The IT bargains are back

Surely no IT savvy person like yourself would have forgotten that the thrice annual road show of IT stuff has already started it’s third run this year?

Somebody has taken the extreme effort to compile pictures of both the newspaper supplements, and the flyers given out at the exhibition. If you’re intending to execute the planned attack approach to the bargains without working the grounds yourself, you might want to consider dropping by that website (http://imagehost.yourfirstcreditcard.com/v/comex07/), and taking a look at the ever-growing pile of flyers.

(Photo courtesy of wili_hybrid)

Remember, as with all IT exhibitions in Singapore, the last day is always when vendors start cutting prices. After all, they are reluctant to spend money, time and manpower to lug all that excess stock home on Sunday. Just don’t enter the market too late, or your secretly coveted gadget might be gone, like a rampant bull run on the stock market. Poof!

A balance between security and liberty

I was surprised to read in the Straits Times forums on how someone was stopped from taking photographs in MRT stations. (http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_153050.html)

The writer, Mr Soh, writes about how a station staff intercepted, and demanded to see his identification card. When he refused, the staff member tried to detain him, and called for the police.

Now, we don’t really know what happened since we were not there, but from the first look of it, there seems to be at least three problems in this cited scenario.

Firstly, why did the MRT station staff member stop Mr Soh from taking the photographs? The MRT station is a public area, accessed by millions of people everyday; both local and foreign. It would have been perfectly reasonable for a secret installation with access-controls to have such a prohibition , but there is no such rule for a public mass transportation network like the MRT - not that such a rule would have been practical anyway.

Secondly, the station staff member is not a member of the police force, and as such has no authority to demand to see another person’s identification card. Privacy concerns should be paramount to any fellow citizen - even though there’s been little awareness in the 40 odd years Singapore has been independent - nothing short of a reasonable suspicion of engagement in a crime should allow an authorised agency to infringe on a person’s privacy.

Thirdly, the MRT station staff member tried to detain Mr Soh. Mr Soh had not committed a crime, yet he was being held against his wishes. Granted that the staff member may be detaining him on the false premises that photograph taking in MRT stations is a crime, but it still raises questions on the exact extent of the powers given to duty-staff. Just what are they empowered to do?

The reason I can think of for this incident is that the staff member is ill-trained to handle these scenarios. He may have undergone a course on security, and probably have been told that he should attempt to stop any suspicious activities that occur on the station premises. He may have made a casual link between Mr Soh taking photographs at Boon Lay station and the JI video of Yishun MRT station, and wanted to do his part to prevent a potentially dangerous situation.

The question is: where does this stop? When the activities of the people in the country are restricted, the terrorists win another battle in the war to terrorise the country. After all, how better to give a constant reminder to the people on the terrorists’ existence than to have security personnel patrolling at every street corner? Don’t get me wrong. It certainly is within reason to attempt to secure the country against any terrorist acts; but when doing so crowds too much into a person’s liberty to do what he could previously (like taking photographs at an MRT station), we have just given the terrorists their victory.

Maths and programming mash up

It’s the school holidays (for us polytechnic students only!), and it’s going to be a very exciting one. On Monday morning, my personal tutor called me, wanting me to enter the eGenting Programming (http://egpc.genting.com.sg/default.htm) competition.

I was very happy to have my programming skills recognised, so I agreed to enter into the competition after glancing through the main web page. Now, a few minutes after that phone call, I clicked on last year’s competition question paper to suss out the level of |337ness (nerd prowess) needed to handle the tasks, and… I nearly fainted.

Well, if you had been dealing with summation problems since JC time, this might not look too hard to solve (See the evil claws glaring menacingly at you?). It has been 4 years since I’ve touched mathematics, so when I saw this piece of formula floating around, I got claustrophobic. I could understand this with the help of the question paper:

NDS has defined a scheme for rating the teams bidding for the contracts. Your task is to write a program that selects the team members from among the staff in your company so that the rating of the overall team is maximised.

The rating of the team is given by the following expression: (above image)

where

Rt is the rating of the team.
n is the number of team members.
Rpi is the rating of the i-th programmer.
Y is the constant 1.1

To be a programmer, that takes some basic logic, and a healthy dose of maths knowledge. For that, I’ve got to thank goodness that there will be mathematics next semester. I seriously need that!

