Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Ooooh......Earthquake

Ah......A quick check online and apparently an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 just occured off the south of Padang, Sumatra. First time I experienced a tremor. Damn. It did not feel good. I was thinking why suddenly the whole building felt like it was shaking. I hope the damage is not too great over in Sumatra and may there be no Tsunamis. With the Samoan Islands being hit just yesterday, rescue resources from neighbouring countries are going to be stretched.

Was I Shakened?

I was playing my game when suddenly I felt as if my chair was being rocked backwards and forwards. What is happening? Arggg!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Not Good Enough

My mum asked me today why I have not landed a job yet. It has been 4 months since I got squeezed out from being a Teacher due to various reasons and I am still very much unemployed. I told my mum that the reality in Singapore is as such:

1) Her son, me, does not have a Degree with Honors
2) Most companies only want degree holders who graduated with Honors
3) None of the big companies would take me because they are very clear in their advertisements, Good Degree (which is the same as at least a Second Lower Honors Degree) or Honors Degree (Which means only First Class Honors need apply)
4) None of the smaller companies would want me because I have no or little RELEVANT experience and will cost more than a Fresh Graduate
5) When you work in the Private Sector, especially the Engineering sector, you will be hard pressed to find any NUS graduates
6) Similarly, in the Public Sector, you will be hard pressed to find any NTU graduates, Teaching and Uniformed Services do not count
7) Teaching and Uniformed Services do not count because they are the only branches of the Public Sector who employ graduates of any background or ranking for their Front-Line Officers
8) Similarly, like point (6) you will be hard pressed to find any non-Honors graduate (NUS, NTU or SMU) among their Executive or Non-Uniformed Personnels
9) If you do find any non-Honors graduates among the Public Sector employees who have joined within the recent 5 to 10 years, chances are they are more likely than not to be graduates of NUS
10) The worse kind of person to be unemployed are former Public Sector employees, meaning rank-and-file and non-Management Executives only, as the Private Sector would deem them "tainted" due to the perception of breaking the supposed "iron-rice bowl" hangs largely over their head
11) The emphasis on Honors Degree is simply over-rated and is a source of amusement to many European countries
12) Non-honors Degree holders are just as good and some have even better work ethics
13) 9 out of 10 low application jobs on any of the local job employment websites have a common term, SALES
14) I can sell a theory (why things need to be done), I can sell a lesson (class lesson in maths) but I cannot sell any product, tangible or non-tangible
15) Although I am trained as an Engineer, I am lousy as an Engineer and my forte is towards Administration and Coordination of non-technical(engineering) aspects of any projects, returning to Engineering is not an option
16) Engineering is not an option anyway as they were the biggest bleeders for this year and the last
17) The economy is not doing as well as everyone claims. Even if it is picking up, job opportunities do not correspond accordingly

Naturally I have not been sitting on my hands and doing nothing
1) I have been sending applications out everyday
2) I have even visited employment agencies but it is just another case of the final employer putting up another filter
3) I have been asking for salaries comparable or even lower to a fresh graduate although I am able to command more
4) 786 applications to date and only 3 interviews
5) One company even asked me to drop my asking rate to below that of a poly-grad because I do not have a relevant lower-educational level certificate
6) I will continue applying and hope that somebody will break it into their head that there are not as many Honors graduates in Singapore as they think and non-Honors graduates are just as good if not better

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Great Caveman

Went to watch the play Defending The Caveman yesterday evening and it was great. It was a one-man play about the diffrences between man and woman. It started off with a short video montage where women keeps claiming that "All Men Are Assholes". Oh my, what a start. It was really great as Daniel, the actor, put up the sides of the story between man and woman. How we men are hunters and women are gatherers. This was an important point as it is used to reflect the many misadventures we men have. Haha. Oooh, not forgetting, during Act 1, there was a scene where Daniel took out a can of beer and mentioned, "I feel guilty being the only one drinking here." At first when he offered the audience a can of beer, nobody went for it. Later when an audience accepted his offer, hands started sprouting as he went on to give out about 7 cans of beer in total. I was lucky as I happened to be seated quite forward and in the centre and got a can myself. And....the beer was cold! Hahaha!

