Are you interested in the Greater China?

I took my precious time off this morning to attend the Information Session for the Overseas Development Programme organised by Public Service Division. Why precious time as I missed seeing my child which Dr Ho was kind enough to take a photo of his face (although I cant see a thing :P) for me.

I was late as I was waiting to see if I can finish the gynae appt. Precious time was also lost looking for a car park lot near Civil Service College as the carpark was full.

Back to the topic proper, I thought that the programme is flawed in terms of design and execution.

Firstly, the participants will go through some induction programme locally before being sent to China for 3-9 month. Afterwhich, they are expected to come back to Singapore to contribute to the sponsoring agency in terms for Singapore's positioning in relation to China.

Is the time sufficient to learn enough to contribute? I doubt. There is so much to learn in China and the senior officials have admitted that different parts of China have different culture and operate differently. In that case, isn't the duration way too short?

Next, in terms of execution, they want to get the money worth by tying the participants to the Civil Service by means of a bond. For each day sponsored to stay in China, they are expected to serve 2 days of bond in Singapore.

Sadly, due to the design, it makes the execution looked ineffective and a waste of resources. I wonder how many runs this programme will have.

Nation before Family?

先有国再有家，还是 先有家再有国？

It is a difficult decision to choose between flying to Taiwan for my annual in-camp training and staying in Singapore (in case my son decide to come out early). There is definitely some risk involved as you will never know when the baby will decide to come out, when the water bag will burst and so on.

While I was prepared to take the risk with some back-up plans to come back soonest once something happened (which will take abt 24hrs) in Singapore, my sub-unit commanders were advising me against it. One of them said "Its of paramount importance that you be around when your wife is in labour. You do not expect her to grab the doctor's arm and crying in pain right?" Another added "It's just the army. They are not going to give you the NSman of the Year award because of all this sacrifices".

The thought of leaving my men to train up there in Taiwan without me is tormenting me.

I do not disagree with them. Both have their pros and cons.

By staying in Singapore, I will be thinking what is happening up there in Taiwan? Are they able to cope with the demands of the Bn HQ?

Alternatively, my heart will be in Singapore although I were to be in Taiwan physically.

I guess I will just need to contend with more grey hair until I convince myself which way to go.

Productivity

I think it is important to reflect on a regular basis, to think through what you have done and how you have performed. Is there a better way to get by so that you will be more productive?

This is probably lacking among Singaporeans, especially those engrossed with routine tasks. This is probably why the Government is putting in new initiatives at the recent Budget to boost productivity.

Why should everything be driven by Government? Courtesy, productivity, marriage, procreation and etc. Is there too much interference from the Government? Should we be left on our own to decide what is the best path for ourselves?

Perhaps we are not able to do so and hence need the Government to guide us.

Am I getting old?

Not sure if globalization and economic progress has diminished the meaning CNY. If the old days, children are always looking towards CNY (my guess). All the new year goodies, new clothes, reunion dinner and angpao etc.

These days, we get to eat new year goodies like bak kua as and when we like. We also get to buy clothes throughout the year. Reunion dinner or special occasions like birthdays are occasions where people get to eat the better food like seafood. In older days, even food like chicken and duck are reserved for such occasions. In Today's context, Chicken rice or duck rice is more like a convenient food when people do not know what to eat or when they are in a rush.

Am I getting old or have I (over)progressed with the society? How do I go about highlighting the significance of such festive period and impact such knowledge to my son next time?

Before or After?

Everyone seems to be looking forward to see when the casino at Resort World (RWS) will open. RWS is actually waiting for the license from the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA).

Most of us know that the most profitable feature of the IR is the casino. Those MICE, hotels and theme parks are just peripherals to ensure that they get the bid to operate the IR.

In that case, shouldn't the license be approved back then when they put up the bid? Is there a chance for the CRA to refuse them a license now then?

The process for this application appears strange to me.