Is Kampung Spirit dead in Singapore?

What is Kampung spirit to you? Is it simply a matter of knowing your neighbour’s name? Being friends with your neighbours? I mean we know how difficult it is these days for various reasons (or excuse. LOL). For starter, we are not at home as much as our grandparents who really lived in a kampung back in the days and that gave us very little opportunities and reasons to keep the whole kampung spirit alive.

I’m saying it’s difficult but I’m not saying it’s impossible. I do remember being rather close with my neighbours growing up. We use to play together, run around the corridor, playing block catching, and probably partly because my neighbours were really nice and lend me all their toys. This whole friendly neighbourhood thing needs two hands to clap. I remember the last time I tried saying hi to my new neighbour and all I got was a weird “do i know you?” stare. #TrueStory.

You guys remember project refresh? Yeah, it’s that event where Young NTUC partners with the North East Community Development Council (CDC) to aggregate stakeholders within the North East District to help their residents. This includes GRCs/SMCs, SACs, schools and corporations who provide essential goods and services such as furniture, appliances, pest control services, as well as cleaning and painting equipment and supplies.

Life works strangely in full circle for me. So right after the previous event where they help the residents at Punggol where I am staying now, their latest project which happened before Chinese New Year happened at my “hometown” – Tampines.

The 12th iteration/edition of Project Refresh returned with the highest number of volunteers ever. Some 1,000 volunteers from unions, schools, corporate organisations, grassroots and Tampines residents stepped up to refresh the homes of low-income seniors and seniors, who are living alone in Tampines.

I met these two young ladies, Yan Tong and Wendy at the event. They are both 1st time volunteers at Project Refresh and also residents of Tampines.

After talking to them, I learnt that Yan Tong found out about this event via a direct mailer which she found in her e-mail for being a NTUC Member because of her PLUS CARD. I was pretty amazed/amused at the same time that someone actually reads those mailers! I mean there are a lot of stats that shows the fact that the conversion rate of edm has been on a decrease.

After reading the email, Yan Tong decided to be part of the event and try something new. Meanwhile she also invited a few friends to come along and that’s how Wendy ended up at the event as well. It must be a good day for them since they got to help out in the neighbourhood and also met me in the process. Right? RIGHT? RIGHTTTT??? XD

Besides cleaning the unit they also spent some time talking to the resident which they find it really meaningful not just because of the cleaning but actually having an opportunity to make a new friend.

Me being me… I have to ask some difficult questions right?

“Since we are on the subject of spring cleaning… Have you spring clean your own house?”

Them;

“Actually no. HAHAHAHHA. Can don’t tell my mum about it?”

See! Putting others before themselves. Good people lah. However, I forgot to check if they are single, else I can also help to promote them and hope they find true love. LOL. (Damn kaypo I know. Typical uncle and auntie… Truly one of the many signs of aging.)

Besides them, other volunteers from the PAP Community Foundation (PCF) and Tampines grassroots also contributed their time not only to clean the houses but also come together to put a smile of the residents’ faces in different ways such as help with Chinese New Year decorations such as Chinese calligraphy writings as well as red packet lantern making and more to decorate 59 Chinese households. Volunteers also extended the spirit of celebration and brought cheer to the homes of Malay and Indian residents by giving handmade cookies, mandarin oranges and red packets to less-privileged families.

Remember your primary school Chinese education where they taught us the saying of 远亲不如近邻 as well as 远水救不了近火？If your answer is yes, your Chinese teacher would be proud of you. So I guess that’s the meaning of Kampung spirit isn’t it? Getting help from your neighbours when you need it.

P.S. But please don’t tell people you read this article and anyhow go knock on your neighbour’s door and ask them to clean your toilet because Smith said so lah. Help lah!

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How To Tell If your New Era Cap Is Authentic.

So recently I recommended a place where you can purchase New Era caps in Taiwan and a friend of mine replied this:



To be honest, this is a very legit concern. One of the easiest way I would say is the price. The pirated caps are usually way cheaper but then again, it doesn't feel very good to pay a lot for a fake as well if you are unsure of what's real or not. So here's a quick guide to help you with it when you are considering buying a New Era cap.

1. This sticker



I used to remove this sticker because I find it damn dumb to leave it on but one expert told me that it's actually a very important part of the cap to proves that it's authentic. Of course, these days a lot of the pirated caps come with it as well but if you are collecting limited editions, this sticker can determine its resale value as well.


