I Wanna GeT Out Of This Life

At the bus interchange
I agreed to meet Muiz yesterday. I ended up alighting at the far end of the bus interchange and it was a real quiet spot with nice tiled seats. So I decided we should chat here instead. While puffing away and trying to destress, I noticed a couple of big red ants crawling along and heading towards me.

Remembering what had happened to that poor old man who collapsed at the park, I decided to rid myself of them. So I used the fag end to burn them dead.

Just then a woman with her son passed by and pointing her few fingers at two men who were snoozing on the seats, warned her son never to be in their predicament.

What set me thinking was how she thought she knew the exact reason for their sleeping at the bus interchange. Were they homeless? Were they just taking a breather? What made them so? Was it unemployment? Was it bitches at home who threw them out on the streets after an alimony hearing in court? It could be anything seriously.

Political apathy
Muiz looked cuter with his hair cut short. I wanted to kiss him but since we were in a public place, I had to restrain myself.

It was when we talked about some "political" stuff that made me realise how politically ignorant the young of today can be, especially when it comes to matters of how our parliamentarians get to hold cabinet positions. It wasn't by election but by appointment.

But he did raise one pertinent issue though. It does seem that a Member of Parliament who also holds a cabinet appointment or two would be twice or thrice salaried. Not to mention other business appointments in the case of MPs.

Here's another thought after looking at Muiz
Like Muiz, I am sure many others among his community, if given an opportunity and the right kinda environment and nurturing, could be just like him. The exam grades to show for, that is. And I have spotted RI dudes who are.

So do we then really need foreign talent. We aren't exactly having an easy time dealing with some. Like when I taught at commercial schools and I was faced with a few of these talents from very Asian Chinese nations or even putting up with them at my own home.

More Immutables
Add a couple of things to what I have blogged about some time ago. Add, for example, a person's home as one of the immutables which you do not treat lightly or trifle with. You can imagine the fury squatters erupt into when faced with unfair eviction with no alternative and affordable housing in sight.

Way to go, gal! Aye Aye! Lionger
I had mentioned that I had found the cheapest brand of ciggies available here at $8.00 a pack,which happens to be our very own brand (with quite a nice-sounding name too) . Hopefully this has made you think a little bit more. If not, think harder.

I suppose if there are to be smokers who can't be deterred whichever way, then they might as well be buying up our very own "Made In Singapore" product. I am proud I am.

The IT and creative industries
If I had read the recent report correctly, it seems that the IT and creative industry are short on trained and creative talent. So to make up for the shortfall, foreigners would have to be imported.

Maybe it is our educational system and our entire culture which have beaten down any creative talent we may have had among our local populace. So much so, we now have to import this talent.

Are we really first class citizens in our own homeland
Resale public housing isn't anymore except that a bank loan is opened to only citizens. Native speakers (which means foreigners) are preferred for English language teaching appointments. Jobs and even room rentals have clearly discriminated against us. Tuition grants are extended to foreigners and they are bonded for several years which means they are practically assured of jobs upon graduation, with some institutions even offering to find them employment.

Citizens have a slew of rules and regulations to abide by but a foreigner seems to be able to get off scott free (for instance I have come across many foreigners or permanent residents whose home addresses have not been updated and it seems that this is the onus of the employers while citizens are legally bound to )

As I thought - The mystery unravelling
I did have a fleeting thought that perhaps Paul's someone or himself could be owning the place. And he/she is residing really close by. That explains the short time he is out and back again, usually returning with a troop of others. He does seem like a music instructor and there is that piano collecting dust in the corner of the hallway.

Someone has the house key which must mean a close friend, relative or family member.

The mystery of the broken down washing machine
On Friday, I woke at about 5am to wash my clothes as the whole week, it has been occupied by loadfuls of laundry. I went back to sleep and when I woke at about 8am or thereabouts, it had been washed and I could hang them up to dry.

Before I went out for my jog I put in another load (as I had been walking and sweating the previous few days). When I got back, the washing machine had been mysteriously shut off and its lid wide open with my laundry still wet and frothy from the soap powder.

I resetted it and went out for my gym workout. When I got back, it happened again. I washed it once more and waited out for its approximately 2.5hr washing cycle. But as I have an appointment at 2pm and Patrick wanted to wash his, I had to stop the cycle, got my wringing wet laundry out and wait another day to wash it again.

Today, I washed it right after Paul did his . I was told it ain't working no more and true enough, after the cycle, the load was still wet and a bit foamy.

Offloading my chip phonecard
While waiting to be picked up at the bus interchange by a real estate agent, I lingered around the telephone booths, waiting to spring meself on the few foreign workers who turn up there in the evenings to make their calls back home.

I am trying to offload my chip phonecard worth $5.00. The reasons being that it is sitting uselessly in my wallet and its life is expiring by year end.

My quick pitch about how the red-colored telephones will be phased in and correspondingly the chip phonecard somehow didn't sink in very much with this crowd. This is only my second time doing this and I hope someone will buy it up real soon.

I have found a place
Eventualy I did. I scan the classifieds, this time via a traditional source which I have thus far not been fishing in. The real estate agent/s were helpful and I think they deserve their half month commission which I readily parted on that very day we signed the housing contract. I don't begrudge anyone anything if I feel they are worth their salt.

It is not too far from where I am now and I will just cart bit by bit of my luggage to the new place over the next couple of days.

I am mentally exhausted, physically shagged and irritable
Of course there are many contributory factors. Not least, sleeping like what I am doing now has brought on my backpains once more. I feel myself aching, sleepy and just plain uncomfortable and irritable, with the kinda living and sleeping environment I am in right now.

Enough Oredi
Here I am on a Sunday evening at a LAN shop. I started out at about half past six but by ten, I haven't even finished what I set out to do.

The Internet connection dies midway and I have to switch to another computer and when that doesn't work, yet another. All that musical chair is costing me time and money.

Worse of all, I tried submitting an online job application which can only detect Microsoft Word file format and not rich-text Wordpad format as is the case with the kind of text document that all the computers here are on.

This is really taxing on my already frayed nerves.