In-Camp Training

Be back on the 29th.

Recommendations

Tis to share my love of Kevin Smith's movie. I was hocked after Alex showed me "clerks" which he find, and I agree, to be a deeply existential movie. I was moved, because in a very depressing way, that's my life. Hey, I see all sorts in my line of work as a customer service officer.

Another reason I like his movie is because of all the recurring themes I like, homosexuality, religion, vulgarity...

Kevin Smith is an incredibly funny man and his story is the source of many a young artist inspiration. Check them out:

Clerks (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109445/ )
Mallrats (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113749/)
Chasing Amy (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118842/)
Dogma ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120655/)
Jay and silent bob strike back (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0261392/)
Clerks 2 ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424345/)

Also on my list of recommendations is the online comic strip: Sinfest
It's just the best. Calvin and Hobbes is well regarded by many as the best published comic strip ever. Well, Sinfest is too naughty to be published but I like them both equally. Calvin and Hobbes makes me feel and slow down, Sinfest makes me ponder and want to kick some ass.

Where to buy balloons and pumps in Singapore?

Well I have this thing with balloon arts, not very good at it, but think it's fun.
So anyway, recently someone emailed me and ask me where to get the balloons and I typed out a reply that might just be useful for someone who is also searching for balloons. So I thought I'll just post a short part of the reply here, a sort of a faq if you will:

...Ok, the balloons. What we are using is called the "260", there is a thinner version called "160" and a thicker version call "350". The numbers, I guess you figure out, stands for the dimension. Stick with the "260" unless you have need for the other sizes.

There are a few brands, and some without brands. I usually go for the branded ones, but you have to learn to "judge" the quality of the balloons. Qualatex is the market leader and you really can't go wrong with it. Of course, they cost more. Recently I think there was a price hike. I used to buy a packet of 100 balloons at between $14 and $15.

You call get balloon and pumps at most party stores. There are several at the top floor of "The Concourse" shopping mall.

If you are looking for a wholesale supplier, try: http://www.bezballoons.com/
they are located at 62 Tannery Lane and can meet ALL your needs. I remembered buying a packet of balloons at $10 each, but you have to buy more than 10 packets.

Of course, if you like me nowdays, just want to buy a few packets once in a while, a very good place is Party City. They have 2 branch, one at Holland Village(shophouse 277A, level 2 Holland Avenue) and one at Raffles City #03-28. Raffles city is easy to get to, their balloons are cheaper(?) and sits in air-con which is good for balloons and more importantly, the sales girls are cute.

As for pumps, you should know that they are 2-way pumps and 1-way pumps. Up to you. Get a good Qualatex one at Party City for $9.90. I can sell you my brand new one for the same price if you want.

The cheapest pump I found so far that actually work quite well is at "Chia Nephews Toys Pte Ltd" at 4 & 5 Tan Quee Lan Street. It's 2 way and cost $4. A great bargain. Check it out, it's a very interesting shop run by a pair of funny brothers.

So there you go, you ask for one place and I gave you a whole parade...

These are just my option of course.

Bed Bugs!

OH MY GOD! I just found bed bugs in my sleeping mats! Thrown them out immediately. And clean and vacuum the place. Hopeful this is enough to get rid of all of them. I'll keep my eyes peep in the next few months to see if they come back.
And before you say I'm a pig, bear in mind that I'm a guy, it's natural that I pay less attention to things like laundry and showers, in view of more important things like computer games(I recently started re-playing Diablo 2, doing a ice-sorceress).
And seriously, it could happen to anyone. Anywhere. See it says so right here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedbug
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/bedbugs/

Mr Alfian Saat unexplained termination

http://www.blurty.com/talkread.bml?journal=sleepless77&itemid=161258
http://tomorrow.sg/archives/2007/06/09/alfian_saats_unexplained_termina.html
http://www.yawningbread.org/arch_2007/yax-754.htm
http://mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com/2007/06/alfian-saat-is-very-talented-person.html


A delicate teacher(not to mention a talented poet and writer) whom the head of dept had no problem: "professionally and pedagogically" was unexpectedly terminate by MOE without any explanation.

Mallsick

What's the deal with all those malls all over the place? Singapore seems to be overrun with air-conditioned malls. You can't get down from a Mrt without walking through one. There's a new one near my place, Ang Mo Kio Hub they call it. I can't stand the place and I have never been able to place my hand on why until now.
There must be like several hundreds of shops there and not one, none whatsoever, is a book store. Not one. And the thought disgust me. The endless shops selling shoes, bags, video games, jewelleries. And the food, OMG, the food stalls.
To me this just shows how shallow we as a people are(we as a people? Don't make me laugh). All we sick bastards do are eat and shop. That's our life. Buying bags after bags and shoes after shoes.
And we eat. Oh yah, we live to eat. My first reaction at seeing the foodstalls is: How can anyone eat this much? My next question is: How can anyone eat in THIS asylum of a place? The noise is enough to give anyone a headache. And when I have had a close look: How can anyone eat this shit?
The thought is depressing. If an alien lifeform is to document our existence, the report would be about a branch of short lived assholes who spend their life grabing money to buy stuff they don't use and eat and eat and eat.
I mean, common, where's the culture? Unless you count malls as a form of culture.
I blame this phenomenon on the observation that we, as a people, are not well educated. In fact, most people in Singapore does not recieve an education, but rather an instruction or a training. Schools teaches life skills, and since our life is all about making money, life skills = money making skills. If something doesn't earn you money, it isn't worth knowing.