2. Side Logo



3. Size Tag




4. New Era Tag




5. Genuine Merchandise Tag 




6. New Era Website Tag (Which is usually hidden under the size tag) 




7. I read out of name so let's just call this yet another tag




8. Really tiny words on the "yet another tag" 



Point to note on this "really tiny text" is that this is a newly-added feature. So if your caps are the older ones, they might not have it.

Some Grade A pirated goods can have quite a few of these features too but the truth is, only the original cap will have ALL the features.

So here you have it. I think it's totally okay to get one of those none New Era caps if you like it but it's another story to be paying the New Era price for something that's not.

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Working with Millennials. What are the employers looking for?

“It’s not good to hire the right people in my business now, do you face the same problem?” 

I guess this has always been a problem for SME business owners like myself and this is just one of the many complains that we talked about everytime we gather around over a coffee. 

And one fine day this person gave me a pretty interesting answer. 

“Maybe you just ain’t doing the right thing to attract the right people.” 

More often than not we will put the blame on the problem when we face it instead of asking ourselves if the problem lies within us. 

While we were having such conversations, one of the other questions that always pop up would be about how we handle and work with younger staffs. I guess it’s very common for employers to find that the kids these days just isn’t as good regardless of attitude or quality of work. Don’t quote me, it’s not my words but more of what I hear from others. The narratives are always revolving around the fact that “they are spoilt.”, “they are too privileged.”, or even like “they are too soft.” 

Well, not Elijah, Head of Business Development from Shopee. I guess we do not need much introduction for this e-commerce platform. In fact I’m such a big fan that I log in daily just to browse items to kill time. (Goodbye productivity. :x)

I digress. So I actually met Elijah at the recent Todo Todo Skills Marketplace @ Central Singapore. If you find this name familiar, that is probably because you heard me talking about it last year. So much has changed over the last year. It was also because of this event where I found out more about being a youth career guide which I ended up being one. The journey has been more than rewarding so far. 

So just a little refresher in case you are unfamiliar with Todo Todo Skills Marketplace; The event is a joint effort by National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and People’s Association (PA) to form a new career support initiative, specifically for fresh graduates and young professionals, managers, executives (PMEs). The two partners, with a combined youth network of 750,000, launched the new integrated online-to-offline approach to help new job entrants achieve professional success.

With this initiative, youths no longer need to wait for luck and opportunity to meet the right people to guide them but instead they actively seek help within the network. The network does not provide you with successful businessmen telling you about how good they are but instead, we are talking about fellow young adults who have been in the workforce for about 10 years where they can share their own experiences that are more relatable.

Elijah was one of the guest speakers for that day. Besides him , there were other talks/masterclasses, career sharing session by youth career guides like myself, and also networking sessions where you can talk to industry professionals from/hiring employers from different companies such as Mileslife, FinTech Academy, Tata Consultancy and even Shalom Movers. You might be wondering if Shalom Movers were there to hire movers but fun fact for you guys, they are actually hiring staffs for different functions like digital marketing person.

So Elijah was sharing with me about his very own experience with working with millennials and interestingly he has nothing but praises for them. Here’s some answers I managed to get from the man himself. 

Your comments about working with millennials.

They are the hardest working generation. 

They don’t treat a job like 9-5, it’s their life.

It’s not just a job. Overtime is not an issue. 

They care about the environment and more. It’s about purpose and value, and they have to make sure it’s inline with their own beliefs. 

So what do you look for when it comes to hiring? 

1 word - Attitude. Skills can be learnt easily but attitude is what that counts. 

What’s the most sort for skill these days? 

Data Scientist and Digital Marketer.

Is Shopee and their staffs 4.0? 

We are born digital. We are all about making sure we are ready for any changes in the industry. We make sure our staff are constantly innovating and staying relevant in the industry. The industry is very volatile so we have to evolve and be resilient to changes.

One tip for our millennials and work. 

As cliche as it sounds, “"Do What You Love, and You'll Never Work Another Day in Your Life”. 

Conclusion...

So I guess there is no shortcut to success when it comes to working with them. As an employer you have to be yourself, you have to talk to them to know them and know that they want. It is no longer just about money. 

I guess good Human Resources practice especially these days is all about how the organisation give the employee a sense of purpose as compared to back in the days during our parents’ era where it’s all about employers paying staffs money to do their work and call it a day. 

As much as we commonly like to call the millennials the strawberry generation, everyone has to start somewhere and employers need to give them some time to grow and invest even more time to know them better and help them to be the best version of themselves that will benefit the organisation.

