how come i want and i wish and i beg and i pray and i still don't get to meet my SMC candidates despite the many times that they have come by my house (and my mom staunchly refuses to open the door to any of them) just because i am out working and contributing to the GDP to pay for my ministers?
i think i need to stay at home more often.
mardi, mai 03, 2011
lundi, mai 02, 2011
watershed
oh my it seems like eons ago that i last updated my blog.
but its all for a good reason: elections. for something that rolls about only once in every five years, how can i miss it?
i remember attending rallies since i was 17, at the 2001 general elections. then, i was just a curious 17 year old traipsing rally onto rally without any particular ideology nor support for any party. all i knew then, was that chiam see tong and low thia khiang were the only opposition candidates. well, at least it still made for some exciting after-school excursions.
in 2006, i was more aware of my political leanings. i had not exactly been dormant for the past five years since 2001, having been to a couple of the WP youth wing meetings, but i guess laziness had gotten to me since i did not offer to volunteer nor attend those meetings regularly. but what the opposition (i much prefer the term alternative) had to offer/say struck a chord in me as an ordinary singaporean. but that was the year that social media started to influence the way election news were reported, and perceived by people. i remember being at the hougang rallies; 120,000 of us were cheering for the things WP had to say. the whole stadium was packed and it was difficult getting a parking lot even 2km away! i also remember being at chua chu kang stadium, when chee soon juan was still the sec-gen of the old SDP, people yelling "down with PAP". i remember old men crying after chiam see tong was done with his speech, just because he had really 讲出他们的心声.
this year, i'm sure many of you had already read all that you can read from the numerous blog posts, facebook updates, and online articles; i'm not going to add anymore noise into the cacophony. this GE, as you would have heard, is a watershed election for the opposition: win some, or lose it all. it is also a watershed election for me too, in some ways. for one, i had made it a point to attend all the opposition rallies. secondly, i had also spoken at length to the people around me, trying to convince them to make their vote count, and educating them that their vote is secret and that they should vote who they feel can best understand and represent them in cabinet. lastly, i also feel a lot more optimistic about the opposition cause. because they have managed to pull themselves together to contest at least 82 out of the 87 seats, because they are a lot more credible as compared to 5 or 10 years ago, but also mainly because they have stood up for us, spoken out for us, and also sacrificed themselves for us. even if you do not agree with what they say, i feel that, in singapore's context, that they should do at least deserve a round of applause for offering themselves to the public's cause.
your vote on 7 may will affect how we are governed for the next 5 years; vote wisely, and remember, your vote is SECRET. =)
but its all for a good reason: elections. for something that rolls about only once in every five years, how can i miss it?
i remember attending rallies since i was 17, at the 2001 general elections. then, i was just a curious 17 year old traipsing rally onto rally without any particular ideology nor support for any party. all i knew then, was that chiam see tong and low thia khiang were the only opposition candidates. well, at least it still made for some exciting after-school excursions.
in 2006, i was more aware of my political leanings. i had not exactly been dormant for the past five years since 2001, having been to a couple of the WP youth wing meetings, but i guess laziness had gotten to me since i did not offer to volunteer nor attend those meetings regularly. but what the opposition (i much prefer the term alternative) had to offer/say struck a chord in me as an ordinary singaporean. but that was the year that social media started to influence the way election news were reported, and perceived by people. i remember being at the hougang rallies; 120,000 of us were cheering for the things WP had to say. the whole stadium was packed and it was difficult getting a parking lot even 2km away! i also remember being at chua chu kang stadium, when chee soon juan was still the sec-gen of the old SDP, people yelling "down with PAP". i remember old men crying after chiam see tong was done with his speech, just because he had really 讲出他们的心声.
this year, i'm sure many of you had already read all that you can read from the numerous blog posts, facebook updates, and online articles; i'm not going to add anymore noise into the cacophony. this GE, as you would have heard, is a watershed election for the opposition: win some, or lose it all. it is also a watershed election for me too, in some ways. for one, i had made it a point to attend all the opposition rallies. secondly, i had also spoken at length to the people around me, trying to convince them to make their vote count, and educating them that their vote is secret and that they should vote who they feel can best understand and represent them in cabinet. lastly, i also feel a lot more optimistic about the opposition cause. because they have managed to pull themselves together to contest at least 82 out of the 87 seats, because they are a lot more credible as compared to 5 or 10 years ago, but also mainly because they have stood up for us, spoken out for us, and also sacrificed themselves for us. even if you do not agree with what they say, i feel that, in singapore's context, that they should do at least deserve a round of applause for offering themselves to the public's cause.
your vote on 7 may will affect how we are governed for the next 5 years; vote wisely, and remember, your vote is SECRET. =)
dimanche, avril 24, 2011
lessons to learn from borders
saw this on mrbrown.com and i thought that it was quite apt to my industry as well. this letter is an open letter to the CEO of Borders, before the company computers were turned off for good. this letter is an empty cry to all those sitting in upper management level, policy makers, and also company leaders: can you see what we are facing on the ground? and honestly, do you even care?
all i hope is that i do not have to write this in another 4 years time.
all i hope is that i do not have to write this in another 4 years time.
