Picture this…a group of senior management decides to get together one day. To unwind, they do a song & dance. That song & dance is otherwise known as a rap. That group of senior management is otherwise known as the high level folks from Media Development Authority (MDA).

Much has been said about the video. I saw it once & it’s certainly quite funny. Well, almost quite funny.

Friends & colleagues have generally cringed at the thought of it & ranted about it. Negative criticisms fly fast & furious.

“Sullen faces attached to the wooden bodies.”

“Not acting their age. So old still trying to shake & act cool…”

“A total disgrace & a big mistake. No doubt.”

“Rap at its worst. I’ll pass.”

“It insults the audience’s intelligence. MDA is out of touch.”

“Sucks big time”

In view of all these criticisms, I think I’ve been much much kinder.

Come on, give the MDA folks a break.

Tell you the truth, it takes tonnes of courage to do something like this, esp since this is for public world viewing. For all the detractors all there, if I were to challenge you to gyrate your hips, pose & rap along, would you dare do it? If we can have a bunch of post-65 MPs doing a hip-hop dance during Chingay, why not the MDA directors doing their bit for a rap?

Some form of publicity – be it positive or negative is always better than no publicity.

It all boils down to the fact that the public’s perception of a public servant should be one who is stoid, humourless, bland & boring. Times have changed & we need to keep up with the times. They are public servants. Not civilised servants. Sorry. There’s a big distinction.

Getting over 130, 000 hits for a rap video is no mean feat in itself. Kudos to the MDA people. Just a piece of advice from me to the MDA folks – if you’re considering a sequel to the rap video, do change the clothing. Nobody does rap wearing a suit. That’s so uncool.

For those who don’t mind watching it one more time, here’s the link.

http://www.mda.gov.sg/wms.www/video1.htm

But if you belong to the die die condemn club, then skip it please…

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Some people come to work everyday with a straight face (that means an expressionless walking zombie…you know who you are), wearing the same coloured shirts (think staple but boring whites, blues and greys) . Worse, they try their best to appear funky and cool but fall flat on their face coz their core is one that spells the sentence “I AM A BORING PERSON”.

Yes, look at you. You are always so uptight. You never smile. Your body language gives you away. You can’t afford to lose. You can’t even take jokes. You withdraw into your own world when surprises are sprung on you. You would rather be alone.

I’m not going to waste time trying to get a boring loner to open up. That’s too much effort and time to invest on my part. I would rather focus my energies on having fun.

Having fun is not asking you to paint the town red or report to office in a pair of briefs. Having fun is knowing how to laugh at yourself, accept yourself for who you are and loving yourself more each day. It’s about doing new things, learning and growing at the same time. It’s about letting the childlike quality in you shine through. It’s about asking stupid questions at times and not being afraid to appear dumb. It’s about getting a new haircut style every month. It’s about doing silly things when you feel like it. It’s about living life the way you want it.

It’s important to learn to have fun. Life is short. Play hard. Coz you only live once. But some people don’t live by this mantra. ‘Tis sad.

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Buying myself gifts makes me happy. Eating meals with my loved one makes me happy. Going on holidays make me happy. Shopping makes me happy. Besides these, what else makes me happy?

Post gym makes me happy. It’s a high feeling I get as I feel so fresh thereafter and my muscles all pumped up. Tiredness? That never kicks in.

The second reason why post gym makes me happy is coz when you exercise, your body produces endorphin. Endorphins are hormones that combats stress and makes you more relaxed. Some people call them happy hormones. They are actually the same hormones you produce when having sex.

I joke more. I laugh more. I smile more too

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I saw the ad in the papers some time back but was deliberating. Had to be in fall/winter clothing…To send or not to send? In the end, I decided to just send in an entry to try my luck. The prizes were too good to resist. It was a straight forward contest. I just had to send in a photo wearing fall/winter wear. There was no need to do a catwalk on stage. It’s that simple.

In fact, my entry was sent off on the very same day I was flying off to China on 24 Nov!! I rememberd that morning I stole some time off & got a photographer & fashion consultant (my colleagues) to prepare me for the shots. As far as I can remember, I took more than 30 shots and in the end chose this one.

I chose it coz I liked the dreamy dreamy look, which is quite Korean…with my eyes not looking direct at the camera but elsewhere…hahaha…

Ok, I also had to send in a description to detail the look I was trying to portray. This was what I wrote:

“I’m creating the image of the modern man who’s not afraid of looking stylish. I’m wearing a jacket in army green drab which is military influenced, together with a pair of black wool pants and leather boots. To complete the overall feel of the season, I’ve added a maroon cashmere knit which adds a vibrant dash of colour.”

