Post Retrenchment

Many of us here in Asia still remember the difficult recession period that resulted in mass retrenchments from many corporations. It put a lot of people out of work and even world renowned Singapore Airlines put thousands of employees out of work through 3 rounds of retrenchments. We read in the papers of how fresh graduates, failing to find jobs, were resorting to setting up roadside hawker stalls selling food and snacks in order to earn a livelihood.

Since then, many of us who are lucky enough to still have our jobs re-evaluated our futures in the light of employable skills we had. Many of my friends in the advertising and Communications industry either went out and got a higher degree or moved to other professions that required specific skill sets that would make them marketable.

On a lighter note, ever wonder what other professions superheroes could take up if they ever get fired or retrenched from their work? Take a look.

Safety Moment

Working in an energy solutions company, we are constantly reminded at work on the importance of safety. We take it very seriously. If an acccident occurred at work or while during the course of duty, we were to report it to our immediate supervisor who would then escalate it to the appropriate levels. Anyhow, to increase our safety awareness, it is a corporate culture to to share a "safety moment" with colleagues at the start of every meeting.

This article on the explosion of a Dell computer at a conference would definitely constitue a solid safety moment. As we work for the regional office, many of us travel and hence are given laptops instead of workstations. We carry our laptops with us as much as we carry our handbags or briefcases around. And many times, we work on them when on planes as we travel so much too.

If our laptops were to explode while we were on a plane, I cannot imagine what the consequences would be. Would it be a first that a faulty laptop sent a plane full of passengers crashing to the ground below? I don't particularly fancy being a member of LOST - in real life.

PS. If you scrolled down to the bottom of the page, you would see a corresponding ad for a limited offer posted by Dell. This is an example of how Google Ads can work against you. Moral of the story? Bad publicity is the start of the road downhill...

Scaring Ourselves II

The second incident where I scared myself happened during my gaming days. My good buddies are mostly guys though my secrets are only confessed to my girlfriends. Being a feminist of sorts in those days (I was the only female in the group) I was determined not to be outdone by the guys. Whatever they did or played, I would not allow myself to lag behind.

One day, after much discussion among the guys on the game Half Life, I was upset that I couldn't participate in the conversation. I was as interested in online gaming as I was in football. I reasoned that at least gaming would require interaction on my part. Which made it a tad more interesting. I told myself that I would only play enough of the game to know what the guys were talking about. If I liked it, I would carry on. If not, I would have earned the right to diss the game as I had tried it and not liked it.

Well, I started installing the game after eleven in the night. To make the game more interesting for myself, I decided to switch off the lights in the room. As I progressed forward into the game, I realise it was a lot more challenging (and scary) than I had imagined. The only view you had was not from an external point. You were actually looking out through the eyes of the character itself. And you had no way of seeing any creature behind you or who were hiding from you. One would jump out at you from behind the wall, almost giving you a heart attack. Or they would attack you from behind and suddenly you find your view jerking and dizzying before you realise you're being attacked from behind, with the corresponding attack noises.

After quite a few number of shocks and close scares, I was finally finished off by an alien who came at me with a huge axe. When he gave me my first hit from behind, I was completely unprepared. Suddenly I saw that my view was reeling from walls onto the floor. I couldn't move. As I lay there watching, I saw a pair of alien feet come into view with an axe beside it. The axe was lifted again and again, and my vision jerked again and again, of someone being hacked. Finally, blood splattered all over my sight. That was when I finaly freaked out in the dark. My room was dark and I was dying in the dark.

Suffice it to say that I had difficulty going to sleep that night. That was one of the very few nights where closing my eyes was not something I looked forward to. I kept seeing myself being hacked again and again and again...

Scaring Ourselves I

Musings: Scaring myself

This post from a friend at work jogged my memory to 2 incidents at how we can scare ourselves. One was experienced by a friend (ref: Ms L) and the other by myself.

I was on MSN chatting with Ms L AND watching tele. As I have learned to "memorize" the keyboard based on hand positions, I have the ability to type without needing to look at the keyboard. While typing, I used my left hand to pick up a drink, then placed my left hand back on the keyboard in the wrong position and ended up sending her a message with gibberish. She immediately squealed and got all excited.

"Hey, how did you do that? The same thing happened to me you know, and up till today I still haven't figured it out. No matter how many times I typed, all my alphabets came out as numbers or symbols. I was SO freaked out."

