Pui

Ok. It matters

Not in the sense that I am ambitious,

but the extra monies certainly will give boost to (short-term) morale.

And also you will sort of expect it,

when you given so much sh** and doing so much beyond your duty.

But oh no,

this is not the case.

This is INDEED an awakening call.

I should run, hide and chill out,

whenever arrows ever come running around again.

If "quality" people like Beanie can go up,

then I should seriously learn more from her.

嗮

幸福不可以到处嗮

幸福不可以到处嗮

幸福不可以到处嗮

但是我真的感觉很幸福。

不论周日过得如何坏，

总有周末可以期待。

然后期待六月，

期待樱花或许会奇迹般盛开，

还有大选后或许更明朗的未来。

此时许多事正在等待，

等待对的时机，来一段与众不同的精彩。

致巫顺昌校长

敬爱的巫校长，

事情过了那么久，却一直没有机会向您道谢，直到今早父亲从报纸上读到您过世的消息，心中一股惋惜和难过。

16年前，我因会考成绩一分之差，无法进入中学的特别班（Special Stream)，修读高级华文，感到非常绝望。当时您对我们说，只要这两年内，在选科前，我们能够以成绩证明给您看我们的能力，你就会破例将我们升上特别班。

因为您这句话，我在中一、中二非常努力地读书。中二那年，您真的让我升上了特别班。很可惜，那年我家搬迁到红茂桥，因为路程太远，无法继续在圣公会读完中学。当我报读圣尼格拉时，她们因担心我拉下那里的会考成绩，不允许我修读特别班。后来我和母亲拿着您的一封公函，等候了许久，终于与李宝丝校长见面，提出要求。她说，如果我要读特别班，就要重考他们中二的考试，以圣尼格拉的水准，证明我的能力。于是，我花了一个星期，每天到圣尼格拉考试，最终进入了特别班，修读高级华文。

巫校长，这件事让我明白了校长的权利只至于他/她自己。如果当年你为了学校排名，不肯给我们这些在会考中摔倒的学生机会，一直把我们压在普通班，以圣尼格拉和教育部的制度，我是不可能有机会到特别班去修读高级华文。如此一来，我也不可能以高级华文的优异成绩进入初级学院，然后进入大学，大学毕业。

如果没有进入特别班，没有修读高级华文，我不会在现在这个位置。

巫校长，谢谢您。

谢谢您，不计较学校排名，处处为学生着想。

我很幸运，遇到您这么一位好校长；也很感慨，现今社会多么缺乏像您一样的校长。

整个教育制度已正在企业化。每个六、七年换一次校长的制度，让许多学生无法对学校产生长久的感情（因为每次回去，都见到不同的面孔），也让校长向“前”看。

六、七年，无法搞出什么教育，所以只能看奖项，看排名，看成绩。这样的状况，令人感到惋惜。

巫校长，想再次对您说声谢谢。

我会在任职期间，尽我的一份绵力，延续您对教育的态度，但愿能如您一样，为迷失的孩子，引出一条正路。

臭屁马

在 "谷歌" 时读到的一篇。

Mah Bow Tan claims that HDB flats remain “affordable” and asks Singaporeans to buy a flat “within their means”
January 14, 2010

For the second time in a month, National Development Minister Mr Mah Bow Tan had reassured Singaporeans again that “HDB is committed to ensuring a sufficient supply of new flats and keeping flats affordable, especially for those setting up their first home.” in a written reply to a question from Madam Ho Geok Choo (West Coast GRC).

Two weeks ago, Mr Mah admitted he had been “caught off guard” by the sky-rocketing prices of resale HDB flats which hit a record high in June last year, fueled partly by the relentless influx of foreigners into Singapore.

Below is a graph illustrating how the rise in the prices of resale flats coincides with the rise in the number of foreigners in Singapore between the years 2000 and 2008, courtesy of Kojakbt, the moderator of 3in1kopitiam:

(See here: http://politics.sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/388014)


Due to the ruling party’s liberal immigration policy, foreigners now made up 36 per cent of Singapore’s population, up from 14 per cent in 1990. According to Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng, there are over 20,000 new citizens and 90,000 PRs last year.

As PRs are permitted to buy resale HDB flats in Singapore, their rising numbers had led to an increase in demand for public housing. Propnex CEO Mohamad Ismail estimated that 20 per cent of the buyers of HDB resale flats are PRs. Another real estate agency, C&H quoted a figure as high as 50 per cent.

PRs frequently “spoil” the market by overpaying for HDB flats. An Indonesian PR paid an astonishingly high price of $653,000 for a 4-room resale flat in Queenstown when he could well afford a private apartment. As the prices of new flats are pegged to that of resale flats in the vicinity, this led indirectly to the high launching prices of the Dawson project in Queenstown a few months later.

Despite Mr Mah’s repeated claims that there is “adequate” supply of HDB flats to meet public demand, it appears that his ministry had failed to plan ahead for Singapore’s increased population now a few years ago as evident from the housing statistics provided by HDB in its financial report for FY2008/09.

