Instant Gratification = Problem

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Age of Great Convenience: Boon or Bane?
Sometime back, I come to realize that I have become very impatient with friends when I sms them and do not get a response back within minutes of sending out the message. Is this true for you too? This has caused me to think: we live in an age of great convenience but have this made life better off or worse off?

The Power to Gratify
No doubt that advances in technology has made almost everything possible and almost everything can be achieved almost instantaneously... Wanna contact someone? The possibilities are endless: conventional phones, handphones, sms, emails, ICQ, MSN, mms, video conferencing etc. Want to find information? Switch on the computer and start searching the net instead of just having the option of going to the nearest library. You can even buy something through the internet, without ever leaving your house. Think about movies and songs: when you want a song or movie, it is possible to find and download it through the internet even if it means infringing copyright laws.

A Life of Desire
Our culture of consumption has changed drastically. You no longer buy things that are necessary but things that you are made to want... increasingly, the business model has taken over almost every aspect of life; everything we do must make economic sense and should generate a gain for ourselves (and our organization). The answer to that, as proposed by the business model: "(i) know your customer and their desires, and (ii) find opportunities to help them see how your product or service helps gratify that desire. If not, simply create desire".

We are constantly bombarded by advertisements; advertisements in whatever format (TV commercials, print, web etc) creates desires that you need something (even though it is not a need but a want) through visual cues, often disguised in one of the many following ways:

"it is cool to have this, don't lose out to others"
"it is not cool to be like this and we have the answer"
"this is classy and you WILL want to be seen in this"
"we understand your needs (and this is what you need)",
"pamper yourself, you DESERVE it"
"don't forget you HAVE this problem and we have the (instant) solution"
"this is good for you (and we are the best out there, no doubt about it)"
"this is a deal, act now (or you will regret it)"
and the list goes on...

The basic principle is to create a desire to buy their product or service. As a result, we have desires after desires and if you have the purchasing power, you will soon find yourself gratifying yourself. The aim of life seems to be to gratify every desire that comes along the way.

Welcome to the Age of "Instant Gratification"!
So with ingredient 1 (A life with desire after desire being surfaced and created) + ingredient 2 (power to gratify these desires, either with money or technology), I just find it hard to believe that we can ever find it easy to fight temptation or even have the persistence to fight it, especially the young, who has grown up in this age of "instant gratification" "(where almost everything is possible). We have become somewhat pampered; we expect to have our desires gratified almost immediately.

Example of a Bane
When we send an email or sms, we expect an almost instantaneous response (after all, doesn't technology make that possible?) and a delay in response is sometimes interpreted as "sidelining" you or your message as "second priority"; definitely not good for one's self-esteem. Or you will just get so fed up with the person for making your work and your life so difficult for you, all because the response did not come in as fast as you would want them to.

I am sure there are other banes of living in the age of instant gratification but this is what comes to mind for now...

Inconsistency Angers Me

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scoosh by discochimp

Bottled Up Grievances
I called my ex-colleague yesterday and it seems she is not coping well. She seem terribly over-worked and under stressed, heard that she has to even take on the job of washing toilets now because the "tea lady" is not well and on MC for the week. Really feel great injust for her. Could tell how upset she was from her tone; as she was relating to me all her grievances, she was literally shouting over the phone... don't really know how long more she can last like that.

Lesson on Inconsistency
I got more angered when I heard how inconsistent my ex-acting head was, one moment saying this and the next moment saying that, very inconsistent. Have experienced that when I was there, policies keep changing and you just do not get a sense of the direction where you are really going. Not only is she inconsistent with her words, so is she inconsistent in the way she treats staff. According to my ex-colleague, she kept piling work up on her, failing to fairly distribute work to other staff because "my ex-acting head feels that the other staff are overworked", sometimes even to the extent of taking away work which is to be done by the other staff and piling it on my ex-colleague. Angry! To make things worse, a new staff came (he has the same name as me) and she seems to be very protective of him, several times bending the rules that she has set in the first place for him. Things were definitely not like that for me (though I share the same name as him) when I was there. When I share my displeasure (and I made sure I shared it in a respectful manner), it was ignored. When this new staff shared his displeasure (almost in a complaining manner), she listens and addresses it. So much for consistency! Important lesson learnt: superiors should always be consistent in their words, actions and treatment of staff or else he/she will lost credibility and even may sow discord amongst staff.

