To Edith Tee

New 31-Day Challenge Set

After going through the list of the previous 30-day challenge, which I've yet to start, Angie and I both realised that the topics were rather boring and she even decided to change up a few. So we thought that we would come up with a slightly more entertaining, and hopefully fun, topics to write about in the 2nd 30-day challenge.

1. Favourite Romantic Movie
2. Favourite Talk Show
3. Favourite Action Movie
4. Favourite Musical Group
5. Favourite Theme Song from a Movie
6. Favourite Animated Movie
7. Favourite Musical Male Artiste
8. Favourite Comedy Series
9. Favourite Host
10. Favourite Musical Famale Artiste
11. Favourite Horror Movie
12. Favourite Book to Movie Adaptation
13. Favourite Music Video
14. Favourite Musical Movie
15. Favourite Author
16. Favourite Actress
17. Favourite Music Album
18. Favourite Book 
19. Favourite Female Character in a Movie
20. Favourite Celebrity Couple
21. Favourite Song
22. Favourite Drama Series
23. Favourite Actor
24. Favourite On-Screen Couple
25. Favourite Male Character in a TV Series
26. Favourite Comedic Movie
27. Favourite Female Character in a TV Series
28. Favourite Male Character in a Movie
29. Favourite Theme Song from a TV Series
30. Favourite Variety Programme or Reality Series
31. Favourite Athlete 

OH MY BACKLOG!!

I Work With An Idiot For A Supervisor

"I'm so mad at you right now
That I can't think straight
And I should shut my mouth
So I don't let out the cruel things I say"

Sometimes I wish to get back at you for what you did to Aunty Carol, but I won't stoop so low as to hit below the belt with lies spun out of you stupid head.

To Angie "RF" Ong

Now I Know Why I Didn't Bother Looking

"Being single is a lot wiser than being in a wrong relationship." ~ Jodi Lipper

And after all the years of listening to people gripe about the crazy stuff in their relationships, I guess the quote just sums everything up as to why I've never bothered looking to start one.

And So The Challenge Is Out...

A blog a day, for the next 30 days with the following topics:

Day 01 — Your best friend
Day 02 — Your Crush
Day 03 — Your parents
Day 04 — Your sibling (or closest relative)
Day 05 — Your dreams
Day 06 — A stranger
Day 07 — Your Ex-boyfriend/girlfriend/love/crush
Day 08 — Your favorite internet friend
Day 09 — Someone you wish you could meet
Day 10 — Someone you don’t talk to as much as you’d like to
Day 11 — A Deceased person you wish you could talk to
Day 12 — The person you hate most/caused you a lot of pain
Day 13 — Someone you wish could forgive you
Day 14 — Someone you’ve drifted away from
Day 15 — The person you miss the most
Day 16 — Someone that’s not in your state/country
Day 17 — Someone from your childhood
Day 18 — The person that you wish you could be
Day 19 — Someone that pesters your mind—good or bad
Day 20 — The one that broke your heart the hardest
Day 21 — Someone you judged by their first impression
Day 22 — Someone you want to give a second chance to
Day 23 — The last person you kissed
Day 24 — The person that gave you your favorite memory
Day 25 — The person you know that is going through the worst of times
Day 26 — The last person you made a pinky promise to
Day 27 — The friendliest person you knew for only one day
Day 28 — Someone that changed your life
Day 29 — The person that you want tell everything to, but too afraid to
Day 30 — Your reflection in the mirror

So good thing about this challenge is that it fills up the blog, and it gives someone something to read. Question is, is anyone even reading this? Oh well, benefit to me is that I might get back the blogging bug, and I definitely will have more insight to my life and the things associated with it.

Now, when do I start?

Blown Away By The Gentleman

Was shopping at Mustafa for stuff I needed for my new outlet, and since Yau Ching was free, he helped by reminding me about the things I needed and tried to make me purchase stuff I didn't need as well.

Anyway, Mr 'Playboy' Yong, as he was once known as about 5 to 10 years back, always made me wonder how in this world a person like him could get so many girls to actually take notice of him, let alone get so swept off their feet that he would be able to con so many into going out with him. Apparently, he looked a lot more handsome back in the day, according to another colleague who knows him longer, and at the point I got to know him, he grew a lot fatter. :p

His personality definitely didn't impress me, and in some instances, actually pissed me off. And since I never noticed him even though we apparently were within arm's reach of each other quite a number of times, I obviously wasn't impressed by him.

