SINGAPORE SHORT STORIES

Today, a common map platform for public agencies to publish information and deliver map-based services was launched. The application is an element of the larger "Singapore Geospatial Collaborative Environment" initiative driven by the Singapore Land Authority and the Infocomm Development Authority to establish common standards and policies, for greater sharing and usage of geospatial information among the public agencies. I believe many Singaporeans will use this application to locate their favorite spots for eating, dining, shopping and movies! All these are favorite hobbies of Singaporeans though more and more Singaporeans are also learning magic, inspired by the famous Taiwanese magician called Liu Qian who keep mouthing “Qi Ji” (Chinese word for miracles), letting their hair go down by reading jokes or learning how to earn more income through online income. The site is at: http://www.onemap.sg/

Adam Khoo is a person whom I admire: he became a self-made millionaire by the age of 26 and currently runs a slew of training, education, coaching and money-mastery classes at Adam Khoo Learning Technologies, doing the things he loves. While it is common to hear and read Adam Khoo talk about his success story and how to excel in life, it is interesting to read his take on why expatriates will rule Singapore! Adam Khoo attributed his thinking that expats will rule Singapore based on the very fact that the expats who are currently here in Singapore, much to the discomfort of many Singaporeans who think that the expats are competiting with the locals for jobs, housing and education have the same kind of desire to excel against all odds just like our forefathers. This craving and desire for success is not commonly found in our younger generations these days. Yup, the integration of the million of foreigners and expatriates with Singaporeans is always a task the government carefully look

As featured in The Sunday Times yesterday, kite flying, as a hobby is witnessing a revival in Singapore and this phenomenon of Singaporeans ‘taking to the skies’ flying kites looks set to grow with more and more public places becoming popular kite flying destinations for both amateur and professional kite flyers here. Why has kite flying seen a revival in Singapore? I believe the rekindling of the interest in kite flying exemplifies how much Singaporeans love to break out from the mundane shell of digital and internet activities, games and pastimes offered by the plethora of internet technologies. Kite flying offers an attractive option of reverting to the good old days of kampong-spirited social activities, where simple pleasures can be derived without the need of sophiscated technology, take for example, kite flying: all you need is a kite and you will be able to spend hours and hours of your time in pure great fun! New ‘breeding grounds’ for kite-flying enthusiasts have sprung u

With the advent of the computer and its suite of office applications, writing seems to be relegated to the backburner. By ‘writing’, I mean real writing with a pen or pencil on a sheet of paper and not typing. It seems just natural these days to start composing one’s thoughts, letters or articles right on the keyboard without first drafting on a piece of paper. It is also second nature for most office executives to start punching into their powerpoint slides or copy ‘lock, stock and barrel’ all of what they have typed in their word document right into their powerpoint slides for a Powerpoint Presentation. As a result of all the aforementioned activities, what one get at the end of the day is not the best attempt of their efforts. I believe it is time for all to start drafting their ideas in papers first before transferring to their electronic devices. True, the return to paper may not be the most environment friendly but nobody asks you to use new pieces of paper. One can dra

Today, 37 were killed in twin blasts in Moscow metro After the terrible terrorist attack now known as ‘911’, security guards are deployed at all MRT stations to screen for potential terrorists. I always have a lingering thought as to whether these personnel are well-equipped to deter aggressors? Most of these security guards are old men and ladies, or at the very best, middle-aged men and women. They do not seem to be very fit with a number of them being obese. On some occasions, I even noticed once or twice some of these personnel checking their handphones or talking on phones though the situation has now improved. I notice everyday how one security guard at my boarding station would only stop passengers lugging briefcases for checks. This is rather an old-fashioned concept of terrorism that bombs are bulky and they can only be placed in briefcases. These days, terrorists are thinking of the most creative and insidious way to wreck as much damage as possible to their targets. Ho

If you are an avid blogger like me with lots of information and useful tips to share to your fellow readers, it will be soon that one day, you will be looking at uploading some of the information which you have, that are non-textual but are contained in the Word, Excel, Powerpoint or PDF documents into your Blogger or Wordpress blogs. Currently, I am not able to locate any aid on Blogger which would be able to upload these types of documents into my Blogger blog for sharing with visitors, but with Internet, it seems almost every technical issue can be resolved. The solution lies in Scribd, a social publishing tool for every netizen. I attach a video below to just show you how easy it is to getting started sharing your documents with others right here on your blog:

