the club - how to run it?

the new guy has been there for 6 months. he chopped a few heads, and the newspaper gave a bad spin to that. he called a members' dialogue and it lasted from 7 to 11 plus.

as usual, the new guys is enthusiastic. but this time, it sounded more promising than before, and seemed that they knew what they were going to do. they hired a new gm - the ang moh who's has a lot of experience in fnb and golf. after all that's what the club needs - somebody who's run a golf club before and was in the hotel business. he sounded cautious and practical - no hype, no fancy promises, since he's been on board for just 12 days.

the members, as ever, emotional, non-appreciative of what it takes to be in the those position, managing a club on pro-bono basis. but they did act as a very good check-balance for any general committee member who stray from his normal duties, or abuses his power. like there's complaints of gc who extended the bar hour beyond normal working time to accommodate for his own entertainment purpose. and another gc, playing more than 18 holes without reporting to the starter after the 1st 18-hole....

the suggestion to have a lawn bowling ground in the facility, a good one to marathon man, was hot down by the floor's show of hands.

an old timer questioned why the gc took out the 'no-tipping' rule, to which the president said, although there's been the rule there ever since, it could not be enforced due to the practice of tipping has become a tradition in this club.

marathon man did not last thru the meeting - he went for the supper which was warm porridge, a good deal, and headed back home after that..... while the members were still grilling the president and the gc.

the bottomline - if the club cannot put it's business in order and runs up a lot of bad publicity in the media(now blogs are putting a lot of rumours out there), there's talks in the very high level in the gahmen to take it back and let ntuc run it - what a shame for the premium club of this island, wasted away by its own members!

luck - just live and let live

the two frens went to the casino, one loosing out his pants and the other winning like a fish drinking water.

the looser said, "my luck today was really bad.... you luck, very good."

the winner said, "this is the first time i won so much... normally i was like your today."

luck normally is timing, and in life, more bad timings happen than good timings.... most of these bad timings would not hurt you, they only irks you, like missing a bus, looosing your phone.... so no need to get frustrated over it any longer than you should. for the really 'bad' bad timings, like loosing your job, loosing something dear.... not getting promoted... the trick is DON'T BET ALL YOU HAVE ONTO ANY DEAL, you have to have enough 'capital' to go though it.... to afford the really goog timing to come by. it will come, you have to last out for it.

also who know your bad luck turns out to be good - like this guy who missed the ealier mrt which was packed with passengers, and the next one he got on was totally empty..... need to say more what luck actually is?

earth hour - the dialogue

the moon asked, "did you observe the earth hour the other nite?"

the street light said, "i'm essential to the traffic at nite, so i did not have to join them."

"come on, you can have your earth-nite, tonite. i can stand in for you."

the straits - brotherly love

Woodlands ST 82


Woodlands North Plaza


Republic Polytechnic


Admiralty Park from Republic Poly


Water lily pond


Park direction map


Gravelled track


Gazing at the past


Sungei Cina


Mangrove swamp


Marsiling Crescent


Marsiling Dr kopitiam


HDB in Marsiling Dr


Singapore customs, immigration and quarantine complex


Woodlands Waterfront project signboard


Causeway


Admiralty RD West along the seaside


Family fun at the Sungei Cina estuary


The pier


I eat, you wait


JB, a view from the new park under construction


Dusk

woodlands ave 4 is like any other ave with hdb flats, except it feels quite cosy around here, though it's still very sunny after 5pm. he turns into woodlands st82, and passes by the woodlands north plaza, the other end of st82 leads to ave 9, that leads to republic polytechnic, the latest polytechnic in singapore. he cuts across the school, by the shallow pond, then he is in admiralty park. the water lilies in the pond in front of the restaurant in the park have small flowers, mostly in purple color.

he heads into the track paved with gravel, along the sungei cina. he detours into the jingle track, and find comes across the mangrove swamp area. after that he emerges in admiralty road, which he crosses and steps on the marsiling crescent. the other end of it leads to marsiling dr, which joins admiralty rd west, which runs along the seaside next to the causeway, which is jammed with weekend cars coming back from malaysia.

the ura is constructing the woodlands waterfront promenade, fencing the stretch of pavement next to the shoreline from the road. when it's ready by end of Q3 2010, it would be another nice site for a lot of activties.

after the pier, at the sungei cina estuatry, he meets a group of people, most of them thais and indians. a couple of thai families are having bbq next to the road over the bridge of sungei cina. the food being the ready catch from the sea by their frens.

