When I grow up!

When I grow up~ I wanna be famous~ I wanna be a star~ I wanna be in movies

Seth might just wanna be a construction worker now because he is in the phase of his life where he finds sand castles really fun. 

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I think we all remember this composition topic right? It's like one of the most basic topics during primary school where our teacher would make us write a compo on. On hindsight, I suspect it's also the day when the teacher forgot to do her lesson plan and just wanted us to be occupied with some work so she won't get into trouble when the principal walked past.

What are the jobs that most kids want to take on? Police? Soldier? Doctor? Lawyer? Soccer player? Superman?

I remember writing something like wanting to be an owner of a mama shop so I could have unlimited snacks and candies. I can't remember how I scored for that compo but I sure remember getting an earful for being silly. Hello? FairPrice? Sheng Siong? Who is silly now?

In my teenage years, I thought I would make a good engineer simply because I wrote a few scripts for my computer. That plan didn't go well after I landed myself a diploma in computer engineering. Painful part was I only found out after 2 years and 6 months into the course after I did my internship. I was telling myself, "this time siao liao lor. Wasted so much money on the diploma and now I've no career ahead."

It's true that we do not need to know everything to get a job

I am sure many people feel this way and not just for fresh graduates. Truth is, we do not stay in one industry all our lives and in fact even if you do stay in the same industry, your skills will probably take you to other roles in the company. Just take a look at some mncs, not everyone worked their way up from the bottom, and not everyone knows everything in the whole pipeline. 

I mean look at it this way, not everyone at Grab is a private hire car driver or started out as one, right? I have this friend who works in the marketing department, I've a friend who is doing HR stuff there, and we have the programmers and also the poor people at the customer service help desks who get screamed at more often than we know. My point is most of us possess some skills that are actually portable across many industries. So long as we make sure our skills remain relevant and updated, we can bring our skillsets with us from one industry to another. Like you know.. SMRT CEO.. It's the management and leadership skills that SMRT needs and not someone to drive the train right? 

I hope I don't sound like I'm showing off but I guess that's one thing great about where I am now. We help clients with their marketing and content creation. Practically every industry needs us. And that's basically what attracts me to this work. We are always learning something new and doing something new. When a client comes to us with computer parts? We learn. When a client comes to us with F&B-related businesses? We eat. A travel client? WE TRAVEL! So far one of the most challenging clients I ever gotten was this fire protection equipment for shipyards. And my favourite? It has got to be my lingerie client that I serviced years ago. :x I don't think I need to explain right? 

Actually I kid perhaps a little too much. While there’re obviously some perks and fun factor in my job, there’s a lot of learning new things and picking up new skills on practically a daily basis too.

Get yourselves prepared and ready for tomorrow's job

Remember I took this course with NTUC LearningHub some months back where I kinda went back to school and picked up Photoshop formally? Remember I also mentioned how they have a wide range of courses? So recently I was looking at some of the other courses that they are offering and I saw this "Fundamentals of Cloud Computing" course. You know this whole cloud computing thing is like one of those career buzz words these days right? Truth is cloud has been around for so many years. You’re probably thinking about iCloud, or Dropbox, or even Google drive but those are not even some of the earliest applications of cloud computing. You know ATM? You draw money over at an ATM and it's updated immediately on the bank system around the whole island instead of having to wait for 3 working days before your account gets updated? MIND BLOWN YET? 

Anyway, NTUC’s Future Jobs, Skills and Training (FJST) Unit has also identified cloud computing as a key technology transforming the digital landscape across all sectors. Employers have also singled out cloud computing and solution development skills as the skills that will be hot in demand. Don’t @ me but I really do see a lot of buzz and jobs coming from this sector. So why not be prepared right? 

To help address the demand for these hot skills, NTUC LearningHub (LHUB) approached Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, to develop a programme to raise cloud computing literacy amongst Singaporean adults, and to build competencies amongst those who require deeper cloud-related knowledge and skills. 

