Monday, February 26, 2007

After thoughts of "Protege" the movie

The question is :

Is Addiction a solution to Emptiness?

By inference, the premise of the show it seem to suggest that we are all seeking instant gratification in this empty and lonely world.

Some of us choose to suck compress air, jump into deep open water to experience the high of scuba while others seek the thrills of jumping out of an aeroplane with a parachute. the less adventurous would look for the hottest chilli crab, best shopping experience etc.

My take on this,

Yes we do feel empty sometimes, and sometimes we resort to some form of transgressions to feel alive. Sometimes we bite off a bit more than we can chew and still believe that we can still beat the odds, that we can reverse whatever damage we may cause to ourselves or to others.

life is too short to think in retrospect all the time. And I have never been a person who would stop and think about life. But sometime i can;t help but wonder if i would ever lose the will and courage to take the next step....to jump into the next dive site, to run the next tri race. The op cost seem to creep up on you unknowlingly until it become so obvious to u one day that you are compel to stop.

don;t worry, i have not come to that stage yet.....right now my life is full....to the brim.....so come get me if you can you bloody emptiness!

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

2 out of 5 is equivalent to 40%

Just realised that the 2% point increase from current 5% is equivalent to about estimated 23% growth in the government's collection from GST. According to the budget speech a few days ago this could amount to about 900million sgd. To put things in perspective

1) building cost for one brand new school : 15million (estimate)
2) one new flyover at a busy junction : 20million (estimate)
3) one new F15 fighter : 10-15 million (estimate)

I am not saying that 900million is a lot of money, on the contrary, i think the GST system is a good way for collecting tax revenues while keeping the income tax low. However, I think it would be nice if we could have more understanding....in more micro terms.... about

1) how this money is going to be used.
2) how and under what circumstances do we review the next GST rate should the economy slow down or rise again.

Ok there are the GST rebates and credits to cushion this increment and I believe if the govt is as level headed as they were in the last decade, we should be able to continue to enjoy these goodies as long as we are doing well. But my concern is if we get into a doudrum, will there be more social welfare support?

Bottom line is, in good times ....giving us 700-1200 dollars in all the NRS shares etc could mean a brand new plasma tv but $300 could feed a family a for a few weeks in bad times.

i guess these would be the questions to be brought up by the Parliament in the coming weeks.

We'll just have to wait and see.....

Monday, February 12, 2007

Time of our life

As a 34 year old singaporean, many people say that this is the time of our life, I realised that in the last 3-4 years I experienced (in order of rate of occurence)

1) Weddings(friends/relatives) = 10 per year
2) Birth of a child (Friends/relatives) = 3-4 per year
3) Friends parents passing away = 1-2 per year
4) Friends divorcing = 1 per year

I just occurred to me this morning, that the trend will change soon.... and it will be very likely that the above order will be reversed. What it means to me is that i will be doing more counselling, comforting people, providing a shoulder to cry on more than standing on a stage shouting "YAM SENG".

While i am quite tired of waking up in ungodly hours to dress up in a suit to bang on a metal gate and drinking a croacroach to help my friend "win" the bride. I certianly perfer doing stuff like this than attending funeral wakes or counselling my friends when they breakup.

But these day, we can't really pick and choose which friends to have and what could happen to them......

I am only thankful that i have been a part of many of my friends life as they are going through the these events.

It;s a lovely day! Let's enjoy it while it last!

Cheers

FATA

Sunday, February 11, 2007

The Premise

I have been thinking hard about an outlet for my random thoughts and the idea of bloggin them did occur to me quite a while ago but i have been hesitating about sharing my thoughts with people. It is not that these thoughts are intimate or radical, most of the time they are random and uncohesive. I fear the readers of my blog would find the entries fruastrating.

But what the heck, for what's it worth.. here goes.

I am an average joe, a singaporean, entrepurener, triathlete, diving instructor and father wannabe. I lead a very active life and my day is packed with tonnes of things to do (work,family,play etc) so full that sometimes i feel that i could burst. Life is beautiful and in my opinon, i would be sleeping a lot when i die and therefore why sleep so much....

The premise of this blog is to record my thoughts, the reflection of my mind in solitude. And the only time i could let these thots run free is when i am on the bowl where there is absolutely nothing else better to do. I realised i could do a lot of thinking while i am crapping....and these ideas will dissappear upon the flushing of the toilet. That being said, it does not mean i am going to be writing this while i am doing the do....i shall attempt to remember them and distill them throughout the day and find another peacful time to blog them..

I don;t believe in the idea that the blog should be private and anonymous. If one need to do that ....just keep a diary!....thoughts and idea are meant to be shared, discussed, celebrated. It's only through this sharing that we move on to become a better person. As socrates championed " the ultimate wisdom is the realisation that one does not possess wisdom". According to Uncle Scorates (not the brilliant Soccer Player) the ultimate wisdom is the understanding of the soul. This is the direct result of our interaction with the world, and by inference, the least we share our thoughts and poorer our soul will be.

I do hope that in the years to come these entries could become a record of my thoughts and also my life. And maybe through this sharing of ideas....some good may come out of it.

Cheers

FATA