If you are a hard core programmer, and looking for a challenge, you can check out the past year paper at http://www.searcy.com.au/comp_06_07.pdf

Self Discipline

Disclaimer: This post may seem a bit controversial, but I feel that it is quite relevant.

Self Discpline in the Army.

When ‘discipline’ is mentioned in terms of army context, what immediately springs to your mind? Consider the following images.

Battle-weary troops marching through thick undergrowth and vegetation in section level, keeping their cover although sorely fatigued, hoping to gain an advantage on an enemy.
Dozens of tank drivers speeding towards their target, each knowing that they may perish in the upcoming firefight, but determined to make a difference in the war instead of fleeing away cowardly.
Officers staying late in the night when soldiers are sleeping, planning out the next mode of attack, to rout the enemy.
Soldiers falling in punctually, marching in step to the cookhouse to consume their daily meals.
Admin personnel working overtime, sometimes even late into the night, ensuring their work is completed, which will lead to events running smoothly the following days or weeks.

All these are the examples of iron core (self) discipline. Doing something one dislikes (or at least prefers not to do) because it is essential.

But how is such discipline instilled? From my point of view, I feel that such discipline is instilled by ensuring soldiers follow a set of uniform (and sometimes rigid) rules.

Fall in punctually for lunch or run around the parade square.
March properly and proudly and don’t drag your boots or you’ll redo the route march.
Ensure your bearing is proper at all times, or sign an extra duty.

The existence of a stick (extra punishments), ensures that the soldier will conform to the rules.

Now, there is such a term that people sometimes use to describe the army, which is ‘wayang’. From the TalkingCock dictionary, wayang means ”Originally a Malay word meaning “theatre performance”, it now means an act of pretence”.

I feel, that because of over emphasis on such sort of (minor) self discipline, that there is such a wayang going on. If there is no one of importance (or no commanders around), would soldiers perform up to standard? The reason why this is brought up because I feel that the instilling of discipline, even for small issues like marching, proper bearings, etc, are taken overboard.

If there are no commanders around, I’m definitely sure there will be soldiers sleeping in bunk during the day, or even walking to the cookhouse. It’s a common occurence when nothing happens during the day, and soldiers prefer to relax, rather than to do area cleaning or practice their drills. While they may range from a small minority to a sizeable portion in various units, this no doubt happens everywhere.

In this case, would not the discipline instilled by commanders, sometimes by overemphasizing on marching, etc, be considered a sort of wayang, because there exist soldiers who laze about when the commanders are not present?

To me, I would consider discipline to be present in each of the every above images shown at the beginning of the post, but with one difference. Soldiers doing them even when no commander is present.

I would feel the current methods of inducing punishment for minor matters for breaching of minor discipline has gone to such an extent, that instead of (some) soldiers building up their own self discipline, they have learnt to avoid commanders instead.

There are of course alternatives to build up the self-discpline needed in combat situations. Trade courses no doubt emphasize the importance of discipline if no one follows the proper procedure, and that should be the starting point of punishments should there be a breach of discipline.

Because to the ordinary soldier, how can there exist a link to falling in punctually to fighting an enemy? Instead of issuing harsh punishments for such breaches of minor discipline, perhaps it would be better to seek alternative methods instead.

Route Marching

I would venture to say that, at least for recruits undergoing BMT, there is nothing more tiring, more mentally challenging and more tedious (yet ultimately more satisfying) than going for a route march. Love it or hate it (and I’m guessing I know where most people stand on this), tugging huge, heavy field packs and lugging battle equipment across long distances are mandatory and are permanent fixtures in the BMT period.

Having just completed my 16km route march and having the battle scars to prove for it (ie. blisters and a toenail about to drop off), I’ve finally managed to ascertained the must-have list for surviving one of these marches.

1. A light field pack

Of course, this isn’t as easy to make as it sounds to be, what with there being standard items that have to be included in the field pack. However, there’re always ways to save some space and some weight, no matter how minute they might be. Make sure all the Ziploc bags are fully squashed tight and devoid of any redundant air inside; don’t pack anything other than what is absolutely required and/or stipulated; and, while it is good to ensure that the water bag always has enough refreshment to quench your thirst, don’t fill it right to the brim unless you’re sure there won’t be points along the way to refill your bottle.