A Dilemma
Whenever I think about my ex-acting head, I get so angry; angry that her actions are slowly taking apart what have been achieved by others, particularly myself and bringing the whole organization down (but I disclaim this is my own opinion). I seriously have seen how things have slowed down at my (ex) organization and hate to see things fail but then on the other hand I sometimes do wish things to go wrong so that some people will learn their lesson. I know I shouldn't be thinking in this way. Selfish as it may sound but i sometime can't help but feel this way. In the end, who wants to see something which they have put in a lot of effort fail? But what are the others doing about it?

Tapestry of Yesteryears

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Those of you who spent your childhood in the 80s will probably recognize a few of these cartoons. So how many can you guess correctly?

Click on picture for a larger version

These cartoons were part of my childhood and as I looked at each cartoon, I went "that's right! I remember watching this cartoon!" Fond memories...

Is it me or are the cartoons in the past really more "innocent"?

I am Walking Medicine Cabinet!

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Sick Puppy!
It is difficult not to feel like a sick puppy... I have been given so many medicine to take until I can't remember which I have taken, which I have not... hard to keep tabs... just remember keep popping pills... there is medicine for my headache, my fever, my cough, my sore throat, my flu and my daily medical diet looks like this...

Little orange pills, little white pills, red and yellow ones, yellow and green ones... yes I gotta be very free to be able to do up the chart above (but guess it helps reminds me visually, I learn better visually)

Of all the pills, I must remember to finish my course of antibiotics since I remember hearing that we have to finish antibiotics or else the viruses get immuned to it.

It Rained Hard!
Was groggy yesterday from illness and the pills and remember that it suddenly rained real hard yesterday with lightning and thunder... it was really frightening, no joke. Remember thinking to myself "Judgment day is here so soon?" and then asked myself "Am I ready for judgment day?"

What's Wrong with these People?
Just saw TV footage of child abuse reported in a Turkey orphanage... I mean what's wrong with these people? Do they derive great pleasure in seeing children suffer?

"In one scene, a woman was shown knocking together the heads of two little boys before pushing them to the ground. In another, a group of small boys and girls were stripped naked and hosed down with what was described as scalding hot water. When one of the children complained, the attendant was shown hitting him on the head with a fist-sized stone." ! The Los Angeles Times

"The footage showed children aged six and below being beaten and abused by staff at the orphanage, with once case showing a baby having a pillow put over its face to silence its crying." ~ NTV MSNBC

The funny thing is this: I can't seem to find much news coverage on this on the web, which could, in my opinion, point to 2 things: (1) this is just not news-worthy or (2) this is not real. The fundamental question remains in my mind: how did they get the footage, bearing in mind that the abuse were carried out right in front of the camera. Whether it is real or not, I condemn whoever is responsible. If it is real, I condemn those who abused the children, if not, then I condemn whoever masterminded the tape, sicko!

Heart-Warming or Heart-Wrenching?
I wonder how many of you managed to catch the latest VISA advert starring Richard Gere in India.

In brief: the ad shows a local bringing Richard Gere around the town market. As they pass by a stall selling pigeons, the local explained that if they free the birds, it would bring good luck; more birds, more luck.

A little girl ran into Gere, seemingly in a hurry, she gathered herself and continued on, looking back to look at Gere a few times.

The scene cut to her at a pigeon stall, explaining to the stall-owner that her brother is going away and she would like to buy pigeons to free to wish him good luck. She dishes out a handful of coins but was told by the stall-owner that was only enough to buy one pigeon. With great disappointment, she took over a cage and walked away. Having seen what went on, Gere flashed his VISA card and immediately all the stall-owners eyes "sparkled".

The scene cut to the little girl calling out to her brother who was getting ready to board a camel (I think) and just as she was holding out her cage, hundred of birds flew from behind her. The delighted girl turned her head to look at Gere, who, almost with a kind of childishness, looked away and feign ignorance.

I have mixed feelings about this ad. On one hand, I find the ad condescending... almost like having the "white guy to the rescue", the "white guy is always so kind", "the asian needs the white guy's help" kind of notion. But on the other hand, with the issue of race aside, I like the ad as it showcases human goodness and kindness at work... doing good but trying to remain anonymous (though having that innocent, childish kind of ignorance). Depends how you look at it.

Watch the advert at http://agencyfaqs.com/advertising/imedia/rams/visa_1506_2005.ram

Sick!

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OK, fell sick today. By the time I woke up this morning, I had fever, headache, flu and sore throat...

