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...

Who is clever, the students or the dean?

Hi.. Who is clever ? The Teacher or student??

One Night 4 College Students were Playing Till Late Night And Didn't
Study For The Test Which Was Scheduled For The Next Day. In the
morning they thought of a plan. They made themselves look as dirty
and weird with grease and dirt. They then went up to the Dean and
said that they had gone out to a wedding last night and on their
return the tyre of their car burst and they had to push the car all
the way back and that they were in no condition to appear for the
test. So the Dean said they can have the re-test after 3 days. They
thanked him and said they will be ready by that time. On the third
day they appeared before the Dean. The Dean said that as this was a
Special Condition Test, All four were required to sit in seperate
classrooms for the test. They all agreed as they had prepared well in
the last 3 days.The Test consisted of 2 questions
with the total of 100 Marks.

Q.1. Your Name.........................( 2 MARKS )
Q.2. Which tyre burst ?...............( 98 MARKS )
a) Front Left
b) Front Right
c) Back Left
d) Back Right .....!!!

My pet cat playing with a ball (:

SG Secrets

Read of this community in the papers a while ago...

http://community.livejournal.com/sgsecrets

A place where people can just anonymously send their secrets in to. Well it seems most of them are about relationship issues... or friendship issues... others are about self esteem issues. Goes to show that you never know, out of so many people whom you see in the streets everyday, each one of them has their own set of challenges and problems. I have mine too.

But each and every one of us is unique, and it pains me to know that there are those who would destroy that uniqueness by committing suicide... Suicide is never a solution to any problem, it leaves behind a trail of unresolved issues and will also hurt the people closest to you...

The lyrics of these two songs carried me through the dark valleys of my life... and it is my prayer that it will carry someone else through as well. I apologise for those who are not Christian but anyway... see life from a bigger picture and know that there is a higher power up there who is in control, whether we know Him as God or some other name.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone,
Because I know, I know He holds the future
and life is worth the living just because He lives.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

Living Full Indeed

Have not had the time to update in a long while as I was busy with various stuff such as:
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8th Certified Hypnotherapist Course

This was a 10 day course which Dad recommended to me in the hope that I would learn something useful. The course introduced to us hypnosis as an accepted modality in psychology, which when used in a therapeutic setting can help clients overcome a wide range of problems.

I must say that this was a great experience learning the skill of hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis, and more importantly how it can be used to help others.

More information on hypnosis and hypnotherapy can be found here.

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Leadership and Mentoring Skills Course

This was, like one of my friends put it 'back to the days of going to and fro HTA'. It was the one which i took up the challenge to take one of the lectures. And it was indeed a confidence boosting experience, hearing the positive feedback from my fellow officers and even cadets.

The end of the course was an anticlimax really... but the main thing is that we have imparted useful skills to the cadets. Skills which they will not only be able to apply in their main CCA, but in their life in future.
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Saturday

My colleagues in The Organisation conducted an interview for the upcoming Sec 3s. It's only now that I appreciate what we are doing in LMSC by imparting the skills to the Sec 3 cadets. No such thing in The Organisation, I really wonder what they are teaching the cadets during Advance NCO course nowadays... Because a lot of them are still stuck in their comfort zone and do not wish to take up Heads of committees, telling us that they are not confident, et cetera.

I hope my juniors will really step out of their comfort zone and not just follow the rest of the crowd. No doubt you always have the right to say 'No' and we respect that. However, our challenge to you is to take up the challenge and take up Heads of committees and other leadership positions. Do not say 'No' just because you will be working with teachers that you 'do not like', because in the working world or even in JC/Poly there will be lots of people who you not necessarily see eye to eye with... but have to work with them nevertheless. This is no doubt a good training ground. Screw up in CCA and at most you get a scolding, screw up in your actual workplace and the consequences can be much more severe...

This is where I really hate the Asian mentality of just going along with the flow and not bucking the trend... See my older post on this issue here...