As a steadfast Blogger blogger, I have always think that the templates offered by Blogger are not many and exciting. So, it is with great pleasure that I learnt of the slew of new exciting templates on offer coming up on Blogger! As described, there seems to be quite a suite of new features one can incorporate in his or her blog to make it more appealing and exciting to readers. If you are interested, visit http://bloggerindraft.blogspot.com/ NOW!

Today is 28 Mar 2010. I am shocked! 3 months just passed in the blink of an eye! It seems just yesterday that I was merrily celebrating Chinese New Year with my loved ones, but now it is the end of March! Reminsicence sets in and I ask myself what I have done in the past 3 months. I have not achieved much in terms of the goals set for this year. I have not achieved any of my goals set for the year. Today, I sat, thinking of how to proceed with my life, how to get out of the impasse of my life at this current juncture. Life is a mix of turns and bends. I was not careful enough to fall into my current rut of my life, being harmed by villians, who earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per year and think that they are the Kings, thinking that they have the power to thwart poorer folks like me. Effectiveness (doing the right things) is much more important that doing things right (Efficiency), and I must start doing the right things today to improve my life and get out of this rut of my lif

Every employee has an income to sustain him and his family as well as the monthly mortages when one buy a house . However, who does not want to be rich? To augment one’s income beside the monthly income he earns from his employer, there are many ways people have explored. Some people have secondary professions or part time jobs after their office hours. However, this secondary profession is acceptable legally only if the main employer gives the nod else it will be called ‘moonlighting’. People who ‘moonlights’ do it quietly and stealthily behind their bosses and colleagues. Such secondary professions can include multi-level marketing, part-time tutoring, part-time real estate and part-time insurance, just to list a few popular choices. Other than these, to earn extra income , some would turn to making some few bucks online or adopting a good investment strategy to beat the inflation rates. Having discussed these methods, we should turn to the number 1 method that Singaporeans u

Just two weeks ago, Jack Neo’s affairs with a number of ladies, ranging from hot girls to middle-aged women have hit Singapore like a storm. In his wrapping-up speech to conclude this messy affair, Jack, has reportedly attributed to his misdeeds being exposed all as a result of Karma and he has commented that he has “reaped what he has sowed”. As a firm believer of Karma, I believe what Jack Neo has said is absolutely correct! Karma is the natural law of “cause and effect’. Whatever actions we do, we are implanting the ‘seed’ or ‘cause’ and we will be reaping what we have sowed directly or indirectly, after some time (be it months, years or even decades)! … the long unwavering arms of Karma will catch up with you! Of course, if you do good, you will reap good karma too! I have been at the receiving end of certain nonsensical people at times. I do not want to waste my time and breath, chastising them or trying to rectify the beliefs of these “lesser mortals”. These people have “s

All of us have an innate passion for learning. As the saying goes, the purposes of man in life are to live, to learn, to love and to leave a legacy. That goes without saying that everyone of us has the need to learn new things in life. The need to learn is the most expressed when we are children. As children growing up in this multi-faceted world, we are curious about almost everything else and want to learn what we are curious about, childhood is hence the period when we are the most inquisitive and most experimental. Hence, as children, we love to play games where we exercise our creativity to the fullest! (actually, as an adult, I also love to play free online games , to admit!) Parents have a pivotal role in helping their children to learn. The duties of parents, in facilitating the learning of their children are not just limited to ensuring that their charges receive a formal, good and proper education in schools, parents should facilitate learning of their charges in all phas

The film Avatar has rocked the world with its impressive box-office showings and its magnificent 3D effects! It has been about 4 months since the film was first screened and if there is anything constructive to stay, it will unanimously be the Na’vi Language which sees many youngsters these days trying to pick it up. The most popular Na’vi sentence which everyone will recall is undoubtedly: “ Oel ngati kameie” (I see you.) And since Avatar movie is about love too, many would have known that Tìyawn is the Na’vi word for 'love' and Nga yawne lu oer means ‘I love you’. To be honest, I do not know these three aforementioned Na’vi love words initially, only searching for them and impressing my loving wife just few minutes ago when the idea of picking up a new language suddenly struck me. With the booming of China and India, having mastered English and Chinese language, I was pondering what other language I would pick up to enhance my employability in future. A crazy idea cr

