Turning Thirty

Yep, got over it. There were many cheering supporters on both sides of the fence. “How does it feel turning 30? heh heh.” (laugh, laugh, but is that a wrinkle I see on our forehead) and “Hey, welcome to the club.” (from the “Life begins at Thirty” Club) were the enthusiastic messages that greeted me on Monday morning. Well, one thing is for sure, I can now tear up the “Things to do before turning 30” list and head down the future beyond the OB markers.

P.S : Special thanks to those who had sent me birthday smses, e-cards, e-mails, reminded me of my age, stuffed me with birthday cakes, sent me gifts, and especially for the companionship that you guys continue to offer.

The Seven-Day Weekend

Imagine a workplace that relinquishes control over its employees. That means no monitoring of arrival time, no control over what clothes to wear, where to work(home or office), or monitoring of what the employees are doing. No rules. A company that trusts in adult behaviour, encourages job rotation and practices flexi time (the employee decides what time they arrive and leave work, even for assembly floor workers!). A company that does not hide secrets from its lower level staff and practices total democracy(where the CEO’s vote is equal to the cleaner lady’s vote).

My initial reaction? Such a model would be impossible in Singapore, a first world country. People here need fixed rules and supervision; for without, there will be plenty of abuse and loss of productivity. My reaction was basically founded on the premise that people are inherently selfish, self-centered and cannot be fully trusted to put the company ahead of self. Not too far from the truth, right?

But such a workplace does exist. And it is not in America, Switzerland or in any of the leading first world countries.

The company is called Semco and it is located in a Brazil, a third world country. And all this was made possible by its visionary owner, Ricardo Semler. Instead of falling apart after the introduction of radical reforms and corporate re-engineering in the 80s, the company’s revenue has grown from $4mil in 1982 to $212mil in 2003, enjoying 40% growth annually without public investment. As for turnover, it is less than 1% annually (that is 3 out of 3000 employees). Well, if I was there, I wouldn’t want to leave too.

Get hold of his books, The Seven-Day Weekend or Maverick if you wish to find out more.

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“Among those things Semco doesn’t do is a 7 day work-week. If rock climbing is more inviting on a Wednesday morning than a budget planning meeting, then break out the rope and pitons. If lighter traffic on a Saturday afternoon makes the commute to office more bearable, go for it. The seven-day weekend is more than permission to play hooky. It’s about creating an atmosphere and culture that grants permission to employees to be men and women in full for seven days a week. Why should the fun, fulfillment and freedom stop first thing Monday morning and be hold until Friday night? I believe no one can afford, can endure or can stomach leaving half a life in the parking lot when she or he goes to work. It’s a lousy way to live and a lousy way to work.”

From 'The Seven-Day Weekend', by Ricardo Semler

Riding into the Night

It was time for the annual cycling trip. My third year in a row after Changi last year and a all nighter in 2004.

It’s indeed an exhilarating feeling cycling on wide open roads, with the wind in your hair and the thrill of speed in your blood. Well that doesn’t quite explain why I only do it once a year, but a yearly dose is better than none.

Flag off.
So there we were, twelve adults of varying ages gathered at a crowded East Coast Park on Saturday night. We got our bikes(plus blinkers) for $7 per bike for overnight rental. There were a few beginners among us so we anticipated a slow ride. At around 11:30pm, we started our journey.

One for the road. A 'Before' pic.

Tanjung Rhu Mishap.
We cycled down ECP until we hit the Fort Road exit. From there, we turned into Tanjung Rhu Road. That was where the unexpected happened - two bikes met with broken glass pieces and ended up with a punctured tyre each. We scratched and searched our heads for solutions.

With no tyre patch available at the nearby Petrol Kiosks, we had to send two among us to get the bicycles fixed. Wee Loong’s plan was to get one bike fixed up by replacing the bad wheel with a good one from the other, and also using his own racer at home. So, we hailed a cab, got the two bikes into the boot, and sent them off.

