SINGAPORE SHORT STORIES

By now, this name TAN JYE YEE should no longer be unfamiliar to Singaporeans. Though Tan Jye Yee has said that he hoped to become famous with the photos and videos he and his girlfriend made, in reality, I can sense that the ground sentiment about the videos, though disapproving was not really that great. I think it is because such videos are widely available in the internet (if one wants to watch them).

I chanced upon an article in Yahoo today. This article is about a video of Dr Richard Teo giving a speech to a group of medical personnel. But this video is not an ordinary video, it is about Dr Richard’s sharing of his life lesson with his audience.

These few days are extremely hot and humid. The Sun is really blazingly hot and I think it has really toasted Singapore till our island is hot and crunchy.

These are GANGNAM STYLE top 10 parodies I found on the internet: I found the below parody more interesting:

Today, I saw to my surprise large giant electronic signboards at the control station of a MRT station which indicate in simple descriptions whether the services on the various MRT lines are normal or not. Since today, there is not MRT breakdown, the words "Normal" in the signboards greeted me.

I read of this complaint against EMA attentioned to PM Lee.

Ministry of Family and Social Formation (MSF) will be one of the three new ministries set up in Singapore- along with MCI and MCCY- with effect from 1 Nov 2012. MSF will be helmed by Chan Chun Sing, one of the 3 rising stars in Singapore's politics (the other two are Lawrence Wong and Tan Chuan-Jin).

Alvin Tan Jye Yee whose photos and videos has rocked Singapore may be jailed for 3 years according to this report .

This afternoon, my friend and I met up with a lady who had just recovered from a 3rd stage Leukaemia. The lady appeared weak and her hair was thin, obviously from the many rounds of chemotherapy she has undergone.

I have heard of asbestos before but did not know that asbestos can cause health problems; all the more I did not know that our buildings (those which were built before 1989) probably contain asbestos till I read of a recent report that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is currently looking into safer ways to remove asbestos from buildings. After this report, I think I should stay away from old buildings undergoing renovation lest I contract some of the diseases related to asbestos.

Lim BaoYing, this is the name which caused a flurry of online comments among netizens after Alvin Tan Jye Yee and Amy Cheong.

OCBC has introduced PSLE Leave for its employees, this is a good step in a right direction but on the converse, the bank's move has sparked concerns among parents that such a leave will just reinforce stress in students taking the PSLE.

My family and I love Samurai Burger from McDonalds and we have Samurai Burger weekly since its launch. However, I seem to pay a different price each time we order the Samurai Burger set meals. It was only when I asked a counter staff today that the truth of the pricing of the Samurai Burger became known to me as follows:

Ngiam Tong Dow has opined that $70 million of tax-payers' hard earned monies spent on F1 is unnecessary. While I agree with Mr Ngiam, I also feel that the tax-payers' monies spent on Malaysian Alvin Tan Jye Yee's

Yesterday night, I ordered a set of Yong Tau Hoo from a famous franchise stall. When the food came, I was shocked: the portion of noodles was so small that I could devour it within one mouthful! This set actually cost me $3.50!

Alvin Tan Jye Yee has released yet another video after photos and videos of him having sex with his girlfriend were posted on his blog. Though his blog was deleted, the photos and videos may still available on the internet.

Whenever something like the incident of Alvin Tan Jye Yee rocks Singapore and Singaporeans both literally and figuratively, we will all feel sad, ashamed, angry and disappointed.

After Sun Xu, now we have Alvin Tan Jye Yee . Both Sun Xu and Alvin Tan Jye Yee are NUS Scholars. After what they have done, I believe NUS should have a more stringent criteria of selecting its scholars. We do not want people like them to be funded by tax-payers' hard-earned monies.

Alvin Tan Jye Yee, this person came on top of the online news I read on a blog after a hectic day at work for me. So after, Cecilia Sue, Amy Cheong, now we have ALVIN TAN JYE YEE! Read more details about the incident here .

I read with a tinge of sadness that a 31-year old man has been charged over stealing few tins of baby milk powder at a “Shop-N-Save” outlet in Sembawang. The man could face 7-years of imprisonment if found guilty.

Two days ago, after work, I ordered a packet of Nasi Bryani from a nearby foodstall. When it was time for payment, I was shocked: the price of the Nasi Bryani is now $5, 50 cents more than the original price of $4.50! This may seem insignificant for some rich folks, but if we use simple Maths: the increase translates to a 11.1% increase over the original price!

Courts Asia IPO’s application has closed at 12pm today and Courts Asia stock will commence trading on SGX next Monday. Did I apply for Courts Asia stock, the answer is No, though I think Court Asia’s stock price may rise on the first day of trading.

