The great ant colony sale

A male colleague commented the other day that Sing*pore girls look for monetary security above all and he doesn't blame them but what's a guy to do if he doesn't have the dough to buy a flat and car? He said he wanted to poll me about my views but then I belong to the minority.

"What do you mean?" I asked warily. He said that I'm not like those Shenton Way girls he knows who spend like crazy and in fact, that's what most Sing*pore girls are like. Is it really? I look at my friends around me and, yes, we like to spend; the GSS gets us all excited and we hanker after branded goods occasionally, but I doubt we are materialistic.

A media personality quipped the other day in the newspaper that the true religion in Sing*pore is money.

Is it because we are shallow? An explanation would be that we have a hoarding mentality like those small furry animals in Over the Hedge: the amassing of food (money and property and things) is the key to survival and the buttress against harsh winter and dangers lurking in the big, cruel world.

We've always been told that we are but a little dot on the map, surrounded by much bigger neighbours in an unstable region. Our economy can easily be trounced by big Asian giants. So the crisis mode is somewhat more heightened in us, just like small furry animals who are easily spooked by outside nosie and movement.

Then again, curiously, we are also known for our complacency, at least according to our leaders, who don't want us to rest on our country's successes. That's a dilemma, isn't it? How do you make citizens' lives so comfortable and 1st-world and yet keep them on their toes? It's like trying to make a well-fed predator hunt for its own food in the wilderness. The people are easily satisfied, but the leaders want more, faster, better! Gives it a decidedly Pinky and the Brain feel. You know, the Brain wanting to take over the world and loyal Pinky following the orders in an earnest but befuddled fashion.

I really don't think Sing*pore*ns are the most materialistic bunch if you compare them with other countries. More like, they have an instinct for accumulation, for a sense of protection and security. The aforementioned Over the Hedge furry creatures which seem to care for nothing but food, you wouldn't call them greedy, would you?

I always think of Sing*pore as an ant colony. Our people are like the tiny worker ants whose sole purpose is to gather food for the nest. Harmless but industrious, and always busy, be it carrying food back to the colony or simply running around crazily in zig-zags. What makes me uncomfortable is the feeling that the ants are so frantically on the move, but yet seem so hapless, like they are tired and harried and want to rest, but can't. When you look at the ants, don't you ever wonder, "Why don't they ever stop? What are they so busy for? And where exactly are they rushing to?"

English for beginners: We ain't the British Council but the BC ain't free

When I was young, I told myself that there are 3 professions that I would never go into: teaching, law and law enforcement.

But starting this week, I'll be teaching my mother English. Actually, this is not my 1st time tutoring someone. During my bro's 'O' Levels, I helped him with his History and he managed to score a B3 despite flunking the subject in all previous exams.

We went to the bookshop a few weeks ago to choose materials for the weekly lessons and we had to pick the simplest because my mother has no foundation in English at all. So what we bought were a book at K1 level and a packet of 40 flashcards designed for 2-6 year-olds.

Before this week, she has already picked some words from the book (man, woman, boy, girl etc.) and practised writing them on her own. I just gave her a spelling test and she scored 7 out of 10: not bad. Looking at her printing those neat, rounded words on the exercise book and muttering to herself the letters that make up each word, I realise what a difficult undertaking it is to learn a new language from nothing. Nothing to build upon, nothing to compare to, and nothing to fall back on.

Everything would have to be by memorisation. She worries about how easy it would be to forget the pronunciation of the words. She doesn't know hanyu pinyin and has no idea how each letter sounds. I worry about how I'm going to teach her grammar when I haven't even figured out the intricacies of tenses. And how do you explain why a word can mean many different things and a thing can go by many different names?

Baking virtuoso in the making: Mother's day edition (V)

I told my mother I'll bake a butter cake for her for Mother's Day. Don't be fooled into thinking that because butter cake is such a common cake, it's easy to bake. I've failed just about every time I tried. Most of the time, the cake is too dense.

Well, it takes a person of courage to post evidence of her baking failures on her blog, and I'm not that kind of person, so I'll post the picture of the butter cake mixture before it was baked.

I can tell that I'm going to have a bit of difficulty in becoming a baking virtuoso simply because I can never follow anything that comes remotely close to a formula, and you'll agree with me that receipes are a complicated form of it. For one, I often improvise. And I improvise not because of creativity but due to necessity and irrational whim.

You can see that the paper lining the tin above is not the usual "tracing paper" but an A4 computer-printing paper because we ran out and I realised that only when I was going to pour the mix in.

The receipe called for 300g of butter and I put only 250g because I felt queasy just looking at the huge amount of greasy butter that goes into it, and also because 250g happens to be the weight of exactly 1 stick of butter.

The cake rose more than it should (and I'm quite bemused that normally the cakes I bake do not rise enough and this time round, when it's not supposed to rise, it peaked, and erupted.) The top was baked to a crisp and yet the inside was gooey. I had to scrape (or prise) off the top layer and put it back to bake. It was not a pleasant sight.

My sister tried the cake first and proclaimed it to be edible and believe me, coming from her, it's an act of unstinting kindness. But I dread having to eat it for breakfast for the next few days. And naturally, my mother reminded me, only after tasting the cake, that the amount of mix I made required 2 cake tins, not 1. So I'm quite sure now, blur people cannot be good bakers.

Notes after a busy work week

If I haven't been blogging as much as I used to, it's because I've recently been snowed under by lots of deadlines that I'm trying to clear so that I can get away for a week in June.