I was too engrossed in the tele and simply told her that I had my left hand in the wrong position on the keyboard.

"Oh... but it really happened to me! And I was alone in the office. I was really freaked out and left the office."

I paused for a second, then absentmindedly told her that it must be because she had her number lock on.

"But I have my number lock on right now too! And the keyboard works fine."

I sighed. She was distracting me from CSI. ARGH. I asked her if she had a number keypad on the terminal she was using now.

She went, "hehe..."

I then commented that the keyboard on her work computer probably did not have a number keypad.

Her response? "hehe..."

She has yet to send me another message since that day. I think she's a little miffed that I emabarrassed her. As for me, I was glad to be left alone to my CSI after that...

The Future of Technology?

If this is what our future technology looks like, I can't wait!! I just hope it doesn't cost a zillion dollars. The menu displayed during the video looks very similar to Apple. If that were true, this video would make a great ad. Hope you liked this heads up!

Display of Love

A friend captured this signage from somewhere and sent it out to us with the words "My Guy and Me". When I read that, I thought it so apt. No matter who your guy is, the situation depicted in this signage so true. Part of being in a relationship is hurting, sometimes by yourself, and sometimes together. What holds it together is the ability to help each other mend the wounds. This is a truly classic signage.

Customer Service Nightmare

I'm sure if we were all sitting in a classroom or meeting room and asked the question "Who has ever been served by a customer service rep who frustrated you more than they helped?", quite a number of hands would be raised.

As if it's not bad enough that programs you install on your computer gathers data about what you have on it and sends it back to the company who then spams you with solicitation emails, customer service reps are now turning your service calls into sales calls. Signing up for services like AOL in this incident is worse than a marriage contract. So think twice, three times before happily sign up with any service agreement, online or otherwise!

PS. During the video, the newscaster asked Vincent how he could remain so polite. I wondered if he was from New York. He is. But then again, it could also be because he was recording the conversation and knew it would be used as evidence.

A First Rate Tragedy

There is this site that I subscribe to which provides me articles to keep me updated on the latest trend for brand & marketing. This week's top article was about marketing language, and the risks we take today in the words we use for our brands.

Of course risks are not without failures, and they cited the great British explorer, Captain Robert Falcon Scott. He led a team who had dreams to be the first explorers to land on the South Pole. Due to harsh weather conditions, only a handful of the group of explorers finally managed to reach their destination, after much suffering. Tragically, they were to find out that the Norwegian party had beat them to it. The rest of the team, including Captain Scott himself, died in the return journey.

It was in his final letters he sent home that were truly moving, ending with "I do not think I can write more" as he lay in the snow, dying. For me, the greatest tragedy was that this man who had given his whole life to his passion for exploration, who won great fame, ultimately failed in the greatest undertaking of his life. It wasn't that he lacked passion, perseverance or skill. It was just that he wasn't the first to reach the South Pole. Buy a copy of his journal at Amazon.

It's easier to accept the failures we read about when someone lacked the passion, or the character to achieve his/her goals. But it is also a very real fact that the battle does not always go to the one who is faster or stronger. When these events happen, they are remembered as tragedies.

Taking a corporate slant, branding is always also a risk. While market research and survey can guide you to which positioning you should take, it cannot guarantee that the values you associate your brands with will always work in your favour. And all of us have seen great brands fall flat on their face before. It's happened to the biggest brands out there - Coca Cola, McDonalds, IBM and Virgin. Read all about it in this book: Brand Failures. However, you might not be so lucky to survive brand failures like these companies did. It takes a lot of genius to save or revive a brand.

Ground Apple

In kicking my caffeine habit, the other hot, aromatic beverage that can fill the void left by coffee would be tea. However, seeing that the point in kicking caffeine out of my life is making sure it isn't in my drinks, I turned toward herbal teas. Why not try decaffeinated coffee? Because, it doesn't give me promises of glowing skin, protection against illnesses or even a good night's sleep.

One of my favourite herbal tea drinks (apart from rosebud and lavendar) is chamomile. While the smell of coffee wakes you up in the morning, the aroma of chamomile eases your nerves and calms you down. And the best part is as you're sipping your drink, you're not worrying about the millions of grey cells you're choking. You feel good that you're giving your body a healthy dose of support to its immune system and applying internal balm to your nerves. So drink up, maties!

