1/06/2009
Peanut spitting monkeys
I went mountain climbing, or hill climbing, at Bukit Timah one weekend. As we drove into the car park we could see the monkeys lining up at the car park fringe waiting for us. When we alighted they came dashing towards us, anticipating some peanuts from visitors. We gladly obliged and threw a few in the air and they went jumping all over the place. Hungry monkeys.
There was a weekend that we went to the zoo. We brought along packets of peanuts for the monkeys as well. We went from one beautifully landscaped confine to another watching the monkeys. One thing we noticed was that the monkeys were not as energetic as those at Bukit Timah. Even when we threw the peanuts at them some even refused to move. Over fed monkeys!
Then we heard the zoo keeper telling the visitors to be careful not to disturb the monkeys. When angry they would spit out peanuts at them. They were so well fed that they stored the nuts on both sides of their cheeks. It is not easy to get them excited over a few peanuts anymore.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
Too much peanuts not so good for monkeys.
In Singapore,you must pay Peanuts to get good leaders!Wisdom of ex-first lady in government.
and did you see the monkeys humping? they can do it upside down and such an acrobatic sight too. better than going to the air shows.
Er, not sure if you have some hidden meaning to the above post. But anyway, please do not feed the monkeys either at Bt Timah or the zoo. If you feed the Bt Timah monkeys, you create dependence and familiarity with humans that make them aggressive. As for the zoo monkeys, the already have a proper diet (more varied and nutritious than peanuts).
in management theory, you reward people to motivate them to do more. at the worker's level, when salary is low, a $50 increase is enough to make him grateful and want to work harder. at management level, it used to be good enough with a $500 increase to make them happy. today, it may take a couple of thousand dollars to make a little impact. at times it may need a couple of hundred thousand to do the same thing that a $50 would have done.
as we go up the ladder, even a $500k increment may mean nothing and would not work. this may be documented as the Peanut Theory of Motivation.
When I saw the heading '"Peanut spitting monkeys" my first thought was that your post was going to give Mrs Goh Chok Tong a well-deserved bitch slapping.
Redbean;
You may have forgotten, a lady was charged for feeding wild monkeys.
So, look around if You offer peanuts to monkeys, make sure that there are no others around, just liked the ways bribes are given.
Btw, rest be assured that monkeys in Singapore are very well fed, your peanuts may not be attractive enough. Try giving them bananas!
patriot
this peanut theory is getting more relevant in materialistic society that thinks money is the only motivator to make human beans work. up to a point it does. but it can become ineffective very fast the moment the stimulant, no matter what amount, is seen as peanut. peanut can be $100, $10k or $10m. it varies according to the recipient. $100m to bill gate can also be peanuts.
the moral is that once the recipient regards it as peanuts, it is not enough, ineffective, or more is needed. the latter is the danger in the system. it is ruining our system when money is no longer a stimulant but just peanuts.
The system was fucked to begin with. Everything the govt touches eventually turns to shit, so any socially directed or engineered 'system' in Singapura will eventually fail.
This is not to say that systems in the PRIVATE sector do not fail. Of course they do. And when they do, people are 'penalised' on the INDIVIDUAL level — loss of job and benefits, contractual liability law suits, investment losses (loss of capital), the change from 'profit' to 'loss' on the, a possible decrease in the company's value, usually coupled with a widespread downgrading of the company's public image.
When a govt system fails, people get promoted and a pay increase. Tomorrow... no change... the govt is still in 'business' and running their revenue model of taking money from you by way of monopoly or by force.
Private sector: Fail, out of the money.
Public sector: Fail, tax more money
Private sector protected by the public sector ('joint-venture'): JACKPOT!! Money cannot finish...
Ordinary citizen: Game Over.
matilah, after what you have said, the govt will never be checkmated. we should count ourselves lucky to be blessed with the govt for a long long time.
Absolutely correct.
Matilah Singapura!
A rich government equals a rich country,
yes?
patriot
Post a Comment