Doubt.

Doubt.

I allowed myself to be clouded with doubt that I missed the chance to see her.

The cloud of doubt that dawned on me since an honest and long conversation a week ago.

Doubt that I may not get approval. Doubt that I will not measure up. Doubt that I can provide.

My callous attitude may yet get us into a bind not necessary to begin with.

Fingers crossed...

回来

自从认识了Twitter和Plurk之后，就很少回来这里。

每次留言在Twitter或Plurk都是那百多个字，以最短的时间，希望能传达最多种情绪。

无意间将自己在这里的一片小空间忽略了。但每次提笔，都心不在焉，往往就干脆不写了。

今晚，游览了一些朋友的小天空之后，忽然感到惭愧。我以前那分热诚去了哪儿？是我生活中少了那少许的纪律 ，还是生命中有了更重要的核心？

或者是懂得节制自己，凡事都经大脑过滤几次才肯纪录下来？

回来的感觉，真好。

N.B. Translated in comments

Service, but at what charge?

How far would you take your complaint when dealt a bad hand at a restaurant that has grown from mom&pop stall to a tourist attraction that charges a premium for their menu.

Good friend of mine took it all the way to print and online media, even posting onto Boo&Bouquet which has made itself into the news recently.

"Ms Lee Ying Wen would think twice about eating out at No Signboard Restaurant in Vivocity again after her experience with her "missing credit card" last Saturday. Here's her story: link.."

Somehow the above website has been closely watched by some retailers/restaurateurs and they responded quite promptly.

"Ms Lee Ying Wen, who wrote to me yesterday about her "missing credit card" experience at No Signboard Restaurant in Vivocity on Saturday, received a reply from the management today -- a day after her story appeared in this blog. link..."

I feel though, that the response was kinda knee jerk and in some way, condescending. Last I know, my friend is still trying to give away the vouchers they sent her.

" So someone sent a big complaint letter. Let's gloss over everything with some cash vouchers. Singaporeans can't resist a freebie. It'll be so un-Singaporean to do it."

Don't take it lying down, nor let sleeping dogs lie.

You are the consumer, let them hear ya roaaaaar!!

Word to your Mother (tongue)

So now the gahment is considering letting kids who cannot manage a pass in their mother tongue to slide into (top) secondary schools without it.

Over the years the MOE has tweaked the education system in so many ways that students and parents sometimes don't recognize the syllabus by the time term starts anymore. This latest "consideration" though, takes the cake.

While I was not a bright student back in the days, I am glad that I went to a school with deep roots in Chinese culture. I took up Confucius studies, studied Chinese literature. Both of which I sucked big time. It did, though, expose me to a world where a few words put together, can summarize a whole passage.

Fast forward to present day. The Chinese language is being taken up in many parts of the world. It is not uncommon in my job to hear Caucasians, Japanese, Indians etc speak the language with some fluency. That they have recognized the economical benefit of grasping the language speaks volumes.

If people of non-Chinese decent are playing catch up to master Mandarin, how come our schools here are being made to dumb it down many levels? And if the "consideration" is taken up, why would anyone in school bother to learn the language since it holds little or no stake in the final assessment before they go onto secondary schools?

It just reflects the way society has placed emphasis on short term, often impatient, quick fixes.

I am also leaning towards the theory that somewhere on this island there are little white ponies who's influencing the decision making.

Do note that of course I am not referring only to the Chinese language, but our ethnic mother tongue at that. Malays should be able to master Bahasa Melayu, Indians -Tamil. Language is the link we have with our parents, and the older generation, of whom has many tales to share, recipes to life.

Re-connect. Dis-connect.

I have been posting more randomly via Twitter and Plurk, thanks in large parts to my smart phone. Many nowadays just can't, or won't, sift through anything more than 140 characters.

Sign of the times.

We want to know things in an instant, with the least amount of fuss. When was the last time you sat down and had a conversation with someone without reference to a tweet, a post on your facebook wall, and in my case, a plurk?

True that I have been communicating with many of you with the written word for the longest time. However, nothing beats sitting down over a nice hot kopi; seeing, hearing, giving each other a firm handshake or a warm hug.

All this, whilst resisting the urge to check in on your online accounts via the mobile web.

The weekend is coming up.

Go out and talk to someone.