2. Many layers of socks

While I myself neglected to adorn more than the usual one pair of socks during this last route march, many of my friends were extolling the wonders of wearing more than one pair of green fuzzies: comfortable padding (especially great when walking on rocky, sore-inducing trails) and prevention of blisters and other what-nots that might arise from walking too much too soon.

3. A large song list

And by this, I don’t mean the entire catalogue of army songs. Sure, army songs are fun and are great for raising morale and camaraderie but try repeating the same few refrains over and over again for a few hours straight and you’d fine it makes for a terribly boring and uninspiring pastime. Having a long, extensive playlist of crowd favourites and the latest pop hits is great, however, during those long stretches of tiring paths. There’s variety, everyone loves the songs and it breaks the monotony of endless trudging. Of course, having a great song list is nothing without…

4. Fun, supportive platoon mates

Whether it be egging each other on during the tough times, encouraging each other when the going gets rough or just singing loudly and boisterously during all the songs, route marches are so much better enjoyed when there’s good company.

5. Good weather

Ok, so this last one is not really in your control (and neither was the point before this) but this is just so I can gloat about the fact that the weather was perfect during my 16km march (as opposed to the hellish, searing heat I faced during the 12km one). Pray or hope that, during route marches, the weather would be good. Slightly cloudy skies, a lack of any sort of strong sunlight and cooling breezes really make a lot of difference.

Well, now that the 16km’s over, there only remains the final one: the ubiquitous 24km route march that every soldier has to go through before passing out (hopefully not during the march itself). Here’s hoping to good weather and all the other above conditions during the last one!

What would you like to read?

A quick peek-a-boo into your mind and thoughts!

Ok, please help me out. I have been racking my brains over what to blog about. Short of rambling about myself, which may not be that interesting anyway, what is it you like to know more about?

You know I’m a love coach and the author of “The 69 Love Notes - Secrets To A Loving And Lasting Relationship”. So, my passion and expertise lies in dating, relationship, love and romance.

But that doesn’t mean I can only blog about that area, isn’t it?

Leave your comments here in this blog and tell me what you like to know. Or you can email me.

Let me hear you.

Love In The Weekends – How To Create a Lasting Impact On Your Girlfriend In 2 Days

What do you do when you know you only have 2 days to impress a girl? How about 2 hours?

Well, desperate situation requires desperate measures. But, the good news is, you aren’t even beginning to be desperate yet, aren’t you?

That’s when this piece of article is going to come in very handy… Check this out. 

Save for the occasional holidays, as an NS man you only get to see your girlfriend during the weekend when you are booked out.

I know, many of you make use of this time to run errands, chill out with friends, stone in front of the TV, computer etc. Oh! You will probably use half a day to catch up on sleep, am I right?

And for some of you who have a girlfriend, you have one more party to apportion your time to. So, how can you maximize the 2 days to create a lasting effect on your loved one?

As a love coach, I have clients asking me to give them some tips. In my book I gave a total of 69. Let me see how I can take some of the 69 love secrets and modify them to suit this occasion.

It’s like a long-distance relationship

Even though you are in Singapore, but due to the nature of serving NS, there could be times when you may be totally uncontactable. Imagine you are now overseas, how would you spend those precious times you have with your girlfriend when you’re back for a holiday?

Besides pleasing her with gifts and giving her your full attention, one thing for sure is, you will do your best to cut short the arguing time, or to prevent them totally. 

It’s the thought that counts

Have you ever sent her positive and loving thoughts right before you are due to meet her? Why not give this a shot and see if she’ll feel anything different.

Vibes are contagious, especially if they are full of loving and happy molecules. It’s really the thought that counts, at times.

Tell her stories

And continue them the next time you meet her. Curiousity may kill the cat, but it certainly helps to create suspense, and thus, excitement in a relationship. Use it to your advantage.

Break her bones

I mean, make her laugh so hard till she breaks her bones. Such bursts of laughter will make her feel that time passes quickly. And what does this mean for you? It means she will be looking forward to the next weekend!

Work on projects

Create some projects that both of you can indulge in, for example, building a model plane together or doing a mega jigsaw puzzle. In this way, both of you have something to engage in and to look forward to.

