Unlucky 13

Yesterday I screwed up the ethics paper.

I had a bad feeling when the list showed that I was assigned the seat no. 13. Although I don't think that it will make a difference if I was assinged seat 12 or 14.

When I realized that I was assigned seat no 13 again for today's paper, a sense of deja vu came to me.

Indeed, none of the questions which I was more prepared for came up for the essay.

I'm not a superstitious person but fate seems to deal me a not-so-good hand.

This is life, isn't it?

Two-party system better?

Nov 19, 2008

GOVERNING SINGAPORE

Two-party system better

I REFER to Monday's report, (''Change must come' to PAP') in which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong advocated that a single party should dominate governance in Singapore.

PM Lee also raised the issue of countries like Taiwan, which practised the Western definition of democracy but suffered from its ill effects.

He suggested that two-party or multi-party democracy seldom works in Asia. However, a single-party government is also unhealthy as it is susceptible to a group-think mentality. Elected politicians from the same party will not want to raise different viewpoints, especially if he is in the minority, for fear of being branded.

As power is focused on only a few good men at the top, having a single-party government heightens this risk of group-think mentality. This will not benefit the country in the long run.

A two-party system, despite its inherent difficulties, has several advantages. One important fundamental rule within a democratic system is that it has adequate checks and balances within the governance.

This is not to say that the current government is not trustworthy. But to prevent possible abuses, a two-party system will do the job better than a self-checking arrangement.

The public is also reassured, as a two-party system ensures counter-checking measures for the betterment of the country. There is also the issue of transparency, which is lacking now. A two-party political system will plug this loophole.

Singapore has enjoyed the fruits of the ruling party's successes. There are grave challenges ahead during this financial crisis.

A two-party system can only benefit Singapore as there will be variegated exchanges of ideas, however divergent.

A one-party political power also has the disadvantage of answering to no one at the top and this can be dangerous.

The United States political system has a good check in Congress, whose endorsement is required before the president can act.

As Singapore progresses, we must implement changes over how we are governed.

Controlled democracy, which we have had all along, may not be enough to propel us forward.

Gilbert Goh

Source: The Straits Times

I was quite surprised that this letter was even published in the Straits Times. The writer's arguments are quite sound (compared to PM Lee's a few days back) and I wonder what PAP's response will be like.

Hmmm... The next GE will be very interesting...

My Hoot~~

This is the first time that I tried online shopping (excluding booking of air-tix & hotel) so was pretty nervous about it.

It all began when I realized that I need a jacket for Sikkim's winter. Then I started to do research online.

Timberland's designs look kinda nice and I made a visit to the Raffles City's outlet.

The retail price is as nice as the design: 399 sgd for the 3-in-1 jacket.

So I grabbed Alan to take a look at Adventure 21 and found the selection there unsatisfactory. Then Alan told me about the VPOST service.

VPOST is a service provided by SingPost which allows you to purchase products online from US websites which do not ship to Singapore. After its American office receives the products, SingPost will forward the products to the Singapore address.

So I scoured the net for deals and managed to find this: Timberland Benton 3-in-1 Jacket for 99.99 USD. Somehow I managed to find a promo code which gave a further discount of 15%. Required additional 9.95 USD for freight; the total was 94.94 USD or approximately 140 SGD. Burnt orange is the only available color for size M. I placed the order on 3 Nov 2008. The package took several days to reach SingPost's Portland's office.

I had to submit the invoice to VPOST; they would bill me once they received the package at their American office . The freight charge turned out to be 55 SGD; managed to get promo code for 20% discount and paid about 44 bucks instead.

Finally it arrived about 2 weeks later on 18 Nov; I opened the package when I reached home.

Outer Layer - Closed

Outer Layer - Partially open

Fleece

Label

Waterproof

Original Retail price

I am satisfied with the purchase so far; read quite a few horror stories about VPOST but luckily in the end it didn't give me problem. Total damage is about 185 SGD. So I managed to save over 200 bucks compared to if I've bought from the Timberland outlet in Singapore instead.

Just when I was pretty happy with myself, I found this site selling at a lower price with more choice of colors.

Oh well... This is life isn't it?

First

Today was the first time that I was pissed off with other members of my OCIP team over work.

If I were frustrated before, I would say that it was mainly down to either my own helplessness or the unpredictability of situations.

It really took something for me to be upset with people; maintaining personal relations is very important for me and I am always generous in accepting excuses for people whom I don't know well.

Unable to turn up for meetings? Perhaps you have some personal matters.

Unable to complete the work? Perhaps there are other important stuff to be done.

Need to leave early to study? No problem at all... studies are more important.

The lack of urgency was the breaking point; everyone else simply just sat around and expected that all the things would be done by themselves.

I realized that very often the work are done only by people who care enough. In many occasions the less committed were able to get away because someone else would be willing to step in to salvage the situations.

I wouldn't complain if I had done more work than others; work can never be distributed in an equitable manner and I was willing to do a little more for the completion of the project.

All I desire was more commitment, accountability and responsibility from everyone.

I've tried hard to hide my unhappiness just now but I guess that it wasn't too hard to detect.

Perhaps I shouldn't care so much anymore.

Fuck.

Man of the Moment

Regardless how the next four years pan out, Barack Obama has created history; the first African-American to lead the most powerful country in the world, this was almost unthinkable just a few years ago and has inspired millions worldwide.

No one remembers the losers but I think John McCain and Sarah Palin deserve special mention. McCain has been gracious in accepting defeat; I believed that many of the stands that he took during the campaign were probably taken to secure the conservatives' votes. Although Palin seemed rather inept (C'mon... Even I have more foreign policy experience than her), she took all the political attacks in her strides.

The road ahead for Obama is definitely going to be rocky; the world is hoping that his leadership will turn the planet into a better place. His acceptance speech was inspirational; but can the man live up to his talk?

Before we start arguing about this, let the man enjoys his moment.

Yes we can!