And ta-da, the course “Fundamentals of Cloud Computing” was born! 

The course for "Fundamentals of Cloud Computing" might not have listed pre-requisites but you do need basic computer knowledge . I mean it's something to do with technology after all right? I'm sure we do not expect someone who doesn't even know how to start the computer to jump in and start learning about cloud. 

This course is suitable for most working people, regardless of whether you’re in the ICT field already or are considering a change of career. If you are worried that the whole cloud computing thing might be a little overwhelming, they actually have this course which I thought it's rather useful for beginners as well as more mature workers. "Fundamentals of Internet of Things (IoT)". I've been seeing this IoT term quite a bit these days but what is it really? It's actually just a very sexy word to describe the billions of devices around the world that are now connected to the Internet, collecting and sharing data. And of course, how people can apply it at work and in everyday lives.

Really got use meh? 

Look, this is a 2-day course that totals all of 14 hours. I’d be kidding if I told you one can be a cloud computing expert after this and score a technical job. Seriously, like how can I become an expert with only 14 hrs of lessons right? How am I going to be a coder in just 14hrs? I'm not Chuck Norris you know? 

As much as I'm a big fan of picking up new skills and learning new things, I've to be realistic about such situations. I guess it's pretty much true that you ain't going to become a cloud expert or a programmer just after a 2-day course. Let's not forget that this industry is rather new and it's really booming and I'm sure they need more than just the programmers. Like I mentioned earlier about the pipeline of work. I'm guessing that this course might not allow you to become the next Kevin Ashton but I'm sure it's good enough to land in a job somewhere along the pipeline where you probably have an advantage over other candidates since you already have basic knowledge of how such things work. Sales? After sales support? Technician? Helpdesk? Customer Service? Project Manager? Yes, while this 2-day course may not be able to land you a job as a cloud computing expert, it can give you an upper hand when applying for a job in a cloud computing company doing what you currently do in a different or adjacent industry. Remember, not all who work at Grab is a Grab driver?

How? How Much? 

Sign up! Simply check out NTUC LearningHub's website. And these courses that I mentioned actually fall under WSQ-funded courses so it pretty much means you are gonna be heavily subsidised. If you’re an NTUC member, you can also use your $250 UTAP subsidy. Link is here and screenshot below!

So anyone wanna do this together? 

Read More

Smith's Friday Favourites

If you guys know my partner-in-crime and read her blog, you will know that she has this segment Flora's Friday Favourites. I'm not too sure about you guys but that's one of my favourite segments. It's short and sweet, and surprisingly informative. I mean it's informative for both stalkers as well as people looking for something new to do.

Favourite Find

I love silly games on mobile phones. I do not talk a lot about it on either of my social media because I try my best to look smart and like a professional adult but truth is I've lots of guilty pleasure hobbies that I do not share openly and mobile gaming is one of them. 

8 bit graphics - checked. 

simple learning curve - checked. 

high replayability - checked. 

No paywall - checked. 

It's really addictive and you guys should give it a try. 

Favourite Food 

MALA EVERYTHING! I've always been a fan of spicy food but my late obsession for spicy food is crazy. I've been eating so much mala these days. I can have it for lunch with my clients and have it again for dinner with my crew. I'm having it so often I suspect there's some sort of a drug or something in it. Funny thing is I don't even like fish usually but the Mala fish at Riverside Grilled Fish - Raffles City Shopping Centre is soooooo good. Everything is better when with Mala I guess! 

Favourite Flix 

Drop Dead Diva 

It's an old show from 2009 - 2014 which I've never watched it before but I remember my sister laughing silly at it when we were still staying together. That's the magic of NetFlix right? When you run out of current shows and decide to revisit some of the shows that you did not have time for. 

Drop dead diva. Let me try to sum it up in one line – Soul of model wannabe went into a successful lawyer's body after a car crush and winning almost every case thereafter. Doesn't makes much sense but it's really funny! 

