the facebook status

I don't bitch about my bosses online, but once in a while I do post some reflections or share some interesting snippets from the industry and workplace onto Facebook. Sometimes these include things about bosses or coworkers, inevitably (no names have been mentioned though. And I can't possibly keep talking about how much I love my desk or how smelly the washroom is. Wait, maybe I can). And for the slightly more sensitive stuffs, I do limit via the security function on who can see those updates.

Apparently some colleagues whom I can't be bothered about (and thus, never even mentioned them on Facebook) have an issue with it (or rather, they have an opinion about it). One of them couldn't hold it anymore and told me that they find it inappropriate to post about work on Facebook. Perhaps they genuinely care about my career, or they find it unfair cos they couldn't garner the balls to write such things online. Whatever it is, it is an outright intervention of freedom of speech.

What I want to say is, whatever I say online, I dare to stand by it in real life. What my fingers type, my mouth will not hesitate to say again.

The ironic thing about some people is that they find it inappropriate to write about their work, but they find it perfectly natural to write about emotions. When I write about work, the worst is just me myself and I losing my job (unless I'm whistle-blowing); but when you write about emotions, you affect others, spoil their day and you risk losing them. Talk about consequences.

And I dare people who keep posting about emotions, are they as willing to talk about such stuff in real life? Or they think that by hiding behind the computer screen, people really don't see the face connecting to the name? (have you heard of the story of a boy covering his eyes and then goes shoplifting, cos he thought if he can't see the shopkeeper, the shopkeeper can't see him as well) I didn't study psychology and I really can't understand what do people want to achieve when they post about emotions. And those emotional quotes with girly pictures from god-knows-which great learned mind on this planet. A protest? Retaliation at someone whom they can't hurt in real life? Seeking attention? Asking for pity and sympathy?

I just think that if you don't dare to say the things in real life, then don't say it online. Period.

one thing we lack in total defence

Earlier this month, a full time national serviceman from the army died during training. Subsequently on facebook I caught a post about a girl making a comment that Singaporeans are too weak. While I do not know both the deceased serviceman and the girl who made the comment, but I have some sort of a related encounter myself.

Some time back I attended a call-up. It was short but physically exhausting nonetheless. Many people would apply leave after reservist, but I went straight back to work the next day. Nothing heroic, I'm just stingy over my annual leave balance. So back in office I just remarked that the training was tiring. It wasn't a bid for sympathy, just sharing how I felt. Then a female colleague commented that I was weak, cos she hadn't heard other males complaining about feeling tired after going for reservist.

You see, I'm sorry but I really can't help having some naive shallow people in my social circle. Here we are training hard and disrupting from our daily routine to do our part to protect our nation, and then some people just have to be so cynical. We are not playing boy scouts. We aren't asking for appreciation, we aren't asking for bed of roses or kisses for the heroes. But understanding and validation would be nice. Some members of the other gender find it unfair that males who have served national service get higher starting salary. Turn the table around, are there males who complain that females have too many maternity leave? *shrug*

I'm sure most of us have heard about Total Defence umpteenth times. It won't be total if not everyone is doing his/her part.

throwing spanner and screwdriver

The other evening I was at a gathering with fellow mechanical engineers at the club. Over dinner we chatted and shared our experience at work.

One engineer, who works at the polytechnic, shared a scene at the school's workshop. A student was asking the workshop assistant where he could find a spanner. So the assistant pointed towards the rack and told the student to grab it himself. The student returned with a screwdriver in hand.

Seriously, I fail to see the similarity between the spanner and the screwdriver except the fact that you use both with your hand. While I did not go through the polytechnic path, I've always have high respect for them because of their relatively richer hands-on experience. This may just be an isolated case, or is it?

Recently there has been some discussions on the newspaper regarding university qualification. Something along the line of the emphasis on technical education during the nation's early years and blah blah... Somehow I find it sad if a mechanical engineer has never touched a spanner or screwdriver. Just the other day, a colleague was surprised I could recognise a crank shaft, even though my industry has no connection with engines. Well, am I not supposed to know, as a mechanical engineer?

At least I can say by the time I received my university certificate, I've touched the lathe and mill before. What about our next batches of engineers? I wonder.

the cityrail in sydney

During my holiday in Sydney, we used the CityRail extensively and I would say it has left me quite an impression.

People living in efficiency-demanding Singapore should be familiar with hi-tech unmanned rolling stocks or the shiny platform screen doors. But in Sydney we saw some old trains and even older stations. There were station masters blowing the whistle to signal for departure, and every few cars there were crews standing at the driving compartment door. The were vandalism on the train body, carvings on the windows. You can't just board any train that stops at the station, cos one platform serves many lines, and you actually can reach the same destination boarding the train at opposing sides of the platform.

But that's not the point. The point is, I enjoyed the experience!

The trains themselves are unique. How often do we see double-deck for metro-style railway? The trains are exceptionally quiet, somehow. And they stick to the timetable, which you can check online. Some of the drivers wear shorts, which I find kind of cute. As a bonus track, we witnessed a scene of love story :P A guy was chasing after his lover (can't remember if he had flowers in hand), they entered from the front door, and ran out from the next door.

These are the things you can't find in unique Singapore.

the uglyfatchick tag

Ok I just got tagged by uglyfatchick. It has been a very long time since I last did stuff like this and all. For the fun of it, might as well ask myself these questions as well.