Also, we've had a new member on our team recently, and what's more, my manager assigned her to sit next to me (thanks, manager). You know how newcomers are: eager to please, and super-hardworking. Her coming reminded me of my own initial, heady weeks at the workplace. Everything that was assigned to me, I gave the utmost attention and totally inapproriate proportion of effort. And then, of course, the enthusiasim wore off and degenerated into ennui and weariness.

When I used to blog and nap in my office like nobody's business (I mean it: when I nap, I would take another chair and put my legs on it, because as I've explained to an amused colleague, I cannot nap properly when my legs are not up), I now have to work and slog to keep up and erm, not to lose face?

Because she made me hark back to those good old days, I also cannot help but think about my entire stay here and, inevitably, when I'm going to leave. I'm afraid that I've not really made use of every opportunity here to learn and improve, simply because of the sheer amount of work. Most of my energy is spent just trying to clear as much as possible.

And when you focus on quantity, something is lost; not just quality, but also your passion for your work. And when that happens, you start to moan about why you spent so many years in university and end up in the wrong field anyway.

And I often dread those working discussions with the senior people, because they do most of the talking, and we end up with the most work. I often write the meeting minutes and when a colleague mentioned that the senior people like to have a column "Action to be taken by" for their directives, I retorted that it's redundant because the names would always be the same.

Of course you can say those senior people used to be junior staff who were also at the mercy of others, but when 1 of them tells you that a project you're working on is problematic because it's being handled by women and yet at the same time has a habit of putting his hand on your shoulder or arm and peeks at your notebook openly, you sometimes can't help but rant.

I'm trying to fight off the work fatigue, as many young working adults are. I just feel like I need to take a break to detox and flush away the toxic stress. Away from the email distractions and deadlines, I think I'll be able to better remember that essentially, I still want to work in this line.

A busful of uncles

I went to one of those mass speech events yesterday and was travelling on a bus full of uncles with tanned, weather-beaten faces. They were speaking in dialects and half the time, I didn't know what they were talking about. But you can sense the camaraderie within that crowded bus. Everyone knows where everbody is going. And I asked myself, what do I have in common with these dialect-sprouting uncles? Why am I on the same bus with them, going to the same place as them?

I think what we have in common is the belief in fair play. You don't need a tertiary education to understand it, or even a common language.

I've done my civic duty now, and as the Heineken ad goes, "Now, we wait".

Got calcium?

Went for a free health check-up during the weekend and realised that I don't have enough bone mass. People of my weight range are supposed to have 2 kg worth of bones, while I only have 1.8 kg. Well, I'm not surprised, seeing that I don't drink milk or eat tofu or take supplements. But I heard that it's important to deposit as much calcium as you can in your calcium "bank" before you hit 30, because after that only withdrawal is allowed. So friends, stock up on the cheese while you can.

And today my work neighbour, the health supplement expert, was giving me a prep talk about the different types of calcium and drawing up a diagram, the PhD student that he is (refer to image). I wonder where he gets the time to read up on all these.

Let me share some of his advice with you:

1) Taking just calcium is not enough. You need to take it with magnesium, zinc, and vitamin D3 (and not just any D)

2) There are many different types of calcium, most common being calcium carbonate. It is the cheapest, and contains the most elementary calcium (aka the calcium that our body absorbs and uses).

3)But it can be absorbed only in the small intestines and it is important that you take it with food. He said best to choose plant-derived calcium supplements, or you may get some metals in the mix.

4) Other calcium types include gluconate, lactate, and citrate and they can be better absorbed than carbonate, but are more expensive, and contain less elementary calcium. Phosphate cannot be absorbed and acts as a catalyst only (for what, he doesn't know).

Let me know you find this utterly useless. I usually don't blog such erm, informational posts.

Personality test

http://www.personaldna.com/

Quite a complicated personality test requiring lots of sliding on horizontal scales and emptying of buckets (You'll know what I'm talking about when you try it out). What does it say about me?

You are a Dreamer
Your combination of abstract thinking, appreciation of beauty, and cautiousness makes you a DREAMER.
You often imagine how things could be better, and you have very specific visions of this different future.
Beauty and style are important to you, and you have a discerning eye when it comes to how things look.
Although you often think more broadly, you prefer comfort to adventure, choosing to stay within the boundaries of your current situation.
Your preferences for artistic works are very refined, although you vastly prefer some types and styles to others.
Though your dreams are quite vivid, you are cautious in following up on them.
You are aware of both your positive and negative qualities, so that your ego doesn't get in your way.
A sense of vulnerability sometimes holds you back, stifling your creative tendencies.
You prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute.
If you want to be different:
Your imagination is a wonderful asset, but don't just dream?be bold enough to take action and explore new things!
Consider a wider range of details and possibilities when thinking about the present and the future?don't be too set in your ways.

You are Considerate
You trust others, care about them, and are slow to judge them, making you CONSIDERATE.
You value your close relationships very much, and are more likely to spend time in small, tightly-knit groups of friends than in large crowds.
You enjoy exploring the world through observation, quietly watching others.
Relating to others so well, and understanding their emotions, leads you to trust people in general, even though you're somewhat shy and reserved at times.
Your belief that people are generally well-intentioned contributes to your sympathy regarding their problems.
Although you may not vocalize it often, you have an awareness of how society affects individuals, and you understand complex causes of people's behavior.
You like to look at all sides of a situation before making a judgment, particularly when that situation involves important things in other people's lives.
Your close friends know you as a good listener.
You're not one to force your positions on a group, and you tend to be fair in evaluating different options.

I actually think that I'm a lot nastier than that. Ask my colleagues and they'll tell you that when they rub me the wrong way often enough, I can snap at them rather pointedly. Talk about being considerate and understanding. But nice people as they are, they often attribute it to a lack of caffeine. :)