However, this one time shopping, he did something that not only took my by surprise, but it did make me realise that he has little tricks up his sleeve. I wondered if he actually was such a nice person when he was in his playboy prime, and probably was one reason why many could've been impressed as I was. What he did was simply just insist on carrying my bags, and actually kept the door open for me to walk through. I guess it's simple, but just because it was unexpected, it was rather impressive - to see that he actually can act like a gentleman.

I wonder what other little tricks he has....

To Yau Ching & Sudha

When You're Finally Willing To Listen....

Someone advised me that they would let me in on my weaknesses if I was willing to listen, and after listening to that line, I couldn't help but wonder what in the world the person had to tell me about myself that I didn't already know. Another thing was, this person obviously didn't know me as well as they think they did by telling me to be willing to listen.

Then the day comes and what do I get to know? Nothing really. For whatever that person had to tell me about my weaknesses, I already knew. In fact, I could've actually told this person a few more things about whenever I get angry, I get angry at the person, and the person only. However, if I am angry, it's better for anyone around me not to have me talk than have me spewing vile words that might burn unnecessary victims. Then another thing is if I'm angry with myself, it's better to just leave me alone and let me cool off, rather than have some people act cute and try to make me laugh. One more thing is that if you feel that I'm giving you some shitty attitude, it's probably because you're the one who pissed me off.

Anyway, I was willing to listen till the point you just told me what I already know, and then I switched off. So now the question is, are you ever willing to listen, or is your speciality just talking?

To Meena

Heart Stealers

"It occurs to me that every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart with him. Then every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of his heart. Therefore, if I should live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will then become as generous and loving as dogs are!" ~ Author Unknown

I don't know if I've learnt how to give away my love like a dog would, but I can definitely give it back to them. They definitely steal my heart faster than anyone else can because they don't have to ability to lie like humans do. And through the years they're with you, they teach you a lot of things about yourself, and also a few life lessons to get you back on track when you're feeling lost.

Though I would say that they not only take a piece of my heart, they take a piece of my soul as well.

At Crossroads Once Again

So for the past 4 years, I've been working part-time at Dome, even changing my location last year. Now it has come to the point where the upper management have been asking if I'd like to join the company full-time. Honestly, I want to tell them I can and yet I feel I can't.

To join full-time, I'd lose a lot of freedom, especially when it comes to choosing the days I can go about doing things I want. Losing the time to catch up with friends is more of an option really. Everyone who's my classmate in Shatec would know that people in the service industry will never have time on weekends unless they've been booked at least 2 weeks ahead. As for the people who knew me before that, they've either learnt the hard way that I never have time on weekends, and week nights, or they know that they should book me 2 weeks in advance. But the question if is this freedom really worth losing just to try to get into school. Somehow I feel it's the right time. Time to conquer the fear of not being able to handle both situations together.

I somehow know that if I were to stay at this outlet with the people I have now, I will be able to manage both sides. However, if the situation ever asks for either myself or Y.C. to transfer out, I have a feeling things might not go so well. Then again, it's all down to negotiations.

Guess it's time to have a talk with Y.C..

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

Especially for someone who will NEVER want to admit that he is wrong, "Sorry" will probably be a word he will not utter even until death. Making lame jokes and trying to act all cute in an attempt to make me your friend again will not work. In fact, it won't even make me smile because that, to you, would be a sign that everything is all right again. Honestly, it won't be. It's not going to be right until you take the step to apologise, or own up to your mistake. YOUR bloody mistake that ended up as my problem when I had to take the brunt of the customer's fury, to make so many phone calls just to clean up the mess you made. All of this while I was trying not to lose control of my temper, and even when I did, you couldn't even squeak out a tiny little "sorry".

To think that I tried giving you chance after chance, trying to actually include you as friend, but you can't even be  good co-worker.

Now I wonder to myself, even if you do apologise or own up to your mistake, would it be a little too little too late? I think it is.

I Hope You Get Bloody DIarrhea

If in the first place I did not take your order and said that you could use the voucher, don't give me that shitty attitude when I inform you of the company's stupid procedures. If the gutless idiot of an assistant supervisor can't tell you the bad news himself, someone has to do it, but I don't deserve the verbal diarrhea u decided to spew onto me. Plus telling me that I said this and that to you when it's the first time I'm approaching you is not a good idea if you want me to understand your point of view. If you're not happy to eat at the cafe in the first place, don't come just because you want to save $5. Seriously, was the voucher really worth it? What if I really decided to spoil your dinner and told you that I'd stop my kitchen from making your order and that you can head to the other outlet instead? Would you prefer that? From my point of view, you deserved that kind of attitude from me.