If any of you have the opportunity, do head down to DBS Arts Centre - Home of SRT for the play. Seats might not be as ideal at this point but it is a really a great play and it is not too expensive. It is great for both ladies and males to enjoy. Do give it a go! Cheers Daniel!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Personality Profile

Just did a personality profile with a company today and they gave me the report. I wonder how true it is.

At a Glance
• Less concerned with quality, may not notice errors.
• Objective, but may appear detached.
• Empathetic, understanding, helpful and supportive.
• Quiet and reserved, prefers own company.
• Faithful, trustworthy and devoted in long-term relationships.
• Not concerned with rank, title or position.
• Sees people as nice and friendly, not comfortable to wheel and deal.
• Orderly, methodical and systematic, takes care to plan in detail.

While at Work
• Is prepared to put in hard work moderately but he may at times prefer to work at his own pace.
• Is relatively dependable to deliver results on time. He may sometimes be late in meeting deadlines.
• Generally will persist with work until it is completed but may at times not complete his tasks.
• Is less concerned with the quality of work. He may be inclined to meet other requirements of his job but is willing to compromise on quality and details. He tends to be careless and cannot spot errors easily. As such, he is not suitable for work requiring high level of accuracy.
• Is an objective person who is impartial and rational. He speaks factually and often does not involve his own feelings and emotions. He may sometimes be perceived as distant or detached.
• Is sympathetic and considerate towards others. He is also likely to be tolerant, understanding and forgiving. He lends support and offers help readily. He often lends a listening ear to others and is concerned about their welfare. He is also charitable.
• Being a shy, quiet and reserved person, he prefers his own company and feels awkward when meeting people for the first time. In social gatherings, he tends to stay in the background.
• Is the sort of person who forms long term bonds and attachments. He is faithful, trustworthy, and devoted in such relationships. He tends to be trusting, dedicated and protective towards those he loves. Patriotism and sense of duty is a significant aspect of his character.
• Is moderately serious about his responsibilities and selectively takes ownership of his work.
• Does not care much about how people view him or whether they respect him or not. He focuses on what he wants to do for himself. He is unconcerned with issues of ranks, positions or titles. Status symbols are unimportant for him. He does not draw attention to himself and dresses moderately and simply.
• Sees people as friendly, reliable and honest. He is trusting and believes what people say. He tends to be unsuspecting of people's behaviour and motives. He is uncomfortable when he has to wheel and deal.
• Leadership qualities are moderate and he is sometimes able to get the support of people.
• Is as keen to explore abstract concepts when the topic appeals to him and he is as interested to discuss theoretical issues as the average person.
• Being orderly, methodical and systematic, he spends considerable time planning ahead and organizing activities. He ensures that programmes are scheduled properly and takes care to plan in detail. Formulating procedures and policies is his forte.
• Is generally able to express himself although not to a high degree of eloquence.
• Is generally able to tolerate some uncertainty although he would be uncomfortable if uncertainty or changes increase.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Dull Ache In The Stomach

That dull ache in the stomach is making life difficult for me. I can neither, stand, sit nor sleep propery. Arggg.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

My Clock Is Ringing?

I was just informed today that my cousin, the doctor who is the same age as me, is pregnant. AHHHHH! When I heard it, I was stunned for a while but then felt empty. I thought about it and put it down to the fact that maybe I want a child of my own too. Maybe.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Interesting Animation

Bloody bored and was going through some YouTube clips when I stumbled upon this. Pretty interesting, to me that is.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Bird Dropping

I wash the clothes at home every week and usually have no issues with the birds. However, today, a shirt and my bedsheet got "bombed"! Hrumph!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted?