Favourite Foto 

Artbox is back! The place is bigger and more spacious this time round. Without a doubt, more Instagramable food and items as well. It's always fun shooting this one. And also editing the colours of the picture to the colour I want. Truth is these text on wall ain't even this colour. I would show you the before and after but I figured it's really annoying when I see it on Instagram story especially when those people who can't really edit but wish to jump onto the bandwagon all out of a sudden and teach people how to take photos and edit photos. Seriously who died and make you Steve McCurry? Just because you have a camera doesn't mean you are a professional photographer please. Anyway for more of this young lady, check her out at @Helloqing_ on Instagram. 

Favorite Family Outing

Seth is like this little ball of fun now. He is speaking, running, and teasing. He enjoys his family outing time with us a lot and his favourite line is "I don't want to go home." We went to this place called the AirZone at City Square Mall. Truth is Seth is almost too tiny for this place but we still had a lot of fun. I didn't manage to explore all the levels because I was busy looking after Seth. He was so worried when he first got onto the netting and he was like "PAPA SAVE ME! PAPA HELP ME!" All these drama when every other kid was having so much fun running around the 4 levels of play area. I was like... I think I need to visit this again with my crew. It's like a superb adult playground! Okay. That sounded wrong. 

Read More

Buying pet food online with Kohepets

Brover . Marshall . Ted

One of the most frequently asked questions that I get from people visiting my house is how my dog and cats can actually live in harmony. I wouldn't exactly say it's in harmony since Brover bullies Ted quite a bit while Marshall avoids Brover at all costs. Ted and Marshall have a longest running love-hate relationship where they hug and sleep together for a moment and fight in the next.

Truth is it's not that hard. It's probably a myth that dogs will always hate cats. That being said,  that might be some truth to it because of differences in living habits and playing style but one thing that brings them all together has to be food.

It's not easy to handle these 3 little ones especially after having little Seth. Lucky for us we have my helper who will give us a hand in everything and of course Kohepets! 

Kohepets is an online pet supplies store that specialises in premium pet brands, such as Addiction, Wellness, Merrick and K9 Natural. They have one of the widest product ranges available online. With over 6,000 products, I'm sure you can find anything you like and best part? SENT TO YOUR DOORSTEP! They even offer free shipping if your purchase is over $60 which is very easily achievable if you are getting big packs of food for your furkids.

They even have a section where you can get free sample before buying so you will know if your pets really like the product before buying! 

And if you a new pet owners you can also find loads of tips on their blog too! 

Anyway, enough of me talking. Go check them out! 

Additional links:

Instagram 

Facebook

Read More

Who we are today is a collective result of the decisions we made yesterday.

Do you remember your school days?


Only photo of me at James's graduation with the group of sohai. Photo by James's mum so it's a little blur. Oops. 

I wanted to start this article with something along the lines of how I really hate such events considering that I did not even attend my own graduation for both my diploma and my degree, but then it dawned upon me that I'm a serious grinch for all happy events. Or at least events that are deemed happy to most people. I hate attending weddings, I hate Chinese New Year, and I also hate graduations. Seriously what am I?

So I thought I shall not start of the article with such negative vibes but I did it anyway. It seems.

However, I do like my days spent during polytechnic a lot. That was where I met my ex-gf now wife as well as many of my close friends. We spent a lot of time doing silly stuff, school events, hanging out at the canteen but maybe not so much of mugging for me. I'm not exactly the academic kinda kid. Poly days were fun for me, I organised events for the school and I was quite a popular kid (I choose to believe) despite the lack of looks. I mean it was an era where Young and Dangerous and F4 was the in thing so I'm not exactly them you see. Despite that, I know people, both students and teachers, and my guess is they like me pretty much. I mean why not right? I practically took the job off the lecturers' hand to plan school events and I was the guy who gave my peers CCA points. LOL.

I asked myself sometimes when I'm hiding in the toilet while trying to escape from reality, what would life been if not for my diploma education. All the what ifs. What if I did a little better and got into a JC instead? What if I did my part and select a course that I might excel in instead of choosing a course under the influence of my late brother. What if I decide to enter army before going through my diploma. I mean the obvious is that I would have not met my wife and not have my cute little baby.

