Went to the Singpaore Food Expo yesterday to see see what kind of new foodstuffs I can find there. Reached Expo at around 8.15pm and made my way to the hall. It was fairly crowded but definitely not as bad as those PC shows. There are many stalls there promoting things like instant coffee, canned drinks, instant food, sauces, dried foodstuffs, dairy products, kimchi, etc. There were also some stalls selling cooked food like sharks fin soup, fried bee hoon, barbecued chicken wings, etc. There's a very pasar malam kind of feel to the whole event.
I walked around and sampled some stuff like biscuits, coffee, joices, instant noodles, etc, but I ddn't really find anything I really liked. In the end I bought some instant noodles from Hong Kong, which I though was quite good compared to Myojo or Maggi mee. The noodles are very thin and firm and I like the texture. The soup was above-average. The sales staff told me it costs $4 bucks for a pack of like, I think 5? Since they didn't sell them in packs, I bought a set which consists of various flavours for a discounted price of $10, still definitely more expensive than your average instant noodles. Also bought some dried fish crisp in 2 flavours - original and wasabi. I guess you can get the original flavoured ones from Malaysia where it's much cheaper, but I won't be going to Malaysia soon I think.
Besides the food, I also saw Mediacorp stars Nick Shen and Le Yao hosting a promotional show for a shark's fin company. Too bad I don't have a camera phone due to company policy. :(
There's a few cute girls doing promotions and I bought some carbonated drink from a very cute girl at the PH Sales and Marketing stall. It's sort of blueish, quite a nice color and I liked the taste too, think the name's I-plus or something.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
See Ian Ike and NS deferment
There's been a flurry of letters to the Straits Times with regards to See Ian Ike's deferment.
Give Ike a chance to pursue his dreams
Mindef should grant teen violinist NS deferment
Mindef should review NS deferment policy, make exceptions for the exceptionally gifted
National Service deferment: S'pore will gain by letting gifted young people develop their talents abroad
Consider NS deferment for those with exceptional family burdens
Thanks to the Melvyn Tan saga and the subsequent public outcry, MINDEF tightened it's rules on NS deferment. NS is always a tricky issue, it's taking 2 years of a young man's life and forcing him to lead a regimental life as a soldier. Issues of nationhood, universality, equality, dreams and aspirations, duties and obligations come into picture.
For See, it's a special case as he's one of the first hugely talented people to be affected by the change in deferment policy. If this change had been in place for some time, it would seem reasonable for aspiring musicians to plan their careers with this consideration in mind. They have to take some responsibility and cannot blame MINDEF for being inflexible. However, in this case, See is a victim of the untimely change (but of course someone will always be affected by policy changes), so MINDEF should probably take that into account when deciding the outcome of his appeal.
It would also be good if MINDEF could disclose the reasons for its judgement. Wasn't there someone who deferred NS by 2-3 months for the World Cyber Games? I dont know the details but it does seem strange that this was good reason for deferment. Perhaps it is the length of period of deferment, but there are sentiments that music and art is neglected in Singapore and See's case just proves this point. If MINDEF was more transparent about its decision-making process, it will clear up the misunderstanding about any biases.
A difficulty I see is that there will always be costs for someone to be drafted, and for See it is not exactly clear that the costs incurred now is higher than that if he defers and returns. Will he become a world-famous violinist? And if he does, is 2 years as a world-famous violinist more "costly" than that of him as a student in Curtis? And if his skills will stagnate or atrophy if he enlists now, what about if he enlists later? It is quite impossible to measure this hence there we can't tell what is the less costly option.
Also problematic is the issue of the principle of equality which decides how NS is implemented. Equality means that everyone serving NS is given the same treatment, which is distinct from the concept of universality that means every medically fit male must serve NS. Already there are people who are not happy that some PSC scholars and medical students can defer. I can understand that SAF needs Medical Officers but what about PSC scholars? As it is with See's case, it seems to me that the value of deferring now mainly accrues to themselves. There is talk that See's enrollment in Curtis Institute of Music will boost Singapore's reputation by leaps and bounds but that seems a bit too tenuous an argument. And since it will not benefit most Singaporeans, it does seem sacrificing equity in this case is a little dubious.
