, religion or there is something in them that ‘clicked’. It is affinity. It does not happen to everyone in the same group.

She moves away from the norm group because she does not want to be tagged. She wants to go around her routine quietly. She is religious and it taught her to be humble; it taught her to be compassionate; it taught her wisdom but the other friends did not see it. When the whole group runs after someone who claimed to be religious or know a lot about the religion and speak like one, she saw through him when he asked for expensive items which a religious person does not need. She warned her friends and they all said that she is disrespectful. How do you think one can teach the fools? Even her friend said she is ‘Lay cheh’ in Malay means ‘troublesome’.

All these are not new. I realized that when one pursue a religion. As one advances, one tends to move away from crowd. One tends to spend time with selected people and keep a low profile, going around doing things for one self and others quietly. Not asking for name, fame as well as monetary because enough is happiness. I saw through name and fame. When people use it as a facade, I bow away from it.

Therefore when recently I was hurt by what a friend said, I let it go. There are people who look at things from their own point of views and they believe it is for the benefits of everyone, I do not doubt it. It is a choice to be petty about it or choose to let it go and keep the ‘friendship’. There are people who are sensitive to others, I am not a very sensitive person but I care about people so I am sensitive about them.

When Buddha taught ‘NON ATTACHMENT’, it is a way to move away from being hurt. Anyway remember you cannot owned a person, or his/her mind or thoughts and not even physically. NO ONE belongs to anyone, not even husband and wife nor children. They are individuals with their own Karma.

I wish my friend well and that she finds Peace.

Ferrari-Taxi Crushed

 

Singapore is shocked over the recent car accident that happened on wee hours of the morning. It left the driver dead and took the lives of two other persons. (You can login to Youtube to see this accident – just type ‘Ferrari accident in Singapore’).

Plenty have been said and Singapore is still talking about it over breakfasts, lunches , dinners and during breaks. People are sharing videos and everyone gasped at the speed of the Ferrari.

I am joining in the fun since it is a talk about topic. I am not blaming here and I know finger pointing is unavoidable. To be fair, we should not blame foreigners for this accident. I blame DRIVERS.

How disciplined are Singapore Drivers (both Singaporean and foreigners)? How many are graceful and gracious in their driving?

Being a driver myself, how many times have I ‘curse and swear’ under my breath at reckless, SELFISH drivers?Singapore Drivers….habits

1) they cannot be behind you, the must get in front of you – by hook or by crook

2) they are blind to signal lights, even if you are already flicking your lights to change lane, they will not slow down but accelerate to get in front before you change lane

3) they forget their udang udang – they slipped into your lane without signaling and squeezed in at the space not worrying whether you hit them…after all if you hit their ‘ass’ you are at fault

4) at traffic light, they must cut lanes and be the first one on the ‘mark’ careless whether you are the vehicle already reaching the first car on the mark

5) When traffic lights turned ‘Green’, they will be the one to speed off

6) ‘Tailing’ is so common. I cannot understand the rudeness of these drivers. They will flash their light at you to move aside. I will only give way to Ambulance and not these road bullies. I too have the RIGHT to the roads.

7) If you do not give ways to these drivers, they will overtake you on the next lane and showed you ‘vulgar’ finger signs

8) People with branded cars must speed or else it is a waste to pay S$1 million for a car to be different

9) It is also COMMON in Singapore that everyone wants to beat the ‘RED LIGHT’. Regardless we must ‘chon’ even if the light is changing from amber to red. The most ideal is to drive on without stopping at any traffic lights…thus drive on to ‘Heaven’

10) Taxi Drivers are the one who are prone to accidents because they are just as reckless. (I am not saying the driver who got hit is reckless) BUT we have to agree how some of these drivers drive

11) Big trucks i.e cement trucks, oil trucks as long as they are bigger than you, you have to give way to them because they will show you that they can ‘drive’ faster than you

12) Those that drive a Van, a 3-ton lorry and likes, I suppose it are a mental conception. They probably feel that they are third class – why do I say these? It is these group of people who also want to race the cars divers although they are marked at ‘70’.

Singapore roads are not made for beautiful cars like Ferrari, Lambo, Lotus, or any sport cars. You have no way to speed. The distance between one traffic light to the next is too short and you either stop or it leaves you dead. Anyway this Ferrari/ taxi/ motorcycle accident is unfortunate. Condolence to the families of people who are dead. The Japanese tourist who died in the taxi is unfortunate. The taxi driver’s death is unfortunate and it taught me a lesson – ‘never be the first one to speed off when traffic light just turn GREEN, you do not know what is oncoming’

OHM MANI PADME HUM…m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m

Happiness...