Papa, I don’t feel so good - okay. Enough.

That aside, what about my career path? The people I met along the way? The butterfly effect is crazy. Probably 14million different storylines will just unfold at a snap of fingers.

Who we are today is a collective result of the decisions we made yesterday. If I'm actually happy with where I am now, so what's the concern about those decisions made yesterday? Would I be in a better place? Maybe this blog wouldn't even exist for various reasons. I might probably even not met any of you guys.

Enough of self doubting. Let's get back to the event.


That's James and his mum. I feel strangely vulgar every single time I talk about someone's mum. I really have to cut back on the "your mum" jokes.

James is one of my crew I met some years ago while playing basketball. The group of us became really close friends and we spent so much time together every week. He also trains me at the gym. It's not his fault I'm still fat, it's me that I haven't really been very consistent with the whole gym thing. But that's another story.

I love these guys, they are fun, young and we do silly things together besides balling. Amongst all the jokes and laughter I take it upon myself to make them a better version of themselves. They will always come to me for different type of advise, from relationship to career moves. Sometimes they do tell me that they appreciate the help and guidance I give them and I'm glad I'm making a difference in their lives. One thing for sure is that I've always love working with teenagers, my staffs, my interns, my students back when I was doing part-time teaching. In fact who knows, I might just go fully into academic some day.

As much as I enjoy hanging out with them, I question my actions one time too often. I wonder if I should be hanging out with real adults. If I'm actually too old to be hanging out with them, partying, gaming, balling, learning all the silly youngsters internet meme. Do I have issues that I don't see? Am I refusing to grow up? Is it the sense of accomplishment that I'm feeding on from helping them and solving their problems? Am I feeding my own ego? Shouldn't I be like hanging out with people my own age, talking about property investments, drinking wine, and sleeps at 10pm? Is it about time that I let go of these frivolous activities and grow up? I do not have an answer and who cares right? A minute of self doubt is always better than a life that is nothing but dull.

ANNNYWAY.. So I was at his graduation. I asked him to pose for a photo for memory sake right, since I'm already there. And this is what I got.


Like seriously bruh?

I seriously cannot accept that so we did a impromptu shoot around his school.



I don't usually shoot guys but I thought it wasn't half bad!

Read More

Seth in a suit

It's like puss in boots. Just as cute but just a little shy these days. It's strange how he gets so shy these days when meeting new people.

This is one for fans of Seth so I don't think I need to type much for this post actually.



This one is too cute isn't he?

Read More

Why am I so particular about Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War spoilers.

It's ten years worth of build-up. But that's not all.

Usually I'm not exactly a big anti-spoiler kind of guy. In fact sometimes I'll even ask my friends for spoilers so I have something to look forward to in a show but why am I so particular about this one?

1. We all know how most of the other Marvel's movies went down. Spiderman got bitten by a spider and ya dah ya dah, you get the point, but so far even after multiple movie trailers, we really do not have much clues where this movie is going.

2. So much talks about the show, the show has spent so much effort to keep things under the blanket, not releasing the real ending to even the cast, having fake marketing materials to mess with fans, and even this video. These work should be appreciated.



3. I've watched the show, the show is a decent movie, not much of a different from any other Marvel movies. It's entertaining, it's funny but it's no Oscar winning stuff and the best thing about the show is probably the element of surprise. You paid for the ticket and got the full experience and I feel that you should allow your friends to have the same. Respect.

Well, I did lose a Facebook "friend" for calling out on him for spoiling it on Facebook. He unfriended me. WOW. Social media.