Dynasty Reit IPO is opening for application, to buy or not to buy? Dynasty Reit, a Reit by Asia’s richest man, Li Ka-Shing and a Reit denominated in Yuan or Renminbi (with a parallel counter in SGD), and a first for SGX. There is a lot of hype about Dynasty Reit IPO in view of the above, Yuan-denomination, big names like Li Ka-Shing, etc.

Soon, Singaporeans can jog or cycle from East Coast Park to Gardens By the Bay, Marina Bay via the network of park connectors. When this news was announced yesterday, I was not particularly surprised as most of the parks in our country have been connected and it is just a matter of time before Marina Bay is connected to East Coast Park.

In his National Day rally, there was a mention by Prime Minister that people in Singapore are getting less tolerant of one another. I feel PM’s point was validated in the “Amy Cheong saga” now gripping Singapore.

I was quite surprised to read that Amy Cheong is not a Singaporean at all. She was born in Malaysia, raised in Australian (she is an Australian citizen) and works in Singapore as a high-flying Assistant Director in NTUC's membership division.

Amy Cheong's saga may not end that fast as the online chatter will not subside so soon. In the coming days, there will still be viewpoints, opinions and comments made by the armies of netizens on cyberspace.

Lim Ming Yan has been appointed as Capitaland CEO and President, taking over the helm from Liew Mun Leong. Before this announcement, there has been some speculation that Ong Ye Kung will be appointed this role of CEO and President of Capitaland.

How far will you fight for a very coveted seat on our SMRT train? Will you fight your way for it like the two gentlemen here did till they were covered in blood? Lucky this incident occured in China and not Singapore!

I just stumbled upon a good website called Singapore News Online . With so many socio-political blogs, websites and commentaries related to Singapore scattered across the spectrum of the internet, it is really a hassle to keep track and read every single one of them. With this new Singapore News Online ， I believe it will save me time and effort to locating and reading all the insights, commentary and viewpoints from news providers and bloggers.

Last Friday, I watched an interview with South Korea’s newest female pop group: SKARF on Channel 8. I was quite surprised to learn that two of the female members (the two tallest ones) are Singaporeans with the two others Korean. As the Singaporean-leader of SKARF explained, they chose this name for their group as it is a play on the word “SCARF” with “SK” abbreviating “Singapore” and “Korea” respectively.

Today, I went to search for Psy Gangnam Style video on Youtube after millions of people around the world have watched or followed the video of Psy's dance and catapulted Psy to a superstar within weeks.

Yesterday, my family and I chanced upon a brand new food centre selling Malaysia fare at Jurong Point. This new food centre is called "Malaysia Boleh" and judging at the number of congratulatory flowers at the entrance of the restaurant, I surmised this food centre must have just opened.

NTUC calls for 2 weeks of paternity leave and I would like to applaud this proposal of NTUC! I really believe and from my own experience that the current 3 days of paternity leave is really not sufficient and in my own case, I have to take additional leave from my annual leave balance to augment that important stretch of leave to care for my family.

I really think that there are far too many shopping centres in Singapore. Though these shopping centres offer a reprieve from the sweltering heat and humidity for families and friends in the weekends, I wonder whether all the time spent shopping in these mega shopping malls will be productive use of Singaporeans' time at all.

Yesterday, I ordered a plate of Char Siew & Roasted Meat rice from a nearby cafe after lunch hours. When the food arrived, I was shocked! I asked the aunties whether this was the Char Siew & Roasted Meat rice I have ordered as I could not see any Roasted Meat at all! She said "Yes".

When I saw on TV news of a new pilot initiative called “Travel Smart” announced by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), I thought of some good new measures by LTA which will enable commuters to travel on public transport in a smart manner by leveraging on technology or innovation. Hence, I was quite disappointed to learn that this “Travel Smart” pilot programme is actually a travel demand management programme which places the onus to utilize public transport –so that our MRT trains and buses will not be overcrowded- on the commuters themselves!

As a man who values time, I really do not like to wait. But this afternoon, my family and I spent more than 30 minutes just to wait for the free shuttle bus to IKEA, Giants and Courts at Tampines, only to see in disappointment-together with the rest of the queue- that the bus pulled into the bus bay only to have the passengers alight and then it left!

While Singaporeans remain fixated at the case of Cecilia Sue and Ng Boon Gay, I think the world may be following this local high-profile case via Channel NewsAsia which broadcasts in many countries.

Today is 1st October, the first day of the 4th quarter of 2012. Time indeed flies. I thought that the New Year was just yesterday but now here we are, going to usher in Christmas and then a brand new year 2013!