SingTel

I was SingTel mobile service subscriber since I got my first Motorola clamshell phone. It should be around 18 years by now. I have experienced significant improvement in their customer service over the years. I was referring to SingTel and not the Hello Shop. However, ever since I moved to Jurong, the reception there had been disappointing. It was even more with the 3G network. The network was non-existence at times. It can be fustrating at times but what was most fustrating was the responses when fedback. The responses were that they were upgrading their equipment and service will resume to normal soon and they sent their team to check and everything was fine when the user's experience was otherwise. Was that complacency? They should realize that with the other two telcos hot on their heels, creatively upping the game, the once monopolize market share was dwindling and they could soon lose more customers if they fail to continue to invest to improve their service. I meant technically.

I hope I can continue to support this national icon but I also hope they won't take these loyal customers for granted. Let's see what will happen.

The Fine Line Between Insanity and Passion

I was reading an article on The Sunday Times by Ms. Lee Wei Ling and one sentence she wrote striked me deeply. She said, "... it takes a streak of insanity to make life worth living." I was wondering how true was this sentence. Then I realized that it would be difficult for most of the people to understand and, even if they did, few will walk the talk.

Everyone had dreams when they were young. Everyone wanted to travel the world, parachute from 20,000ft, climb the highest mountains and conquer the greatest ocean. Many also dreamt to be pilot, astronaut, doctor, lawyers but, as we grew up, we got distracted and forgot about our dreams.

In today's environment, people become rational. We cited our responsibilities as an excuse to be conservative and allow ourselves to deviate from what we felt was ideal to do. The need to be responsible to our love ones, friends and colleagues. We fear that we would not have enough for tomorrow. We struggled to maintain our standard of living. We held tight to our baggages. Even the outdated and unwanted ones. We tried to build upon what we have without realizing that we have little. We thought that maintaining our daily routine was progress. We made ourselves happy by celebrating about our progress. We made insignificant significant.

On the other hand, the insanity within the person fuelled the fire of passion and kept focus about what they wanted to achieve. They saw that as their life mission and the reason that kept them alive. They were the most optimistic and always ready for tomorrow. They usually were those with the most fulfilling life. They achived more by having less. Those who were insane or passionate, nevermind the term, were usually the most successful.

Life is such a paradox. It takes so much wisdom to bless the insanity. No wonder not everyone can be an exceptional champion!

Hong Kong Airport Express From Kowloon Station



Airport Express Ticket

I recently had my first experience with the Hong Kong Airport Express from the Kowloon Station. It was a pleasant one. I took the routine bus from my hotel in Mongkok to the airport express train station, aka Kowloon Station. It took around 15mins despite being a Saturday afternoon.

Entrance to Train Platform

 The station was spacious and not crowded. There was an information counter right near the entrance where ticket can be purchased. Alternatively, the contactless Octopus card can also be used. Behind the counter was was a row of check-in counter for the various airlines and I checked-in at the Singapore Airlines counter right at the very end. I was able to check in my luggages making the travel very light and convenient. The checked-in process was very efficient and it was over within 5 minutes.

Arriving Train

The train ride was smooth and took only approximately 30mins. Train cabin was spacious and clean. Everyone had a seat. There was also commentary along the way. The ride me straight to the departure hall.
As a whole, it was a nice, efficient and pleasant ride.

Advertisement and Audo Control

Kowloon Station Platform

Kowloon Station Platform

Info Counter at Kowloon Station



Cabin View

HK Airport Station

Airport Station

Seafood Dinner

Alaskan Crab

 We recently brought a colleague from the USA to a local seafood joint for dinner. He was amazed by the popularity of the resturant and the crowd. The resturant was running full house.

He was also overwhelmed by the variety of live sea creatures in the resturant ranging from all kinds of fishes to crabs to geoducks, lobsters and prawns. This was an unusual sight for him being in such resturant for the first time.



Canadian Geoduck



We ordered a number of delicacies including the resturant's favourites such as Drunken Prawns, (Sri Lankan) Chilli Crabs and Venison with Ginger. He enjoyed them despite the spices and chillies.

The photos were dishes we did not ordered. Thus, they were still live when we left the resturant.

Oyster

Picture of Day: Significant of Door Gift

A Pack of Playing Cards, a 4D Lottery Ticket and a Thank You Note

This was a wedding that I attended at the beginning of 2010. It was interesting to receive such a door gift at a Chinese wedding dinner. The combination of the items and the occasion made the gift interesting. They reflected the appreciation, humour, creativity and conscientiousness of the hosts. They were fun and unconventional unlike the chocolates and bears. They were also suitable for all genders and different age groups. However, were the hosts trying to tell the guests that marriage is a gamble? Maybe, they were all just in the name of fun.

Merlion Night Out

A Singapore Story

Collyer Quay

Merlion

Against a Backdrop of Singapore's Success

No picture of Singapore will be complete with the greenery.
I took a similar shot at Darling Harbour, Sydney.

Worst Electronic Bought : SAMSUNG Monitor

This monitor is not new but it never worked properly. The power connection (male and female connectors) had loose contact. Customer service could not provide satisfactory resolution. Anyway, the key is to be SAMSUNG-free.