In addition, sacrificing equity for the promotion of the arts is a value-judgement, but that just creates more questions. Why can't enlistees with severe family problems defer? Is the professional development of a musician deemed to be more important that the relieving of hardship for one's family? Will it lead to a breeding of elitism or create some sort of societal divide? I think these questions should not be casually brushed aside.
Then there are questions why we are so harsh to our own brother/son and yet can be so generous to foreigners. Realistically, how many people will want to immigrate here if they have to do NS? It's even worse for talents in this globalized economy. Practical reasons aside, being born and bred here, he owes more to the country than some PR. He has enjoyed the fruits of the labour of our NSmen, the security, the prosperity, the conditions which allowed him to become who he is today.
That said, I don't think deferring him is a major problem, given the circumstances and provided he comes back. Given his potential, I don't think Singapore government wishes to burn bridges by creating ill-will, but it'll be an interesting outcome as NS is a touchy issue.
Give Ike a chance to pursue his dreams
Mindef should grant teen violinist NS deferment
Mindef should review NS deferment policy, make exceptions for the exceptionally gifted
National Service deferment: S'pore will gain by letting gifted young people develop their talents abroad
Consider NS deferment for those with exceptional family burdens
Thanks to the Melvyn Tan saga and the subsequent public outcry, MINDEF tightened it's rules on NS deferment. NS is always a tricky issue, it's taking 2 years of a young man's life and forcing him to lead a regimental life as a soldier. Issues of nationhood, universality, equality, dreams and aspirations, duties and obligations come into picture.
For See, it's a special case as he's one of the first hugely talented people to be affected by the change in deferment policy. If this change had been in place for some time, it would seem reasonable for aspiring musicians to plan their careers with this consideration in mind. They have to take some responsibility and cannot blame MINDEF for being inflexible. However, in this case, See is a victim of the untimely change (but of course someone will always be affected by policy changes), so MINDEF should probably take that into account when deciding the outcome of his appeal.
It would also be good if MINDEF could disclose the reasons for its judgement. Wasn't there someone who deferred NS by 2-3 months for the World Cyber Games? I dont know the details but it does seem strange that this was good reason for deferment. Perhaps it is the length of period of deferment, but there are sentiments that music and art is neglected in Singapore and See's case just proves this point. If MINDEF was more transparent about its decision-making process, it will clear up the misunderstanding about any biases.
A difficulty I see is that there will always be costs for someone to be drafted, and for See it is not exactly clear that the costs incurred now is higher than that if he defers and returns. Will he become a world-famous violinist? And if he does, is 2 years as a world-famous violinist more "costly" than that of him as a student in Curtis? And if his skills will stagnate or atrophy if he enlists now, what about if he enlists later? It is quite impossible to measure this hence there we can't tell what is the less costly option.
Also problematic is the issue of the principle of equality which decides how NS is implemented. Equality means that everyone serving NS is given the same treatment, which is distinct from the concept of universality that means every medically fit male must serve NS. Already there are people who are not happy that some PSC scholars and medical students can defer. I can understand that SAF needs Medical Officers but what about PSC scholars? As it is with See's case, it seems to me that the value of deferring now mainly accrues to themselves. There is talk that See's enrollment in Curtis Institute of Music will boost Singapore's reputation by leaps and bounds but that seems a bit too tenuous an argument. And since it will not benefit most Singaporeans, it does seem sacrificing equity in this case is a little dubious.
In addition, sacrificing equity for the promotion of the arts is a value-judgement, but that just creates more questions. Why can't enlistees with severe family problems defer? Is the professional development of a musician deemed to be more important that the relieving of hardship for one's family? Will it lead to a breeding of elitism or create some sort of societal divide? I think these questions should not be casually brushed aside.
Then there are questions why we are so harsh to our own brother/son and yet can be so generous to foreigners. Realistically, how many people will want to immigrate here if they have to do NS? It's even worse for talents in this globalized economy. Practical reasons aside, being born and bred here, he owes more to the country than some PR. He has enjoyed the fruits of the labour of our NSmen, the security, the prosperity, the conditions which allowed him to become who he is today.