Made my way to work as usual and because I couldn't take it by late morning, I soon went to a nearby clinic to see a doctor... haven't been to see a private doctor for ages, usually would go to polyclinics for medical consultation (but the polyclinic near my house is closed for renovations). Anyway, was spoilt for choice which clinic to go to... there were like 4 clinics on the same stretch of shops, some were crowded while some had only 2-3 patients waiting inside. Well, the crowded ones should be good right? But I just could not take it anymore and eventually chose one particular clinic and registered myself.

Didn't really know how much it would cost to see a private doc and when I heard the 2 previous patients paying like $80 and $120, I almost freaked out (it was more than what I had in my wallet). Wondered why their medicine were so costly, then remembered that this may be the clinic that is famous with their slimming pills. Anyway, in the end got a whole lot of medicine, antibiotics, pills for fever, painkillers, cough syrup and lozengers, 1 day MC and luckily paid just $24 for it... phew!

Went home to rest and the journey home seemed to take forever.

Today's lesson seems to be on thanksgiving. At staff devotion, we saw a video on the work done by the Salvation Army in Africa and India and we were asked to give to the cause... the philosophy is simple: 1. We give, 2. Jesus blesses the gifts, 3. Salvationist distributes gift, 4. the needy receives.

The "giving" was conducted in an interesting manner and because the theme was "planting 4 the future", there was this potted plant in the room and we were encouraged to walk up to the tree, give our envelops and say a few phrases of blessings as the whole group sang "Give Thanks". Even though sick, I am reminded how fortunate we are as compared to many of the needy in those countries and so I blessed them with my little gift... parted with my new $10 bill, those new plastic one... have been keeping it for sometime but felt pointless to keep it when it could be used for a better cause...

I like a parable which was presented:

a old lady was asked why she planted a tree and she replied that she is planting the tree for her children and her children's children. Just as she has found fully-grown trees in the world grown by others for her, she is also planting the trees for the future.

I found the following parable on the net, think is the same one:

Rabbi Yohanan said: One day, Honi the Circle Maker was walking on the road, and he saw a man planting a carob tree. He asked him, “How long will it take this tree to bear fruit?” The man replied, “Seventy years.” He asked, “Are you quite sure you will live another seventy years to eat its fruit?” The man replied, “I myself found fully grown carob trees in the world; as my forebears planted for me, so am I planting for my children.” - Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit

We should always remember how blessed we are and bless others in return.

Anyway, finally got to go with my friend to Bottle Tree Village in sembawang yesterday evening... nice place to go to and the trees look unique but I think the food there is bit on the ex side... the whole evening, we were playing with his GPS receiver... fun.

Road to Bottle Tree Village... dark

The Bottle Trees

Apa Khabar?

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What are you burning?
Isn't lanaguage interesting? Just this afternoon, me and my colleague were on our way to lunch and one of my colleague blurted out "apa bakar" (thinking she is asking "how are you?"). My other colleague soon told her that "bakar" means burn so "apa bakar" means "what are you burning?" The correct phrase should be "apa khabar" or "how are you?"

So how am I today? Fine, I would say, in fact better than yesterday when I was feeling so much dread going to work.

Bird Flu?!
Well, I woke up sick; feeling hot and this discomfort, like there is mucus stuck in between your mouth and your nose... yucks! Think I am going to have flu (hopefully not bird flu :D). Anyway, I am still feeling sick now and pray I won't fall "sicker".

Don't Shy La!
Early in the morning, another colleague from another department came over to discuss some work and we chit-chatted a bit. Learnt a lot from him and the most important lesson:

How well you do in a conversation is really dependent
on your attitude you take when you approach that conversation.

Remember I was lamenting how shy I am (still "am") at work and when interacting with colleagues and volunteers? This lesson seems to come in time, telling me that most often, as long as I approach a person being genuine and approachable, just let the conversation flow... because the other person will feel comfortable with you and both will just hit it off...

Also, I should, as far as possible, not rely on SMS and emails but rather speak face-to-face with someone so as to add that personal touch. SMSes and emails are prone to various interpretation and hence is not a good choice of communication as compared to face-to-face (or phone) interaction. A good reminder indeed! Helpful for my work and personal life. Somehow I knew this at the back of my head but it only seem to hit me hard on the head now.

Demands @ Work

I also lamented about not being able to handle my projects but then today, I seem to be getting volunteers with the right skills that I am seeking for my various projects. Prayer answered, yes! Still keeping my fingers crossed about it and hope more will come on board.