a man eating his dinner, while a dog waiting on for any food from the man. and he does share his food with the dog.

further on, he is pleasantly surprised to see a park still under construction. it is part of the waterfront promenade project.

the sun all the while has been behind thick clouds to the west. though it's time for it to set, there's no spectacular colorful show in the western sky, just a few patches of golden clouds beside it.

across the straits, jb seems very near. sometimes it's mistaken as part of singapore if you do not take special notice the water that separates the two brotherly neighbours.

rivalry between brothers(like the ones in the kelatan royal family)is more intense and fatal, than two openly declared enemies. again, for what?

big kids - let them fly

when your daughter asks you for permission to go holiday with her boy friend, what's your reply?

yes? no?

marathon man's fren ah jinjong was at a fix. he had to pushed her request aside, "no." he told his daughter.

but his daughter replied, "but you let cheh-cheh go out with his boy-fren for holiday?"

"i did not. they went out without my permission."

so you see, nowadays parents are hard, but the children are harder to be. if they are good, they are ask permission before they do, but they are turned down, but those do it before asking for permission get away with it, and get what they want.

how?

ah jinjong, cannot rationalize the events.

marathon man also don't know what to say to him. he can only say, "so the only way you can avoid making decision for your kids is to send them overseas. then they have to make decisions themselves, then they would inform you what they have decided, only when you asked after they have carried out their decisions. they cannot do that if they stay with you under one roof."

the marina blues - concrete gold in the making

SANDS IR at dawn


Shenton Way at dawn


Marina south - a big worksite


Marina south mall?


Marina south pier


Marina south pier building


Marina south pier


The steamroller boat in Marina south pier


The fishing gang


More fishing fun


The brown dog leading the way


The black dog


The seaside


Remaining woods in Marina south


Gardens by the bay sign board


Army of workforce


The MARINA BLUES

the sky lite is now still hiding behind the other side of the earth. the restless mind has to get some engagement - some dynamic activity. what else but jogging. he takes off before the first lite of the day creeps out of the horizon.

he wants to go marina south to witness the sunrise. he starts in shenton way, turns into marina blvd. the skylite spreads out from the horizon behind the SANDS IR. the whole marina, other than the IR work site, is a big work site, the gardens by the bay has to be done by the end of this year. workers like bees, busy getting into their respective roles.the money is good for them, they are happy to start their jobs daily, except sundays with such verve, such eagerness.... but what happens when the IR is completed, when the gardens by the bay is completed? do they have worries that they may not get another job after that?

he heads toward marina south pier. the sun already shinning with its full brilliance, fully lifted out of the horizon. the seaside is embanked with granites, cemented together. with a row of short fan-palms lining the along the bank. a group of people having a good time doing fishing. as he jog along the bank, two dogs, one brown and one black dut out from the trees, giving him some caution. he slows down to walking pace. the dogs trot in front of him, no growling, and rather meek and frenly, they seem like ushering him forward in a very welcoming manner. he goes all the way until his way is blocked by a construction site. he turns back, and finds his way back to shenton way.

the marina blues hang in the bay sky stoically.... the scene of bay will be so different from what it was 10 years ago, not that it would be more impressive in its stature(not at all, with all the high-rise surrounding it, the bay infact has become a rather small pond)but it will awe the next generation with its multimillion property prices.....

and the marina blues are leading the pack.

live pappily ever after

suddenly the car price up by $22,000
housing price shot thru the roof
hospital rooms not enough
uni fee kept inscreasing
conservancy charge took the quee
soon it will be the bus fare, taxi fare....
reits is raiding our pockets
food prices, medical expenses, educational expenses, housing cost.... all at the expense of raising any future hopes
baby bonus, work bonus, got already smiling
meet-the-session mp said
got problem tell me
ah seng said
this month no money to pay hdb, how?
no problem mortgage hdb, and get money to rent a 3 room....
and do some business too...

lotus restaurant - ad works

the school has 40,000 alumni all over the world. for this year, the school has 7,000 students, 3,000 in-campus, the rest in various courses in various countries. the president of the school briefed the alumni who met at the lotus(vegetarian - since the 7th day Adventists are vegans) restaurant of the quality hotel in balestier road for the third singapore alumni gathering.

marathon man met an alumnus, dr chua who was also his school mate in his home town, who is now teaching in the business faculty of the school. one of the attendees, cliff, working in a japanese company, told the table, "when we put jack neo up in our promotion campaign for our air-con, it really sold better, because he's a celebrity."

believe it or not, advertising really helps.