When the project is done, find another one to work on. You’d be surprised at how much bonding such activities can bring you, not to mention the amount of new things you can learn too!

Looks like some amount of thinking needs to be expended on your side if you want to wow your girlfriend over a mere 2 days, and to allow that effect to last till the next one.

I hope this article helps to stimulate your creativity cells.

Till the next one…

How To Brainwash Your Girlfriend To Stay With You While You Are In NS

If you don’t have the looks, nor the time, nor the money, how else can you keep your girlfriend by your side while you serve the nation?

Let’s revert to the age-old method. Where all else fails, use the power of persuasion to rock the mind! 

Brainwashing? Now, that doesn’t sound quite right and ethical, does it?

But, if brainwashing your girlfriend’s mind allows you to have that relationship survive, then what is the harm in doing that then?

The issue lies in the intention.

If the intention behind the action and motive is a positive one, then brainwashing could be an easy way to achieve your intended purpose.

Therefore, I’m boldly assuming that you guys are good. You will only be applying this technique to let your girlfriend feel more secure and happy in your love, and you are happy to be the provider.

Here’s what you can do.

1. Find out what are her values and preferences – then do your best to find the similarities and match them.
2. Find out what are her dislikes – then brainwash her by allowing her to see that differences create more excitement in a relationship and there is a higher percentage of complementing each other!
3. The hopper syndrome – tell her that relationship hopping has a co-relation with how successful she will be in life. Unless things are really nasty, otherwise there’s no reason why she have to walk away from you instead of resolving the problems.
4. Make her think about you everyday – leave memories of you in her life. You can also create a sense of mystery by arousing her curiosity.
5. Tell her stories of successful cases and make her want to be part of them.
6. Redefine romance – convince her that absence makes the heart fonder. Remember to show it when you see her.
7. Treat her nicely, really.

Brainwashing is about knowing what your girlfriend is attracted and not attracted to. Then you tap onto the former and you convince her the latter by using any ways and means like persuasion, seduction, reframing etc.

Make use of any situation to turn it into your favour and magnify that instance. It is about the power of magnetism. 

Rules

Almost everywhere in life we go, there always exists a set of rules.

“Do not cross when the green man is flashing.”

“Do not bring in any illegal weapons.”

So on and so forth. These above rules are stated clearly, with a definite intent behind them. Basically, there is a guideline on what we can, or cannot do. However, sometimes rules will have to be bent, or even broken, depending on circumstances. In these cases however, it is thus not so easy to call the rule breaker “wrong” in breaking such a rule, because he is justified in doing so. In other words, one needs to see the intent in creating such a rule, and therefore judge if the rule breaker is violating the intent, rather than violating the written rule.

In fiction, it is always easy to see the basis for breaking rules.  Take for example, this excerpt from Terry Pratchett’s Night Watch.

“Drop it,” said Vimes. “I won’t ask again.”

He sighed and pulled a short object out of his back pocket. It was black and tapered and made of leather filled with lead shot. He’d banned them in the modern Watch but he knew some officers had acquired them, and if he judged the man to be sensible, then he didn’t know they’d got them. Sometimes, an argument had to be eneded quickly, and there were worse alternatives.

Vimes in this case banned blackjacks (which was the above mentioned object), because it would be too simple to cause harm to others. Sensible people however, would use them in appropriate situations, and although it contravenes his rules, in some situations it would be appropriate, like in the above one.

In real life however, it is not that simple. Consider a rule “No importing or selling of chewing gum in Singapore, except gum with therapeutic value.” The original intent of this rule was to prevent public places and the efficiency of the Singapore system to be gummed up, literally. There are of course, people who chew gum in their houses and dispose of their gum responsibly. While disobeying the rule, they are not necessarily deviating from its intent.

While there are many of such rules out there, I have not experienced them first hand, but I shall write about the rules which I know.

Take this rule. ”Thou shalt sign the 1206 form for not consuming meals.” And thou shalt simply go and consumeth thy meal, and if some important event hath been ruineth due to thy absence at work, thee canst proclaimth “I was following the rules, sirrah.” The canteen exists for a reason. Use it. While this rule was probably meant for people blatantly skipping meals and wastage of food, it’s probably not meant for people working overtime to complete sufficiently important taskings.

