SINGAPORE SHORT STORIES

I am totally exhausted for the past few weeks. I have been working hard to fulfill my goals all these days. It has been a long journey lasting me some years, and I am still running the journey. Despites many hurdles which have tripped me, I refused to bow down and to be defeated. I have been increasing my speed of running this ardous journey where I can not see the light of the tunnel as of now these few weeks. I am very very tired already but I refuse to give up and run to the very end.

The sequel to Twilight movie: Twilight Eclipse will be back this Thurday! (1 Jul 10). Though I am not a fan of these lovey-dovey movie plots, I found these Twilight movies quite nice in plots. Vampires and werewolves in the show make me relaxed as the plot transports me to a supernatural out-of-the world realm. I managed to obtain a trailer below (from Youtube). I believe this movie will sure be one of this year's blockbusters with its droves of teenage fans in Singapore and the world over. I managed to catch the eclipse (real lunar eclipse) in Singapore at twilight last Saturday. So I experienced the real Twilight Eclipse already. Luckily there were no vampires and werewolves coming out at that moment. The authorities have already have a hard time when Mas Selamat went on a short 'holiday' last year or last last year back. Can you imagine a vampire or a werewolf running amok in Singapore? Though girls may be excited at having the accompany of these two!

I think I have become a slave to computers. As if it is not enough to be facing computer for 8 hours in the office, coming back home to clear emails, read websites and do some personal admin things also require me to look at the computer. I am really getting tired from being a slave to computer. Nowadays, the touch screen iphones are slowly but gradually replacing computers and I can see more and more people turning to them always on the move, watching tv, reading websites, etc, on the move. It seems that mankind is really getting busier as a result of technology. I would crave for yet another chance not to see my computer and high-tech device and indulge in pure nature in places like my beloved Hokkaido and be with Mother Nature.

The other day, I have shared with readers on the property purchase made by a Singapore permanent resident, who is a China chinese for a Sentosa Cove bungalow at a whopping price tag of $36 million ! And ordinary Singaporeans like me were shocked at the astronomical amount paid for a property in Singapore. Already, Singaporeans are thinking twice for a resales flat property purchase now that the resales market has been on the ascending trend, hence it is really shocking to read of this news for Singaporeans like me earning ordinary wages. In today's Sunday Times, there was again a feature on the pricey bungalows here in Singapore. I was appalled to read that a foreign High Net Worth Individual (HWNI) has asked the property agent whether she has made a mistake in the price tag of $15 million for a bungalow. The reason is that the buyer could not believe the price as it was too cheap (as compared to bungalows of such in the rest of the world)! Indeed, with the rise of China and

I was very sad when I learnt that successful applicants for the tickets to this year's National Day parade can start collecting them with effect from today. I did apply for the tickets this year, yet again, losing count on the number of years that I have applied. Again, I was not able to get hold of the highly coveted tickets since the year balloting of the NDP tickets started. Why was I so unlucky? Every year, I crave for that little opportunity to catch the National Day parade with my family or wife, but again my wishes were not granted yet again! To increase my chances, I have actually applied for tickets not to the actual parade but to a rehearsal for just 2 or 4 tickets. I thought that would increase my chances to fulfill this little wish of mine for many years, for just this year, but , I was disappointed once again! As a Singaporean, I just wish to watch the National Day parade after so many years! Every year, I have applied but all my efforts were in vain! The last time

This year, the inter-monsoon season seems to come a little bit earlier: on many days since last week, it rained very heavily in the early mornings but today the rain or rather, the downpour persisted till late afternoon! And who can guess, the rain turned our popular tourist belt cum shopping paradise, Orchard road into a big low-depth swimming pool! I was shocked. Who could expect Orchard road to be flooded? So far, it has always been low-lying places in our country such as Geylang and Kallang being flooded. One good thing did come out from the Orchard Road flooding incident: Just as the recent vandalism case at Changi MRT depot has reminded us that our security measures at our public installations is not comprehensive, the Orchard road flood uncovered deficiencies of our drainage system in the Orchard road area.