or else, google would not be google no more, instead it would have become GONEgle(that's what we are calling the chinese version of google).

how does an advert impact sales?

you see, when a consumer sees an advert, whether it's a tv commercial, or a bill board, or a page in a magazine, or newspaper, he is reminded of the existence of the product, not only that, in his mind, this product has something to think about, like it's being used by a certain celebrity, or its touted as in a certain class, or it's being promoted as something which must be had..... all these me sages, though we think in a normal mindset, people would be discerned enough to ignore the obvious intents of the advert - but it hits sublimely not in the conscious part of the mind, rather the subconsciousness. and the more you see the advert, the stronger your subconsciousness registers the signal.

on hand, how do you promote your website?

instead of trying all sorts of ways to design an outstanding website, crunching your white matter big time to put in the right meta text, doing cross linking of your web with others, selling it thru your pals in group emails......

- easiest way to is buy some ad space in the search engines, or some popular sites.

tiger's story - the prequel....

he wakes up in the wee hour of the nite to go to the bathroom, and feels the warmth of the room too unbearable. after opening the attic door, air circulation takes place and his room cools down by a few degrees, he feels much better.

the two hole-in-one complementary beers he had last nite after the 9-hole in the old course makes him a bit tipsy.he is wide awake. so he writes down what comes to his mind.....

long time ago in a far-way country, there lived a farmer at the foothill village. other than tending to his crops, he also went up the hill to get fire woods. one day, while collecting the fire woods, he heard a groan behind him. turning around he saw a tiger being trapped in a booby trap. the farmer was naturally taken aback, and wanted to run away. then the tiger groaned louder as if asking him for help. he stopped and turned back... cautiously approached it, and looked into its eyes, said, "you king of the jungle.... if i set you free, you must not hurt me. ok?"

the tiger seemed understand what he said, nodded its head.

he did as what he told the tiger, and after it was set free, it came to the man and rustled its head against his hand, with murmuring groans... and went away.

a few years passed by, a crook became the head of the county, and forced the farmer's daughter to marry him. on the day of the wedding, while the wedding procession was making all the dins with a tearful bride inside the sedan chair, on their way to the crook's mansion.... suddenly it halted when it reached the hill-path just outside the farmer village.... there was a tiger standing in the middle of the path, roaring and growling away. the whole gang dissipated, and the bride was left in the sedan chair.....

the crook after listening to what happened from the procession could hardly believe their story. nevertheless, he gathered more men, and went into the hill, looking for the tiger and the bride.

they found the empty sedan chair, but no sign of the bride being the victim of the tiger was detected. so they went to the farmer's house. once they entered the house. they found that the house vacant.... and they were trapped inside with all the doors locked outside....and there was a big pile of fire woods..... and a fire was started... the bad guys all perished.

the tiger suddenly turned into a strong prince and married the farmer's daughter, and they had a son....

the whole family supposed to live happily ever after if not for little tiger being trapped by the holes he dug.....

this time, no farmer is coming to help the little tiger, only he would be able to get himself out of his own trouble!

.... the story just unfolds.


question - who is the son?

relationship - be cool

not worth the life to sweat on things not within your control. press the right button and it will be taken care of.

marathon man's fren ah tulan, is really upset that nowadays his work is not that smooth - he does not work well with one of his colleagues; and his family life is not doing well as well - his wife is cold toward him.

marathon man, after being told of the causes of ah tulan's unhappiness, said, "hey, pal, take it easy. work - is something you should never get personal about. let the system take care of it. if you cannot get things done thru whoever in your company, bubble it up. no need to get worked up over whoever is trying to block you. as for your family, relationship is not always warm; be cool when it hits the cold period."

"but how can you stay cool when your colleague or your wife is giving you the cold shoulder?"

"it's the game of 'who blink first', if you lose your cool, your are the one who blinks first.... and you are heading into a loosing battle. yelling would not fix problems. it only worsens it."

"i cannot stand people snub me...."

"well, learn to stand, my fren."

"any secret formula?"

"think like a date."

"what date?"