That said, I don't think deferring him is a major problem, given the circumstances and provided he comes back. Given his potential, I don't think Singapore government wishes to burn bridges by creating ill-will, but it'll be an interesting outcome as NS is a touchy issue.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
MLM again? Bel’ Air
When people you haven't met for years start contacting you, it could be just that they want to catch up on old times, or they are trying to make you join an MLM. It's happened to me before, and recently it's happening again.
Some signs that you should take note of
To be frank, I'm quite disappointed because I think I was not contacted because I'm his friend, but rather, that I'm seen to be potential business. It seems that there are quite a number of people who have encountered this too.
Some signs that you should take note of
- They suggest you meet up in some place for lunch or dinner which is neither familiar nor convenient for you. Their office are usually nearby.
- They will talk to you about the importance of money and health (which is related to their products), so they can tell you to join them and earn money and become healthier.
- They will usually be accompanied by someone else who will be dressed rather formally and appear successful, so they can impress you with how much they earn or how hot the product is.
To be frank, I'm quite disappointed because I think I was not contacted because I'm his friend, but rather, that I'm seen to be potential business. It seems that there are quite a number of people who have encountered this too.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Freelancing for students’ assignments
I started doing some small freelance Java projects for university students about 1.5 years ago. The money is not great, afterall, how much can students afford to pay? Sometimes a day in the office gets me more than 3 days on the students' assignments. The good thing about it is I get to learn about new stuff I wasn't aware of, or I get to do some hands-on stuff on the things I had read. I did my first decent Swing program (a Point-Of-Sale system) as a freelance project, and learnt about the new features of J2SE 5.0(in particular, generics) in another. As quite a big bulk of the projects/assignments deal with data structures, I also had the opportunity to refresh my concepts on sets, tries, trees, linked lists and such. Couldn't I have done this on my own free time? Definitely, but I guess I'm a bit lazy, and tiny monetary incentives can give me a nudge in the right direction. :)
I have a few "customers" who contact me now and then when they need some help, and I will oblige if I know what to do and have the time. Previously, I worked on a trust basis, as in I'll send them the source code first, then they'll transfer the money to me. But I had a nasty experience when one person went MIA after I sent him the source code, didn't reply to my emails. I guess I was too naive, but thankfully I was able to find out who the person was in real life as his real name was in the Word document which contained the project specs. I googled for his online nick and came across it in a certain university discussion board, where he left his real name as well. So finally I was able to identify him, which gave me some leverage when I asked for payment, which came in the end. So I've changed my billing policy since then. More on that next time.
I have a few "customers" who contact me now and then when they need some help, and I will oblige if I know what to do and have the time. Previously, I worked on a trust basis, as in I'll send them the source code first, then they'll transfer the money to me. But I had a nasty experience when one person went MIA after I sent him the source code, didn't reply to my emails. I guess I was too naive, but thankfully I was able to find out who the person was in real life as his real name was in the Word document which contained the project specs. I googled for his online nick and came across it in a certain university discussion board, where he left his real name as well. So finally I was able to identify him, which gave me some leverage when I asked for payment, which came in the end. So I've changed my billing policy since then. More on that next time.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
At least I can say I have some Oracle experience
A lot of my present work revolves around generating reports and listings from Oracle, so my SQL skill has improved somewhat from before. I've also gained some experience with writing PL/SQL, working on SQL*PLus, SQL Loader and a bit of simple database administration. Lots of odds and ends and nothing fancy. If I leave this job at least I can say that I have around 6 months of experience working on Oracle. It's peanuts in terms of experience but at least it's better than nothing I guess.
I've never worked on very large data sets before but now it's a daily affair. Read up on indexing to help speed up queries but I'm still lagging behind in my knowledge of things like SQL tuning. Since much of my work revolves around the database, so the faster the queries on the database, the faster I clear my stuff and go home.
TOra is a competent replacement for TOAD, and if you're looking for a tool to replace SQL*Plus this is definitely it.
I've never worked on very large data sets before but now it's a daily affair. Read up on indexing to help speed up queries but I'm still lagging behind in my knowledge of things like SQL tuning. Since much of my work revolves around the database, so the faster the queries on the database, the faster I clear my stuff and go home.
TOra is a competent replacement for TOAD, and if you're looking for a tool to replace SQL*Plus this is definitely it.
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