we are competing with thailand

Now I know why Thailand is angry with us. For so many years they have been branding their country as the Land of a Thousand Smiles. Now, how can we upstage Thailand by calling ourselves Island of 4 Million Smiles. : )

peace coming to east asia

North Korea has agreed to return to the table without conditions. So said Christopher Hill after secret talks between the US, North Korea and China. That's a good boy. North Korea is going to abandon all its nuclear programmes and arms, presumably for nothing. The US negotiators are real mavericks. No more armed interdiction of commercial vessels, I hope.

elfred, good news! no need to go china

It's raining jobs this year This is the headline of the Today paper. 123,100 jobs were created before the year is over. Wow. Who needs job? Have no fear, jobs are aplenty. Now this must be great news for Elfred. No need to go for posting to China. And for those who are complaining about the IRs, look at the good things they are doing to our job market. And they haven't started yet. Still several years away and the benefits are already kicking in. Imagine when the IRs are up and the multiplier effect does its work. Singaporeans are in for a good time. The future is so promising. I am going to can this thread for good. And no more jumpers. The problem will solve by itself with jobs everywhere. And we can afford to have more foreign talents too. Now I am feeling so high.

doggie bag or ta bao

Of doggie bag or ta bao When you have over ordered for your meal and plenty were left on the table, what would you do? Ask the waiter for a doggie bag or ta bao? Many would simply ask the waiter to ta bao, to bring back the leftover food for another meal when stomach has emptied, or for someone at home to share the expensive meal. Some will ask for a doggie bag, to bring the leftover for the doggie back home. No matter if the left over is a $200 plate of gourmet food, it must go to the doggie. Lucky dog, feeding on a $200 meal from a top end restaurant. But some dogs may be of the two legged type. Still they have the good fortune of a wonderful meal. So next time when you see someone with a huge leftovers on his dinner table, just wait and listen to see what he ask for. But there will be some who will be too embarrassed to even ask for a doggie bag. It is below them to take leftover food home. Or leftover food are not fresh and should not be consumed. The taste maybe a little stale. What you ask for, a doggie bag or ta bao, will describe your background, who you are.

plenty of charity money, still not enough

It is reported that 18 IPCs, Institute of Public Characters, or charitable organisations, have at least $10 mil in their reserves. Another 18 have less than $5 mil in reserves. These work out to be $180 mil plus about $90 mil or $270 mil in their savings. There are also hundreds of smaller charitable organisations. There are many govt or quasi govt charitable organisations with lots of funds. Comcare alone has $600 mil. Not sure how much savings the NKf still have. But together, there is a huge sum of money to help the needy and can do a lot of wonders. There is no reason for people to jump down from flats or onto MRT tracks. Why are these money not reaching the people who badly needed them? Is it because they are savings for another day just like our CPF? Don't spend first. Save for tomorrow. Must be prudent. Are we more concern about tomorrow than the plight of people who cannot feed themselves today, that today is the people's problem and tomorrow is the fund managers problem? For a rich country like ours, to have so much money for charity, and still not enough, looks like the problem of the needy is really a very big one. I think we should be more circumscribe in trying to raise money to send students overseas to have a smell of foreign air when they return only to be less desirable than the genuine foreign talents. They will still not be regarded as foreign talents.