"the palm that thrives in the desert. the hotter the day, the more it fruits!"

nutshell - space infinitum

in a nutshell, human are totally useless.

does it make sense to live in a nutshell?

hah.... that what cicadas are doing - 17 years under ground in juvenile form.... then for a about a month or so live above ground, and mate then kapus....

life is still a mystery..... a misery?



if you go away, to another far-away place, you are a total stranger to the place, or in big stretch of your imagination, you lose yourself in deep space..... not even a soul there to relate to.... the question you have to ask yourself......


what's the difference between living in a nutshell and living in all the space you can imangine?

and the moral of the story - life is only meaningful when you live it moderately.

love - and not?

many types of pairing - genetic, spiritual, intellectual, authority, look, father type, mother type, gratification, master-slave, wealth, .......

genetic - you marry for the reason of getting good genes from your partner to complement your short-comings. somehow the brain knows who your partner would be when you meet one. normally, love at first sight. the feeling is intense.... can it last for the whole life, very much in doubt. like drinking strong coffee, butterflies in the stomach, whirl-winds in the head.... and it goes down quickly enough to go for another round.....

spiritual - you are not attracted by her/his physical qualities, but slowly you found from her/him a side that brings you into your own inner fondness of her. normally, not love at first sight, but rather tea-sipping kind of love, the more cups you drink, the taste gets better and better..... can it last? yes, but sometimes, not very intense, just like drinking tea..... not as potent as coffee... but lingers longer in taste.

intellectual - especially for the gal to fall in love with a man who's intellectually powerful. but if the man bears down on her after marriage, she may find him too proud to bear with, will find faults with him.... and let go at him when there's chance.

authority - gals view heroes or people in power favorably - gene factor. but if the man did not keep up his image as authoritative as before marriage, the gal will take advantage of the situation and climb over his head.

look - very superficial criteria due to gene factor, but may likely produce beautiful off-springs.... may not last long due to other qualities not up to scratch.

father type - if the man continues to be father-like.... can last

mother type - same as father type.

gratification - marry because your partner has help you greatly, and as form of saying thank you, you marry him/her..... you start to pay back to what you own him/her, they day you marry.... and soon, you think you have clear your debt, then off you go....

master-slave - marriage by force.....

wealth - like elin marrying to tiger..... when he's in trouble, she's so happy that she's holding his wallet tight.



there's this kind of love, with little bit of everything... like you find your soul mate, where you use your minds to make love, while your organs join to each other's passionately..... can't get enough of it.



alone, so pityful......

serangoon river - the other side

scenes taken from the civilised side of the river

chomped down a slab of mint ice scream bar in wafers, gulped down a bottle of 'luohankuo' in hougang center. passed by 'kang kar' mall which was new to marathon man. along the upper serangoon rd, he went away from the city, until he hit serangoon secondary school, he turned right into a small lane, one side bordered by the school in the right, the left was walled by jungle. he arrived at hougang ave 7, and beside it, the serangoon river which he visited couple of weeks ago. and that the place he intended to do his jogging this evening.

people jogged, strolled, sat by the side chairs, caught fish, embraced...... the evening was a relaxed one. but he noticed the river was filled with junks, which he didn't see the last time he was here. was it because the few days' rain washed down the junks from the small longkangs?



scenes from the "frontier" side of the river

at the end of river he turned left into tampines road, and not far from the turn, he turned left into a dirt path beside a longkang which was new to him. he was in uncharted territory. one side jungle, one side longkang. but he saw some jogger running toward him, so must not be that 'unaccesible'. not very far on, he saw the longkang joined to a river, the serangoon river, and that lighted bulb in his mind - he was now at the other side of the serangoon river. he just came from the opposite side of it. the left side was the river, and the right walled a thick jungle. he pressed on, hoping furthe on, he could find a way back to proper road. the jungle showed big patches of burned down trees and bushes. a week or two ago, there were quite a few bush fires in tampines - obviously these were the ones. imagine, if the dry spell continued for another month(thank GOD, rain has been abundant these two weeks), the whole area would turn into scorched earth.

what's left after the fires

he met some foreign workers netting fish from the river, and further one he met some bbq their catch.... then he came to a bridge that spanned the river forming part of the tpe. he knew he's onto familiar territory again. he climbed up the slope onto the side track of tpe, heading toward kpe. he continued on. he saw quite a few more dried-up trees along the way, against the sun-setting sky, looked like withering, maroon-colored leaves on the fall, in temperate countries.....

along TPE





along KPE

he reached tampines road, a full circle. as always, he normally did not planned the route, sometimes had a light inkling of where he wanted to jog, but the details of the route was always an adhoc, on-the-spot matter....

today, he had it good.



twilight....

the sun already went below the skyline of building, quite far in front of him.... the jogger headed for home....

- the serangoon river, one side is well-paved track where civilised people dwell and play, the other side is like a 'frontier' dirt road, only the outcasts, the savaged and the out-of-luck pioneers would adventure into.