Or perhaps this rule, often stated by people: ”There shall be no playing of games on the OA computers.” I believe this stems from the rule: ”No uploading of any (unauthorized) files onto the OA computers.” I agree with this. The possibility of a virus inside a thumbdrive entering the OA computers in the SAF exists, and we shouldn’t, because we want to play a game, risk it happening. While popular games like Quake, Red Alert, maybe even Alpha Centauri are widely played, they should be played at home. However, I think people have mangled the intent of this rule. I would imagine uploading pictures into the OA computers would have the same severity as uploading games, as both come from a foreign object. Unfortunately, this is not so. Playing minesweeper on a computer outside office hours, for example, is less severe than someone looking at pictures (anime) on the computer. Again, the intent of the rule, I believe, is to prevent viruses from entering computers, and not reduce efficiency during office hours.

Unfortunately, because of rules like this, I also think that many people are breaking the rules, rationalizing that they do not violate the intent and spirit of them.  It is then just a small step to breaking the rules for convenience sake, and then another little hop over to simply breaking them for one’s own purpose. The easiest solution would be to redefine the rules, but that would just slow down this problem, as intent varies everywhere. Another solution would be to punish anyone who disobey the rules, regardless of intent, but that would not be suitable, as sometimes rules need to be broken. I would believe that however, getting everyone to have a proper mindset that different situations call for different (sub) rules, and be disciplined enough to know when to break a rule would be a better solution. But then..the problem would be in getting that mindset. And that is not easily solved....

The Art of Seduction For “Botak” NS Men

Let’s keep it short and sweet.

Be an alpha “botak” man…

I want you to picture this question in your head.

When you see a bald man, what do you see?

An artist? A celebrity? A famous hairstylist? A macho man? A gay?

Ok, I was joking on the last bit.

I know many of you cringe on the idea of having to shave your head when you are enlisted into NS.

Gone are the days when you can gel and wax your hair to seduce girls and gain attention.

But without the hair, can you still turn on your charms and make girls squeal in delight at the sight of you?

Why not?

Here’s how you can do it.

Be an alpha male

An alpha male is the man in the community whom the others follow and defer to.

An alpha male holds so much confidence that it’s not a matter of how much hair he has on his head, but how high his self-esteem is.

Does an ego maniac capture a girl’s heart? No, but if he oozes charm and supreme confidence in his demeanour, the way he speaks, his posture, his attention towards the girl, then the only way to sabotage himself is he doesn’t believe he is one alpha male.

Before you can successfully pull off this seduction tactic, be sure to do some homework in advance.

Find out what your strengths and weaknesses are. Tap on the former and discover ways to diminish how the latter will be perceived by others, especially the opposite sex.

Check your physical appearance. What type of clothes can make you look outstanding with the roundness of your head? Which part of your body gives you the most confidence?

Are you an expert in any field? If you aren’t, make yourself one. Look for a specific subject you are already interested in, or find one that appeals most to the opposite sex and be the professional in that field. You are sure to impress.

Learn how to give out and read body signals. In this way, you are tapping onto the girl’s subconscious mind, which is what seduction is all about, isn’t it?

Last but not least, run a test check.

This sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, the good news is it can be easy. The not so good news is – this isn’t the complete package of what an alpha male is. There is more to it…

If you can’t visualize yourself as an alpha male, then don’t attempt this. It works well only if you can execute it to perfection. Else, it’s pretty hard to pick up the pieces after a failed attempt.

If all else fails, embrace your “botak” and make yourself look cute! Afterall, if a guy can laugh at himself, he sure is one funny person to be with.

Laughter is the next best way to win a girl’s heart! 

Attending B

Being sick in the army is no joke.

As I think many people would be able to surmise, being in the army is both mentally and physically challenging, the latter incredibly so for people like me who have been acutely lacking in major participation in sports or any kind of intensive physical activity since young.

So, due to a challenging schedule and some lack in personal care, I suffered a muscle sprain a week or so back as well as a persistent throat infection and cough, I was given Attend B status, meaning that I’m only fit for light duties and am (or was) unable to take part in any form of physical training.

While there are some who would take to such circumstances and situations as a huge improvement over training (a notion I myself, I have to admit, held for quite a while because who doesn’t love having some rest?) and I had been given this status earlier in my PTP period before, this time around I actually found myself feeling dissatisfied with having to forego training and would have loved to have my sprain healed ASAP so I could return to regular activities.