Interesting facts about chamomile:
- It originated from Egypt before finding popularity in Rome
- Its original name was "Ground Apple"
- It was renamed "Roman Chamomile" by a botanist who found it growing in the Roman coliseum.

Lake District

When life was not so busy, I used to take trips to Europe. My initial plan was to backpack Europe, then move on to North America, Egypt, Southern Africa, and maybe the Middle East. I truly think that I have the wanderlust spirit. I'm truly happy when I'm out in some far flung corner of the earth, where civilisation is hidden out of sight, and the true glory of the beauty of the earth is laid out before me. I won't say that I've been to particularly exotic places in my backpacking trips, but I have taken some out of the way routes and have been richly rewarded with mental photographs that keep me going back for more.

Well, my initial plan seems to be flagging, as I have fallen in love with Europe. Its not just the historic buildings and museums, quaint and glorious countrysides, or even the millions of stories that surround the places I've been to. Its that whisper of past glory, chivalry and and secret love affairs that continue to be heard even in the modern and busy streets that have changed so much through time. HISTORY. It gives one that solid grounded feeling, a place where you feel your roots can grow deep and strong.

One of the places that I've been to that has a special place in my heart is Lake District. I was thrilled when I read that William Wordsworth, my favourite poet was born and lived there. Wordsworth was a true source of inspiration and imagination to me during my school years. He held me captive in his poetry in which he weaved out the passions and passages of his life. Where other poets write about the world around them, and their experiences, Wordsworth excelled in capturing magic "moments" where one found the richness of being fully alive.

Its been a number of years since I've made a trip back to Europe. Maybe its time to revisit Ambleside and take the route to Cumbria. This time, I'll be sure to bring my copy of Wordsworth's published works and possibly visit the places that he has lived and ambled past which have inspired him. If I'm lucky, I might even find my own inspiration there.

Mines Resort

Remember my church camp? I'm still waiting for the photos from my room mate. However, I have received photos from a good friend taken during the camp. There were a couple of times we snuck out during afternoon breaks for shopping at Mines Resort. There is this shopping centre there that has the river flowing right through it. Tourists travel via water taxis to the shopping centre from their hotels or resorts from surrounding areas.


We're enjoying a bowl of (authentic) bird's nest here. It's famed to be good for the skin and immune system.


All of us on board a water taxi on the way back to our hotel. The shady Indian at the back of the water taxi was another passenger who did not take the initiative to move out of our photo. Maybe he's from Mumbai. *grin*

The Superstition of Prosperity

This is an example of how far Chinese will go to avoid "bad luck". It would have been a lot more economical if we believed that simple things like throwing salt over your shoulder, avoiding black cats, ladders and cracks on the ground - could help you avert disaster. But that is not our style, and never has been. The Chinese have always had the flair for "investing" mind bloggling amounts in the pursuit of good luck.

Even till today, I still do not fail to be amazed at the fascination of Chinese (and even Westerners!) in Feng Shui. The only alliterance the figure 8 has with prosperity is that they sound alike - 8 (ba) and prosperity (fa). And 68? If you say it in cantonese, it sounds like The Road to Prosperity (loke fa).

Having grown up with a superstitious mom, I have to say I shake my head everytime I see news like this. Thankfully, we were too poor to afford the extravagance of indulging in superstition. The money that we had were used for food, transport, education, comfort and the occasional travel. We invested in our minds and character which I must say have proven more reliable than the fickleness of good luck. Being financially humble (not deprived) does have its benefits - it keeps you well grounded. *smile*

The Fantasy of Terry Patchett

A previous boyfriend had introduced me to this writer. Having studied in Oxford, I imagined any book my ex recommending me as being an exercise in mental gymnastics. It was a pleasant surprise to find such a gifted writer in Terry Pratchett who had the wit and creativity to combine philosophy with humor.

A couple of excerpts from one of his books:

"Alone of all the creatures in the world, trolls believe that all living things go through Time backwards. If the past is visible and the future is hidden, they say, then it means you must be facing the wrong way. Everything alive is going through life back to front. And this is a very interesting idea, considering it was invented by a race who spend most of their time hitting one another on the head with rocks."

Note: This excerpt is from a scene where a wizard wakes up to find himself in a coffin.