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Photodiary - Influencer Seth in the making.

This is the 3rd and last part of our family trip which happened last December. I promise. lol.

If you have the habit of following influencers on Instagram, you would noticed that Hong Kong is actually a rather Instagrammable place. Given my line of work and my "fake life" on Instagram, I'm not going to give it a miss this time.

Since I'm not visiting Hong Kong with some Instagram Babes, my son would be my subject. He ain't exactly easy to shoot these days. We really had to play with him and get him into the mood. I'm actually kinda happy with these pictures myself.

- Okay bye -

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Life's a beach at Bali.

La Plancha Bali is one of the must visit.

I struggle a little bit every time when someone asks me about what kind of trips do I enjoy. I mean New York City is one of my favourite cities on earth. It's fast pace, it's full of buildings, and the people are crazy. My kind of crazy.

Well on the other hand, some of my best trips include my honeymoon at Maldives with the wife, Boracay, Koh Samui, Phuket, and of course Bali. The kind of beach life where all I do is eat, drink, party, beach, repeat. (And look at girls in Bikinis) We do not need to stress over the touristy must-visits.


LA? Or Bali?

Don't get me wrong. I mean I love touristy spots as well because most of them make very good Instagram content.

 Heaven's Gate.


Wanagiri Hill and Swing.

This time round my stay was actually at FURAMAXCLUSIVE OCEAN BEACH, SEMINYAK! It's walking distance to some of the shopping as well as beach pubs but at the same time it's not right in the middle of everything, if you get what I mean. It's convenient and at the same time quiet and peaceful for those of you who wish to get a break from the parties or your city life.



Yes, I woke up to this view everyday and now I regret that I'm back. LOL.

And the suite?



It's so huge that I wanted to throw a party right there and then!

And at FuramaXclusive Ocean Beach, there are actually two different places where you can enjoy your food and also some good old Shisha, (sheesha) or some known it as Hookah. There is a package at The barrel (which is also a sports bar where you can sing KTV LOL) where you can get a set of a Shisha, a pizza (enough for 2) and a drink at only $16 SGD? CHEAPPPP! And yup, we are talking about traditional balinese food!




This trip was pretty much a last minute decisions with very little planning but we managed to wing it. Here are some information for you:

Hotel 

FURAMAXCLUSIVE OCEAN BEACH, SEMINYAK, BALI
JI Arjuna 88X Legian, Kuta, Bali 80361 Indonesia

Tel (62) 361 737 400
Fax (62) 361 737 408
Email fxoceanbeach@furama.com

Website https://www.furama.com/xclusive/oceanbeach/

Transport (He is also the same guy who actually introduces us which are some of the nice places to go.)

Mr. Agung Bagus

Whatsapp: +62 819 9907 1427

And in case you were here to look for some pictures of girls, here's my friend Ruth. LOL 

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#SethAsks - What is volunteerism?

“Papa, where are you going? You must work today?”

Although Seth still doesn’t know his days accurately yet he do know that on certain days I shouldn’t be working because both him and the wife will be at home instead of being in school.

“No Seth, I’m going to an event. Papa volunteers on an ad-hoc basis with NTUC.”

Many parents like to simplify answers to their children but not me. I do not believe in the whole “you will get it when you grow up” thing. I believe that as long as we make an effort to explain ourselves, your child will eventually get it.

“Can I go with you? Event. Got popcorn?”

I was kinda surprise that he actually remembered Project Refresh which I brought him along previously. Or rather the popcorn he ate.

“No Seth, Papa is going to be busy at the event.”

“Why? What you do? Why?”

Like every kid has went through, my son is currently in the “WHY, WHERE, WHAT, WHO,” stage. He is very curious about everything.

Although I did say that I love to explain things to him, I was in a bit of a hurry because I spent the whole of my morning, despite waking up early playing with my newly purchased Nintendo Switch. I know, I can mix up my priorities every now and then. So I told him I would explain it to him when I get back and show him some pictures. (Which I totally thought he would have forgotten by then but who knows this kid has a memory of a woman. LOL.)

I started asking myself when I was driving to “Pasar Fiesta”, an event by Young NTUC U Heart (U Heart), in collaboration with OrangeAid, NTUC Income’s community development and involvement arm. “Pasar Fiesta” is a pop-up supermarket, that is aimed at reaching out to and helping under-privileged Yio Chu Kang residents offset their monthly expenditure.