I envy entrepreneurs, the entrepreneurs who make not only a living from their passion but large amounts of money all within a matter of few hours everyday! For these entrepreneurs, it is definitely a win-win situation! First of all, they are able to make huge chunks of money, next they have more time at their disposal. Like other employees who clock the 9 to 5 routine and more everyday, it is such a wonder to see, read or hear these entrepreneurs earning some $2000 for just few hours of work. What we, normal, typical employees earn per month, these entrepreneurs can earn easily within few hours! Just yesterday, the Sunday Times reported how the wealthy Success coaches of Singapore can easily $2000 per hour! But before you start to worship these lucky and bold few who decide to cut it out as an entrepreneur, entrepreneurship is not all about successes. There is an element of failure and there is no guarantee of a regular paycheck. So before you decide to step out and be a gun

Are you Happy today? What if your boss give you $500 for your work, will you be Happy? I believe you would be Happy for receiving this extra income. Now how will you feel if you know that your boss gives $1000 to all of your other colleagues? I bet you will go from being Happy to being Unhappy as you have received an amount much lesser than your counterparts received. I believe being Happy or not is a choice but influening this choice is all about relativity. Everything people perceive in the world is about relativity. If you compare your income to people with lesser wages than you, you will feel you are more well-to-do. Similarly if you compare your income with multi-millonaires, you may feel unhappy. Thus the world is all about relativity.

Former Mediacorp artiste Yang Lina died of cervical cancer yesterday. She was 47 in age Indeed in the past week, Singapore has seen how important health is to everyone with Mr Moo Soon Chong, ex-principal of Singapore Sports School and Yang Lina, both famous people Singaporeans know succumbing to cancer.

These two days, it has been raining cats and dogs throughout the whole of Singapore for hours! With the incessant rain, it is hence no wonder that the thermometer reading has been heading south! Temperature in the afternoon today hovers around 25 degree Celsius and the night temperature is even lower, with cold light winds embracing me. Such cold days and nights are especially rare in Singapore with its perennial hot and humid climate which makes one sweat incessantly. Singaporeans will remember how hot and humid it was in last month. Such cool nights are hard to come by, so let us tuck in an hour earlier and have a pleasant dream! Good night!

Just a week ago, the Singapore Tourism Board has unveiled a new branding campaign or rather tagline for Singapore. The good old "Uniquely Singapore" tagline which has been used for many years has now given way to "Your Singapore" This new tagline, to promote and market Singapore to the world as a leading tourist destination has drawn flak from many Singaporeans and foreigners branding experts including. Their beef is that the new tagline has lost the soul of what defines the Singapore's experience. The taglines of other countries have almost remain unchanged and therein lies the value of their marketing tagline and the branding. "Amazing Thailand", "Malaysia-Truly Asia" and now for Singapore, the branding reads "Your Singapore". Personally I understand the aims of the team in coming out with the new Singapore branding tagline. The team wants each tourist coming to Singapore to plan his own itineries to explore the Singapore he o

The news these days is centred on the juicy news of Sex ! We have heard of the shocking news of how some young Singapore girls actually sell their bodies for monies and men looking for their preys in chat rooms . We have also heard of how some Singapore men, especially the affluent ones have mistresses in China and visit these China girls often, showering them with monies and purchases. It is also not uncommon to know Singapore men going to overseas places such as Batam and Thailand red light districts for easy and cheap sex. An as adolescents, it can also be common for Singapore young boys to watch some uncensored adult movies, especially so at this age when internet is so commonplace and videos featuring Japanese sex always catch the imagination of these young boys. When the aforementioned incidents happen, they may be known to only one person, the perpetuator and his partner(s), or it can be known to many others, e.g. with close friends etc or when it is known to the pe