I also shared about my "daunting" feeling with my boss and feel good after having done that (at least now I can tell my boss that I am not coping, if necessary, and she would understand). Another project concluded successfully today, yeah!

Dreading Work

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Hahaha, I have kept silent about this for sometime but then I have this feeling of dreading to go to work... I can't explain it; I seem happier here but then somehow just dread to go to work. When I get to work, I will look forward to going home after lunch. On weekdays, I look forward to weekends. But don't get me wrong, I still get quite a bit of work done and handle a lot of public enquiries everyday.

No Wake by ZRB

Handling Demands of Work
I am thinking that it might be natural for me to feel this way since I always expect a lot from myself and always want to succeed. The curent demands at work seems to be getting to me (too daunting)... I have on hand a few projects running concurrently and I am needed to find volunteers for them (one project requires close to 5000 volunteers). I also find myself constantly feeling negative about myself because I always seem to be so shy and my job requires me to engage and interact with people. I am really hoping this will change for the better in time to come.

Culture Shock!
In my previous job, I could clock "off" hours for overtime and could always call in if I feel tired and/or want to report for work later. The thought of having to be on time for work and no "off" really frightens me... it seems that other than leave and MC, I can't really "excuse" myself from work. Of course, I know the flexible working conditions I enjoyed in the past is not the norm and I need to get myself realigned back to the normal working conditions but somehow the thought is so scary... culture shock. Need time to adjust.

For the time being, all I can say to myself is: "Give yourself a chance and more time. You are barely there for 2 weeks". After all, I think I also felt this way before in my previous jobs, especially during the initial phases.

50-Cents Cuppa

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Coffee Bags by cwsillero

Now, who says local coffee is boring?

Anyway, I can never understand how to order coffee, so I usually just say "kopi". Now you can be a kopi-expert...

Kopi = thick black coffee with condensed milk
Kopi Siew Dai = thick black coffee with less condensed milk
Kopi Si = thick black coffee with evaporated milk and sugar
Kopi Si Kosong = thick black coffee with evaporated milk, no sugar
Kopi O = thick black coffee with sugar, no milk
Kopi Kosong = plain thick black coffee
Kopi Peng = ice coffee

I think the same applies to teh as well ah?

Just in case you think I painstakingly sat by a kopi-tiam and looked at people order their kopis and taking notes to come up with the above list, I didn't... courtesy of singaporeliving.blogspot.com.

coffee grain 3 by sgi

Good One!

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Read these on "Chew On It"'s blog, good one!

A VERY RESPONSIBLE ADVERTISEMENT
This ad shows a woman with bags and bags of purchases sliding down a spoon. It is for a promotion in which one can participate in a shopping contest to win a trip to the City of Gastronomy -- Hong Kong. The more you shop, the higher your chances of winning.



I can't help but sense that the visual also has a subliminal message,
which I am going to share with the lot of you. And here it is:

"Be prudent with your spending or you will land yourself in hot soup!"

Source: http://chewonitcomics.blogspot.com/2005/10/very-responsible-advertisement.html

You see these posters at MRT stations but not see the "Chew On It" version *grin*, good one.

Source: http://chewonitcomics.blogspot.com/2005/10/posters-1-2-3.html and http://chewonitcomics.blogspot.com/2005/09/4th-poster.html

I Will Run To You

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Another fav worship song:

I Will Run To You
By: Hillsong United

Your eye is on the sparrow
And Your hand, it comforts me
From the ends of the Earth to the depth of my heart
Let Your mercy and strength be seen

You call me to Your purpose
As angels understand
For Your glory, may You draw all men
As Your love and grace demand

And I will run to You
To Your words of truth
Not by might, not by power
But by the spirit of God
Yes I will run the race
'Till I see Your face
Oh let me live in the glory of Your grace

Lovely Day

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Keep hearing this song on the POSB "Everyday Card" TV advert, somehow quite nice (you can listen to it on my radio blog on the right)...