(See here: http://politics.sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/388014)

[Source: HDB Financial Report 2008/2009]

As we can see from the above figures, the number of flats built by HDB for the last three years average about 3,ooo plus a year which is way below the number in the preceding 5 years.
55,515 flats were built between 2001 – 2005, or an average of about 11,000 flats a year. From 1996 – 2000, 158,621 flats were built.

Why are there fewer flats built when the rate of immigration was increased during the same period of time between 2006 – 2008?

It doesn’t take an economist to figure out that the rising demand for public housing in the face of limited supply of flats will lead to inflation in prices with some first-time home buyers missing out on their choice of flats or being priced out of the market altogether.
In two recent sale exercises of BTO and balance flats, they were more than 10 times over-subscribed, an indication of the severity of the housing shortage on the ground.

(See here: http://politics.sgforums.com/forums/10/topics/388014)

[Source: HDB Financial Report 2008/2009]

We can see from the above table that there were 9,870 bookings for new flats for only 3,183 units completed in 2008.

Mr Mah also said that “the onus is on Singaporeans to play their part by buying a home within their means.” He had previously castigated first time home buyers who have been complaining about not being able to get a flat of their choice for being “choosy”.

Quoting the affordability benchmark of 30 per cent used frequently by HDB to show that HDB flats remain affordable to ordinary Singaporeans, Mr Mah said a family with a monthly income of $3,000 can buy a flat worth up to $250,000 and spend only 30 per cent of their income every month on the mortgage.

“Similarly, a family with a monthly income of $4,000 can afford to buy a new flat worth up to $333,000 without spending more than 30 per cent a month on the mortgage. This means they can comfortably buy any of the flats offered in the latest BTO projects this month,” he added.
However, Mr Mah fails to take into account the bank interest rates and inflation over the years which will lead eventually to the family spending more than 30 per cent of their monthly income on the mortgage.

Furthermore, after depleting their entire CPF for these over-priced 99-year leasehold HDB flats, they will have little or no savings left for their retirement.

It appears that Mr Mah and his colleagues are unable to comprehend the hardships and sufferings of ordinary Singaporeans, especially first-time home buyers who are under great stress to afford a roof over their heads.

In an earlier statement, Mr Mah even urged home buyers to be “realistic” in their expectations of public housing saying that HDB cannot meet all expectations of home buyers even though the standard of housing has increased over the years.

Singaporeans are paying Mr Mah’s unrealistic salary for him to come out with such unrealistic statements. Perhaps the ruling party should be more realistic of their expectations in the next GE as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

大快人心!

Dedicated to Mr NEO

Heard this song over the radio,

and thought it is so apt for you.

A round of applause for all that drama,

you are probably a better actor than in all your movies.

We can see now you are fine,
for you are gaining strength to "BE" the victim again,
and your wife has publicly announced she has forgiven you as well.

Then perhaps you would like to focus on your children,
and not just throw them to some counsellors,
as if THEY are the one with problems.

If you must, please continue to apologise,
however they can never see you in the same light.

How do I know?

I am a daughter too.

Health Log [8th March 2010]

I know some of you have been waiting for this post.

Thank you for your concern :)
It never fails to warm the heart.

Just to recap,
I went for a most traumatic scope
on the 26th February 2010,
and I came out alive and badly traumatised.

So today, I went for the results of my biospy,
the test on the sample of my stomach
that they scrap out during the endoscope.

Doc says he found nothing wrong with me.

Nothing,
not even a sign of severe acid reflux.

I told him I don't know what to think,
after all that hassle, tests and to-and-fro,
the results are the same:

I am pretty healthy in the eyes of the specialists.

He said that different people have different tolerance of acid.

Some have high volume of acid reflux,
but they dont feel it;
others have just minor reflux,
yet their sensitivity towards this is higher.

Hence I might have a more sensitive upper tract,
leading to discomfort now and then.

He discontinued my medication,
and gave me a 1-year open date,
just in case.

Following that,
I went to the next floor to the voice clinic.

I told my speech therapist what the Gastro specialist said.

She smiled, and said just as she predicted.

She told me she saw many like me,
that have negative results for the gastro endoscope,
yet truly suffering from the symptoms that I experienced.

She then scheduled me for a throat endoscope,
which she said was different from the ENT scope I have done earlier.

This scope, she explained,
will be able to allow the doctor to see clearer
what is going on in the throat.

If there are still signs of inflammation due to acid reflux,
the doctor might prescribe me other types of acid reflux medication,
other than omoprezole.

Really,
this entire episode of scopes and scopes,
tires me out completely.

But I do want to be positive about it.

Perhaps I should just take it that,
I am doing a complete checkup,
on my Heart, Stomach, Nose and Throat.

I feel old already,
having gone through all these.

Hope that the scope will be my last and final one.

I shall take heart, and be strong.

欣慰

今早在办公室的外发现这个。

来自去年最恼人的一班。

也是最对我念念不忘的一班。

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be.

For my unconquerable soul,
in the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance,
my head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears,
looms but the horror of the shade.

And yet the menace of the years
finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
how charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.



~~~ William Ernest Henley ~~~

Clouded

It may be a blessing in disguise after all.


Please never forget the lesson learnt years ago.


Be strong, take heart.


And do not let tears fall so easily again.