Tuesday, July 25, 2006
review of CDC
i still remember when i first in CDC, there was nothing planned for me. the first week, i spend it reading manifesto by political parties. doing research of election mainly and i am surprised how statistical findings which i had collected is so close to election. 2 days b4 the election, i have evidence that WP is on 52-48 majority. PAP did a final swoon on the final day, utilising mass manpower to distribute pamphlets to all household in aljunied. and one day before, my rating is at 52-48 in favour of PAP. actual election result: 55-45. i was telling many people that aljunied will be a hard fight but no one believed it until they see the result.
but after 3 months in the project team,i have learnt a few things about projects. there are a few way to look at a project. you can divide it into 4 chronological phase...idealising, conceptualising, planning and executing or you can ask the same few question (who, what, where, why, when, how?). Idealising is actually really easy, its just plain talking non stop, rattling of idea, something like brainstorming. conceptualising gets abit harder as it requires putting brain wave down into word and to subject it to approval and writing the program up. planning is to meet up with partners and to anticipate and detail what is going to happen on the day. executing is to run the event out smoothly. in my opinion, there is only so much u can do b4 the actual event, as being a audience orientated event, there is huge variance in all our activities which limit planning but hinges more on playing by ears. unless of course CDC isn't doing resident orientated event but other event which is geared towards guests like guest of honour and preparing a display show for them. So assuming that it is an resident orientated event, minimal planning is required, maximum playing by ear is needed as everything is real time on the event itself, with so many things going on concurrently, it takes alot to be handle it. here's the 2nd irony, the highest people are the cock talker, the one who idealise. the people who get credit are the people who plan and conceptualise. people who execute? they are the nobody despite being the most important, and that is the whole problem with CDC, with government service and even PAP. a huge disconnect between top level management and people. I have enough of seeing GOH, MPs coming for event and walking away mingling with CDC staff, cos we sheltered them from public. I mean... oh dear, why do that? MPs are voted into parliament by singaporean, now we segregate them from the very people who vote them in. like that how to know how singaporean feel? i mean, granted, there are meet people session, but these session invite extreme cases, some of them quite weird.
The next aspect, has CDC done its role over the past 9 year to achieve community bonding after the amount of money it has spent? my answer is no. my hypothesis tells me is the efficiency ratio is not high and i am developing a model to verify the truth of it. so much red tape, so slow decision making. safe guard? wat do you all mean safe guard? safeguarding public fund? or safe guarding your job? decision making is really inefficient, so much of bouncing here and there, asking this person that, checking with this person that. so much so that instead of wasted fund on wrong decision, funds are wasted due to loss of manpower time and over staffing the place (many people complained not enough, i realise its overstaff, cos many of them of doing duplicate work load). Such an environment is actually degenerating to work for and as such civil service always have a problem with attracting talent.
Time is running out, the party that has lead singapore for 40 years is on the verge of collapse. Temasek holding maybe strong. but the next 40 year, family business account for nothing. party loyalty is decreasing in importance. renewal is a necessities for survival, but they have to make the right renewal instead of rewarding posers who have aspiration but no heart.
posted @ 11:06 PM ||
Saturday, July 22, 2006
GM's remark
I am please to inform you that have been selected for the Mayor's Internship Programme with Central Singapore CDC withh effect from 2 May to 21 July.
It was a fairly interview process. i still remember hanging out in a chalet the previous night with my smu classmates, playing game, trying to down all the hard liquor that we have brought. because of the interview, i left at 3am (interviews at 10:00am... not bad huh?). i still remember the questions which were asked. what do you know about CDC, my answer: i don't know, what is it? do you think its grassroots work? my answer: yes. just that its more macro. (i think this is the only part which i even come close to a right answer). basically, i think i had flunked all my answer that jasmine and elfian posed to me until kelvin stepped in, fashionably late and ask me one question. tell me what do you know about general election 2006. and here's comes the impressive part. i have lived in an area where opposition sentiments has always been way above national average. my father though uneducated, has politics running in his blood and in some ways, he has passed some to me. in all my impromptu speeches since sec school, my pet topic is politics be in in singapore or malaysia or even germany and i have always gotten away with an A. and there i go, blabbering all my rubbish. b4 kelvin concluded, i think you have got what it takes and i am willing take a shot at you.
20 July.... in kelvin's office:
Kelvin: I have never regret taking any interns in. For some, its because they can contribute, for the rest, it is because they have the potential to contribute alot more later in life, and i want them to be put through this learning journey to help them attain their potential. You're a bright chap, i know that, the reason why i have taken you on is because i find you're a deep thinker but because of your negativity, you never showed your true capabilities. its surprising how after you have been through so much, you are not cynical. i can tell you are a responsible person, but you write things off too easily. maybe its because you're smart or because... i dunno, you just spread negativity too easily. we have to be professional in many things we do. we don't always get our way. you have to come to term with that and grapple with that, knowing what is to be done, and what is the right way it should be done. whatever you have done in this internship, take it as a learning experience be it packing goodie bags, or some menial chores, there always something to reflect with regards to the facts of life.