We all want happiness. How than can we be happy? Is happiness so evasive and so difficult to have?

Happiness to many people means different thing. To a hungry man having food is happiness. To a poor man having money is happiness. Some think that love is happiness, others acquiring more and more personal wealth is happiness. Career at the top, fast cars, beautiful women, power, entourage, big houses...are these really happiness.

Since when happiness are so conditional? Are these happiness permanent? You have food today and maybe hungry tomorrow; you have money today but overnight you become a pauper; you acquire wealth and you are so afraid of losing it; career at the top but many came down and do not know how to pick themselves up again; beautiful women and power, entourage and big houses can be lost in a split second BUT we still cling to all these to prep ourselves. We believe that it is a protecting armour...it is not.

MONEY cannot buy happiness, POWER cannot command respect, WEALTH cannot buy health and WOMEN will not prove that you are better than the next man. So what is it than?

Being ALIVE is happiness. Happiness is very simple. You do not need to spend money to get it. You need not park yourself with a wealthy man to get it AND what you get from beautiful women and pay for it are cheap thrill, it is not happiness.

Touch your heart and ask yourself sincerely are you happy? We have too many baggage and we do not want to let go any. People who already have want more...where is the limit? Did anyone realized that after acquiring all the things we want we may not be alive to enjoy it.

Happiness should go beyond worldly materials, it is spiritual. It is within you. Happiness is not handed over to you by someone else. Given happiness is pathetic because it can be withdrawn. Happiness out of fear is worst.

Recently when I am not working I realized that living simple, having enough, having a roof, being with family and there are no unrealistic DESIRES is happiness. Having no FEAR of how am I going to conduct my life with no more name, fame and a steady income is happiness. Having time to pursue my spiritual happiness is happiness because I can get ready for something beyond.

Living simply, having health, being alive, having a handful of good friends and being with love ones is happiness. All these years I thought I have it all BUT where are all these now that I resided from the worldly arena? Therefore what seems real are but passing and not real. NOT REAL does not mean it is not there BUT it is not permanent.

Search for this HAPPINESS within.

May you be well, be happy, be safe and healthy.

THE END of the World 2012

Have not been back to the blog because of a broken hand. However I thank all those who continue to visit here and support my blog.

2012...the prediction that we all will disappear OR is it only the calender of the Mayan because their wise man only manage to calculate until 2012. Being a Buddhist...I believe in Cause and Effect. Surely there will be an end of the World as Buddha spoke about Impermanence. BUT do not worry because it won't be 2012 or maybe our life time. However one thing everyone of us can be sure...more and more calamities will happen all over the world. These calamities are our making. We are the cause. We do so much harm to Nature with things we call 'modernization'. Thou sow and thus reaped...fair and square.

Coming back to Singapore, a place I call HOME. We are lucky and have enough merits to a peaceful living but there are silly things we do...so enjoy this piece written by a wise Foreigner. How people live or behave is a choice but I am sure I won't JUMP Ship. Nothing is like home and when I am a first class citizen WHY do I want to be 2nd class, 3rd class or stateless !!

The Bizarre Behaviour of Singaporeans
Observations made by a German national who has lived in Singapore for 9 years.

44 years of economic and material success have spawned some very strange behaviours among Singaporeans.

They spent so much to buy a house or flat, furnished it up like a palace, but spent their time outside, most of the time at work. And the maids are the ones enjoying the million-dollar or multi-million-dollar assets..

Then they pay so much, the highest in the world, for a car only to park at home. Too expensive to drive, too many ERPs and car park charges to pay. And they are encouraged to park their cars at home and take public transport, being cheaper and more convenient.

And when Singaporeans travel, instead of seeing the places, they went shopping. The best part is that they would head for the cheapest bargains, buying stuff that they could get in Chinatown or pasar malam, at even cheaper prices. But they are still happy that they got a bargain.

And while the heartlanders are busy trying to make a life here, being told to bust off if they are not happy, which they could not, the rich and presumably very happy and contented citizens are buying up properties overseas just in case they need to make that escape from this paradise.

While many Singaporeans are thinking of jumping ship, or preparing to jump ship, hoards of new immigrants are rushing in to take their place in this paradise.

And to top it all up, they keep complaining about the government and all the policies that they found unpalatable, but come every election, they will vote and return the government to power.

Strange Singaporean behaviours !