"Windle lay in the darkness, listening to the hammering. There was a thump and a muffled imprecation against the Dean for not holding the end properly. And then the patter of soil on the lid, getting fainter and more distant.

After a while a distant rumbling suggested that the commerce of the city was being resumed. He could even hear muffled voices.

He banged on the coffin lid.

'Can you keep it down?' he demanded. 'There's people down here trying to be dead!'

- * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - *

Sulphurous light filled his tiny oblong world.

There was a tiny scrap of cardboard pinned to the inside of the lid.

He read it.

He read it again.

The match went out.

He lit another one, just to check that what he had read really did exist.

The message was still as strange, even third time round:

Dead? Depressed? Feel like starting it all again?
Then why not come along to the FRESH START CLUB
Thursdays, 12 pm, 668 Elm Street
EVERY BODY WELCOME"

************ END *************

Power of Telepathy

I went down to my Toa Payoh flat today to view the work in progress for my house. I must say that it was a stressful event. Choosing and envisioning how tiles look like on your floors and walls are entirely different from how they turn out - at least for me. I have a friend in the advertising industry who knew exactly what he wanted and how it would turn out. And it did. As for me, the vision that I saw in my head was much different from how it turned out looking in the end.

My contractor, a solid recommendation from a friend, was perplexed. He had never had a client like me. While others went for Zen, Modern, industrial, and even retro - I had to go for bohemian. Something that no one in Singapore had ever done. There wasn't even a single bohemian design book available in any bookstore in Singapore. I would know - I called up every single one fo them for 2 that I saw on Amazon. In the end, I had to order them from the States.

Those books gave him an idea of what a Bohemian house would look like. Even then, getting the tiles and materials needed for a bohemian house, was a big challenge. One that he both did not have the time, nor the concept to move forward with. What he could do, was plan my house for function and use and let me choose the cosmetics. My problem was that while I could see clearly in my head what I wanted, I couldn't send that mental image to him telepathically. As such now he had to redo a bathroom wall tiling for me at his cost, and I'm wondering if I should have the flooring of the other bathroom redone at my cost. Right now, I would love to be able to hook up a USB cable and mentally transfer the images in my mind to my contractor. They should really invent human beings that come inbuilt with bluetooth capability you know. Or somehow grow that telepathic gene in humans using what they learned from Dolly. Sigh.

Pointy Shoes

Hush Puppies are my life savers. Why? I'm one of those gals who love totering on high heels just to feel pretty. I know, it doesn't make sense, but it does. So, I wear at least 3 inch high heels to work everyday. Some of my shoes are so high that I literally have to climb up onto them. The only shoes that allow me to wear heels for 10 hours a day, 7 days a week without pain, are hush puppies. I think whoever created them contributed tremendously to womankind. Its interesting that the Hush Puppies site let you choose shoes by TECHNOLOGY instead of style. Check it out.

Anyway, the subject of this blog is about this pair of classic black hush puppy shoes that I have. The unique feature of this pair of shoes is that it has a square tip with sharp corners. Well, I was wearing this particular pair of shoes in a meeting I had with 2 male colleagues. One of them is a really sweet, gentlemanly guy with a down to earth sense of humor. He is our team leader and we were sitting side by side discussing a communication plan for our project.

Halfway through the discussion, my feet got tired and so I crossed my left leg over and used the pointed tip of my shoe to anchor against the table leg. I didn't want it sticking out and accidentally kicking anyone when I swing round in my chair. I sometimes swing or bounce (discretely) on my chair when I'm in long meetings and get restless. After 15-20 minutes in this position, I suddenly felt the table leg - MOVE -

It was then that I realised I must have been resting my pointed shoe against the shin of my team leader. For some reason or other (shyness?), he must have not wanted to embarass me by bringing up the fact that my shoes were poking into him. However, at some point in time, it must have bothered him enough so that he had to move. I quickly apologised and was more surprised that he hadn't said anything than I was embarrassed. I made a comment that the edges of my shoes must have been poking him, and heard him mumble under his breath candidly, "yah, and quite painfully too". I must tell you that everytime I think back to that incident, I almost burst out laughing. In my experience, Australians are usually straight forward and candid, and would have made a joke out of it. I wonder if that day was one of those days he resented having to be a gentleman. *starts grinning again*.