Just a few days ago, the government released the inaugural town council management report. The report grades and as a result of the grading, ranks town council in areas like maintenance and facilities. As a layman living in a housing estate managed by the town council, the town council management report and its result does not really interest me a lot. In fact, though I am an avid reader of the daily newspapers, I did not even check the ranking and results of the town council managing my estate. Like me, I think most Singaporeans are quite apathetic to the results of the town council management report as generally, the facilities, hygience and upkeeping standard of town councils do not differ much from one to another. There will bound to be times where facilities are dirty and hygience problems arise but if these problems were to persist for a prolonged period of time, they will be reported in the daily newspapers already in the form of letters to the forums or even a special feat

How much are you wiling to pay for a bungalow in Singapore if you have the means? With land being a premium, the prices of housing in Singapore is not low. An executive condominium can easily command a price of $1 million and more. The prices of bungalow will be in the leagues of $1 million and more, depending on the size. But fancy paying $36 million dollars for a bungalow? Yes, that is what one China foreign folk did.. buying a posh bungalow at the exclusive ultra-premium Sentosa Cove . This guy must be a multi-millionaire or a billonaire at the very least. I am not really shocked. The number of ultra-rich people in Asia is rising with China and India, the twin engines of Asia gearing up! It is not news anymore to hear of China Chinese, India Indians or Singaporeans lapping bags and other luxuries at our Orchard roads for $100,000 and more per shopping trip. These guys and gals are dirt-rich! In Singapore, the proportion of millionaires (people with a disposable income of a

If you are looking for hotels in Chinatown, and if you are a tourist, you should know that most of the hotels in Chinatown are cater to the budget tourists. Chinatown hotels are actually quite good hotels overall, just that certain hotels may attract the wrong kind of crowds. So do be discerning when you are looking for hotels in Chinatown.

The ongoing probe into City Harvest church's fund management has raised a ruckus in our society. Singaporeans have expressed similar sentiments when the famous monk Ming Yi was found to misappropriate his religious funds. This sentiment is not surprising as we expect men of faith and religion, especially those who hold leadership roles to uphold and exhibit even higher moral values and standing. Recently, there was a funeral wake at the void deck of an apartment just a stone's throw away from where I live. After a recent jog, I took a double look when I saw someone in a monk's suit smoking at a Senior Citizens' corner in the void deck. I went closer for a look: it was an old monk, most probably a monk who assisted in the rites at the void deck. He was busy lighting up his cigarette, puffing away while making a call on his mobile phone, with a blue tooth ear piece in one of his ears. I am not against a religious man using high tech gadgets or driving. But to see the mo

If you are one of the many Singaporeans who do mind very much paying around $90 buck to watch the world cup 2010 games, you can refer to this site for a list of places to watch the world cup for free!

I was one of the people in the world who kept a diary long before the advent of the internet and web 2.0 technologies. By a diary, I mean a notebook or a real diary notepad, where I penned down my thoughts, my life on every day of the year. I kept diaries since I was young, as early as 10 years of age; however there were breaks in between when I could not keep up the routine, discipline, rigour and commitment of keeping a diary. My dozens of notes (which I fastened together as diaries) helped make me sane during National Service. However, with time, all these diaries or ‘makeshift’ diaries have long gone with the wind as I decided not to immerse myself in the past but to move forward and make the most of future! With the advent of blogs, I find the passion of writing diaries online being rekindled. There started my first foray of online diaries in the form of blogs during my university days. At that times, blogs were used as online diaries and I kept blogging my thoughts on this

The National Environment Agency will increase the fines for litterbugs and implement the existing corrective work orders (a scheme whereby litterbugs are ordered to clean up public areas) in streets with heavier traffic, part of its bid to curb the ever-increasing littering problem in Singapore. More litter-bins will be added to public places while public education against littering will continue. I believe the measures will only achieve limited success as littering is really a personal habit. The new measures, which are just strengthened existing measures will only deter litterbugs from littering in places with heavier traffic such as in shopping areas for fear that an enforcement officer be in ‘ambush’. In places with no or few people nearby, I think the natural instinct for litterbugs is to chuck their litter onto the floor even though a litter bin may be just nearby. Hence I believe the authorities should send enforcement officers, in plain clothes, to places with lesser human tra

If you are looking for apartments for rent, or are buying a house and if you are loaded with cash, then you may want to consider the new condominiums for sales or rent at the central business district in Singapore. It was reported in The Straits Times today that there would more condominiums in the central business district. These condominiums are either for sales and for rent. Currently, the condominium in the district are The Sail@ Marina Bay and the Icon in Tanjong Pagar. But coming soon will be the Lumiere, The Clift, One Shenton and Altez. All these condominiums have very nice appellations and definitely these apartments do not come cheap. A month rent for a studio apartment starts from $3500 to $4000, and definitely these are targeted for the very affluent expatriates who earn at least $20,000 per month, I mean in my opinion, if you are not earning that much, you would be crunched to pay these high rental costs every month. For more property news, please read this link .