Read More

Keong's wedding

This is my friend Keong and I. It was his wedding some weeks ago. (Or was it days? I can't remember. Life has been on the fast lane these days. Yes, it's already April! WTF!) Keong and I have been friends for a long time. Since I was 17? Keong and I used to be really tight despite the lack of common interests. He plays tennis (high ses sport) while I play basketball. He plays his FPS on his computer while I play mine on my Playstation 2,3,4 (That's how long we've known each other) but despite that, we know we are the type of friends who will always have each other's back. He was there when I needed him to help me for my wedding, for my brother's funeral, in fact everything. We used to do so many things together. And oh, we do have a common interest. MAMBO! It's funny how Keong is so into mambo as he is never one of those clubbing, hitting on girls, or drinking kinda person. He just like the whole old skool arm dancing thing. Me? I like all the things that I mentioned that he doesn't like. Ahhh. We complete each other that way I guess.



Of course, things haven't always been like this. We did not exactly start our friendship off on the right foot. We were classmates in polytechnic and I didn't like him because he was too casual. He didn't like me because well, I'm too much of an asshole and rowdy. Things changed quickly, we became friends we still have our difference. There were times he pissed me off or I offended him but at the end of the day we are still friends despite drifting apart after both of us having our own career and me having my son. That little thing takes up a lot of time and energy trust me.



We used to spend so much time together that I know his friends and he knows mine. In fact we even knows each other's parents pretty well.

I'm not a big wedding guy, Keong didn't have the most exciting wedding but I'm truly happy for them. I'm really happy that he's finally married. In fact I was just happy he got a girlfriend back then. hahaha.

I felt almost like a proud father the other day at the wedding. I have tried my best to get him hitched over time, helping him get gifts for girls, telling him what to wear, where to go, what to say and all but I guess I'm not exactly the best master. He was single for a very very long time. LOL.



Hope you like the pictures Keong! Happy wedding! :D

Read More

Why is life so fragile?

Another one bites the dust...

I was telling one of my younger crew that I'm attending another wake the other day and he asked me,

"I do not understand why must we hold wakes or visit wakes... The person is already dead. Why spend all the time and money?"

He didn't say this to diss anyone but he legitimately doesn't get the significance of the event. I don't blame him, he is still young after all.

I told him this,

"It's to celebrate life. To honour this kin for the very last time. For his friends to pay their last respects. For the family to grieve, and also to get the both moral and financial support they can from their family and friends. Such wakes are not cheap, I attend wakes more willingly than weddings to be honest. Sometimes some of these people just pass on so suddenly leaving nothing behind for their family and they really need the support and help. On the other hand, weddings, well, you have a choice to do a massive, grand, and expensive one or you can just do a simple small ceremony. The choice is up to the couple and it is usually planned. If you do not have that kind of money, do a small one, don't expect people to help you pay for your weddings or cover your cost. It's not business, if you want your friends to be happy for you, I can always write something on your Facebook wall."

Well, I dislike weddings and I diss them a lot. That being said, I really am happy for close friends who are getting married but if this person ain't exactly close and just want me to fill the seat around the table to eat a overpriced dinner that I didn't choose with 8 other strangers, sorry, I'm not into that.

It has been a rough month for me. My friend's dad pass away late March, followed by a friend's brother just a week ago, he was only 38. I just attended another wake of another friend's brother who was only 39. Why is life so fragile? They were only in their 30s and nobody saw it coming. It just hit them like that. Just a few days ago, I received another news of one of my ex-colleague, who passed away at the age of 49. He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and passed away rather quickly. He has no symptoms or whatever so before that.

It's hard to hear such stories even if that person is not close to us or even a stranger, so can you imagine what the family is going through?

Maybe it's just me or maybe it's because of what I went through with my brother. The kind of support you get from your family and friends really counts at times like these. My brother made me very proud. His wake was filled with his friends and ours. Truth is, it does make things easier to know that he has touched lives and made a difference to people around him during his time with us. I would say it's pretty much your life report card. Everyone came and sent their condolences, everyone had something good to say about him. It does help, no one wants to grieve alone. Any moment alone kills me. I'm glad I had friends who came to send their condolences and some even stayed to help. Everything was a blur, I could hardly remember everyone who came but I am very thankful for every bit of those comfort sent my way.