And guess what? I won. Not the grand prize. But one of the two consolation prizes. But it was still a sweet win as I walked away with $2, 500 worth of Marina Square shopping vouchers. Here’s the newspaper ad in Urban dated 22 Nov 07. Me in top right hand corner.

It’s in Urban 22 Nov 07!!

When I collected my prizes from SPH, I was literally thrilled by the number of vouchers I saw in my hands – ranging from jewellery, spa, household, fashion to generic vouchers (these are the best!!!)

Vouchers galore

Jewellery vouchers from Lee Hwa, Goldheart, Soo Kee & SK

Sharp eyed colleagues & friends were quick to email or sms to confirm. Yes, that’s me lah.

I’m going shopping. And it’s free. Who says there’s no free lunch in the world? Hahahahahaha…

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It’s an unwritten rule that when you are on leave or course, you need to activate your out of office message in your email to notify everyone the date of your absence.

The default out of office message reads:

“I am out of office from ______ and till _______”

Some of us customise our out of office messages to make it more informative. Like this one.

“I am out of office from ______ and till _______. For ________ matters, pls contact (Name 1) at (Tel 1). For ______ matters, pls contact (Name 2) at (Tel 2). For other matters, pls contact (Name 3) at (Tel 3)”

Just received a forwarded email from a colleague today who was amazed by a really personalised out of office message. This is its full content.

“The freezing autumn breeze
Stops all things in its track
And snow is bound in a few hours
To tack the warmth of things

On a lonely silent hill
The buds have gone to sleep
A light grey veil of solitude
Covers my forlorn head

My hands are tied behind my back
My legs struggle in vain
My body in a contorted twist
My fate lies in your hands

My veins bleed tears of yesteryears
My eyes weep dollops of rain
My heart lies dead in a lonely heap
Under that sycamore tree

hey! i’m gonna not be around for just a while =) call me if u have my no or email me at ____

If it’s about work, ____ will attend to you =)
cheers!

p/s: yes it’s all a little grey, but don’t we all get a little crazy sometimes? ;P”

Strange, really strange out of office message. A budding poet in the making perhaps who is keen to share his literary talents?

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Remember the oasis outside my department which I first blogged about in Sep? Yes, it’s still around, but interest in it has largely wained in recent months. Guess we can’t blame people coz other more exciting events have superceded the presence of the oasis.

The Oasis of Calm Serenity has been given a new lease of life today. It’s about time really before it gets relegated to a state of neglect, not unlike the forgotten concubines. By that time we would have to change its name to the Oasis of Long Forgotten. But hey no, there’s no massive expansion of the oasis nor a fresh coat of paint. Instead, some original incumbants of the oasis have bade farewell to make way for new ones to reside.

View of the new look…

…oasis from the top

White poinsettias have now replaced the orchids to grace the sides of the oasis. Add to them blue viburnum berry sprays and white iced branches. I guess it must be the Christmas mood that caused the change of appearance for the oasis. A pity there’s no frost or snow though…

White poinsettias, white iced branches & blue viburnum berry sprays

For fans of the monkey lovers, fret not coz they have decided to sink their roots and throw in their lot with the oasis. They are still around, looking ever so loving and devoted to each other. Perhaps a daily dose of crystal ball gazing lifts the tired spirit? Perhaps perhaps.

Their devotion has instead moved mother nature and she gracefully allowed a diamond studded butterfly to keep them company. Not bad right? So everyone out there, stay devoted and the world will work its miracles for you in return.

Devoted to you & it feels so good…

And who can forget the solitary monkey sitting all by himself atop a stone slab looking admiringly at the monkey couple right? He’s still there. But he has decided to crown himself with a tiara of blue viburnum berry sprays and leaves ala Priscella Queen of the Desert. Guess he must have flown into Thailand for a quick sex change. Now it’s a she, named Princess Monkey. Ain’t she beautiful and regal looking? Hmm…no comments. You go girl…

Transexual Princess Monkey

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This has been a week of mistaken identities. I didn’t know I had the ability to morph into someone else – oh well.

An ex-colleague called and asked if I was the one in the Panadol ad. He described the ad he saw in the MRT train – the guy wearing a suit and having a red swollen nose coz he’s down with flu…sneezing away…to the chagrin of his family members who were pictured being blown away graphically.

I told him no, it’s not me. He insisted it was me. What can I say?

Bumped into a friend’s friend on Sat. He asked me if I acted in “Pleasure Factory” recently. Btw, “Pleasure Factory” tells an intimate and seductive tale involving pleasure seekers and pleasure providers in Geylang, Singapore’s red light district. He said the guy in the film looked 80% like me.