Lovely Day
By: Luther Vandross

When I wake up in the morning, love
And the sunlight hurts my eyes
And something without warning, love
Bears heavy on my mind

[CHORUS]
Then I look at you
And the world is all right with me
Just one look at you
And I know it's gonna be
A lovely day…
…lovely day, lovely day, lovely day…

When the day that lies ahead of me
Seems impossible to face
When somebody else instead of me
Always seems to know the way

[CHORUS]

[BRIDGE]
It's gonna be a lovely day (it's gonna be)
It's gonna be today
It's gonna be a lovely day
Today I love the world and I love you

[CHORUS]

[BRIDGE]
It's gonna be today
A lovely day today
It's gonna be today
A lovely day today


Then found a christian version :D

Gonna Be a Lovely Day
By: Kirk Franklin

When I wake up in the morning love
and my heart is filled with pain.
The smile I had upon my face is gone
can't see the sunshine from the rain

When I think of You then the world is all right with me.
Lord just one thought of You and I know it's gonna be
a lovely day (lovely day [4x]

Jesus You're the lover of my soul,
the fire that burns deep within
You are the joy this world can't take away
The Spirit tells me this will never end

When I think of You then the world is all right with me.
Lord just one thought of You and I know it's gonna be
a lovely day (lovely day [4x]

I know you going through some stuf now
feeling ruff now, feel like givin' up now
But how can you learn if you don't fall
But how can you walk if first you don't crawl
But through it all You keep blessing me
while people keep on pressin' me and stressin' me
because they never hear a preacher flow
Let's come togheter with one heart, one mind
untill we see the sunshine
when I think of You then the world is allright with me.
Lord just one thought of You and I know it's gonna be
a lovely day (lovely day [4x]

a lovely day yeah [repeat]

I Wanna Buy Esplanade!

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Haven't played Monopoly for ages and boy is it not an easy game hahaha...

My friends and I have chipped in to buy a set of Monopoly game (Singapore version) and we came out for a brief game at the airport (were trying to be as quiet as possible as there were students studying). Haha, one of my friends even say that we were very "heartless", sitting in front of those students who are studying for their exams and playing games :)

Anyway I was very paisay at first because somehow felt weird playing board game in public but I soon got absorbed into the game to care so much... Was also clueless how to play the game because I haven't touched the game since like, what, primary school? Soon got the hang of it and I was buying property like nobody's business (for once I felt so rich and can proudly say "I wanna buy clarke quay! I wanna buy Parliament House! I wanna buy Esplanade!).

Had a good game and can you believe it, throughout the whole game, I only drew salary (by going pass "GO") only once. The rest of the time, I kept being sent to jail because I kept rowing doubles (same score on both dices), now how lucky can I get?!

This game is really not easy and it test your bargaining skill and strategic planning skills... anyway we were playing and the game seems not to be going anywhere since noone wants to barge and exchange properties; noone wanted people to start building houses and hotels and charge those who step onto their property exorbitant rent, rent that can make you go bankrupt (friendly!). Everyone had everyone's tiles... then I made a decision and began to "sabo" haha by making a deal with a friend to break the "stalemate" situation hehehe...

Didn't manage to finish the game though, was getting late and we all packed up and went home by about 11.30pm since we all have to work tomorrow.

Bring On the Mushrooms

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Lunching @ Jerry's

Just came back from lunch with a friend who brought me to Jerry's BBQ and Grill in Jalan Kayu. Although a bit on the costly side (the meal costed $47 for 2), it was nonetheless a very filling meal and the food was wonderful.

Some old contraptions we found
outside the stall, looks like old grills

Tucked away in a small corner of Jalan Kayu, opposite the Abundant Grace Presbyterian Church, the unassuming restaurant serves up a feast of sumptuous "all-american" food with large portions.

We went for the set lunch and added a side dish, their signature dish, the Golden Deep Fried Mushrooms. The mushrooms were large, succulent (with tasty juice oozing out when you bite into it) and went well with the tar tar sauce.

Deep Fried Mushrooms

The soup of the day also tasted good and you can find real ingredients in it, unlike the soup served in many other restaurants which somehow make you feel that they got the soup out of a can or cooked it with some instant soup mix.

I ordered the chicken chop and my friend, fish and chips and I almost fell off the chair when I saw the portion (was even contemplating going over to another restarant opposite for a second round before I saw and ate my chicken chop). Also loved the mashed potato; not dry and sticky.

There was no more place to put our food
on the table

Finally, came the dessert and the ice-cream was just wonderful, tasted more creamy and the it had a stronger favour than most ice-cream I have had. Definitely would bring my friends back again if we are in the area and do not know where to eat... Oh, did I say that they seem to only accept nets or credit card? When we went for the bill, we were given a bill and on top it read

"WE DO NOT ACCEPT CASH PAYMENTS. PLEASE PAY BY CREDIT CARD OR NETS"

Unique!