End of the Lee and Lee saga

Ms Lee has apologised publicly on Friday - so marks the end of the ping pong saga. Or did this mark the start of something new?

It was interesting to read today's article and how three other MPs (Dr Bala and two Teos) came in to assuage the public.

It reminded me of a story of the clam and the stork (or was it a mussel and a crane?). Anyway whatever species these two animals were from, the story went that the clam was happily sunbathing, soaking in the sunlight when a stork swopped in and grabbed hold of the clam's flesh to have a delicious snack. Instinctively, the clam clamped shut and as a result, started suffocating the stork.

The clam would not release its grip on the stork as it would mean its end; Likewise, the stork would not release the clam as it would be suffocated to death. So the hours dragged on and eventually a passing fisherman spotted the two exhausted animals, took them home and made a nice meal out of them.

Fishing, anyone?

F1 comes to Calvary

Caeden and Topaz with e make-shift f1 track during twinklers class.

A happy snapper

Lunch location today - Bugis junction new food court.

First shot from new k850i

Our little bookworm

A ping-pong story of Lee and Lee

Timing is everything, so a popular adage goes.

With Ms Lee's (now famous for her "unpopular and insensitive" sacking of Singapore's table tennis coach, Mr Lee.

Through this episode, what lessons in timing can we learn in terms of management? If your sales team had exceeded expectations for this year's target, would you dismiss the sales manager even if you'd decided on his "fate" before the results were announced?

Would you continue to implement what has been "decided beforehand" or is a re-evaluation necessary? If you did a reversal, what would be the potential impact of your reputation of being a decisive and determined leader? How do you decide? What are your priorities and criterion for decisions?

There was also another article on today's paper about pregnant mums on timing as well - on how to determine the right timing to inform employers of their pregnancy.

Perhaps the best time would be 3 months and 1 day, when the mandatory legal protection of pregnant moms kicks in?

Stay-at-Home Moms (SAHM)

In my opinion, a very glaring omission from this year's rally had been the issue of SAHMs.

Having a SAHM at home, I can appreciate the sacrifices that my wife made to stay at home with Caeden (though we're still not sure how much he appreciates it).

Frankly, raising a family, at least a middle-class one is not easy in Singapore. Sacrifices were made and budgeting was done on a need rather than a want basis (though I sometimes make exceptions). "Struggling in SIN" instead of "Living the Singapore Dream" is often the catchphrase of the day.

But watching him grow up is something that we would not want to miss. My mom was a SAHM-equivalent (aka housewife) when my sis and I were growing up and we did appreciate (abeit grudgingly) the discipline and love that she'd showered on us. She's moved on to teaching in kindergarten when we were older and is now raising another generation (including her grandsons).

Back to the topic - why I said SAHMs had been a glaring omission.

Taking the metaphor of a bee-hive, which bee is of the greatest importance - the worker, the queen or the males?

The workers that fend off attacks, collect honey, tend the young, the queen that lays the eggs or the males that fertilise the next generation?

I'd say it's all three - each playing their vital role in the hive. Without the queen, there'd be no eggs for the next generation (the labourers labour in vain). Without the workers, the queen will not get food to produce the eggs. Without the males, there would not be opportunity for the bee species to obtain genetic diversity to ensure its long-term sustainability.

Likewise, if the emphasis is overly placed on the Singapore "worker bee", would the "queen bee" die out altogether? Or have we been outsourcing the "queen bee" function already?

So which role do you play or want to play?

Creating Something out of Nothing

I had a department retreat with the team yesterday.

We were trying to make sense out of what we had been doing for the last few months and attempted to develop some long-term strategies to justify refusing to take on some of the myriad stuff that was thrown our way.

But oh, what a challenge that was :)

Chunghwa Internet?

Lately, I get a strange name on my Treo's 3G network title.

When my pda gets connected to the Singtel network, it displays 'chunghwa internet'.

I googled Chunghwa and found out it's a Taiwanese company.

So, why is this name on Singtel's network?

FaceBook Fun

Facebook is fun.

I've only been on it for the past 4 days and have found long-lost friends that I thought I might never see again.

The wonders of technology.