Perhaps it’s due to the fact that, since I’m already deep into my BMT, training has intensified significantly, which means that, not only would I have missed physical training and would have to work even harder when I recover to catch up, I would also have missed important lessons and training sessions which are much harder to make up for (I missed the first three lessons of basic combat training, for example, and I’m quite sure that, till now, I’m jabbing and hooking the wrong way).

Other than missing out on such essential lessons (and having to work at restoring my momentum in physical training again), I also felt a bit left out when it came to interacting with my platoon and bunk mates.

Sure, it’s not like everyone talks about the day’s training all the time but it still feels (or felt) bothersome to not be able to contribute to a conversation (or feel unqualified to speak up) because I missed the training sessions. For those few days, I felt like I wasn’t a member of the team because everyone had gone through the same things, which I hadn’t. Who knew that physical training and lessons would help forge a certain sense of camaraderie amongst recruits (or at least with me)? 

Nonetheless, I have now more or less recovered from both my ailments and have returned to active training which, while terribly tiring and demanding, still makes me feel much better about myself than being on status. Like I said, being sick is no joke.

A Fighting Spirit

What do they mean when they say all you need to succeed in life is an iron will?

How does that apply to your army life? Or, in more specific terms, how can you draw references from your NS life to apply them to your life?

Do you have what it takes? Do you have the fighting spirit? 

As a NS man, do you have it?

Are you fighting to impress your superior in army, or are you fighting to get the most comfy job?

In whichever case, you need to have a certain understanding of your enemy (or target) before you can get your goal.

When you are in a war, what makes a hundred-men army win a thousand-men platoon?

I know, strategy is the answer.

How about fighting spirit?

Maybe you are forced to build up this spirit in the setting of a war, because it’s either you fight or you die.

Then, can I ask you to take the same level of energy, alertness and fighting spirit and map it over into other parts of your life? For example, your study, work, relationship, health etc.

How much more success will you achieve if you have that fighting spirit? To never say die, to persevere, to go all the way until the outcome is achieved or it is really impossible to turn the tide.

How do you think cancer patients survive when the doctor has given up hope? How do you think a marriage can last when one party has almost stepped out of the partnership? How do you think a student can score an A from an F with a last burst of fire during the final three months before the exams?

I’d say, it could very well be the fighting spirit.

What say you?

Catching Up In Love? I’m Sorry.

Some people are just late bloomers. But that doesn’t mean they are the end losers.

Let’s look into this part of our lives, where we are playing catching up with others. How do you apply this in love? We shall see

I’m playing catching up. Madly.

Why? Because I haven’t been blogging regularly for the past two months due to my poor health. It’s been going on in cycles and now I’m battling another flu virus which I caught from someone very close to me. Sheesh…

We are always racing against something or someone in our lives. In school, you could be losing out to the person sitting right next to you if you don’t pay as much and as good attention to your teacher and hence missing out on the information being taught.

That means, you have more catching up on revision to do than him/her. That much, we’re pretty sure we have not much problems dealing with.

However, I can’t help but to consider this alternative: can we actually catch up in love?

The dating industry has changed speedily. I used the word speedily to illustrate the increase in speed at which couples got together nowadays, compared to then.

Now that we know the lead time for a girl and a guy to start a relationship has been shortened, is there any chance for anyone to catch up?

My answer is, it really depends. However, looking at the odds, I wouldn’t like to recommend a guy sitting too long on the intention to go after a girl whom he is madly attracted to.

Even if he is mildly attracted to her, wouldn’t it be wiser to find out more about her by asking her out for some dates before deciding if he wants to hold her hands and declare themselves as an item, rather than waiting till he is utterly well-prepared to make the move?

Because, by the time he decides to play catch up, it could well be too late.

Even if his attempts in wooing the girl fails, still, wouldn’t it be better to feel the pangs of rejection, get it healed and move on instead of hating himself to the gut for not even doing his best, thus resulting in his rival winning the girl’s fancy?

If you are reading this, I hope you can take a minute and recall what are the things in life that you have been always catching up on?

If love is part of them, how successful has it been? It it wasn’t, when is now the best time to start a totally new strategy? 

