It’s been a bad mad week. And I’m feeling mentally drained. Boy am I glad it’s Friday and I have the weekends to look forward to.

Things just keep coming my way and I hate it. I hate the fact that I’m not in a position to decline the receipt. I hate the fact that I’m all alone doing the work while others are idling away…reading newspapers, surfing the net, chitchating at other cubicles and worse, sleeping during office hours…What is the world coming to??

I don’t want to talk about it. It only makes my blood boil. I don’t want to waste my time and breath talking to a bunch of dishonest, scheming and lazy people. If they so wish to sit there and rot, so be it. It’s their choice.

Weekends, weekends, I’m looking forward to them!

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Have you ever wondered why we get overwhelmed with so much work at times? The reason is simple. It’s because some people just don’t do their fair share and us being the hardworking ones will inadvertently cover for them. Is this the right thing to do?

This is a story about A & B. Both are prolific actors in their own rights. But sadly, they are not acting in a drama serial. They are acting in the office environment.

Acting. 演戏。Wayang. Masak masak. Call it whatever you will…

A called to say he needed help. After listening to his SOS and explaining to him, he still said he didn’t know what to do. And he tried to sound nice about it. I was waiting for him to pop the question and he finally did. “Since you have done it before and have the experience, do you mind helping me? It’ll be faster than me trying to do it myself.”

So I must do your work for you and help you out? Excuse me!? Can you repeat your well rehearsed line again? Ya, right. Try harder please. Flattery will not work on me. I’ve heard it before.

Imagine A, so experienced, more than 10 years in service, telling me he doesn’t know how to handle such a simple issue. I don’t believe it. Stop acting please. It won’t get you a Best Actor Award. You won’t even get nominated. Dream on.

This reminds me of what my ex-platoon sergeant used to say “don’t wayang”. Indeed, bang…ini bukan wayang kulit.

B is another typical case study in itself. But unlike A, B is more blunt and frank about it. He doesn’t resort to flattery. “I don’t know how to do. So difficult. I don’t like to do.”

Who likes to work anyway? But we have to, to earn a decent living.

None of us are born smart. We all learn from experience. It is the experience that enriches us. If I keep helping you, you’re not going to learn. And it will do you no good. It’s just like the difference between catching a fish for you and teaching you how to fish. Which would you prefer?

None of us knew how to use the fork and spoon, or chopsticks when we were born. We had to learn from scratch. Was it difficult? I bet it was. But we survived and learnt.

“I don’t know…I don’t like…I never do before…” Some of the most common excuses used.

So what’s keeping A & B from learning? I really wonder. It’s the L word perhaps. L for ‘lazy’.

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The northeast line (NEL) train line has been running since Jun 2003 and there are still teething problems. Among these problems, two most common ones stand out – namely the doors forcefully slamming into people without any mercifulness; and the train stalling at stations for “delays caused at another station”. Common teething problems. Yet…not fixed…

This morning, I witnessed the same problem again…The second problem. At Boon Keng station. “This train will stop here for 3 minutes due to an incident at Clarke Quay station. We apologise for the delay. Thank you.”

After 3 minutes, another announcement came…”This train will stop here for 5 minutes due to an incident at Clarke Quay station. We apologise for the delay. Thank you.”

That’s 8 minutes delay already. Harlow!!

When the train pulled into Farrer Park station, it stalled again. The same message. …”This train will stop here for 5 minutes due to an incident at Clarke Quay station. We apologise for the delay. Thank you.”

That’s a delay of 13 minutes.

And Singaporeans are such a predictable lot…especially the ladies…When the train stalls, what do they do? Whip out their handphones and start sms-ing away, telling the whole world they will be late…

When the train finally got to Little India station, the doors again refused to close. I made a decision to get off at the station and take a connecting bus to office. Listening to the same message blip again after me, I knew I had made the right decision.

World class transport system? Ya right…Driverless train? Ya right. Hopeless NEL. Better pull their act together.

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又是星期一。想念周末的短，讨厌周日的长。。。看着四周围的人都和我一样，拖着疲惫的心情，沉重的步伐去上班。那种感觉。。。累，累，累！

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Today is cousin Janice’s big day…It’s also a day of activity for me coz I’m the MC. And it’s a refreshing change coz it’s the first time I’m doing a wedding dinner MC. All along, it’s always been corporate and office events only. It was also a good excuse for me to dress up a little and wear my white suit…hehe

This special day for Janice & Andrew started off with the customary tea ceremony. Janice looked very cute in a red qipao. Chinese customs make it a must for the children to kneel before their parents when offering tea in a gesture of appreciativeness and gratitude for bringing us up. But before relatives, this practice of kneeling is done away with.