1. What's your dream home like?
Well-lit, cosy, naturally ventilated, maybe a bit zen-like? Or perhaps a cafe, bookshelves, coffee table, food for thoughts, etc. Regardless, a dream home should have someone to come home to.

2. If you could choose only 5 dishes to have in your whole life, what would it be?
This is a tough question. Can I choose 5 dishes that I will never have in my life? :P

3. What are your favourite bands/music?
You can't go wrong with Beyond (if you are Chinese) and Beatles.

4. If you have to leave your country, which country would you choose to live the rest of your life in?
Is heaven a country?

5. What's your current favourite website?
I set google as the homepage, so, yeah.

6. What would you like people to remember you for when you're gone?
I rather people get on with life.

7. If you could talk to one person (living or dead), who would you like to talk to?
*scratch head* but what are we going to talk about?

8. Who would you like to be photographed with?
That will depend on what posture I will be in. Hur hur hur.

9. Anyone who's an inspiration to you?
If we look hard enough, everyone can be an inspiration. Everyone can learn from everyone else.

10. Any bad habits you wish you didn't have?
I kind I wish I am less judgemental and more accepting.

11. How would you define your blog?
Dormant? Used to be active though.

misunderstanding not lifted

In Singapore many of the lifts have that glass windows on the doors, perhaps to deter any possible mischief happening in the lift. The magic of those little windows is that you can see from outside, and also from inside.

This was what happened. We were inside the lift and the lift doors were closing. Then through the windows we could see this woman reaching right in front of the other side of the doors and desperately pressing the lift button. Most if not all kind people would try to press the door open button, but of course there are some who would similarly desperately try to press the door close button so as not to delay their lift journey. But, while I am not a lift maintenance engineer or designer, I suspect there must be some algorithm in place that tells the lift to proceed once the door has closed fully or something like that. We saw the woman outside the lift staring at us. She must have thought we pressed the door close button.

So transparency may not always be a good thing.

day 5 in sydney

Come to the last day of our Sydney trip. Was deciding if I should do a Bondi Beach or Taronga Zoo, and we went to the zoo in the end. It didn't feel right not to see a koala if you go to Australia.

We had breakfast at the Museum of Sydney. Since we didn't have much chance to eat really good stuff during this trip, so I thought maybe should at least spend some AUD on a good breakfast. Classy place, but I wish we had time to check out the Museum itself.

We next passed through the Royal Botanic Gardens. It was a pleasant walk where you could see the Government House which kind of resembles a castle. I know it may sound mad to go to another country to visit their park, but isn't that a good way to experience the local life?

From the Royal Botanic Gardens it was also a good route to check out the behind of the Sydney Opera House. Talking about the landmark of Australia, enough said I guess? When up close it seemed less majestic, so it's still better to look at it from afar.

The most common way to go to Taronga Zoo was to take the ferry from Circular Quay, which would take you to the back gate of Taronga Zoo. You can choose to take the Sky Safari (basically a cable car) if there isn't a queue, or to just walk up which isn't that difficult since there are elevators and all along the way. Just a tip, there is a Taronga Zoo coupon in the English version of the tourist guide which you might have gotten at the airport. It admits one only, though. You might consider harming the trees but saving your wallet by getting each member one English tourist guide. Back to the zoo, well I would say it kind of pales in comparison to the Singapore Zoo. Many animals were repeated in different zones of the zoo. But somehow the atmosphere was different. You see lots of kids and toddlers which kind of brings joy to yourself too.

Not much time left before our flight back, so back in Sydney CBD it was last minute shopping time. Shopping for local products at supermarkets like Woolworths or Coles won't cost a bomb and you can't get more authentically local than that. Of course if you are looking for jewellery or handicraft, it's a different story. But we got a fair bit of Australian fruits and candies.

So that's the Sydney trip. While not high on my next destination list, I won't mind going back if I have some spare cash.

day 4 in sydney (hunter valley)

Another favourite check-out when in Sydney is the nearby Hunter Valley. Australia being an important wine producing country, and Hunter Valley is one of the major wine regions of Australia, naturally you go for a wine tour when in Hunter Valley.
If you drive, you theoretically can visit the wineries on your own and have free tasting. Lindemans, Rosemount, Wyndham Estate are some of the brandnames which you most probably have seen in supermarkets back home and their wineries are in Hunter Valley. But we didn't visit any of these (kind of wish we did, though). We signed up for a local wine tour which brought us to 3 small boutique wineries.
So the tour zipped around the region in a Toyota van. Not the best of comfort, but I realized you can't possibly manoeuvre around with a big coach. To add to the unique experience, there were no more seats behind and so I had to take the front seat beside the driver/tour guide. The tour guide made me "assistant tour guide", and I kid you not I got tipped at the end of the tour! (just so happened I was able to act smart on the topic of wines)
As a wine tour, logically we talked a lot of wines along the way. Like the concept of region, cork vs screw cap, shift in culture, etc. We visited the behind the scenes (I won't go wrong visiting the factory), learned the differences in process between red wine and white wine, wine appreciation techniques, etc. We ended up tasting about 30 different wines, and bought (only) 2 bottles back.
To top up the wine tour, we spotted some wild kangaroos!

While I think it was an interesting experience nevertheless, I find the wine tour not as spectacular as say Blue Mountains or even our DIY city tour in Sydney. Unless you are a wine lover, the day and money could have been spent elsewhere.