So since it's all over and done with, the only thing I can hope for is that you get bloody diarrhea and hope that doctors find that it wasn't food that caused it.

Gotta Get My Butt Back Home

Joyeux Anniversaire à Diana Tan

6 years and going. The past year has seen quite a few changes, including the look of this blog. Oh how I wish I can change some of the other things in my life as well, but the blog is one thing I can have quite a bit of control over and change so easily.

Listen, You Intrigue Me.

For all the times I said you should listen, I didn't expect you to listen to the things that seem so trivial to me. So that has not only perked up my ears, it has open up my eyes and mind too.

Wonder if you wanted to be noticed?

I Wish I Knew More Entrepreneurs Then

"Surround yourself with people of where you want to be in life!"

So far, I'm surrounding myself with someone who understand how to run a restaurant, one who understand how to market a project, and a lot of nutty people. I think I'm doomed. Hahaha!

Something To Ponder Over

Written by Adrian Tan, author of The Teenage Textbook (1988), was the guest-of-honour at a recent NTU convocation ceremony.

This was his speech to the graduating class of 2008.
-----

I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.

You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process” and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they’re wrong.

The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.


What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.


The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term “Karoshi”, which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.


I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.


The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn’t say “be loved”. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.
You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.


Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

To Karen Ng

Heading For Bubba Gump

How I Wish I Can Tell This To Some People...

"Look not for a perfect partner but one whom can give you happiness."

Especially after you hear some of the sob stories about people who break up with their partners, or have been cheated on, or are wondering if they have got the right person to spend the rest of their lives with, you find something like the quote above useful. It tells you to get your head out of the clouds and get back to earth, realise that there's no such thing as the perfect man or woman as everyone will change eventually.

Back To Normal....

My manager is back from his leave and I'm bored with the following week's schedule. I seriously need to get my butt back into school so I'd at least have something tough to concentrate on and burn my brains out. That or go back to work full-time. But do I really want to stick to the same company?

To Mei Mei Fat Fat

To Desak

To Shane & Chloe

I'm Loving It

My manager is on leave and that has left me with a lot more hours to work. Most people might grumble, but I'm actually loving it, and it's not because I'm getting more money out of it. Noooooo.... I'm actually loving the fact that I end up going home tired. Tired enough to fall asleep while thinking of the next line to type. At least it leaves me with less rubbish to think about, gives me a bit more sleep, and definitely giving me a lot more fun out of my day. Yay!

To Denise

To Joanne

Back With My Pooh Bear Super Soaker

To Ms Kuna

Gone For Songkran In Bangkok With The Red Shirt Protestors

To Kelly Umpleby

What Am I?

Am I not human? Do I come across as a person who does not have emotions? Do I look like a walking ear? Or am I just some machine on the other end of the line, recording your bitching, never to talk back or give any opinions?

What you did the other day was just bloody RUDE, and for you not to realise that I was pissed with you is just plain stupid. On top of that, even after sending you a message, you still didn't seem to take any initiative to even apologise. Worst of all you got the cheek to ask what can you do now, then ask if you should apologise, and then give such a shitty, non-committed apology that it was as though I was forcing it out of you. Seriously, I could have just kicked your balls in when you said that but you're lucky you were seated next to me and not across.

You say that you and your friends would argue about things and then forget about it the day after. But when, within the last 5 days, other than the exchange in the car, did I even get to argue anything? So maybe I'm not your friend, but do you ever stop and listen? The whole point about arguing is that you get things out in the open, that you voice what each of you think is wrong. Even in the car, what did I get to say? Honestly? All I got out was that I'm pissed off about the incident and then I was basically cut off, once again, by you saying that it's "such a small matter".

When you're the one being rude, it doesn't affect you as much as the one on the receiving end of that crap attitude. How did you like it when I didn't want to answer your questions? Did it feel like "some small matter" or did you start wondering if I was pissed off with you or something else? Did it feel nice that I didn't want to talk to you? Why all the questions to find out exactly what the problem was then?

I understand you're tired, that you've said your peace, but what makes you think that I've got nothing to say? What makes you think that just because you've reached home that it's alright to just cut me off and decide when, to your liking, that we would pick up the conversation again? If you wanted to bitch and not have any feedback, I suggest you start a private blog. But don't treat me as if I have no thoughts of my own, no feelings, no opinions. Don't treat me as though I'm some machine on the other end of the line to just hear what you have to say and then switch off once you're done.