To serve or not to serve huh?

Me with the newly weds

A few of us cousins went on to spy on the bridal chambers…Unlike the olden days, this modern couple’s one was not decked in hues of red. Instead, I received a pleasant surprise. Wah…very stylishly done with wallpaper some more…hehehe…

The modern bridal chamber

Sneak preview of what the bride will be wearing for the day…

I think besides seeing the lovey dovey bride and groom, it was also a good time for me to catch up with my cousins Haven’t seen some of them in a while since all of us are busy with our lives, studies and work.

The wedding car. So will 8398 open first prize huh?

Next stop. Church. One of the most poignant moments was when Uncle Joe walked Janice down the aisle. It reminded me of the father of the bride scene.

Father of the bride…“take good care of my daughter…”

Flower boy & girl – both so shy…keke

I couldn’t resist taking a shot of both the flower boy & girl. They were so cute yet so shy…so angelic…

Signing of the matrimonial document

During the hour long church service, if there was one thing I recall the Father said, it was “before your get married, all pimples look like dimples. After marriage, a single dimple becomes a pimple.” How true. He is advocating give and take. Marriage is not seen through a rose-tinted mirror where everything is beautiful. If only…

Here’s the grand toast to the couple!!

The moment everyone’s waiting for…the grand toast. We’ll do 3 toasts in total. The first toast for a happy, wonderful marriage life together (白头到老甜蜜蜜). The second toast for good health and longevity (身体健康及长寿). The third toast for many offsprings (子孙满堂如云来).

Me having fun during the grand toast…teasing Andrew’s sister…hehe…

I really enjoyed myself…rather high…and of course, still have the ‘wanna get married soon’ kind of feeling all over again…hehehe…Congratulations Janice & Andrew!

One for my memories…

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我们今天和董事部开了一个很重要的会议。我本以为会议会很顺利的。毕竟众多同事都有出席。有一个我蛮欣赏的同行人也出席了。。。哪知人算不如天算，同行人居然在会议上说了一句惊天动地的话，害老板和我捏了一把冷汗，想尽办法扭转乾坤。

别看同行人平日静静的，这些人才真的要提防。狐狸尾巴露出来了。。。不雪中送炭也就算了，竟然说根本就不赞同我们的策略，是我们不听他的意见，一意孤行。真的是落井下石。可恶！

他这一招叫一针见血，果然有效。但在我眼里，却显得是在拍马屁，有小人的作风。有这个必要吗？

在这个狗吃狗的世界里，公司里的斗争就像古代五宫六院众妃们使劲法宝，想赢得皇上的芳心及宠爱一样。这一切我看得多了，也看得累了。

若要斗，你们就继续斗下去吧。我选择靠边站。我宁愿做一个平凡，幸福的人。

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This week is white week as I am wearing a white shirt for four out of five work days. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not the same white shirt. I have at least a dozen white shirts in my wardrobe. But plain white shirt, white shirt with motifs, white shirt with coloured stripes and white shirt with frills respectively.

White is the colour that makes me larger than life. And I want to be larger than life.

White is the colour on my face. Emotionless, expressionless. Don’t expect me to be happy.

White is the colour in my mind. There’s nothing occupying it but work, work and more work.

White is the colour of coolness. Unless you have something important to say, if not leave me alone.

White is the colour of a silent protest. Thanks to all those who have been overworking me this week. You know who you are.

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X credit card company called me. When I saw the number flashing on my mobile, I thought they would be trying to sell me some new products or get me to sign up for more cards. Then I thought maybe not coz the number was an actual number and not those that were listed as private numbers.

The card company then dropped me a bombshell. My card is suspected to be the target of some fraudulent activities. Huh? Got to be kidding right? I thought this only happens in movies and other people. But me?!

I asked the card company to check the transactions. Most logical thing to do. They read out the transactions one by one for the month. All correct…which means nobody tried to use the card yet. Lucky.

Actually, I think one safest way to combat fraud is to install a EMV smartchip in the card. Some of my other cards have this safety feature. Though not foolproof, at least there’s an additional safety precaution.

