Olympics 2008

Did you watch the recent 2008 Olympics? It was one that I followed more closely than all the rest. Not an avid fan, just anxious and excited over the results of the few sports that I had watched.

I've never really liked or enjoyed watching sports - tennis, soccer, track and field, etc. But this time round, I sat on the edge of chair as I watched the Singapore women team challenged and fought ferociously with the Korean women team in table tennis. I was staring hard at the loopholes that the China men team had in their defence in basketball. Not to mention the anxiety I felt over how a 0.2 or 0.5 mark in the 3m / 10m dive can determine if the diver could return home as the holder of a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal.... or none at all.

Each athlete had spent thousands of hours over these last 4 years (after the last Olympics) just to qualify in competing with international sportsmen (& sportswomen) in their specific field. All for that one moment of performance, which can determine if there's chance of qualifying for the finals before fighting to bring home a medal, thus bringing glory to the nation and home.

I must say that I salute each athlete, whether a medalist or not, for his/her hard work, time and sacrifices made to represent the nation at this Olympics. Not forgetting those who had worked hard backstage, making it possible for everyone, anyone around the globe to be able to sit in the comfort of home, enjoying each event, put up by these dedicated and talented sportspeople.

Well done!

Having Babies....

Did you watch / listen / read what PM Lee said during the National Day Rally?

One of the issues he addressed was the birthrate of Singaporeans. In case you're not aware, the birthrate of Singaporeans is around 1.29 per person. That's pretty low, isn't it? So, the government is trying their best to encourage more couples to have babies, through incentives such as (increasing) baby bonus, ang bao for first-time parents, more childcare leave, etc.

A colleague has been mulling over registering her firstborn in a primary school for the coming year. As I realised, this is one of those stages that as parents, you tear your hair off and crack your brains and have sleepless nights. Yes, it's the P1 registration. The dilemma of deciding which school to register your child in, the agony of the 3-day waiting period to see if the school of your choice / registration has to go through balloting due to overwhelming response, and so on, so forth. She has difficulties in planning childcare arrangement too. So, when I heard the PM talking about helping the parents with the various challenges, I instantly SMS her. We continued with this topic in the office today. At the end of our conversation / discussion, she said this "Those who want to have children, will do so with or without the incentives. Those who do not want to have children, will not, even with these incentives. Having these incentives as the dangling carrot does not help at all."

Hmm... well, I thought at least the incentives are a positive factor in the decision process.... Or are they not? Parents, married couples with no children yet, what say you?

Should We Recycle?

To recycle or not to recycle? Have you ever thought of this question before?

In some countries, like Japan and Korea, recycling is part of their life. In Japan, there's special days for collection of recyclable items (containers and wrappings) and rubbish. At home, you need to separate the recyclable items from the rubbish. As the waste company doesn't come every day to collect the recyclable items, one has to make sure the items are cleaned, otherwise you'll find pests coming to your home. For the times that I stayed in Japan, I had to remember to have a few plastic bags to dispose the various items (rubbish), so that on the day of collection, I didn't have to separate them. For more details on recycling in Japan, click http://www.jcpra.or.jp/eng/index.html

In Korea, the government charges the waste that you dispose by weight! The more you dump, the more you got to pay. Therefore, Korean shoppers bring their own shopping/grocery bags to minimise the waste that they bring home. Also, they dispose of whatever packaging that comes with the products for the very same reason. You can always find unwanted cartons (big and small) outside the supermarkets in Korea. And if you have forgotten to bring your own shopping bag, you will have to pay about 20 won to purchase a plastic bag or 100 won for a paper shopping bag. To read more about recycling in Korea, click http://www.abanet.org/environ/committees/intenviron/newsletter/feb03/korea/

Even though it sounds rather troublesome, I find that it's a good habit for a worthy cause. Can you imagine the world our children (or our future generation) will eventually live in? More lands will be used as dumpsites or landfills. Lands that are supposed to have houses built on have rubbish (mainly non-biodegradable) buried in them. And the water that's from the ground? Can you imagine that one day we might not have clean water at all?

It is a huge and important issue that we need to think about. So, is recycling worth the effort? I think Singapore should and can do much more when it comes to recycling. I wonder how many plastic bags are used in the supermarkets each day.... and how many years will it take for 1 plastic bag to actually decompose (it doesn't really decompose anyway!), so, what's more about the thousands of plastic bags we use daily. Start using biodegradable and reusable shopping/grocery bags now!

Global Singapore

Have you realised that there is a sudden surge in the number of foreigners in Singapore in the recent years? Just the other day I was out with Darling, we were in the MRT when he made an observation - that we were surrounded by foreigners in that cabin.

Even as Singapore's population hits 4 million and still climbing, more foreigners are coming to make up that increase in number. What does that mean for the locals? Does it affect us in any way? Foreign workers are a great help in building our nation. They build our houses, they provide us with medical services, and now, we see them more in the retail and F&B industries. Without them, we cannot even move on with some of our daily routines! Yet, as they enter our homeland, they bring with them their culture and traditions. Some may ditch what they grew up with, while most of them bring it along with them.

In a way, I realise, that Singapore is truly becoming a global nation. In the midst of all this talk about equipping our young to be ready for globalisation in the near future, do we know that globalisation is already at our doorstep?

Old Times

Having lunch in school, and yes, blog-reading time too.

Read Jas's, DNA's and Juliet's blogs. By the time I finished reading them, I don't know why but I started to tear. As I read DNA's blog, I miss times with my brother (he went for hols with my mum & daisie!); and I know how Joy and Juliet felt after a family gathering.

Each time when I'm feeling down, I'd miss home. Well, don't mistaken the word "home". Where I am staying now is my home. But the "home" I'm talking about is "home" where my own family used to be...when Dad was still around. I miss having my family with me, all the time. I miss Papa.

When I was in China, I passed by the men's department and saw polo tees. The thought of getting a few for Papa just came naturally....before I caught hold of it and reminded myself that he's no longer around. It hurts, my heart aches. I dreamt of Papa several times these recent weeks. Maybe it's because Father's Day was just over, maybe it's because it's going to be a year soon... . And, this time last year, we were preparing to go UK, isn't it? Time flies so quickly.

I must learn to treasure what I have now and not keep looking to the past.

Mama, I love you. Didi, I love you too.