that sums it, my GM summary of my stint in CDC. nothing good, in fact, i have only provided a summary of what is said because that is all that i have picked out. firstly, he feel that i hadn't meet up to his expectiation. maybe he is right, i am inexperienced, i don't know the system well enough. but at least i said i have tried. i came, i fought, and whatever outcome, at least i've tried. i've tried to instill change into a rigid system that has brought singapore to its current state in the past 40 years, but is clearly incapable of doing it for another 40 years. no doubt, i maybe negative, but i quote him in another of his speech. "i won't be doing my best, if i am not prepared to leave it any moment". that is the mentality i have developed soon after i enter this place. who wouldn't want to leave with a good testimonial for a resume that will almost certainly kickstart a career. but between having a good testimonial and the so many things in the internship which i can do, i choose all the others. i chose the fellow interns, even though staying in touch is one of the hardest thing to do. but i want to think that all of us are like minded, and i won't let the chance to know such like minded people pass me by. i chose an identity, following instruction blindly with apathy and resigning yourself to fate. is this what is taught in school? NO! i was taught to do the right thing. i am not an evil person who is out to harm anyone and i know it. i have the confident in my own values, my own principle that i know if i stick by it, i will be in a position to help people. if there is anything which i had truly did wrong, it is i didn't express myself well. but no, apathy to me is a crime which i will not commit. idealistic? perhaps. but i guess at this age, i should give it a fight. i came into this place, with the apathy mindset, but within just 2 weeks of knowing the jc interns, i was reminded what i was like in sec school. i was a dreamer, with so much to fufill. no doubt, back then, i was already labelled "enigmatic" but it is through those behaviours i have made some of my best friends in life. a set back in sec 4 kill alot of that ideal off and brought me down to earth. but the jc interns reminded me that dream can still come true, so long as you preservere. and honeslty, i have never looked back. if there is one thing i had take away, its the meaning of pay if forward. as long as if presevere in my belief, i will eventually be able to spread my ideals to others who will in turn spread to more and in time, there will be enough people who are likeminded.
posted @ 3:14 PM ||
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Triple bill: Transexual sex / As stupid as stupid can get/ Never gamble with mathematician
Another one of those rare triple bill. This time its something really lewd and disgusting. Someone planted the thought in me and for some reason, i have the urge to blog it. Actually, i am someone who is usually not disgusted with anything, but for once, this story have got me thinking of some very nasty details.
Transexual Sex:
When a guy goes for a sex change operation, no doubt, he is castrated, ie his penis is removed, but due to hormonal purposes, they cannot remove his testicles. Hence as a result of it, they actually slit an opening somewhere and stuff the whole sac in and then stitch it up (GASP!). Hence, there you have it, a "lady" who is once a man walking along the street with a man made sex organ his balls stitch up somewhere within him/her. Here's the lewd part. How does a transexual have sex? I mean, who in the right frame of mind would want to have sex with them? Its an artificial sex organ... Its suppose to be muscle in there. It is gonna feel DIFFERENT bcos i have no idea what is in the sex organ of a transexual. Sometime, when the couple gets too aggressive, the stitches at the balls would be ripped, and yes... the "male" sex organ will be reveal. EEEEEee.... i cannot even imagine myself thinking what is it like... the thought is er... just so lewd. I mean in the first place, the new sex organ is obtain by sliting a opening somewhere. then you actually use that to have sex? on top of that, u have ur balls stuff somewhere in another slit and that balls will spill??? hmm... somehow the lewd thoughts in unsuccessfully put down in words... sigh... wadeva.
The next story is about the amount of stupidity that goes round in the police force. I am a firm believer of plainclothes police. bcos an uniformed police can never get the job done. Actually Yishun is quite a complicated place to stay in, many of the youths are involved in gangs and drugs. It is one of those days where there are some teens sniffing glue along the stairway. Then 3 police cars loaded with police came up but find no one. All these whilse, i was observing the whole situation and i can't help but wonder. Did the police even think they will be stupid enough to stay on if the police car drove past. Therefore, you should always use plain clothes to disguise the identity. it then occur to me that uniformed police are nothing but mere modern days scarecrows used to prevent crime. to really catch people, you need to have plain clothes to have the element of surprise. also, they are not uniformed, uniform will hinder agility, and hence slower movement. but as usual, like most civil service, police is also another dumbass place where the decision makers cannot think efficiently. which leads to the next point, if i were ever to do a thesis, i would tear singapore's budget apart and realli examine how prudently it is being spent. my gut feeling now... on average, if money was prudently spent. fiscal saving can easily be up to 50% minimum and maybe up to 70%.