Life is so fragile, sometimes things just happened like that. It's really important for us to tell our loved ones how much we love them and appreciate them. I can't imagine me leaving my family, my wife, and especially my son. He's only two. I still want to see him grow up, do things together, his first date, everything that he can achieve. But do we really have a choice? We can do all we want, exercise, sleep early, go for regular body check ups, not drink, and not smoke. Strangely that's everything my brother did but he left us at a young age of 35 leaving behind a wife and 3 kids. It has already been 6 years since.

Many people tell me time will heal but the truth is I never want it to heal. I want to remember the pain of losing him. I want to remember everything of him. I want him to be part of me forever. And the extended grief and pain reminds me of everything and kept everything real. He did happen. He was with us. He ain't just ain't a fragment of my imagination. Some days I fear that I forget how he looks like, how he talks, how he sounds, how he moves, and how he showered us with love and life lessons. I never want to forget. I never want it to heal.

It's never a choice for us on when we leave this place. Do we really get to go to a better place? Or a worse one? Or do we just cease to exist? All the things we did and fought for in life. Does it just disappear into thin air along with the end of our lives? No. It is still there, still true but only to the living. Death is not the hardest part. The hardest part is always for the living having to deal with the aftermath and pain. So when do we cease to exist? When nobody remembers us, when those who remembers us leave this place as well. I never want to forget, because I choose to believe that he will always be with us as long as we can remember him. Leaving behind a legacy.

Legacy, what type of legacy do you want to leave behind?

Read More

Where have I been?

I slipped.

I was recently overwhelmed by changes in my life. Work has been busy was a very convenient excuse I had for myself. I stopped visiting the gym, I didn't watch my diet, I didn't follow any of my plans of routine, I slept late, and I was procrastinating. My health took a hit. For a good 3 weeks I was having headache, bodyaches, and fever on and off. Again, convenient excuse for myself, I was feeling stressed. I slipped into a vicious cycle of pain, discomfort, procrastination, and doing things that ain't important just to tell myself that I deserve all these time to relax. The only thing that I was keeping up with was work, because money don't fall from the sky.

I was doing things that I shouldn't be spending that much time on but I did it anyway to make myself feel a little better. I took every little win I can. I should be writing more on these blog because this was what I used to enjoy doing. I wouldn't call myself a writer because I was never good at it as a kid. I still remember why I start this blog years ago. Because I wanted to improve my writing and also to pen down some of my thoughts and crazy ideas. I planned it so that at that point, my unborn unconceived children can read it in the future to me when I'm all grey and lost my memories. Yes, just like in The Notebook.

But I got distracted. I never really admitted that I am a blogger back in the days until I actually won a blog award some years ago. The term blogger always gave me a bad taste in the mouth especially those I've seen, heard, met in Singapore especially. More often than not these guys can't write, do not have any special skill or insights to share and neither do they have really interesting stories nor good images. I was jaded by the industry. What started most people like myself to write was nothing more than an online diary where we just go on about ranting about our lives. Things eventually took a turn no thanks to marketeers. Ironically, I am one of them. Inevitably, and as much as I hated it, that was where the industry was shifting to. Using bloggers to promote products. I can't deny the fact that this platform has made and broke many individual but this is what evolution is all about. Things change and we have to keep up with times. Sadly, many has hopped onto the bandwagon for fame, money, or even as pathetic as for the sake of scoring some freebies. And by now, the term blogger is already passe, the more current term is probably influencer. To be honest, I feel even more uncomfortable with this term. It's like a makebelieve term to make yourself feel good and tbh, that's not me man, all I ever wanted was to write and share. My intention was never to be someone famous.