Although I've gone through listening to so many people gripe, none have made me felt so used as you have. The worst part of it all is how disappointed you made me with the way you just think that it's some issue to be taken lightly, that apologising seems to be too much for something so "trivial".

I'd sooner be stupid than rude. 

Stupidity can be forgiven, but unnecessary rudeness is rarely forgiven or forgotten.

Interesting Point

Why do talented employees leave companies?

The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization. The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was in a book called First Break All The Rules.

It came up with this surprising finding: If you're losing good people, look to their immediate supervisor. More than any other single reason, he is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why they quit, taking their knowledge, experience and contacts with them. Often, straight to the competition . "People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. "So much money has been thrown at the challenge of keeping good people - in the form of better pay, better perks and better training - when, in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue." If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers . Are they driving people away?

Beyond a point, an employee's primary need has less to do with money, and more to do with how he's treated and how valued he feels. Much of this depends directly on the immediate manager. And yet, bad bosses seem to happen to good people everywhere. A Fortune magazine survey some years ago found that nearly 75 per cent of employees have suffered at the hands of difficult superiors . You can leave one job to find - you guessed it, another wolf in a pin-stripe suit in the next one.

Of all the workplace stressors, a bad boss is possibly the worst, directly impacting the emotional health and productivity of employees.

Here are some all-too common tales from the battlefield:

Dev, an engineer, still shudders as he recalls the almost daily firings his boss subjected him to, usually in front of his subordinates. His boss emasculated him with personal, insulting remarks. In the face of such rage, Dev completely lost the courage to speak up. But when he reached home depressed, he poured himself a few drinks, and magically, became as abusive as the boss himself. Only, it would come out on his wife and children. Not only was his work life in the doldrums, his marriage begun cracking up too.

Another employee Rajat recalls the Chinese torture his boss put him through after a minor disagreement. He cut him off completely. He bypassed him in any decision that needed to be taken. "He stopped sending me any papers or files," says Rajat. "It was humiliating sitting at an empty table. I knew
nothing and no one told me anything." Unable to bear this corporate Siberia, he finally quit.

HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find public humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted. The second time, that thought gets strengthened. The third time, he starts looking for another job.

When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information. Dev says: "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble. You don't have your heart and soul in the job."

Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, too nit-picky. But they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents.

When this goes on too long, an employee will quit -often over seemingly trivial issue. It isn't the 100th blow that knocks a good man down. It's the 99 that went before. And while it's true that people leave jobs for all kinds of reasons - for better opportunities or for circumstantial reasons, many who leave would have stayed - had it not been for one man constantly telling them, as Arun's boss did: "You are dispensable. I can find dozens like you."

While it seems like there are plenty of other fish especially in today's waters, consider for a moment the cost of losing a talented employee. There's the cost of finding a replacement. The cost of training the
replacement. The cost of not having someone to do the job in the meantime. The loss of clients and contacts the person had with the industry. The loss of morale in co-workers. The loss of trade secrets this person may now share with others. Plus, of course, the loss of the company's reputation. Every person who leaves a corporation then becomes its ambassador, for better or for worse.

We all know of large IT companies that people would love to join and large television companies few want to go near. In both cases, former employees have left to tell their tales.

"Any company trying to compete must figure out a way to engage the mind of every employee," Jack Welch of GE once said. Much of a company's value lies"between the ears of its employees". If it's bleeding talent, it's bleeding value. Unfortunately, many senior executives busy travelling the world, signing new deals and developing a vision for the company, have little idea of what may be going on at home. That deep within an organization that otherwise does all the right things, one man could be driving its best people away.

Sometimes Things Just Appear At The Right Place, Just At The Most Perfect TIme.

"Don't let the last person that hurt you, rob you of loving someone new with ALL YOUR MIGHT"

"Keep an eye on ur happiness, if sum1 enters ur life, don't let em leave with it!"

Just when I wondered if I should let open up a bit more space for another person to add to my special list of best friends, and out pops little quotes that help answer the question. People say that we just twist things to suit our needs, but who knows if things do just land right in front of you at the right time?

To Criszean Tan

To Mandy Kaur

Get On With It

As one of my number one pet peeves is for someone to call before 12p.m., my second one to that is for the person to find out that I was sleeping before I answered the call, and then attempt to get me to go back to sleep by saying they'll call back later. Just continue the conversation and get on with it.