An art terrorist

Ah, the examination week in Singapore Polytechnic has arrived. Amidst all the anguished voices struggling to float in the sea of lecture notes, Roy’s is barely registering on the decibel scale. Not when there are some courses with a really serious workload - it really makes you wonder whether a polytechnic isn’t really just another junior college that allows more casual dressing.

To vent the steam that has been steadily piling on these few days, Roy resorts to writing and drawing to keep the stress monster off his face.

Since you can’t have the all-so-familiar ten year series books for your diploma course, you’d have to resort to downloading the papers off your school’s website!

Flip it over and… GOODNESS! Roy’s secondary school art teacher calls him a “terrorist”. Can you see why?

If drawings are reflections of their artists, then I shan’t go for my IPPT test, which I’ve booked for this evening. You’ll see that I won’t have the remotest chance at passing with that figure. Not that I could even run at all, with my feet looking like that; and that tail! The PTIs are so going to bar me from taking the test if that fluffy tail of mine is going to lurk near my feet during the 2.4 km run!

A Primary School Mathematics Question

How long has it been since you last did primary school maths?

For me: very long. In fact, I’m having problems just solving a simple “age” problem!

Siya the Usuki Doll is 9 years older than her brother, and 25 years younger than her father. In seven years time her father will be three times older than her brother. How old is Siya now?

When you pause to think about it, the problem is initially unsolvable. I remember myself struggling with this problem at a tender age of 12, with my teacher chanting in the background: “Draw a graph! Draw a graph!” (She did! I swear!)

Well, that was all in the past; I now solve mathematics problems using algebra, instead of graphs. Oh - graphs are sooooooo out of fashion with us older people. OK, I admit it. I don’t remember how to solve this problem using the nice pretty boxes I used in my PSLE.

Can you find the answer? Or will you stumble around like I did until my polytechnic classmates kindly enlightened me? Don’t cheat by trying all the numbers from 1 to 50!

Warning: Problem is solved below! Do not read until you have solved this yourself!

Let Siya’s age NOW be x.

Therefore, in 7 years’ time, Siya’s brother will be (x - 9 + 7).
Also, in 7 years’ time, Siya’s father will be (x + 25 + 7).

But Siya’s father is 3 times her brother’s age in 7 years’ time!
Therefore, Siya’s father’s age in 7 years is also known as 3 * (x - 9 + 7)
We’ll equate 3 * (x - 9 + 7) = (x + 25 + 7)

x + 32 = 3x - 6
2x = 38
x = 19

AHM

The first time I saw the abbreviation AHM was on a forum page, when I searching for information about the army. At that time, I was just about to enlist, and eager for any chunk of knowledge or trivia I could dig out. After reading a bit into it, and finding out that AHM also consisted of running a length of 10 to 21 km (at that time, I couldn’t even run 2.4 km without difficulty), I was hoping this AHM phenomena was only confined to a few units.

Of course, I was wrong. As most people know, AHM (Army Half Marathon) as it is called, is held yearly where participants get to run through a wide stretch of road, usually through the streets once every twelve months.

Last year, surprisingly, I did quite well, actually managing to run 10 km and having fun along the way. I even made a new friend, a signaller, who was jogging beside me for the run. of course, being able to do that on the day itself was due to the training before that, as well as with the support of the old batch of specialists (who sadly ORDed last year).

At the beginning of this year, I was actually looking forward to participate again in the AHM. but soon realized it wasn’t possible, as my unit is helping in organizing it this year.

Basically, I suspect we’ll just be moving barricades and distributing free milo, as well as goodie bags and various other paraphernalia. While it is no doubt a change from the previous year, I suppose it’s a new opportunity to see the race from the other point of view, the organizers view. While the problem the previous year was to run a particular distance, now the problem would most probably be crowd control and ensuring order for the whole day, not to mention a healthy chunk of logistics.

This year’s AHM will be held on Sunday, 26th August, and no doubt many people will turn up, because it’s just good, clean fun. Hopefully, the logistics side can be settled, though I suspect that we’ll run into some hairy situations.

Looking at AHM, I wonder what the turnout will be for mobiHunt, which is also an event on a grand scale organized on 25th August, a day before AHM. To me, both events seem like a run through the city, but with vastly different purpose, with mobiHunt as a treasure hunting race.