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One of my colleagues is leaving The Organisation after 19 sterling years of service. It is sad to see him go, but happy for him that he has made his stand clear and is not allowing others to push him around. It is sad, however, that 'upstairs' has not gotten the message...

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I have got to know that one of my acquaintances from secondary school had passed away a few years ago... may he rest in peace.

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I've put on weight these days and found that I had to loosen my belt by one notch... but it's a good thing since I am considered borderline underweight...

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I alluded to the book on the subconscious mind given by Dad for my birthday and wow, it indeed blows me away. The subconscious mind is indeed a very powerful tool for change and re affirms the truth of the Bible verse: "So as a man thinks in his heart, so is he."

Live Full and Laugh More

Sunday

Celebrated my birthday with dad and a few of his friends. We went to the Gun Club at Rifle Range Road and had fun shooting clay pigeons. Though one thing I must admit is that technique for firing shotguns is totally different than that for M16 or .38. I don't think I scored any whereas Dad scored three out of 26, not bad for a 1st timer...

After that we went to IndoChine, a restaurant along the Singapore River for dinner and birthday celebration.. The food was good, but the company was even better... and the server was pretty jovial as well.

Sorry readers no pictures, did not bring my camera though dad did take a picture of me blowing the candle on my birthday cake :P

Dad gave me an interesting book on the subconscious mind, promises to be an interesting read...

Monday

I went to SANA House to help with the SANA Anti Drug and Inhalant Abuse Badge Scheme courses. For those not in the know, SANA runs this programme for the 9 uniformed groups in Singapore to spread awareness of drug abuse and anti-drug messages to the youth in Singapore. They work with the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and a pool of volunteer course instructors (of which I am one) on this.

It is a fulfilling experience helping keep the youth off drugs. My hope is only that the youth will not just be motivated by the badge alone but learn the real message behind all these. The teenage years are an impressionable time where peer pressure is strong. Hopefully, they will not merely be deterred by the punishments (they did show a video of how an actual caning is conducted) but KNOW that even though it may seem to be 'cool' to engage in vices like drugs, alcohol and sex, it serves to destroy their lives (and their family members's lives) in the long run.

Tuesday

Morning was speech day rehearsal. Now, as to how I got involved in the first place... my unit is pretty short of manpower as the other volunteers are busy with their own committments. But things went smoothly, and we were fortunate to have external help. Now i hope it continues to go smoothly for the other trainings, especially where I cannot make it due to my CH course.

Went for LMSC IPC in the afternoon. Now, this LMSC (Leadership and Mentoring Skills Course) is part of the NCOs training package conducted by The Other Organisation. They needed a lecturer for one of the modules, though and after some hesitation I decided to step out of my comfort zone and take this up.

Wednesday

I received a note that my promotion has been finalised. On to a set of new challenges. No more shall I duck challenges for fear of failure. I'm proud that I took up the challenge to conduct one of the lectures for LMSC.

I am confident. I am sure of myself. I expect a good outcome. Everything I do is blessed. I am grateful to God for the infinite potential He has placed in me, and I am equal to all challenges.

The upcoming semester will be the most challenging one yet. Not only will I have to restrategise AGAIN for my studies, I will also have the added responsibility of being a member of the JCRC. But I chose to take up the challenge and I am equal to it.

For those who wonder where the title of this post came from, it was actually the server's birthday greeting to me on Sunday. And I feel that is one of the keys to being happy and satisfied with life. Well, not satisfied as in complacent but satisfied as in, content with what we have, but yet working hard to achieve better standards. Not sure if you all know what I mean but anyway...

I'll have a 10 days Certified Hypnotherapist course starting tomorrow. It is going to be an interesting, challenging yet fulfiling course and I am looking forward to every bit of it.

NS What-if

What-if...

I was combat fit and went through enhanced BMT.

I will never know... would I be a specialist or an officer instead of
just a CPL?