Bisy - Tài máng - 太忙

R U busy as well? ... 4 exams, 2 papers, apply for jobs/grad school, plan your Dec vacation and try to find happyness? exactly

but, while researching for the Monetary Policy assignment, have a look at this:

http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/governance/pdf/Governance_Indicators_eng.pdf

The World bank's Governance charts.

As a Swiss, you're looking at the all deep-green colours which basically say your gov is ok (granted, there is always improvement potential, Kai Zen, e.g. for the Regulatory Quality, which is only at 93 (of 100)). No wonder I encounter frequently ppl abroad who keep telling me that, as a Swiss ("wow"), you live in paradise....
Since I live in Singapore, I was curious... and, aha, they are not bad either, when it comes to gov effectiveness etc.; BUT: in category "Voice&Accountability" the fellas score only 44 (of 100), which gives them a red pitch... ouuuuhhh.
Well, Singapore is undoubtedly an economic success story in the last 40 years. But who pushed this? The people? The individual? oh man, the gov of course. They seem to rely heavily on a top-down 100%-management of all political affairs which makes the de facto-one-party-polity almost a benevolent dictator (with emphasis on the first). However, as history - unfortunately - shows, there is no longterm good track record of any benevolent authoritarian polity.
I just hope, the Singaporeans will not be trapped and locked in - the challenges lay ahead and might demand more self-responsibility, ownership and bottom-up initiative than other stuff.

Btw: the folks who wanna construct a "harmonious society" perform much poorer (cf. China). Their accountability is just 7 of 100; the highest score is 60 for any indicator - let's just hope they won't get flushed down into a bloody civil war which might cost millions of lives, when ppl start to demand more equality, more say, more honesty and transparency....

PRC - I will conquer ya!

155 bucks for this sticker! I think I should start a business and grab a own market share….


Did you know: When you go to a supermarket in Singapore, there is no small conveyor belt at the cashier desk, but a lady who packs your groceries into numerous plastic bags (hey, isn't the oil price rising?). So you easily walk home with five or six such bags, and don't even have to pay for it.
We use big brown bags in Switzerland (recycled paper/cardboard, enduring), and you gotta pay 30 Rp. for one à makes ppl more aware of environmental issues and cost-effective living.

in statu scribere pro altera (!),with no reward

Ceci n'est pas un xīn jiā pō rén

What makes a Singaporean?

huh, I dunno, but I guess most Singaporeans do not know it either. Maybe it's time to look for movies about this....

"12 Storeys" (check out: http://www.zhaowei.com/12.htm)
We watched the film in a Pol. Science class. Pretty interesting study about the daily-life and anguish of 08/15-Singaporeans, narrated by somebody who just committed suicide from the 12th floor of a typical HDB flat (hey man, I also live on the 12th floor). The taxi driver meant, the higher level one jumpes, the higher his soul bounces back to heaven...
Anyway, his spirit/ghost wanders around and reveals some soul-shaking realities.
- A robust woman who has to take care of her (step-?)mother who constantly denigrates her and openly states her predilection for the second (step-)daughter, Rachel, who later drives by in a BMW 7-series car.
- Khor, the mid-20 brother who has to take care of his two adolescent siblings, both unwilling to learn, but eager to party. It's like the old generation (go for education, for a bigger flat/condo) tries to teach the younger (go for fun, sex, alc), but fails.
- Ah Gu, aged 45 or so, owner of a food stall, achieved to seduce a beauty in the PRC to Singapore, but her arrogance , affairs and vanity drives him crazy. It's like a petty pride of running one's own business mixed with the cliché to bring in a cute lady, eager to marry (a would-like to be) rich.

Lot's of half-veiled jokes about Singapore's mentality. The fear to lose out, kiasu, is here, as well as the reproach on ppl who (ab)use elevators as pissoirs (guess what: in my flat we have a plate in the lift that says "urinating is forbidden", funnily they forgot to mention the fine you'll face). However, ppl still do this (as I can smell sometimes in the morning…) there or on the corridor (btw: go once to St. Petersburg in Russia, pick one of the free English "St. Petersburg" and there you'll get as well complaints about ppl shitting in staircases…).
So, what's the success of gov campaigns if ppl do not share does values intrinsically? It's possibly more about bottom-up value building and ownership, rather then top-down inculcating…

All in all, it's depressing, but still worthwile to watch.

dies cacatus - not even Roti Prata works

Such a nuisance. You wanna start a day early with reading, but are not concentrated, so you go to the library, but fall asleep. The only thing you get done is filling out a survey, which is the second part for gaining 1% of MPW's grade.
In AMP class, you're the only one who has not an appointment with the Prof for the paper (since you haven't done anything since 6 weeks on your topic).
After class, you go on with reading, but don't get far, too tired. With some books grabbed for reading at home you get to Dhoby Ghaut's MRT station, and miss two trains, because other ppl are more street-smart (kiasu - fear to lose out, so Singaporeans use their ellbows to get into the subway coach) than you.
Finally, at home, you try to cook Roti Prata, since this is one of your favorite dishes and always made you happy - except this time, when the fucking stuff is stuck in the frying pan - even though you poured in more than 1dl olive oil (the fucking pan seems to suck up the oil). So, after the first pancake, the pan was ruined (cf. picture), and the following dough bags, soaked up in oil, but not able to get fryed.
How can you end such a day happily?
.. by writing on the pol science paper?

nov 1, 2007