What is happening to our gahmen?

Is it me, or are the politicians in Singapore suddenly saying a lot of inane things nowadays?

First it was Tan Soon Yong writing about a very expensive cooking class, but I could forgive that because it was his money. [If you had a lot of money and everyone else was poor, is that going to make you want to give it all away and live in an attap hut?]

Then MP Charles Chong had to add his two cents worth and commented that it maybe "made less mortals envious". As if working in a middle class society made you a "lesser mortal". Lesser maybe by some other deficient being's standards.

After that I read on mrbrown that Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts, Lui Tuck Yew has declared the Internet "not an effective self-regulated regime". That's like saying that a Mercedes is 'not an effective minibus'. [I particularly like mrbrown's comments on this statement. Go read.]

And finally, to top it off, Singapore MP Loo Choon Yong has commented on ABS-CBN news that "procreation is not our forte", suggesting also that "because more free time did not necessarily result in more babies, people should work on Saturdays". Because we all suck at sex anyway, let's just spend the time making more money anyway. Because of course, workplace stress and overtime are not the reasons we aren't making babies. A lack of sexual procreational ability is.

*sigh* Singaporeans, please vote as best you can next election. If nothing else, at least to prevent politicians like the above from ever speaking in public again.

[all comments in open inverted commas taken from the source. Funnily neough, I couldn't open the ABS-CBN news website. Did someone in MICA finally start regulating the Internet? Hahaha]

Where is the time ?

Now that the work year has started again and there are no more festive
holidays for a while, time to get back to the grind of your daily lives.

I've been thinking about time, or more accurately the lack of it to do
everything fulfilling. Isn't it ironic that with all the devices we
have to help us save time, we end up with a lack of it anyway?

Take my iPod. It helps me blog, check mail and read blogs, but while I
do this, there is a stack of books waiting to be read. -_-!!

Your work computer or laptop is essential to your work, but with its
increased efficiency comes higher expectations of productivity.
( "what you mean that word report isn't ready yet? You could have done
it in 30 mins!" yea, 30 mins I could have spent doing something else...)

Modern lifestyle magazines are on the dot of this problem. I've read
articles on how to do 5 min workouts, 10 min exercises in creativity,
how X mins a day ( just minutes! ) can help you achieve whatever
regrettable resolution you set for youself this year. As if my life
wasn't cluttered enough with the big things, now I have to throw in
all these cookie crumbs just to fill up the time?

This is the real curse of 21st century life. That if you are able to
do more than your grandparents, you should be. There is no excuse for
neglect, cos look at all the wonderful gim-gams you have now! Your
life should be better! You should have more money, be smarter,
slimmer, funnier, happier.

Except that most of us living now know the real secret: that we're
not, are we?

MAybe the ironic part is this part that I read in a fitness mag: the
article said that we were getting more sedentary because public
transport and things like escalators took away the need to walk
around as much anymore. Thus to lose the weight, the mag suggests that
you walk more, instead of relying so much on modern conveniences.

So to slim down, live like your grandparents used to. -_-!! we spent
all that time and money on these modern gim-gams and now it turns out
we didn't have to. Next thing you know someone will tell you that to
have more money, work as a housewife or clerk and earn less first.

Sent from my iPod

My nose again...

Damn the flu. Unlike other illnesses, it leaves you healthy enough to
do some stuff in town, like go out with friends brave enough to risk
meeting you, but deletes all the taste from the food and drink you
love :s I can't wait for this bout to be over.

Sent from my iPod