To the Bay.
The rest of us took to the roads again. Our journey took us across Geylang River, through the Stadium area, across Merdeka bridge and along Nicoll Highway until we reached the Esplanade. There we waited at the Merlion for Wee Loong and Alice to join us.

babyface @ one fullerton. the new centro.


After a few drinks at 'babyface', the local icon couldn't hold his licqour.

Kopitiam Supper.
Back as a group of twelve, we decided to fill our stomachs at the 24 hour Kopitiam along Bras Basah Rd.

Supper Stop

After drinks and dim sum, we headed for Orchard, cycling along the tiled pavements fronting the many shopping centres and offices. We made a U-turn when we hit Scott’s Road.

The Journey Home.
It was a long ride back to ECP. We took the relatively straight road that passes through the MRT stops from Bugis to Eunos. We reached back at ECP at around 6:20am. After returning the bikes around 7am, we had breakfast before calling it a day.

All's well. A 'After' pic

All in all, it was a relatively easy and tireless ride this time round. (No sore thighs on Monday!). Maybe due to the many stops along the way and the slower pace to accommodate the first timers. Nevertheless, it was a fun ride in a big group. Other than the trouble of the punctured tyres, the ride was all smooth sailing save for some minor accidents involving skirmishes with road-side plants and one collision with a traffic light pole (mainly by the same person).

Well, let’s see whether we can keep this up next year. Malaysian Roads perhaps?

Arise a Rag Day awaits !

It was a good day for battle.

The narrow stands at the NUS sports field was filled to the brim with groups of supporters with matching coloured tees. They were mainly made up of freshmen, and the annual Rag Day was the final culmination of weeks of Orientation that preceded this final event.

Rag Day is not only about ghastly decorated sets on the back of trucks or bumbling first time performers dancing to the beat of remixed soundtracks; it is the fitting finale that combines ingenuity and creativity, artistry and grace, passion and hardwork, and most importantly cohesion and teamwork among seniors and freshies. Well winning the Chancellor’s Shield is important too as you get to boast about it for the whole of one year.

So there I was in NUS early Saturday morning to watch the event. Standing among the undergraduates certainly makes me feel young all over again. Felt strangely like my first Rag Day ten years ago.

The highlights, let’s see …

Supporters galore

Floats lining up to perform

Engineering Faculty’s Candy Float. Oh gosh, what will they think of next!

Battle-hungry supporters

Supporters up in arms

Bring it on !

Back to the future? One of the best looking float

Raffles’ Supporters cheering hard

Teoh, Wei Keong and me with the Raffles Float

This was what we came up with ten years ago, a mash of Hydras and Phoenixes, which took the best float award for halls. Heady times indeed.

Book Sale

Was at the National Library Sale last Saturday. I knew I was terribly late (reached about 6pm) when there were less books on the many display racks then those strewn on the floors. Fortunately found myself four books to bring home at $2 each after scouring the entire exhibition floor.

Books I bought …
1) Veronika decides to die, Paulo Coelho. (Read it once before, definitely deserve another)
2) Rome Travel Guide (with many inserted illustrations and pictures)
3) Myst – the book of Atrus (made famous by the PC game)
4) Fight Fat (don’t laugh, the bulge is everyone’s enemy)

It was sad though to see how books were treated that day. Books were left on the floor, stepped on and thrown around after the buyers had sieved through them. It’s definitely not something you want to teach your kids.

The Day the Town was painted Red

“Will all persons wearing the colour red, please step off the MRT now.” I imagined the announcement being made at Kallang MRT when I stepped off the train. An unimaginable number of passengers in red tops were getting off at the one stop closest to the mega event of the day – NDP 2006. Can’t blame them for being openly patriotic, most of them were attending the parade, and more ever it’s hard to find an excuse to put on a bright red T-shirt after Chinese New Year.

Unlike them, I had no tickets but decided to hang around outside the stadium to practice shooting with the new camera. How often do you get to take shots of people from upclose without them giving you the stare.