After you woke me up by making my phone ring, don't tell me you'll bother me again at a later time as you already have my attention. I've already managed to grab the damn phone, spot who is calling me (which means I do reject some people, which means you've already got priority if I answer, which means your call better be worth my damn time!), hit the answer button, and grunt my greeting - that should indicate to you that I'm awake enough to listen to what you have to say. With that in mind, don't beat around the bush and just get to your point. Seriously why do you care why I'm still sleeping at that hour? I've got nothing better to do, so I might as well rest, and if it was the day I fell sick, I wasn't even awake for more than 3 hours in the whole 24 hour period. Yes I can hibernate like a bear....

Now touching on being well-rested, I guess the lack of it was part to blame for me getting sick, other than the person (yes... you... Mr Yong) coughing in my face. So if you do find out that I'm not well, then either don't ask me to run an errand, or just go straight to the point and ask if i could run an errand, but DO NOT ask me to go back to bed and rest because you ALREDY WOKE ME UP!

Now I probably will get myself out of bed after ending the conversation with you, but I might have to head back to bed later because you interrupted my sleep. If that's the case, the reason why I won't allow you to call me later is so that you won't wake me up again, interrupting my much-needed sleep. 

Case Study WK001

It seems that 'the client's' reaction towards the departure of a certain colleague has been rather negative. Emotions shown have thus far been anger, fear and disappointment. Further investigations have revealed that the client is concerned about the job security of the aforementioned colleague, and fears that trouble might arise in the future if the colleague decides to return to the old team. Also, with reference to a previous  incident with another colleague, there is a slight fear that this colleague might back out of the contract, requiring the client to clear up the situation. Is this out of concern?

Anger seems to be focussed towards superiors, insisting that they are "up to no good" and "trying to pull a fast one" on the colleague. Possible paranoia? Could possibly be unhappy about the fact that his opinion was not asked of before they spoke to the colleague, disrespecting the client's position at work. Slight disappointment can be observed with regards to the colleague for not seeking the client's opinion before agreeing to the new contract. More importantly, the client is not too happy that they decided to get this colleague only as a last resort, instead of a first choice. Could this be the reason this issue is festering?

Another issue the client has brought to my attention is how the new location for the colleague seems to fall short of the client's expectations. Compared to other companies, the display of products at the new location is pathetic. To the client, Old Chang Kee seems to have a better display of products. Furthermore, the client does not feel that the future plans regarding the new location will really take off as projected by the company. The client feels that the company needs to gain better standards, and create better products to gain the clientele it needs, however the company lacks a good chef.

To be continued...

Never Make Me Lose My Trust In You

Recently I heard about some things that someone I used to work with had said behind my back. It made me think of the time when some people exploited the information that I gave them, using it against Adi to create trouble. I guess their first mistake was to use it against Adi, which was how I got wind of what they did, and now I don't trust them anymore. The trust that you gained through years of working together, lost in a second.

Obviously that wasn't the first time I lost my trust in certain people, there's definitely the ones that borrowed money and are no where to be found, and the one person who was just too stupid to try and hide the truth when I already knew everything.

So this bitch decided to tell Y.C. that I would not call when I can't show up for work. The people who have worked with me before will know that's not my style, although if I'm going to be a few minutes late, I won't bother calling as I'll show up at work by the time the call got through - plus I see that it's a waste of time to call and spend the few minutes saying I'll be late when I can use my hands to get dressed faster. Well since I don't really like working with her, it wasn't much of a loss to me if I didn't work at the outlet when she was around. As I believe, Karma's a badass biatch, and she's out of my life.

More importantly, what I don't get is why these people have to try to make others look bad. Would it actually make you look good in other people's eyes? If people found out the lies you spin, then the one at a loss would be the liar in the first place as no one would trust you anymore. Personally I think trust is one thing I really, really treasure - it's one reason I don't have many best friends, the same reason I don't confide in many people about some issues. I don't understand it when some people can not just trust the person they're with and let things be. The other issue is when someone abuses your trust and yet you still stick with the person, yet gripe about how you don't trust him/her - then why stay with the person? Some say people do deserve a 2nd chance, but a 3rd and a 4th is a bit too much to ask for. As for myself, I will only give you a second chance if I think you're worth it.

In the case of the 3 people I work with, I won't bother with the second chance. If you can't even play nice when I don't even threaten your position at work (or do I?), then how would you treat me as a friend? If you're already using and abusing me at work, I won't be stupid enough to want that when we're out of the outlet. So not trusting the 3 of you is rather good as it helps me eliminate more useless people in my life, along with the leeches and the idiotic.

To Kay Rodenwald