Why am I telling you this? Because what started as a personal diary for myself was affected as well. I started to write things that I think people are interested to read, I started writing articles with keywords that make my content more searchable. I was affected by the fact that some better written blogs doesn't get as much attention as compared to some asswipes out there who simply write for the sake of commercial purposes. I'm not apologetic about my French here. I contemplate on what type of content I should write. I want to share more about my personal life but yet on the other hand I thought it's not as good a story. I was caught in a funk. I stopped myself from writing every time I feel like I should write something,

I read it somewhere before,

"Do what you love, and you’ll never work another day in your life." 

but when I was a teenager, a comic book store owner too told me something when I told him that it's so cool that he is following his dream of selling comics,

"Never make your hobby a job, because very soon you will be left with no hobbies." 

Like I said, I was never a good writer growing up, and my grammar ain't exactly the best. I love art but I never thought I would go into photography. I probably made a mistake making this "talent" and "hobby" of mine into a job. I'm not regretting for sure, I still love my job but I can't say the same for my hobby. I'm so obsessed with the crafts that I can no longer just snap anything random and upload or just write anything silly to publish. I would tell myself that it's not good enough a piece or something along the lines that 'would these work actually hurt my professional image?"

So what inspired me to write this post?

Californication.

I was browsing through Netflix and I saw this show. I watched a few episodes and I was inspired. Not by the fact that there are lots of naked attractive ladies in the show but by the fact that it talks about a washed out writer who was trying to fix his life. I mean comparing what I'm going through to what he went through, I'm not even close.

What put me into writing again was the fact that he too ended up writing a blog and his narrative was rather personal and yet at the same time interesting to read. He reminded me that a blog is a continuous narrative of someone's life and thoughts. Not just about what good food is available out there or reporting a trending topic. Of course, that was in 2007 because that was when the show was made. Things change and sadly blogs ain't just that no more.

For those who are not aware, I manage unscrambled.sg. I spend most of my writing mojo reporting and writing stories on that site. Disclaimer – I love writing for unscrambled. I love that the platform allows me to write stories that ain't as personal for my own site, but it's just that I just do not have the focus to write anything on my blog thereafter. I'm so used to writing stories of others that I lost the ability to write my own, not until I stumble upon Californication.

I guess that's serendipity for me.

It's about time for me to be back here and start writing my own stories again.

Good news is that I feel so much better and feel like I'm back in a better place after my short 3-day trip in Genting. I must say I am very impressed with the newly renovated place. To be honest, I've no idea how "newly" renovated it is since the last I visited was actually almost a good 5 years ago.

In case you didn't really like this post, here's Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication.

Read More

5 Zainal Sapari memes that might change your life

Many wouldn't find it surprising if I told you guys that I'm not exactly the best student in class. I mean I don't think I'm bad but I'm not exactly one of those that pays attention, do my home work, and erm, cut my hair regularly. The last part might comes as a surprise since my hair is hardly an inch long now but not to forget I grew up in an era where this is what we call handsome.

erm, wrong image.

Ya, this. 

See! Handsome right? I mean, don't try to imagine how I look with this hairstyle if you still want whatever meal you just had before reading this. This was the coolest hairstyle back then, but of course not everyone agrees, especially not my Disciplinary Master, Mr. Zainal Sapari who is now the NTUC Assistant Secretary-General (ASG), Director, Care; Share Department, Director, U Care Department and MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC. I know, that's a mouthful and it reminds me of Daenerys from Game Of Thrones.

My Unscrambled.sg work brings me to places all the time. This time right, it brought me to Mr.Zainal's NTUC office where we are supposed to do an interview piece about his work. So yeah, I got to meet him for tea, but like he mentioned in a cheeky manner, there was no tea. All we had was water. You know lah, fight the diabetes war. LOL.

Although 20 years has passed, he is exactly like how I remembered him. Warm, humorous, and no holds barred despite being in politics. This sure didn't apply to the Mr. Zainal I know. Maybe a few pounds more but he is always ready to share some of his wisdom. 

Actually this is not the 1st time I bumped into him after school days. We were at the same event some years ago where he was the guest-of-honour and I was representing my company as a partner with AREU Tour Guide Chapter. 