Never Gamble With Mathematicians
I was in a pub with frens on our regulary binges when they started having the urge to play dice. Its just a number guessing game and i am so surprised how fast i picked it up and how little my friends think. i mean, i shan't go into the rules but basically, it can be worked out mentally the probability of how the games worked and the probabiltty of winning. its only after a short winning streak that i realised my friend dun think, they were realli playing for fun. but for me, the fun gets in calculating mentally the probabilty, though not exact, but at least somewhere near. and my conclusion is, never gamble with someone who has gone berserk thinking of mathematical problem.
posted @ 11:29 PM ||
Saturday, July 08, 2006
World Cup 2006
At the beginning of this tournament, I made a predication on all the scores of the matches. Though I hardly got any of the scores right, I made a prediction on the final 4. Final: Italy vs Portugal, winner: Portugal. 3rd v 4th: Argentina vs Switzerland, winner: Argentina. After the so many matches, my crystal ball did not materialise. But I have based my prediction on a few factors. And they are as follow. a) Tactics: Football is less skill based than it was around 20 years ago. Pure skills can win you a tournament with ease in the past. Now it is the era of tactics. The formation you choose and how you place each player on the field such that he can exploit his strength is far more crucial. b) Quick wit: Many things happen in the game, there is no linear way to play it. Players and coach have to play alot by ears and make changes very quicky with each event happening on the pitch. c)luck: yep, luck plays a bigger role than skill. i have seen enough cases of freak accident to feel it is more important. alternatively, you can say i choose to think that the game is based on luck rather than bribery.
Like many people, I have come up with a list of my world cup all stars based on the matches i have seen so far. Therefore, my choice of countries is limited. Then again, some countries are simply not worth my time. Most of it, I do not believe in forming Galacticos or Chelski. No doubt, we need some big names but clustering all the big names will do more harm than good. Here it is (as usual, i have drawn this up myself from scratch, the field right up to the name is all by myself, so it ain't as professional):
FIRST XI:
GK: Ricardo (Portugal)
CB: Carlos Puyol (Spain)
CB: Ivan Hurtado (Ecuador)
LB: Philip Lahm (Germany)
RB: Bartosz Bosacki (Poland)
MF: Patrick Viera (France)
MF: Xabi Alonso (Spain)
MF: Michael Essien (Ghana)
LW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
RW: Alexander Frei (Switzerland)
ST: Francisco Fonseca (Mexico)
Substitutes: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Japan), Geovanny Espinza (Ecuador), Nuno Valente (Portugal), Arne Friedrich (Germany), Hakan Yakin (Switzerland), Arjen Robben (Holland), Aaron Lennon (England), David Villa (Spain), Fabio Grosso (Italy), Francesco Totti (Italy), Fabio Gilardino (Italy), Frank Ribery (France)
I have always been a fan of 4-3-3 with a strong leverage on central midfield. Through pass, vision is a more effective style of play then crossing and heading.With these players, there are several options to play this formation, the whole theme of my team revolves around speed and positioning. The 3 central midfielder are all defensive midfielders who have good vision. They are suppose to win the possession of the ball and pump it up to Fonseca, who is probably one of the strongest player of the tournament. The wingers only have 1 traits, speed, overwhelming speed to create space so that they can run i to receive balls from the play through centre. They can also give fairly decent crosses which Fonseca should be able to anticipate. The backline to the strategy is the conversative style. Having said that, the wing backs are both exciting and quick feeted players too. Whilst the centre concentrates on exploiting gaps and counter. The side exploited speed. The Gk, Ricardo, need i say more? He always guesses direction of penalty right. SCARY. This style is risky and not tried by many, few players on my list made it into the all team.
posted @ 11:46 AM ||
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Leadership
For some reason, I think many people is able to associate to this post which i am posting for once. Its on leadership. hahaha. actually despite posting so much, i still have no intention to pick up management science. i want to learn something new, something hard.
first and foremost, i've gotta establish that management and leadership are 2 different entity. a good manager is able account to higher authority. a good leader can account to his people. so right now we have a typical dilemma, to ans upward or downward. that is when many things turned out awry.
Its always easy to conceptualise, to plan, but execution is the hard part. there is always huge variance during execution. the key is be flexible. tianyu's rule: 20-80 rule. plan sufficiently and not excessively. anything that has a variance, don't bother. sleep abit more before execution to keep innovative ideas coming in.
one phenomenon always intrigues me. I realise when MP and ministers turn up as guest of honor for event, they will usually be basked with the staff of the organising committee, it seems to me the politician have been cut away from the masses and made to be perceived as being from a different class from the rest.
another thing is how good managers are at talking, most of them have little ground knowledge of the group of audience which they are serving. conceptualizing is always easy. anybody can do it. planning is abit harder because u need to anticipate. execution is the hardest because no matter how good u are, no way you can anticipate everything, the ability to adapt give is certainly viable and actually more of a flair. here comes the irony, payscale are inversely to difficulty of the job scope. the higher your pay, the higher up you are in management but the the easier your job gets. doesn't make sense right? for some reason, i feel somewhere along the course of history, some real smart but lazy alec has done something to build the power base such the lesser u do, the higher your pay get. the best part, they still talk alot, cause in their fantasy world, everything is easy.
Leadership is not a top down effect but a bottom up effect. Success is gauge on the audience and the follower. if your follower is happy, they will go the extra mile and the event will enjoy extra success that could be used to justify the eventual success. But unfortunately, for many high fliers in life, they will never know.
posted @ 11:01 PM ||