Today is my last day with the company. After 23 years I thought I would be sad but am in fact relieved. The Borders most of us loved closed down years ago and it was a slow death by a thousand cuts each time another great GM, DM or RD was forced out.I am the last GM from Dion country in Florida. We were a tight group and were consistently the highest performing district in the company, developing many processes and procedures that were rolled out to the entire company. Sure we did question the status quo with questions like (7 years ago) "whats our plan to deal with digital music?" and were seriously told not to worry about it, it would never effect us. Some of us were let go for not being better lemmings… some of us stuck around in the hope that it would get better, some of us left with their actual dignity.
As each of our stores closed down this month we kept our staffs motivated with our own limited money. We bought pizza, had parties, bought fresh sharpies to follow your ridiculous procedure. Even though we would all soon be unemployed with no severance and living in a state with the highest unemployment rate and worst benefits. Our staff trusted us and did their best and deserved better than what the company was giving so yeah, we took up the slack that's what proper leaders do.
Every new regional VP insisted the economy was no excuse. We in the store were obviously failures in the company's eyes. In our eyes our leaders were failures. A cacophony of yes men that woudn't take a stand and fight for the things that could have saved us and were too proud to listen to anyone in the field.
You had great success with your plans this year: outsource customer care, pull bargain from the vestibules during the holiday season, not purchase school reading titles, cut hours and increase workload, roll out more functionality in atlas that barely functioned to begin with, discount excessively to buy loyalty, create an environment that managed to an audit at the expense of all else, and under-develop a web presence that demotivated the staff and frustrated the customers.
Yes, you and your team should be proud of all you have accomplished. Only a few more stores to go and you will reach your goal of total annihilation. For that and all you have done to degrade, torment, abuse and demoralize us please by all means keep my 23 years of severance and add it to your bonus. You deserve it. Be sure to keep two gold pieces for your ferry ride to hell.
Renee
Tampa, Florida
dimanche, avril 17, 2011
lundi, avril 11, 2011
value system
sometimes i wonder what matters at the end of the day.
we can be as big as our dreams, but sometimes our best just ain't good enough: then what do we do?
do we deny everything and run away? or do we dream bigger and fulfill our destinies? or do we just settle for second best and contend ourselves with the remaining spoils of war?
as we age, the phenomenon of life makes us realise that we are no longer as invincible as we thought we were, not the white horses we were supposed to be, not the chosen one certainly.
nope. you can jolly well get that sort of thoughts right out of your mind right now this minute, young man. this is life and life is unfair so just accept the rules; the sooner you reach a compromise, the better life is. no two ways about it.
we can be as big as our dreams, but sometimes our best just ain't good enough: then what do we do?
do we deny everything and run away? or do we dream bigger and fulfill our destinies? or do we just settle for second best and contend ourselves with the remaining spoils of war?
as we age, the phenomenon of life makes us realise that we are no longer as invincible as we thought we were, not the white horses we were supposed to be, not the chosen one certainly.
nope. you can jolly well get that sort of thoughts right out of your mind right now this minute, young man. this is life and life is unfair so just accept the rules; the sooner you reach a compromise, the better life is. no two ways about it.
samedi, avril 09, 2011
on the road again
after 20 odd hours of traveling, i find myself in yet another oh-so-familiar foreign hotel room. a place to rest my weary head and to stretch my cramped-in-cattle-class legs.
but well at least this hotel's nice. at the rate i'm (or rather, the taxpayers) paying, it had better be nice. no complains really.
even managed to catch the not-yet-released norwegian wood on the plane. singaporeair charges a lot, but at least they know what they are charging for.
there are restaurants here which open 365 days a year, 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. amazing. i had myself the largest philly steak sandwich in one of those joints just now. as the restaurant was already full when i got there, i had no choice but to sit at the bar counter where the starkness of my aloneness stared back at me from the many bottles of alcohol lined up like prisoners on death row.
but well at least this hotel's nice. at the rate i'm (or rather, the taxpayers) paying, it had better be nice. no complains really.
even managed to catch the not-yet-released norwegian wood on the plane. singaporeair charges a lot, but at least they know what they are charging for.
there are restaurants here which open 365 days a year, 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. amazing. i had myself the largest philly steak sandwich in one of those joints just now. as the restaurant was already full when i got there, i had no choice but to sit at the bar counter where the starkness of my aloneness stared back at me from the many bottles of alcohol lined up like prisoners on death row.
lundi, avril 04, 2011
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