On hind sight - I was really lucky. One other thing I do when I get restless is do ankle rotations to relax them. I wonder if I would have been suspended from work for sexual harrassment if that had happened....

Significant Dreams

One interesting fact about me is from time to time, I wake up remembering every vivid detail of a dream. That is when I know that there is something significant about that dream. I don't take them too seriously, but pay them enough attention to benefit from their messages. Call it a result of my subconscious spilling into my dreams or God's way of getting my attention since I ignore him so much during the day. Once interpreted, they have brought personal revelation and provided answers that have brought peace or given direction to life decisions.

Well, I had a truly unique dream a few days ago that I'm still trying to decipher. It had something to do with a girl fight between myself and a boss' secretary. We were locked in an embrace, trying to pull each other's hair out. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't grab her and vice versa. Neither could I twist myself out of the deadlock. There was an attempt by other colleagues to separate us and resolve the fight. Unsuccessful, one of them suggested that I talk to my boss since the secretary had maligned my character and was gleeful about it. Taking her advice, I went up to look for both my bosses only to discover that not only were they not around, their offices were under renovation. At this point, I woke up feeling indignant and lost.

I have an idea about what this dream is about, but have not fully figured out its interpretation. However, it did send a very clear message - I definitely need to get a life. When your workplace starts invading your dreams, its time to take a hard look at your priorities. Its time for me to adjust that low score I got for life balance...

The Power of Relevancy

Football and World Cup was never a passion. In my entire life, I have never sat through an entire football match. No matter how hot the guys are. I'm quite clear that its brains on a guy that intrigue me. Brawn can be enticing, but how long the enchantment lasts depends on what comes out of his mouth. Anyhow, while my friends struggle through work with soccer induced insomnia, I wake up each morning refreshed, happy and mentally capable to forge through a tough day. My nonchalance toward soccer took a sudden turn this morning.

Gleeful to be attacking emails after 3 days away from the office, I quickly worked through each email like a player with a large rubber hammer, clobbering each pipsqueak as its head popped up from its hole. Well, I came to a 3 item corporate announcement and dutifully read through each. One announcement captured my attention. It was an article about Ronaldo, the brilliant player for the Brazil team. He's hot in a really cool way. Apparently our company is one of his sponsors. For inhouse publicity, they have created a 1 question quiz that would award the winner with a personally signed football from the said man himself. Suddenly I came under the fever. This person who secretly pitied her friends for missing out on the wonderful gift of slumber suddenly came under the spell of receiving something personal from a world famous STAR. I was hooked. I quickly submitted my answer and have since been visualising my prize all the way home.

So what grabbed me? Was it that my passion for football was suddenly awakened? No, I still do not envision myself sitting through an entire game of football. Was it the charm of Ronaldo? No, he is hot, but I have no access to his mind. So what is it? Its the idea that I have a very real chance of winning something that belongs to stardom. That is the superficiality of humankind.... sigh.

Invisible Connections

Not everything about the new hire orientation was negative. I made some great new acquaintances, and exchanged numbers with a couple of dynamic colleagues I could do lunch with. Most importantly, I learned about the extent the company truly cares for employees. While the organization we work for requires personal and corporate best from its employees, they do their part in making sure that our needs are taken care of, to the slightest detail.

It was under such heartwarming conditions that a fellow colleague chatted with me during break time. In exchanging information about ourselves, we realised that our previous companies used to work with each other. I was stunned to find out that he was the CEO. Upon a couple of innocent probing questions, he surprisingly shared with me the the trauma he went through under duress from the company owner, and the horrible executive decisions he was forced to make which haunts him to this day. According to him, he was a horrible, unhappy, angry man. I candidly told him that I found that hard to believe as I observed this happy, talkative and jovial person standing in front of me.

As I returned to my seat after break, something started nagging me. The name of his ex-company sounded so familiar but I couldn't quite put my finger down to it. After all, it was a well known company. Then, out of the blue, it hit me. My jaw almost dropped to the floor. A couple of months ago my small group leader had asked me if I had met his ex-boss who had joined our company. Apparently this guy was a gregarious, dynamic leader who had shocked everybody when he quit as he had significant stock options in the company. He gave me some details but I didn't know the guy. I learned that he was from our church too. It had suddenly dawned on me that THIS was the person my leader had been talking about. A quick SMS to my leader confirmed my revelation.

More surprises and coincidences...