I told him no, it’s not me. He insisted that he really looked like me. What can I say?

If I was really given an ad to shoot or a movie to act in, it is of course a good thing. But in both instances, it’s really not me.

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Today’s post is about loving yourself, or for some people, learning to love yourself. Just think about it – if you don’t love yourself, who will?

By loving yourself, I’m not asking you to splurge on the latest LV bag, La Mer cream or Jimmy Choo heels. Don’t get me wrong.

All I’m asking you is to take better care of yourself in these three ways.

Appearance

You are what you want the world to see from the moment you wake up to the time you retire to bed. If you want to come to work in slippers and singlet, you may. But I’m sure it won’t leave a positive lasting impression on others.

I can’t emphasise enough the importance of looking good in this age and time. It’s really simple of course. There is no elaborate facial regime to follow, just the basic three step cleanse, tone and moisturise, twice daily, will suffice.

Who doesn’t want to look like a million bucks? But you don’t have to rely on expensive high-end brands to maintain this “million dollar” look. In fact, it’s always good to go back to basics. By going back to basics, you are in fact allowing your skin to breathe more naturally.

For the acne prone gang, a pimple cream is vital to help maintain a clear complexion. A clear complexion helps to prevent other problems from occuring in the long run, think white heads and black heads.

Health

You are what you eat literally. Garbage in, garbage out. The theory is this simple. Go slow on the char kway teow, fried hokkien noodles, fried oyster, hamburger etc if you really have to, and don’t binge. Binging will result in a slow, but steady rise of certain parts of the body. For guys, fat is always accumulated in the tummy area. Imagine your tummy greeting your friend before your face. I simply can’t. For ladies, fat is stored in the butts and thighs. And along with this comes a slew of health problems like high cholesterol, blood pressure, fat level etc.

Eat in moderation. You can have a cheat day once a week (but that’s provided you work out at least three times a week for a minimum of 40 minutes). I too give myself a treat (ice cream treat sometimes) to reward myself for working out hard.

There has been much debate about popping multivitamins and whether this really helps. Personally, I think it does. It’s a terrible feeling being sick – I can attest to that.

Holiday

Holidays are an integral part of rejuvenating the tired body and soul. We are already very pitiful by having to slave away in the office. Multiply this by the number of years you have to work before you can officially retire (psst: there are plans to raise the retirement age, don’t say you’ve not been warned).

Again, I’m not referring to holidays to exotic destinations like Alaska or South Africa’s Sun City. Think nearer destinations like China, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia. Or even our sunny little southern island called Sentosa.

I make sure I go for at least two such trips a year. This year alone, I’ve already been on three such holidays (not counting the short day trips to Johor). You really feel good. It’s a superb feeling to soak in the sights and sounds.

While we love ourselves by taking a holiday at the appropriate time, the workaholics continue to slave themselves in the office. But one day, when they collapse as a result of karoshi, they have only themselves to blame.

Go ahead…start to love yourself. You only have one self. Love it well

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公司来了两个新员工。这对大家来说应该是好事 – 毕竟是多了两双手。有了额外的两双手，大家就可以更好的分工合作了。

这只是我太单纯的想法罢了。。。

人是来了。但pattern也显示出来了。孙悟空和蔡依林有七十二变。C君和E君也有他们的一变。 不简单。

这个C君在第二天就没来上班。原因是病到了。这也太凑巧了吧。一病就是病了好几天。真要命! 有和没有根本没有什么两样。

另外一个人兄E君报道的第一天就已经开始嫌东嫌西 – 什么桌子太脏了、位子太晒了等等。好会嫌弃喔！更糟的是在午餐时段竟然和一群阿明混在一起。看到我们非但没散开，还很若无其事的打了一声很酷的招呼“Hi”。翅膀还挺硬的嘛。。。

翅膀太硬不一定是好事。毕竟太硬容易被折断。可要小心喔！

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This must be one of the most unenviable positions in life – being sandwiched in the MRT train during the morning peak. Not only do you lose your personal space, you are also confined to just a two feet space allocation.

But what makes it doubly unenviable is finding yourself positioned between two ladies. That’s the position I found myself this morning.

The train ride was largely intolerable. I couldn’t move forward, for fear of bumping into her rear butt cheeks. No doubt she was busy playing with her raspberry blackberry, any movement from me would still raise a hue and cry. I couldn’t move backward, for fear of bumping into the other her’s twin peaks. No doubt she folded her arms but she didn’t fold them to cover the mountains hills. Instead, she folded them over her navel, leaving the twin peeks peeking out in full glory, accentuated no doubt by the super tight brown T-shirt.

Wah lao…I could only pray the train travel at light speed to deliver me to my destination.

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