A classic 1966 song by Jimmy Ruffin, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted, brings out the true emotions of those hurt in this sweet Motown music. I first heard it when I watched JAG a couple of years back and have liked this song alot.

Joan Osborne did a very good rendition of this song in 2002 and unfortunately all links to her rendition are not available for embedding. You can click on the link below to listen to her version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA0GcXV2njY

Friday, September 11, 2009

Counting Down

As each day goes by, things go up. Power bill, food bill, cost of ilving, my weight, etc, etc. On the other hand things go down too. Luxury, respect, savings, investments, etc, etc. I do not know if I should count up or count down. What I do know is that is I am as good as worthless come next month. Sigh.

Monday, September 07, 2009

Cost Of Staying True

We are quick to claim to achieve great things and we always want to claim success. We avoid acknowledging our failure for fear of being seen as weak. As per the Darwinian theory, the weak are soon left out and forgotten. However, I do not think that showing weakness is a sign of fragility or lack of emotional control. It just shows that we are truly what we are, human beings. After all, if we stop kicking others on our way to the top, everyone would have a lot less bruises and, WE(YOU), will be a lot less alone.

The greatest thing we do in this life is that which will cost us the most.

Sunday, September 06, 2009

It's Getting Worse

It really is getting worse. Everyone seems to be able to land interviews yet I can't even get a sniff of a temp placement. Sigh.

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Tired

Doing nothing is really tiring. Really really tiring. Yawn!

Friday, September 04, 2009

Liability

Today's news had the following headline: "Credit Card holders liability to be $100". It seems that after such a long long time, something right is happening. Afterall, with the way infocom works these days, it is not too dificult to lift somebody's credit card information and misuse it. AMEX has had this clause for years but the other banks never seem to deem it fit. To them, it was money lost which they would have difficulty in recovering, similar to writing off bad debts, which equates to bad business. I am just amazed at how this agreement was pulled off really.

On a side note, with the English Premier League broadcast rights up for bids soon, I see another sad sad episode for fellow football mad Singaporeans. Singapore is too small to have 2 pay TV operators bidding over their heads for the rights. I am agreeable on the fact that we should not let a foreign broadcast provider, such as ESPN, take on the mantle and then resulting in pay-tv subscribers being passed on the cost from the pay-tv provider, such as StarHub, in Singapore. However, back when ESPN had the supposed Monopoly, watching pay-tv Sports was not too expensive. In fact, it could be considered affordable seeing as pay-tv is very much a luxury. When Starhub decided to go in on their own and won the broadcasting rights over ESPN, that was when everyone suddenly took noticed of how much they were paying for this luxury. In fact, the signs were there when we were being charged on top of the usual Sports Subscription Packages for the rights to watch World Cup. From then on, it was no more for me. In fact, the whole notion of paying over the top for pay-tv sports is getting ridiculous and smacks full of criminal liability. In case you are wondering, I was once a pay-tv subscriber myself but have since stopped. I have been living purely on free-to-air channels and I feel that it is sufficient to keep me informed and entertained. I get my dosage of what is not available on local tv via legal video and news clips online. I do not see the need to pirate anything off the internet and simply put, I still think that the TV is very much still the Idiot Box. Although, the PC is fast becoming the new one.

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

A Voice From Recent Past

I was dreaming in my sleep a short moment ago. In my dream, I was in a place away from Singapore when I received a call. Even in my dream, I felt really surprised when I heard the voice on the other side of the line. It was Sunshine.

"Hey, I'll meet you at the baby pool later?" asked Sunshine.

"Erm......I'm in KL now, I can't," I replied.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

"I did. I asked you if you wanted to join me but you said you did not want to come along," I replied.

I forgot what happened in the dream thereafter but it ended soon as I was jolted awake by that dream call. I do not know why her voice suddenly appeared in my dream. We have not spoken since January this year, the last I thought of her was early last month and given what had happened, it really came as a surprise to me to hear her voice, even if only in my dreams.