And I’m waiting for my new card…Maybe I should stop using this bank’s card for the time being…Lost confidence in them liao…hmm…

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今早在上班的旅途中，突然心血来潮，脑子里就浮现了两行诗。还蛮不错的吗。。。想着想着，还没到办公室时，已经把十四行的诗句给完成了。效率蛮高的吗。。。可能是因为最近听了朋友和女友分开而来的灵感吧。

英语的诗句，我至少写了近一百首。但写华语诗句我却只写了五六首罢了。不多，不多。请多多执教。

《无法忘记》

张震岳说思念是一种病
但我始终还是无法忘记
最怀念你轻吻我的气息
仿佛谱着我们永恒恋曲
最怀念和你一起唱情歌
唱到喉咙沙哑才肯喊停
如今你早已经离我远去
忘了一切美好点点滴滴
但你影子仍刻在我心底
像一段永不褪色的回忆
是谁说过爱情需要勇气？
是谁说过路再难也愿意？
我尝试让时间冲淡过去
终无法适应夜里没有你

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在电影<881>里就有那么一场戏 – 刘玲玲带领一大群阿嫂一起打小人。在戏里，小人就是榴梿姐妹。

在现实生活里，确实也有很多小人。该打，该打，该打！

谁是小人？小人就是那些妨碍我们发展的人。界定“小人”的尺度通常是没什么谱的，完全从个人利益出发，毫无理性，绝不公正，也不公平，更不会公开。

小人，也许是毒如蛇蝎的后娘，也许是仗势欺人的街霸，也许是给你小鞋穿的公司领导，也许是与你瞄准同一职位的同事，也许是如敌国般的同行，更可能是狐狸精二奶……他人即地狱，只要你觉得斗不过他（她）的，就将他（她）统统拨入“小人”行列。

从小已听闻有关打小人的事，而民间亦流传了一套打小人的口诀：“打你个小人头，打到你有气无订(谐音，意指地方)抖；打你只小人手，等你有嘢唔识偷；打你只小人脚，等你有鞋唔识着；打你个小人额，等你一世无发达；打你个小人耳，等你成世无大志；打你条小人利，等你食嘢唔知味；打你个小人心，等你成世苦不堪, ,……”

最近又流行打小人。。。这是香港那边的口诀。

打你个小人头，等你有气没订透，日日去撼头。
da lei gor siu yan dao(head), dang lei yao hei mo dang tao, yat yat hui ham dao
打你个小人面，等你全家中非典，成世都犯贱。
da lei gor siu yan min(face), dang lei qun ga zhong fei dim(SARS), cheng sai dou fan jin
打你个小人眼，等你成世都撞板，日日被人斩。
da lei gor siu yan ngan(eyes), dang lei cheng sai dou jong pan, yat yat bei yan zam
打你个小人耳，等你日日屙烂屎，抿屎用手指。
da lei gor siu yan yi(ears), dang lei yat yat oo lan si, man si yong sao ji
打你个小人嘴，等你老母变老举，日日被人队。
da lei gor siu yan jui(mouth), dang lei lou mo bin lou gui, yat yat bei yan dui
打你个小人颈，等你周身都性病，花柳兼淋病。
da lei gor siu yan gang(neck), dang lei jao san dou sing ban, fa lao gim lam ban
打你个小人胸，等你非典兼中风，后门给人通。
da lei gor siu yan hong(chest), dang fei dim(SARS) gim zhong fong, hao mun bei yan tong
打你个小人手，等你有钱唔识收，有楼变喳兜。
da lei gor siu yan sao(hand), dang lei yao chin ng sik sao, yao lao bin zha dao
打你个小人脚，等你日日敷中药，有鞋无脚穿。
da lei gor siu yan kiok(foot), dang lei yat yat fu zhong yok, yao hai mo kiok jiok
打你个小人肚，等你好心没好报，日日被人告。
da lei gor siu yan tou(perut), dang lei hou sam mo hou po, yat yat bei yan go
打你个小阳具，等你成世都不举，有妞没的队。
da lei gor siu yong kui(penis), dang lei cheng sai dou but kui(not naik), yao lui mo dak dui

民间版也好，香港版也好，只要练了口诀就可以打了。打了小人，心里就有一种说不出的快活。有一个好的机会给我发泄。。。真爽！记得了，要打就要大力的打，狠狠的打!

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