Auditor General’s Report - Millions Missing

TOC

The original Auditor General Office’s (AGO) audit of 12 Ministries and associated statutory boards has revealed irregularities to an extent not fully revealed by the recent Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

According to the AGO, losses of public monies added up to $6.2 million, a substantial amount of which is still unaccounted for.

The Auditor General’s preface to the report states that ‘This audit approach is not intended to reveal all errors and irregularities.’

In the report, the Ministry of Law lost a potential $77,666.64 safety deposit because its computer system could only register sums to the nearest dollar. It appears under the header ‘No $77,666.64 security deposit because of 36 cents’.

The report details how these millions were lost in a detailed account of mistakes and dubious practices.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, for example, charged rental far below the market rate, forgoing $2.38 million that should have gone into state coffers. The Ministry of Law, in addition to the 36 cent mistake, left our public funds $386,829 poorer by failing to implement rental increase. This was described as an ‘oversight’.

The list goes on.

The Ministry of Manpower delayed collecting a $501,998 debt for a grand total of 15 years. When it decided to finally recover the sum of money, the company disputed the debt owed but the Ministry did not have the necessary paperwork to ‘substantiate the debt’. National Development lost us $228,000 in foregone rental, and Trade and Industry overpaid $1.87m in grants to a statutory board (since recovered).

The largest outstanding sum identified was the Ministry of Health: $136.2 million for Phase III of the National University Hospital development project has still not been recovered despite having been completed in 1996.

More questions than answers

The report raises more questions than it answers. Procurement irregularities are unexplained: a National Development contract was awarded for an eighth ranking bid (in terms of price) out of 11 without any justification. Further, the officers signing the contracts were not authorized to do so. Under the column ‘subsequent action’, all that is said is that the Ministry ‘streamlined procurement procedures…which would prevent such lapses from recurring’. Not even an ex post facto explanation about the dubious procurement.

The ‘subsequent action’ detailed for other irregularities and mistakes do not offer much elaboration. In the case of the Ministry of Manpower’s half a million dollar mistake that spanned 15 years, it gave assurances that ‘levy debts will be resolved within a much shorter time frame in future’ and that ‘future relevant documents’ would be retained.

TOC Opinion

Theonlinecitizen (TOC) recently reproduced in full the report by the Public Accounts Committee (here), convened by Parliament to scrutinize irregularities highlighted by the Auditor General’s report for financial year 05-06. It gave few concrete figures to highlight the irregularities it was pointing out.

TOC has obtained a copy of the original AGO report, which gives a far more comprehensive overview of the scope of the irregularities. This is reproduced in full (see below). We hope that members of the public will step forward to scrutinize the report and ask the necessary questions of our public servants.

In light of the limited scope of the Auditor-General’s report, we believe that the public deserves a more thorough audit of its public offices. Further, action needs to be taken to examine why these mistakes occurred in the first place: What are the fundamental causes of these lapses? Is it systemic or is it just incompetence on the part of the departments involved?

What were the consequences of these multi-million dollar mistakes?

This report can either be swept under the carpet to the further detriment of the credibility of the media and our government, or it can serve as a reference point for a new era in government transparency and accountability.

We hope the latter will prevail.

I'm just too tire to make comments.

Bra-stripping fine for Singapore radio broadcaster

SINGAPORE (AP) - A Singapore radio show is being taken to task for holding a contest in which female studio guests were asked to remove their bras from under their clothes and pose for a video webcast.

Singapore media regulators say the competition was exploitative and inappropriate. They are fining MediaCorp Radio the equivalent of about $10,000 for contravening Singapore's broadcast code.

Regulators say the March talk-show segment challenged a group of women to take their bras off in the shortest possible time.

Singapore, known for its tight restrictions on media and political speech, has relaxed censorship regulations for some films and plays in recent years.

Women on the talk show were asked to hold their bras up and pose for a video camera recording the event to be posted on the broadcaster's website and video-sharing site YouTube.

Regulators said the radio show hosts made sexually suggestive remarks about "how fast the bras were removed, as well as the colour, design and cup size of the bras, and the size of the girls' breasts."

A government statement said such contests have a negative influence on young, impressionable listeners and suggested that DJs show more restraint.

"As celebrity figures and role models, DJs wield influence over young listeners, and hence, should conduct themselves in a socially responsible manner," the statement said.

This story has me googling "Singapore Bra Stripping". Cool.

Seriously, what's wrong with taking off your bra and talking about sex? What "negative influence"? What "young, impressionable listeners"?

Everyone thinks about sex, what's wrong with talking about it? This country is way too up-tight. Everyone should masturbate more and loosen up.

Big things

You know, everyone is like: "I want to do this shit, I want to do that shit." And all the shit are important shit. You know, shit like saving the world shit, making money shit, famous shit, hero shit, educate the world shit, invention shit, you know, big shit. What about the small shit? Huh?
What if all the big shit in the fucking world is make up of small shit? Who's gona do all the small shit?
Have you heard anyone saying: "I wan be a taxi driver." No, dude. You only hear people say they want to be a chief Justice or a minister or shit like that. What's the fuck with all that?
Maybe that's what wrong with the world, everyone wanting to do big things and people doing the small things are so fucking piss with what they are doing that they do a fuck up job.
Hey, fuck. What if all the big things are make of small things and all the big important things are like fuck because all the small things are like fuck.
Maybe there are no big things. People just like to live with the delusion that they could do something important. Well, either all things are important or none of them are.
Fuck. Look at your life. Look at your fucking life. What makes you think you are all that important or better than anyone else?

New Tag

Decide to add a "General Nosense" tag, because, let's face it most of it IS.