Friday, May 29, 2009

excuse me.

Everyday, I step into a war zone. There is barely space for anyone, and people choose to either mimic statues at the most inconvenient places, or behave like a wildebeest stampede while trying to enter the war zone aka the Mass Rapid Transit. The question that begs to be answered is how much faster will they actually be if they try to squeeze into the carriages while others are trying to exit. The public service announcements don't seem to be working. Fine. Maybe we should do things the Singaporean way.

justin.

Monday, May 25, 2009

squeeze.

There's this one thing I don't get(among billions of other things, such as money). How useful is feedback when it is forced out of someone? Somebody please explain to me. How productive is forcing someone to think of ideas to implement positive changes in ones workplace(3 ideas each and different from anyone else's idea)?

In my opinion, not at all. Especially when usage of creative juices isn't encouraged in this line of work. By threatening disciplinary action if the criteria is not met, it is further negating the idea of having suggestions for improvement. Instead, bad feelings will start to grow, and people will think of suggestions that while will possibly improve the work situation, is not mainly for that purpose. The main purpose of coming up with a suggestion would be to prevent oneself from suffering disciplinary action. In that case, what is so different from this situation and that of a dictatorship, other than the severity of the occurance?

Rather than motivating people by threats, the essence of a good "suggestion system" would be having the people who have ideas come forth and suggest them, with perhaps a little token of appreciation for coming forward and implementing a positive change. In fact, I believe this is the system in place. However, the people who are running the system decide that there was a need to compete and see which department has the most quantity and quality in terms of suggestions. This race for face has caused the system in place to appear flawed. And yet the system is developed to be perfect. It is the people within the system who are failing. And the very same people wonder why the system is not as perfect as it seems.

justin.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

stop bugging me.

What looked like a bunch of sycamore seeds floated and spun in the air, in seemingly random directions. On closer inspection, those "seeds" were actually hundreds of translucent wings. Attached to these wings were insects, which I cannot name, not because the name brings up anything unmentionable, but simply because I do not know what they are called.

Under the orange tinged light of the street lamp, these insects buzzed about in the air, causing quite my irritation levels to rise slowly but surely. The sentry post I was standing in was of no protection to me, as the insects flew where they pleased, including my sentry post. The M16 in my hands offered me no protection as wings buzzed about my ears. Swatting actions proved futile. So is trying to continue this post proving to be. All I will say is that I wished I had a flamethrower at that point in time.

After some time, some lizards appeared. The miasma of wings buzzing in the air did not irritate them as much as it did me. To me, the wings were just a source of unwanted disturbance. To the lizards, it meant buffet. So for much of the time, I watched the lizards capturing the insects. They had very quick reactions, turning left and right in split seconds whenever some insect decided the wings were not for flying and landed. Seconds later, the wings were permanently on the ground. The lizards looked like they were dancing with the insects. It was strangely therapeutic to see this "dance of death", probably because the number of the insects were decreasing at an increasing rate. Nevertheless, it helped to pass the time, and take my mind off my (then) full bladder, ready to explode. And everyone knows how slowly time passes when your bladder is full and you are denied access to the toilet.

justin.

Monday, May 04, 2009

ynwa sami.

Liverpool have a habit of signing defenders with hard to read names. (L) Skrtel (R) Hyypia


It's been confirmed. At the end of this season, Sami Hyypia ends his 10 year association with Liverpool Football Club to join up with Bayer Leverkusen. The term "Legend" is loosely thrown around these days, but I'm sure it would be more than appropriate used on big Sami, a true gentleman both on and off the field. What he takes away is his aerial presence- that blond mop rising above many other heads to get to the ball first, his impeccable reading of the game, his great attitude both on and off the field, his cheeky smile when he knows he's made a foul and gets caught. But what he doesn't is the memories, winning everything except the league with us and serving as captain for many of those years, including the treble season. His 10 years of distinguished service is well and truely appreciated.

You'll Never Walk Alone Sami.