SINGAPORE SHORT STORIES

The haze has made me very sleepy. I am not impressed at the PSI which is now over 240. For those who are clearing the land in Indonesia, they do not understand that for the monies that they earn clearing the land and profiting from the products sold, thousands in Singapore are breathing in the fine dust particles and harming their health. Many of us also have to consume more drinks both at home and outside, switch on additional hours of air-conditioner and fan at home, thus incurring higher electricity charges. Who should be responsible for us having to incur higher electricity charges? Who should foot the increased bills above? Who should be responsible for endangering our health?

PM Lee has just announced his new Singapore cabinet and some of the line-up which are surprising to me are: 1) Twenty ministers including Prime Minister in the cabinet, this, I believe is the highest number of Ministers to-date in Singapore's cabinet. 2) No new ministries were formed in line with an increase in the number of Ministers. I have expected that with many Ministers around, there would be have at least one new Ministry for new Ministers to helm.

The haze seems to take a turn for the better. At least from my windows at home, I can see the surroundings. But from the haze website, the PSI is still above 100 which is unhealthy. I long for a jog, I have not had one for few months. I was thinking of jogging some weeks ago, if not because of the haze. True, I could turn to the gyms but jogging on the treadmill is no fun, it cannot compares with running outdoors. I jogged only for a very few times on the threadmill before my arm will inadvertently swang and hit the "Stop" button on the threadmill and then my jogging routine will come to a stop before the intended duration of jog. You can follow me on Facebook page if you find my posts interesting

Today, the haze situation in Singapore worsened with the PSI in the middle of afternoon reaching a high of 239! This is one of the highest PSI for Singapore this year. Despite the haze, I saw on the streets not many people wearing facemasks these days as compared to the initial haze experiences that Singapore had in the previous years. I believe it has to be due to the fact that people are now "used" to the haze and also the fact that wearing a N95 face mask is not very comfortable to many. I have my windows at home shut down and use the fan for cooling comfort. I have drank quite a number of canned herbal drinks too. On hazy days like these, I believe many people will not complain of the normal hot and humid climate of Singapore. You can follow me on Facebook page if you find my posts interesting

Amos Yee was slapped yesterday while he was heading to the state courts. When I saw the video of Amos Yee being slapped by a much more muscular man, I did not know what to say. I noted that the man seemed to adjust his spectacles prior to giving Amos that slap, perhaps he just wanted to make sure that it was Amos and not some other men with a funky hairstyle before he made his move? Also the man did not rush to slap Amos, perhaps the move was to surprise Amos. You can follow me on Facebook page if you find my posts interesting

By now, I believe most Singaporeans have heard of how two foreign workers rescue a stuck toddler today. This episode shows us that the humble foreign construction workers are part of our community who will render us assistance where needed, beside building our houses on our island. You can follow me on Facebook page if you find my posts interesting

Singapore's weather is now very hot in the afternoon with temperatures reaching a high of 34 degree Celsius as reported. The weather is especially hot in the afternoon and it makes me not interested to do much things as it is really very frustrating to be under the heat. I believe shopping centres will have a good time as Singaporeans flock to these places to enjoy the cool air-con. Drinks stalls should be main beneficiaries of the hot days too. You can follow me on Facebook page if you find my posts interesting

The Star Awards 2015 will be held this Sunday. I believe the list of winners are: a) Best Actor: Shaun Chen b) Best Actress: Yvonne Lim c) Best Supporting Actor: Zhu Hou Ren d) Best Supporting Actress: Julie Tan Let us see whether my predictions are correct! You can follow me on Facebook page if you find my posts interesting

Julien Blanc was not allowed by the authorities to enter Singapore to conduct his workshops. The media touted him as a dating  coach but I am not sure whether his concept of dating or pick-up is acceptable by Singaporeans. Reading a brief of the techniques he used, I am glad that Singapore has made a stand. You can follow me on Facebook page if you find my posts interesting

Today is Friday, but I feel very tired as it has been a busy week for me at work. I know that I am no longer young as I can see my face sagging, hair thinning, energy not as great as before (perhaps that is why I cannot pass my IPPT) and my memory not as great. Though it is Friday, it is one of the Best days of the week, hence I try to make full use of Fridays. You can follow me on F acebook page if you find my posts interesting.

Lim Kay Tong will act Lee Kuan Yew in the 1965 movie. I feel that Lim Kay Tong looks a bit like Lee Kuan Yew.

This morning, before it was reported that the haze is at a higher PSI, I could already tell from the burning smell lingering in the air. The haze is back and it is making me feel hazy even at home. I do not like haze as it means I cannot jog outdoors.

My family and I visit River Safari: Singapore’s river-themed attraction and one of Singapore’s newest places of attraction. River Safari to me, before my visit, is as famous as its mascots: the two pandas, Kai Kai and Jia Jia. And before the visit, I also heard that the place of River Safari is also not as big as the zoo, but I decided to check this newest place of attraction out anyway.

This morning, I woke up and discovered two cockroaches, one after another, which fled on seeing me as I switched on the lights. I was puzzled as my house is quite clean, but I cannot speak of my kitchen cabinets which due to no-good quality wood have been tearing and wearing down due to a combination of wear and tear, water and humidity. I know that the kitchen pipes are also hot beds for these cockroaches too.

I had a good jog today after work. The weather was cool and nice and the jog really invigorated me though hours of sitting at work sure tires even the most seasoned sportsmen. To be exact, it was really many weeks since I last jogged. I have not been jogging due to the haze, now that the skies have cleared, I really relish the chance to jog and be fit and healthy.

Singapore Sports Council will be renamed Sports Singapore. I find the new name good as it means that it will involve all Singaporeans to embracing sports.

The rains of yesterday seems to send the haze away. I enjoy the haze-free skies and the clean and healthy air. It has really been many weeks since I jog and I hope that I can still continue to jog without the need to breathe in haze.

It has been so many days into the search of MH370 but the authorities are still not able to locate the plane. I am keenly watching the news of MH370 as onboard the plane are ordinary people like you and I and I really believe that the world must really do all means to locate the plane.

When the authorities introduced the “Do not call” registry, I signed up to be one of those Singaporeans who do not want to receive advertising messages. I was hence surprised that the authorities seems to have an about-turn in this “Do not call” policy by announcing that it would exempt some businesses from the registry. I think the authorities are not firm in implementing this Do not Call registry.

I have not been really blogging on Singapore Short Stories as this blog has become simply too large to manage with many many posts. I have been trying to see how best I can set a new direction for this blog, while preserving that unique Singapore Short Stories flavour characteristic of this blog. As such, I have been experimenting with some blogs here and there. So far, the feedback that I have gotten from all this experimentation will collectively shape my decision on Singapore Short Stories blog.