How do I explain volunteerism to a 3 years old?

Do I just tell him that it is an act of kindness to help others? Wouldn’t that be a little too brief and lacks a bit of depth since helping someone crossing the road also falls under that category of act of kindness but I wouldn’t really call it volunteerism.

What about me just flipping through the dictionary and share with him the meaning of it? That can be pretty straightforward and easy. Then I asked myself, what is volunteerism to volunteers and the bigger question of “WHY”.

I’m a through and through cynic when it comes to things like these especially after reading articles online about the inconvenience brought by voluntourism. If you are unfamiliar with that term, you can probably guess that it just means volunteerism and tourism. It is something where people pays money to go to the less fortunate countries and “help out”. While they were there, they ain’t exactly into helping people but more for their own personal gains such as tax evasion, glorifying themselves by taking loads of pictures of them pretending to build a school which the villagers might have to tear down the wall after the event due to poor workmanship, and even as basic as wanting to gain some positive karma for themselves.

Me? I would not exactly call myself a noble person or even a selfless person till a certain extent. Truth is I just got associated to these events because of my work and more often than not I wouldn’t say no when I get “jio-ed” by the other volunteers. I tag-along mostly because my friends needed help and I am the “why not” kind of guy.

Upon reaching the event, I was telling my friends about what happened and the convo between me and my son. Ya, that’s pretty much me now, one of those annoying parents who is always talking about their child like their prize possession. So they actually introduced me to these two volunteers who have been with U Heart for years.

“Ask them ask them, they are very friendly and you probably can get some answers for your son or write on your blog or else you always no updates.”

You see, people like to encourage me to write things on my blog which I appreciates from time to time but it’s never about not having a story to tell, it’s really more about how lazy I am sometimes LOL. Hopefully I can inspire some of you guys to give back to the society. That’s being a positive influencer right? So I guess I shall try to use my influence in a more positive way instead of just telling you where to eat and get fat like I did. LOL.

“Taking Care of Others.”

Thuvinder is the general secretary of Union of Telecoms Employee of Singapore or better known as UTES. He first started being part of the union in 2006 when they were looking for volunteers to be a union leader.

What is his motivation behind volunteering?

I mean if you did not put your primary school education to a waste, you would have figured out that he has been a volunteer for 12 years. 12 years is no joke seriously. If you had a kid 12 yrs ago, you would be at the edge of your seat this year because he is going to take his PSLE! (For context lah.)

From my short chat with him I can tell that he is a very passionate and big man. (no pun intended). His motivation is as simple as seeing the smile on others’ face. It’s that simple.

So what is volunteerism to him?

“Volunteerism is about taking care of others. Taking care of workers in a Union Context.”

“It’s all heart.”

Nurhafizah is an exco with UTES and has been a volunteer for around 5 years. What started off as a challenge and self-improvement for her introverted self later became something more rewarding than she expected.

The social element of volunteering with UTES is something she finds really rewarding. It helps her to be more confident, give back to the society, and it’s something different from “just work”. It gives her an extra sense of purpose.

So what is volunteerism to her?

“It’s all heart. It’s meaningful work.”

Pasar Fiesta

So what happened at the event?

Approximately 250 volunteers from the unions, grassroots and Institute of Technical Education (ITE) participated in this initiative serving a variety of functions, these include helping to man stalls and serving as befrienders to the residents. This event touched over 1,700 underprivileged families. Beneficiaries from each household would be provided a trolley bag to “shop” (for free!) at Pasar Fiesta that was held across five distribution sites within Yio Chu Kang. They received some standard items such as a tin of Milo, a can of Tulip Chicken Luncheon Meat, a packet of Myojo Chicken Abalone Bowl Noodles and a tin of Julie's Assorted Biscuits. On top of these items, they would also get to “shop” for other canned foods, beverages and snacks.

Young NTUC’s learning partners – NTUC health, FindJobs, NTUC LearningHub, NTUC Membership and Growthbeans – were also present to meet residents and help them understand how they can improve their employability as well as source for new employment.

After a year of attending various voluntary work with NTUC, I must say that there is something for everyone. It’s not always about painting houses, or career guiding, or even donating money, there are a lot more than that. One can choose to challenge oneself and do something one is uncomfortable with to grow or simply do what you are best at and have fun during the process!

So what is volunteerism to me? What did I tell Seth at the end of the day?

 

“Volunteerism is… Love.”

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