Although I was never really his student back in school days, here's 5 things I learnt from him during this short session. Because pranks are what students do best to their teachers, so here's 5 memes I made instead.

1. Zainal Snow - You Know Nothing

Mr. Zainal dedicated his life to teaching, it was his first career and he was not shy to admit that he did not know much about how politics worked before he got into the game. In fact he didn't even know what he was walking into when PAP first invited him for tea. He thought it was nothing more than a simple dialogue over tea with some school principals to discuss education matters (he was a principal of Mayflower Primary School then). Thinking that he wouldn’t be missed since it’s a group setting, he had declined the meeting due to prior engagements. Little did he know that he was actually invited by the ruling party for that kinda tea sessions, LOL! 

He also shared with us that the best way to become an MP is to just do what you do well, and not try too hard to be one. It sounded a lot like those mafia movies where they will drop you with this famous quote, 

"You don't find us. We will find YOU." 

Lesson Learnt: It's okay to admit that you do not know something, we are only human. What's important is the hunger to learn and the passion to do what one believes in.

2. Zainal Sapari, father of 6 (no dragons), and breaker of chains. 

I know this is another Game Of Thrones reference which you might not be too familiar with if you are not a fan but come on, everyone watches GOT right? Besides the fact that they both have very long titles, they also have many things in common. One of the main reasons why he entered into MOE at that time was he believe that as a teacher he can help students using education and help them break out of poverty. 

Mr.Zainal himself came from a low income family where his dad worked 3 jobs which included being a cleaner, security guard and “grass-cutter”and his mum was a helper to an expat family. 

It was through education that Zainal became who he is today and he wishes he can do the same for everyone. He also quoted that famous starfish story where he believe that he will do what he can with what he have to touch lives even if it is just one at a time. 

He might have left MOE for years now but it is still the same for him today as he has the responsibility as an ASG at NTUC. He champions for a better life for low wage workers and his efforts as a labour MP sure affects many and breaks many's chains. 

Lesson Learnt: We might not have dragons or special power but everyone has abilities of their own. We can make an impact in everyone's life no matter how big or small.

3. YOLO!

He might be a politician now and my very strict and fierce DM some 20 years ago but Mr. Zainal was once young as well. He told us stories of his early life where he believe that when we face challenges, all we have to do is to "just do it!" So I taught him a new word YOLO! and explained to him what it meant. He replied me candidly - YES, YOLO! 

Lesson Learnt: No matter how big or small the challenge is, just YOLO!

4. Live life with no Ragrets. 

He does not have that tattoo of course. But when we asked him about him his thoughts about leaving his comfort zone and domain of expertise in MOE for some 20 years and joining the Labour Movement,, he told us with a straight face that he has no regrets at all. It's a challenge but he is enjoying what he does everyday. To him it's not just a job, it's about touching lives and helping to improve everyone's standard of living. 

Lesson Learnt: He didn't say this but I feel that being a politician is never easy. There are times that some things shouldn’t be said politically (thus the term politically correct) and there may be times that you can be irresponsibly quoted by the media. It's really not easy being in politics considering the amount of heat one can get on social media these days. You do your best and live life with no ragrets. That's the ballsy Mr. Zainal I know.

5. Let God Decide. 

Although I did my home work of reading his Wikipedia page before meeting him and knew that he did religious studies in his university days, this reply came as a surprise to me when we asked him about him having any plans for his children to be in politics. A simple yet impactful answer. Mr.Zainal is a man of God. He was also sharing with us about his relationship with God and how he seeks knowledge from his religion from time to time. 

Lesson Learnt: There are things in life we can't control and it's better to let Thor do it. I mean God do it. It's strange how I spent my school life running away from him but this session with him was so enjoyable I hardly wanted to leave. 

It sounds a bit strange to say this now but he really is an interesting man to chat with. Not exactly because of our erm history, but I think that he is a man that I would like to work along with. Wise yet unconventional, it's not exactly something one can balance easily.

Read More