Capping the Mexico Spill

The oil spill off the gulf of Mexico was finally contained. While I did not understand the technologies adopted to stop the leak, I knew that this was an important achievement and a great relief for all parties from the executives and employees of BP worldwide to the regulators, environmentalists, people living in the affected area, birds, fishes and even the micro-organism. There was no doubt that damages were done and cannot be reversed. The successful capping allowed the relevant stakeholders to focus on clearing the mess and help the affected habitats "resume normal living".

At this juncture, there will be blemish and political accountability. We can only hope that the responsible parties take responsibilities and focus on helping the impacted.

FIFA World Cup 2010

Spain won the FIFA 2010 World Cup Final in South Africa on July 11, 2010 when Andreas Iniesta scored the winning goal in the 115 minutes to beat the Netherlands 1 - 0. That goal was worth US$6 mil and maybe more. The price money for the winner was US$30mil and runners up US$24 mil.

More importantly, that win put the young Spanish team into history book as World Cup Winners. They also became only the second team in history to win both the World Cup and European Champions in 2008. Only Germany had done it in 1972 & 1974. The Spanish victory also raised the morale of the nation, amid a potential economic crisis due to debt.

From a footballing perspective, Spain proved that a team can focus on playing fair football and still win. The win was also representative of the victory of the country's youth development system and the success of its domestic league, the La Liga, as a platform for Spanish players pipped against the best in the likes of Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo.

This 4 yearly tournament was touted by many as the "Tournament of the Planet" and, indeed it was. The event showcase 32 teams from around the world who went through a 2 years qualification process, with the exception of the host, South Africa, and defending champion, Italy. All 32 qualifying team were given US$1mil as preparation fee even before arriving at South Africa.

The stakes were US$420mil in prize money, the title of World Champion, team carrying the hope of their nation, a shot at history or rewriting history, personal reputation of these professionals, improved valuation, improve contract terms, life changing opportunity to clinch contract to play in top league in the world and money in endorsements. The expectation on some nations and their players were extremely high. For example, Brazil, Argentina and England were expected to win the World Cup. Italy and France were expected to reached the semi finals. Wayne Rooney, Christaino Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Fernando Torres and Kaka were expected to score a dozen. Thus, the stakes were high and the pressure was mounting on many players.

PRIZE MONEY

$8 million – To each team exiting after the group stage (16 teams)

$9 million – To each team exiting after the round of 16 (8 teams)

$14 million – To each team exiting after the quarter-finals (4 teams)

$18 million – Fourth placed team

$20 million – Third placed team

$24 million – Runner up

$30 million – Winner

The preparations were elaborate too. South Africa, the host nation, spent $33bn rand in 7 years employing more than 70,000 workers to construct and retrofit stadiums as well as improve the country's infrastructures. Sponsors such as Coca Cola, MacDonald, Sony, Visa and others pumped in hundreds of million of dollars for global exposure. Then there were broadcasting rights to nations around the world. It was estimated that 700 millions watched the games from around the world.

Many participating nations coughed out huge sum of money to hire reputatable and experience coaches to help their team in their preparation for the finals and also take them to as far in the competition as possible. England, Ivory Coast and Australia were some of the qualifying nations with foreign coaches. The Germans hired more than 60 top students from around the country to study and research on the qualifying teams as part of the preparation. Many countries travelled to high altitude places for training and adaptation as six of the ten venues were around 1200m - 1750m above sea level.

Germany using university grads to study their opponents

Soccer City and Ellis Park Stadium were around1753m; Royal Bafokeng Stadium at 1500m; Free State Stadium at 1400m; Peter Mokaba Stadium at 1310m; Loftus Versfeld Stadium at 1214m; Mbombela Stadium at 660m; Cape Town Stadium, Moses Mabhida Stadium and Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium were near sea level. It was believed that the altitude can affect the performance of the players and the motion of the ball.

The young Spanish team also showed that they have the temperament to perform under pressure and succeed at this level. Unlike so many players who succumbed under pressure. Was it the players or the preparation? The tournament also showed that the game was no longer played by just 11 players on the field but also the vision of the coach, the depth of the bench and the support from the backroom crews. The preparation done by the coach including tactic, mental preparation of the players, contingency planning for the various scenario, understanding of their opponents, knowing the habit of the man in black, the ability to unite the team, the depth of the bench, medical staffs, etc.

The Brazilian lost their head and the game. The English never got into their groove to perform to expectation, the French were in disarrayed, the Italian lost their way during the game only to realise too late, the Argentines underestimated their opponent and were demonlished. The Nigerian players had other ideas and did not perform as expected. The Japanese and Germans prepared well and progress. The Dutch played the physical game and won most of the mental game against their oppositions.

With the stake in today's game, the pressure on the players, coach and even administrators can be so significant that the game may no longer lost on the field. The success of the Netherland, Germany, Uruguay, Mexico and Japan as well as the Spanish victory demonstrated a new dimension of "Total Football" which include the development, detail planning, the importance of the depth of squad and supporting crews and the pschological preparation aspect of the game.

The stakes will continue to be bigger in the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014 and could see the adoption of technology after what had happened to England and the USA. Nevertheless, we will look forward to the samba.

Change

Cause Change & Lead

Accept Change &Survive

Resist Change &Die

So simple yet so many people choose to resist change and die than to lead