I'm leaving this place

Another week to go before I leave DSTA. Had my farewell lunch today at the M Hotel. The mixed feeling got stronger. I am supposed to be relieve and happy and yet, there's a small tinge of reluctance.

Everyday, I can still hear the boss 'screaming' into the phone. The project obviously is not in a good shape. Already more than 300 million has been pumped into this project and honestly I'm not sure how much more it needs before completion. The vendor from country X, as usual, can't deliver and played with words on the system requirements. We got so used to all these nonsense that it becamse part and parcel of our work. A simple thing that should take just 2 days to complete will typically take 2 weeks. I'm glad I'm out of all of these.

On the other hand, I'm leaving a place of comfort. I'm leaving a place where the pay is relatively very good comparing to the amount of work, the level of staff benefits, the long lunch hours and the nice and easy going people. I'm leaving my comfort zone, and venturing to a place of uncertainty.

But.. I feel that I'm beginning to like that kind of feeling.. I managed to break free of the norm.

Whether I make it as a biz development guy, or make something out of my stay at my father's place, I'll just let fate decide. I have decided to believe that, sometimes, its not about what you do, but what is installed for you...

I quit my job

2 weeks into my notice period, 3 weeks after deciding that I should really leave the company.

Can't feel happier, more relieve, more nonchalant, riskier, more uncertain than this.. Other than having a tight Feb and March, followed by an equally tight April and May, I have no other concrete plans.

What could lined up for me after resignation:
1. Help me dad in the factory, try to revive the branding.
2. Work on Cherrie Hearts
3. Work out tutors-trade
4. 5 MBA modules to handle
5. Relax and travel, take part in competition
6. LOOK FOR JOB.

Which one to focus on?
Deep inside me "look for job", tell people "help my dad do business", scare of "5 MBA modules", looking forward to "Relax and travel" and unsure about "Cherrie Hearts".

Earthquake in Haiti

I usually do not pay any attention to any natural disaster, other than the Tsunami in end of 2004. Because it simply does not bother me. I have my own share of things to worry and I do not have anymore bandwidth to look at most other problems. I get the news only because the media is fervantly talking about it and people are talking about it.

Reflect, reflect... why is this so?

Its because, there's simply nothing I can do about it.I am not a fire-fighter nor a rescue worker. Other than knowing the painful truth from the news, why not stay in the blissful state of ignorance and continue to think that every part of the world is still doing good?

The Earthquake in Haiti is the latest incident to prove my ignorance. Other than the number of people who died from this natural disaster, I do not even know where Haiti is. I came across the news finally today and found out magnitude of this disaster. The situation, if the press did not sensationalise, is really bad. Or, it could be worst because the press could not cover everything.

I realise once again how blissful I am to be born here in Singapore. Yes, we have a "blood sucking"  government but I have learnt enough from my MBA course that what they do are necessary evils. Simply put, no matter how 'bad' nor 'authocratic' they appear to seem, the fact is they made Singapore into a first world state after ~40 years of independence. And yes, we are looking at a country with small land size, no natural resources and best of all, no natural disaster. Or else I will never get to live in a place call Pinnacles@Duxton.

People know this and yet people overlook this. We get so comfortable in life that we demand more and more. Probably this is the energy that drives our country's economy.


Regardless, I wish for all Singaporeans to be happy. If they are ever faced with a pitfall, stop and think about the people in places like Haiti, and be reminded about how fortunate we are.

Now, let us all pray (if it helps) for the best for the people in Haiti and may the international "powers" do something more quickly than to sit around a big table and talk

The lift has broken down... our society is also breaking down

I met Sharon at Everton road this after and we were going to do one final defect check on our unit.

As we walked towards the lift lobby, we couldn't help but to hear the incessant ringing of the lift alarm. We looked and saw that one of the lift was stuck at level 37. And there was a message asking people to call for lift maintenance service. At that point in time, there were 2 people at level 1.

Dude 1 was an old man and he walked to another lift, appearing to naturally ignore the alarm sound. Seeing us staring at that faulty life, he just told us to take another lift up.

Dude 2 was a hunter, a hunter looking for flat owners to strike a renovation deal. I brushed him aside saying I already have someone to do my renovation. Similarly, all this while, he was totally ignorant of the lift alarm.

I told Sharon we should investigate this and see if there were people stuck in the lift. I could have played dumb and be like either of the 2 idiots. But hey, 路见不平，拔刀相助 is my mantra for the day. If I didn't do anything, who would? We took a lift up to the 37th level and noticed the lift unit stuck in between level 37 and level 38. Sharon called the lift maintenance immediately and they dispatched help which could only arrive 25mins later. Meanwhile, I tried to get the attention of the people stuck in the lift, to assure them that help was on the way.

I thought we should go down and look for help from security. And when we were at level 1 again, there were 2 security guards trying to help. People noticed the lift was stuck but NOBODY asked anything more. Everyone assumed that someone had called for help, and moved away...The 2 security guards are my fellow heroes of the day, as they tried to ply open the doors (though they were not supposed to). Their reason is very simple: 30mins of waiting time, the people inside could be suffocated. Try to do something first.

Simple logic, albeit a dangerous one. No doubt they did not follow the 'safety procedure', you couldn't fault them for their mind was very focused on saving the people inside the lift. You can tell that they weren't educated from the way they talk, but their actions were far superior than many of the educated b*****d that our MOE factory had produced (myself included).

Help eventually arrived after sometime and the people were safe. They saw us and we very thankful for our help. But they didn't get a chance to thank the 2 security guards or saw what the 2 security guards tried to do to help them. We didn't deserve all the 'thanks' for what we did was to just dial a number and scream for help. I told them that there were 2 security guards downstairs and you should thank them too.

However, one of the victims was so engrossed in relating her experience about not being able to dial for help that I doubt everyone heard what I said. And needless to say, I was very doubtful if they eventually would say thank you to those 2 people who tried so hard to help them.

Finally, the Pinnacles@Duxton

After all the hype, we finally collected the key to Pinnacles@Duxton on 5th January 2010, at HDB Hub.
The process involved:

1. Wiping whatever you had in the CPF
2. Signing sheets and sheets of paper
3. Learning about all the bills I would have to pay
4. Some level of anticipation

The end product which cost me S$504k, plus future months of slavery to money.
The front door

The door unit number, supposed to be good for us, as suggested by a friend of mine who is learning on Indian numerology.

The Living Room

View from my living room

The small walkway to the master bedroom

The first bedroom. We'll make this into a guest room.

The second bedroom. This will be the study room.

The master bedroom. With the bay window!

Window view from my master bedroom.

Small kitchen

Small area to hang clothes and an redundant door

Though 'small' was the most commonly pronounced word during that short 30mins walk through, we love the place at first sight (got to remind myself this place cost me 504k). Can't wait to get the renovation started, but I could only arrange Dave to visit on 6th Feb.

The much anticipated view from the sky garden

The REAL heroes behind this huge project..

The sky garden