dotz.

One of my friends out there has a special message to his gf at the end of every post in his blog. So sweet! But anyway...

Holidays coming to an end soon! well... It's been an interesting and enriching one for me. Given that next holidays I am likely to go for VIP, this holidays would effectively be the last one I can take time out to do whatever I want, especially for either Organisation. Anyway, especially in a very microscopic level of The Organisation, it is better to let the 'younger ones' take charge but it is also very sad that a lot of the old traditions and practices are no longer being practiced.

I remember as a cadet, when we greeted our seniors we were supposed to 'bend the left knee' before paying our compliments. Later this practice was abolished as it was found to damage the tiled floor in the old RV. But I would have preferred it to remain though...

Today I went down to RV as they had their annual handover parade. Coincidentally, I bumped into an ex cadet of mine who just happened to be visiting the school... This handover parade is especially poignant for me as this batch of cadets are also the last one I've overseen in my current capacity. Anyway, they have done well and my best wishes to all of them in their O levels and future endeavours. Looks like as of today, I have closed the chapter on my time as a uniformed group trainer at the schools level... future involvment will be in the form of a co-ordinator role rather than a trainer.

I saw a couple of friends from The Other Organisation conducting training for their cadets from a distance..

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It takes 4 years' engineering experience to be eligible to attain Professional Engineering certification. After that I am no longer known as Mr. Chua, but Er. Chua. But well, it's the same I guess... Having said all that, a few days ago ST published an article on 'The Boom Time Grads'. Hey, one of those featured earning $3,000 is my JC friend and she still remembers me (she was in the photo with George Bush when he came to Singapore..). Anyway, I hope that come my own graduation, it will still be considered as 'Boom Time' and I will be able to land a good paying engineering job that will put me in good stead to achieve my goal of becoming a PE.

Pay wise I'm not too concerned. But it's the prospects... Then after I've settled down on a career, can start thinking of the OTHER aspect which many of my friends feel I have long neglected... which is courtship and marriage. Well, it's all in the hands of God and no point trying to rush something before its time yeah? (Reminds me of my uncle -- actually my father's cousin -- who at 28 was single and already a high flying performer at some bank. Two years later I attended his wedding and today he is a happy father of 2 kids). But i had a close encounter a while ago... call me scorched by bad experiences, but I will rather reserve my 'energies' for 'The One'...

(:

Do you think it's the same cat? Tell me on my comments box.

Pomp & Pageantry

The past two days have been days of pomp and pageantry for me as a member of The Organisation. Why you may ask me..

This year, to commemorate 40 years of National Service, the SAF invited NSmen to witness the SAF Day Parade. I was one of them due to my involvement in the Organisation (they were also asked to send NSmen)...

This was my 3rd SAF Day Parade (having attended the previous two during my NSF) and the drills never cease to amaze me, especially the trooping of colours. How long and hard they must have trained for the parade is anyone's guess. Anyway, I wonder if either Organisation will be able to pull off a Trooping of Colours... Like one of my friends remarked, 'You see this, then you know our Colours Commissioning is crap!'

During the reception after the parade, I caught up with quite a few of my former superiors in my unit. Some of them had already been promoted to the next rank, am happy for them... Well one of them gave me a tip regarding my future career moves which I am going to take quite seriously...

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The following day was one of great honour for me. I was picked to be the emcee for The Organisation Awards Investiture. For those not in the know, this Investiture involves the conferring of the Order awards on the distinguished recepients. Most if not all had served The Organisation for the greater part of their adult lives. As a Knighthood was being bestowed, the recepients had the privilege of the President of the Republic of Singapore, Mr S.R.Nathan to present the awards.

Mr President is a pretty jovial person and I could see that his smile and handshake was warm and sincere. At the tea reception after that, my fellow officers and myself had the privilege to meet His Excellency. He shook each one of our hands as we introduced ourselves to him. No I did not get to take an individual picture with The President but we had a group photo with His Excellency which I guess is privilege in itself. Anyway, I appeared on national television that night, albeit for a few fleeting seconds and... one of my friends helped record the video clip, something which I am indeed grateful.

Wonder when the next Investiture would be, perhaps by then a new President would have been elected. I remember that when this President was newly elected, I was a cadet in one of the supporting contingents at the General Inspection... and I was able to pick out myself in the photo which appeared in the press.

This event is one whereby I can give myself a pat on the back, as a few of my colleagues in the Organisation did. I am glad I rose up to this challenge...




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Is it time to call it a day in The Other Organisation? Looks like I should focus my activities, volunteer will only be The Organisation. I have already pruned away one of the activities related to The Other Organisation, although it's a meaningful activity but my schedule will not permit me to commit. Anyway I am just doing mundane stuff in The Other Organisation, whereas in The Organisation, under this leadership at least, I have the latitude to undertake more things to make an impact... however, of course once the leadership changes, it is pretty uncertain as to how the new situation will be like. I speak in riddles but no doubt regular readers (if i have) will be able to discern which Organisation is referred to without the need to name it yeah?

Penny Wise and Pound Foolish?

The 7% GST hike kicked in today. oh well, all the public outcry over the issue has fallen on deaf ears and the 'gahmen' has implemented the hike nevertheless...

Over the past few days the newspapers have been splashed with advertisements along the lines of "Buy Now Before GST Increase!" "Beat the GST Hike!" Obviously this is a very good marketing ploy... I ask... is it worth it?

Say an item priced $1000
GST 5% = $50
GST 7% = $70

Savings = $20... But not all of us buys $1000 items all the time...

How about normal day-to-day goods... say clothes.. electrical applicances. Guess a conservative estimate is $200
GST 5% = $10
GST 7% = $14

Savings = $4... Not enough to cover taxi fare back home...

Maybe those buying car will really save... Price of car: $50000
GST 5% = $2500
GST 7% = $3500

Savings = $1000... Maybe you save on one year's road tax or something (As you can see I don't own a car, therefore pardon me if my figures are a bit off)

So, what for rush to beat the GST hike? It's simply what is called 'Penny Wise And Pound Foolish'.

Why not cultivate good habits to save instead?
1. Take public transport... No doubt car is faster but with a bit of self discipline, wake up earlier... the cost of owning a vehicle here outstrips that of taking taxi to work everyday...
2. Don't subscribe to cable TV, the normal Channel 5 channels are good enough... if you wanna watch soccer, the coffee shops are showing them (ok, i'm not a soccer fan myself, so flame me)
3. Don't watch TV (i don't... hahaz).. use the time to do more productive stuff like write articles on your computer (get $$$ for that)... or for students, shouldn't you be using that time to study instead? :P
4. Don't rush to get all the latest gadgets like now we have the iPhone... the price will drop like nobody's business a few months after the release. So why not get it after the price dropped? Better still, get from eBay or Yahoo auctions, some stuff is available for a steal there...
5. Having said that, buy more 2nd hand stuff off Cash Converters / Yahoo / eBay, some of them are still in relatively good condition and the prices are a fraction of that in the open market.
6. (this will probably not apply for the ladies) No need to buy clothes, maybe just during Chinese New Year for those tradition stalwarts... for me, my wardrobe is more than fully stocked, in fact i think i have excess... LOL! Likewise for running shoes, I'm still using SAF running shoes plus another pair which I got cheaply in Malaysia... and dress shoes are my SAF No.3 shoes :P No necessity to get new ones for the sake of keeping up with the Joneses yeah? (Though i guess a lot of army guys will resent wearing SAF stuff outside.. but it does come in a bit handy)

haha... any more suggestions can just add here...