If you are going to buy a computer, laptop or any other digital device, hold your cash first! This Thursday, the PC Show 2010 (a.k.a Personal Computer Show 2010) will be here once again! PC Show 2010： 10-13 June, 12-9pm 4 levels of Suntec City: Level 1, 3, 4 and 6 will be choked full of bargain-hunters and visitors once again. Are prices going to get crazy? Well for me, I will get crazy even before I land my hand on the items on offered as the crowds will be maddening! Do check out these related posts: Comex 2009 Comex 2008 Cheapest computer accessories

This is an incredible tale in Singapore! A renowned Swiss national, possibly with other accomplices including a Briton broke into the Changi MRT depot and spent at least 20 minutes vandalising the exterior of a MRT train with their signature graffiti artworks! Security has been breached in our transport network! Though the intent of the artists or should we call them vandals, is harmless, the ease of breaking into the guarded premises of the Changi MRT depot just shows the ease of breaking of  potential terrorists into a node of our transport system or even public facilities to sow the seed of destruction! And if that was not bad enough, the vandalised train went on its normal operation of carrying passengers for at least 48 hours, as reported! Many Singaporeans would have thought that the graffiti artwork might be once again a marketing gimmick like what Singapore Post did to its mailboxes on New Year eve! Hence they would not have reported the incident or cared about it too much.

As I walked into one of the world-class toilets in Singapore today, I was shocked to see a notice plastered on the wall: “You are being served by Mr XXX (Name of the toilet cleaner)”. The notice even contained the photo of the toilet cleaner. I turned around and saw the toilet cleaner just inches away from me. I was shocked. Though I understood the intent of the message, which was to elevate up service quality and professional image of the toilet cleaners, to many other users of the toilets who have been accustomed to the mantra or notion of traditional customer service rendered by waiters or waitress or shop assistants, the message can be misleading. Imagine a Man A with such a mindset seeing the toilet notice as he enters the toilet. Looking around, he saw the toilet cleaner and asked him how is he going to serve him? How would the toilet cleaner answer? Logically the answer would be that the toilet cleaner helps serve the man by keeping the toilet clean for his use, and nothing

The increasing hair loss situation in Singapore is really alarming. On the streets each day, we can notice an increasing number of youths, sometimes youths as young as secondary school students balding! This is indeed shocking as some tens of years back, balding and hair thinning are the provinces for the elderly. With the rapid increase of hair loss sufferers, hair treatment centres here are enjoying roaring sales and I have much confidence to believe that the hair styling and gel treatments and products markets have similarly seen a decline in their customer share. So what cause such a widespread hair loss crisis in Singapore? Well, if hair loss affects so many of us, then the many common-cited reasons are: 1) Increasing stress 2) Eating more and more junk food 3) Eating more and more artificial, preservative-laden food 4) Water (real or unreal) we drink, void of minerals? So which is the real reason? Surprising, when I travel overseas, I am shocked to find quite a number

As I went out in the night earlier, I turned back a numnber of times to ensure that I was not followed and slashed and silenced. Well,my worries are not completely unfounded. Early Sunday morning, an Indian foreign worker was found dead in a field off Kallang with multiple knife slashes across his body. Just stone throws away, two others were slashed; one of them was a 19 year old who had his palm slashed off, this poor guy has his other body parts slashed too! It turned out that the attackers was a group of foreign men, speaking in Thai, as was reported in the newspapers. It is such a scary thought that such multiple slashings could take place in a safe country like Singapore. I notice that all these incidents occur after 12 am where there are fewer people on the street. Though Singapore is often lauded as a place where one can walk in the street after midnight safely, the recent spate of incidents proved so otherwises. It is not worth at all if one is killed by all those thu

What kind of parents are they? Fancy letting their 2 year old toddler smoke 40 cigarettes a day! What a news!

Our girls have done it! Let us see our girls video now!

These days, I have been choosing my food for consumption very carefully. We often heard of the saying “We are what we eat” and how true this saying goes! Besides regular exercise, a good diet as well as a nutritious and wholesome meal will make us healthy and as fit as a fiddle. I have been troubled by the increasing phenomenon of hair loss in our society. I, too, am also a sufferer of hair loss. Why is there such a rapid increase of hair loss sufferers in our society? Notwithstanding stress, I believe another reason would be due to the food we consume. The food sold in our hawker centres, though appetizing, is not really healthy. There is also a generous dose of salt, preservative, MSG added to enhance their flavours. I try to eschew those food described above and opt for fruits and vegetables. But these days, fruits and vegetables also seem to be genetically modified, which may possess a health risk too. Riding the increasing ‘health-centric’ bandwagon of consumers today, th