Outside the Stadium’s East entrance, people were already in an upbeat mood. There were clowns on stilts, face painters, balloon sculptors and ice-cream sellers deployed to create a party atmosphere outside the stadium. There were also many people like me who decided to enjoy the celebrations from the outside. I guessed many were mainly staying for the fireworks, but the rest of the 2 hours before that were probably spent anticipating the events that were taking place inside the stadium. Pretty sad ah, considering the people at home were watching the events live on TV comfortably on their couch.

For all my effort to capture the fireworks, I had to choose to position my camera at an area just below where the fireworks were being fired (Yes, the debris from the fireworks do fall on us). What’s the problem with that? Well, I didn’t have prior knowledge of this piece of logistical info, so my camera was sitting on the tripod and being aimed at the stadium. So when finally the fireworks were set off, all I could see were the bright sparks exploding overhead and tree branches blocking my view. I left fuming at my luck. At the end of the display, I trudged off with the other thousands of spectators towards the MRT. Oh well, there’ll be other chances, but this will be the last at the Kallang Stadium.

Pigeons

Nothing much, just some poetry inspired by a few feathered friends.

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T’was a sunny day by the quay,
Where we birds of a feather flocked,
Feeding on seeds and scraps,
While the human stared and gawked,

Behind us the fat-assed Botero guards,
Like a giant idol of ancient devotion,
Once famed for M1’s egg-laying ad,
Now she’s just one of the many attractions.

So as his camera snaps away,
We ignored the unwelcome intrusion,
Just as we do each and every day,
For it is slim pickings without the attention.

*******

I am the king of the air,
As I perch on my royal post,
Today this street lamp will do,
Maybe tomorrow another host.

Red Fleshed Wonder

I found a new love, the red Dragon Fruit. Ever since they started selling it at the local Sunset Way minimart for just $1.00 - 1.20 per piece, I have had my daily servings for the past two days. At the moment, other fruits don’t even come close. Hmmm … must be the sweet red melt-in-the-mouth-type flesh that constantly sends my tastebuds to gastronomy heaven.

Whoa, check out this site.
http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/dragon/

Didn’t realize that there were so many varieties of the same fruit. All this while, I thought that there were only 2 vaireties – white and red.

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Legend of the Dragon Fruit

Thousands of years ago fire breathing dragons created the dragon fruit. During battle, when the dragons breathed fire the last thing to come out would be the fruit. If the dragon was slain the fruit would be collected and presented to the Emperor as an indication of victory and as such was a prized treasure.

Whilst the slain dragon would have been eaten by the victorious soldiers ... it being believed that if you ate the flesh of the dragon you became empowered with the dragon’s strength and ferocity.

In fact, it is said that the meat from the base of the dragon’s tail from where it was believed the dragons fire originated, was the sweetest and best tasting. It is said that the thirst for these meat is what brought about the destruction of all dragons ... or so legend goes ...

Words to Ponder

Here’s a breather from my usual entries. Something ‘Cut-and-Paste’ from Oriah’s Prelude in her book The Dance. Do take time to read if you have the time.

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What if it doesn’t matter what you do but how you do whatever you do?

How would this change what you choose to do with your life?

What if you could be more present and openhearted with each person you met if you were working as a cashier in a corner store, or as a parking lot attendant, than you could if you were doing a job you think is more important?

How would this change how you want to spend your precious time on this earth?

What if your contribution to the world and the fulfillment of your own happiness is not dependent upon discovering a better method of prayer or technique of meditation, not dependent upon reading the right book or attending the right seminar,
but upon really seeing and deeply appreciating yourself and the world as they are right now?

What if the task is simply to unfold, to become who you already are in your essential nature – gentle, compassionate, and capable of living fully and passionately present?

What if the question is not why an I so infrequently the person I really want to be, but why do I so infrequently want to be the person I really I am?

How would this change what you think you have to learn?

How would this shape the choices you make about how to spend today?

What if you knew the impulse to move in a way that creates beauty in the world will arise form deep within and guide you every time you simply pay attention and wait?

How would this shape your stillness, your movement, your willingness to follow this impulse, to just let go and dance?

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We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life, is when men are afraid of the Light.

-Plato