This February has been an usually hot month, with temperatures soaring to a maximum of 35.2 degree Celsius! The hot and arid temperatures have seen Singapore’s water consumption increasing, more bush fires which in turn created a number of hazy days for Singapore. Pity the grasses: they were really fried to the crisp with the drought of rain. What is worse, when they ignite and go up in flames! After my jog these days, I noticed a lady, apparently returning home after her work. Seeing a large patch of burnt grass, she took out her bottle of water and splashed a portion of it on the burnt patch, in a bid to water them. The water she poured was quite small though although it was kind of her to do that. Then an amazing thing came when her young son told her that he also wanted to contribute. “Mum, I can do it better than you in quantity and quality of water!” Without hesitation, he unbuttoned his pants, and took out his “noozle” to splash a large amount of fertilizer water!

It has been few months since I read of TCS artiste Adam Chen launching a brand new burger in Singapore at Ion Orchard Shopping centre. The new burger is R burger with the letter ‘R’ representing the word ‘revolution’ from what I have read. Adam has first encountered the burger at one of the many R burger fast food restaurants in Bangkok outside Siam Square. Enamored of the great tasting bun as well as the suite of accompanying desserts like the tofu nuggets, the entrepreneurial streak in him catapulted him into bring the burger to Singapore. Describing the bun as healthy and the perfect burger, Adam has me craving for the R burger or at least to taste a bite too. However, I did not have the opportunity or time to stop by for a taste of the burger at Ion Orchard being busy but guess what, I still did have my maiden taste of the burger recently with my wife at the Sukhumvit airport in none other than Thailand itself! It was the period before our departure from Thailand and after ou

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day, and Singapore Short Stories would like to wish all women in the world a Happy International Women’s Day! I would also want to express my wishes to two women whom have showered me with lots of tender love and care in my life and they are none other than my mother and my wife! Gone are the days when women were considered inferior to men. Nowadays, more and more women are helming the top positions in many companies and I must really salute those women who can really multi-task their chores and manage their priorities: work, family, kid and for some, community commitments really well! I have read a book that women are more adept at multi-tasking than man and it is regrettable that in some countries and societies, there is still a inferior notion given to women that they are not as good as men. When it comes to the retail market, just look at the assortment of goods, and you can see that a large bulk of it is dedicated to women, from fashion , cos

Cosmetics are used by women and the reason is simple, women want to look great! As a result, women’s cosmetics are still one of the best buys for women, never mind whether they are cheap or not, female cosmetics are always being lapped by ladies readily! But is it really necessary for females to don on cosmetics, such as facial makeups, lip sticks and other stuff that I as a typical man may not know. Well, for me, I think most of the ladies, especially working ladies don on such cosmetics for work everyday, though it may be really uncomfortable for them when their make-ups melt under the sweltering afternoon heat as they may want to conform to social norms (that women need to have at least some make-ups). Ladies also would want to make a good impression to their superiors, colleagues and customers. Facial creams, cosmetics and makeup do lend some degree of confidence to ladies though I would want to say ladies without any trace of cosmetic have even more confidence! You may want

Above video features the prelude event to Real Love Works 2010. And Yes, I have shared with readers on my pleasant and fun experience at Real Love Works 2009 last year. Good news is here! Real Love works, an initiative by Marriage Central, a unit under the Ministry of Community, Youths and Sports, is back for the 2nd time this year! Yes, it is time once again to embrace and encourage couples, yes, you and your other half, in Singapore to celebrate your marriages! Whether you and your partners have already celebrated your 50th wedding anniversary or are tying your wedding knots soon, you and your other half are invited to: “Real Love Works @ Fort Canning” Venue: Fort Canning Fort Green Date: 20 March 2010, Saturday Time: 4.00pm Enjoy a romantic sunset picnic for you and your lovely half and be among the first to experience an exclusive couple game and discover things about your partner that you never knew before! Other programmes include the Recipe for Real Love which is

Career and Training 2010 is now on at Suntec City from 4 Mar 10 to 7 Mar 10. If you are looking for good jobs to venture out from your stagnant work positions or are looking actively for one job, this is one of the best opportunities not to be missed. Get the jobs you want! Come on down to Career and Training 2010 now!