really reserved seat

It was quite ironic when I saw someone literally trying to reserve a seat on the MRT.

So there was this lady sitting on THE reserved seat. Halfway between stations she stood up, leaned against the grab pole that is right beside the reserved seat, and stared hard at the MRT route map pasted above the train door opposite. Another lady moved towards that seat and wanted to sit down when lady one blocked lady two, saying "I'm sitting down".

Lady one stood and stared at the route map for a while, then sat back down. A few minutes later stood up again and stared at the route map again.

She could have done it Singaporean white-collar style and put a packet of tissue paper on the seat.

flexible public transport

Saw this very interesting clip that talks about the transit system in Los Angeles, how to increase ridership for public transport, etc. One point it brought up is how to have fixed bus stops but flexible bus routes.

I work in the Alexandra area and everyday I take a MRT ride to HarbourFront, then transferring to a short bus ride. If you happen to work in that area, I need not describe the crazy crowd at the VivoCity and HarbourFront bus stops. And the crazy rush whenever a bus arrives.

One day, a bus with the LED display saying "Off service" pulled into the stop. Everyone was looking at the bus with curiosity, thinking what was that bus doing at a busy bus stop. Then suddenly the LED display changed to a bus service number and everyone just rushed on. The bus was already full there. With an empty bus you could already fill it up at VivoCity bus stop, what more a bus that had gone through the whole stretch of the route before Vivo?

While there are many aspects of bus services that can be improved, sending empty buses to pick up passengers midway during peak hour is a good move.

(I recall during university days, the bus company did similar thing to "clear" the students at Bukit Timah Road bus stop)

custom and bad habits

Yesterday I had a one day trip to Johor, Malaysia. Lots of bewildering stuffs.

Our destination was Desaru, an Eastern part of Johor State. Our meeting point was at the North-Eastern part of Singapore. So our coach travelled all the way on the expressway to Kranji. Just as I thought we would be going through the Causeway, the coach continued South-West to Tuas and we entered Malaysia via the Second Link. We were like going in a big letter C.

After clearing the Singapore checkpoint, our coach made our way into Malaysia. There was this long queue of coaches, and our driver took some initiative to cut queue. Guess what, this uniformed chap with yellow beret and 3 rhombuses on each shoulder came over and confiscated the driver's passport. So, don't cut queue ok.

While waiting for the Malaysian immigration clearance, the fingerprint scanning thingie wasn't really bothering me. Even the man behind me was saying they were doing the scanning randomly. When it was my turn, I was "lucky" enough to be asked to do the scanning.

On my way back out of Malaysia, the Malaysian immigration officer made me scan my fingers again. I really don't get it, what is the point of scanning something supposedly already in your database? And I got randomly selected twice, should I be making my way to the jackpot machine?

On hindsight, sticking 2 index fingers side by side looks like one fat middle finger. Sorry~

owe things

Do I still owe you anything?
- my reporting officer

That kind of saved the red paint.

But I realize it could be a bad thing that I feel more enthusiastic than my boss. Such is the tug-of-war at work.

rank inflation

Sometimes I can't help feeling that some local companies like to "inflate" their employees' rank. Is that one way to make them happy and keep them in the company?

Take for example, a newbie with no prior industry experience, after sticking with the company for 1-2 years, he becomes a senior engineer. In some cases, 3 years with the company and he becomes principal engineer. But does he live up to the name?

On the contrary, I've dealt with some consultants from Europe. Hands-on experience as apprentice and then wealth of experience in their area of expertise, 40 odd years old and bear the name of senior consultant. One point to note, they don't serve national service and therefore, could have spent more time in the sector. In other oversea companies, you are only graduate engineer until 2 years down the road, then you qualify to be called engineer.

To be honest, I did feel a little neglected before. But after a while, I realize, that's just a name. What's the point of people calling you Your Highness or His Excellency if you can't do work for nuts? It is like how I suspect some hawkers are better at logistic chain than some production plant managers.

If you hold a humble position but you outperform the higher brass, you can be proud and give yourself a pat on the back. If your hand can reach, that is. No one can dispute self-recognition.

fibre and charles kao

Yesterday the crew from OpenNet came to my place for the optical fibre installation. 3 men installed the trunking from the telecom compartment all the way to my TV point, then another 2 with big yellow equipment boxes tested out the signal. Swift. With a packed appointment schedule, they had to be quick, maximising their manpower. And they sounded like Malaysians. I wonder if there are any locals willing to do such work.

The optical fibre installation reminded me of Charles Kao, "father of fibre optics" and Nobel Prize winner.

Other than the common point of fibre, Charles Kao is sort of a foreign talent as well. I read his autobiography (潮平岸闊——高錕自述) some time back and it is an inspiring piece. He was born in Shanghai, went to Hong Kong for his high school, subsequently to England for his tertiary education. I never had the chance to study abroad, but Charles Kao's book touched on the sorts of things he had to face being alone in England, especially when he wasn't from a rich family. There was also the problem in being together with his now-wife who came from a traditional family. He also shared bits and pieces of his professional life. To put it simply, he made many brave decisions which I couldn't have made, be it for his professional development or his personal life.

While we enjoy the benefits of technology, it's always good to hear the story behind.