Still, it’s good to know that on the week itself, there’ll be two worthwhile things to do on the weekend, and both of them are free!

Treasure Hunt

Let’s go find some treaure! We don’t have to go to the end of the world like what Captain Sparrow did, because we now have the luxury of having mobile phones as our spies to bring clues right to our fingertips!

Find out what sort of treasure hunt gives you such new-found fun. 

Now that I’m on a reminiscence trail after penning the post “Honour and Passion”, I am on another roll!

Let’s talk about this game which has been played while I was very small as a kid, and survived through the generations to reach to what it is now. 

Do you remember forming yourself up into a team of say, 4 to 5 people, cracking your brains to solve some silly riddles so that you’ll pass that stage and get the answer to the clue to move you one inch closer to the targeted reward?

Of course, usually you weren’t alone. Competition is keen, and rife. And nobody wants to be the losing team as that meant they were slow (in brain and in action).

You were on a treasure hunt! Remember how much fun you had?

This game seems to be a hot favourite, and apparently it still is now. You can find it being played in school orientation camps, leadership camps in your ECAs, prefect camps etc.

From the look of it, only students are playing. In actual fact, many adults are enjoying the thrill of this game too!

I remember helping out in this company that specializes in creating a treasure hunt trail not just within a limited compound, but that stretches across the causeway! Yes, they do this for companies who like to have some alternatives besides the usual eating and dining on their annual dinner and dance.

So we had each team in a car, and we set up several stations along the route from Singapore to a designated location in Malaysia where their hotel was. At certain stations, they were required to pass some tests (which were meant to make them look silly while having loads of fun and laughter) before they could get the clue, and start cracking their brains.

And these were very grown-up adults who could be as old as mid 40s!

Treasure hunting with a twist is wildly becoming popular as a game to build teamwork, strategy building and executing and definitely creating motivation – to reach for the goal within a certain period of time.

Now that technology is rapidly advancing, I know of this game Mobihunt that incorporates what we love doing now, smsing on our mobiles, into this game of treasure hunting!

I guess what keeps this game going is not just the fact that people love challenges, but also the fact that the outcome is normally not that important anymore compared to the lessons they learn along the process.

Depending on how big the team is, there are many lessons to be learnt in a treasure hunt. A leader needs to be appointed for example. How good his or her leadership is will affect the rate the team moves and advances.

If the team is a small one that consists of only two people, like this one, it is an excellent way to see how you handle disputes and differences in opinion, and also how much trust you have on yourself and your partner.

Of course, if you are teaming up with your spouse or partner, there are even more things you can learn about him/her, and see how your partner reacts under the pressure of time, weather, among all things.

A good test for your relationship I must say.

Go and play treasure hunt in the name of fun, and I am sure you will come back with a load full of happy and joyful moments. Aren’t these memories worth more than the prize itself? 

Honour and Passion

Let me bring you back to the old days when recruits first landed on Pulau Tekong, and compare to the present days via the lens of TV drama serial “Honour and Passion”. 

Is Army about that? Honour and passion?

I don’t know. Can anyone be passionate about going to war, or preparing for one per se? The possibility is always there, as shown on TV now.

I’m referring to the TV drama serial now showing on Channel 8 “Honour and Passion”.

Living in Singapore, I must say we are really blessed to have ever-ready army to defend for this little island when the need comes. As I have out-grown the stage to play visiting to the newly-recruits, and yet to reach the phase where I have to pack for my ingoing son, I’m glad to catch a glimpse of the army daze, I mean, days during the first three months of training via the TV screen.

Am I amazed at the changes there are!

I still recall, well not too fondly I guess, the time when we as visitors had to endure the sweltering heat to cross the “ocean” to reach the other side of the island Pulau Tekong to visit a good friend.

It really wasn’t an easy trip for us, unlike now.  I came home with a sun-tanned complexion and more than warranted mosquito bites all over. Blame it on my spaghetti top, but I couldn’t imagine wearing anything thicker without getting heat stroke then.

The rooms looked pretty similar at that time and what I saw on TV. Same set-up, one bed and a cabinet for the guys to place photos of their idols, girlfriends or girls they are secretly carrying a torch for.

Once in a while, I caught a glimpse of some putting family photos. How sweet. But then that’s really one out of that many cabinets. I strongly suspect that guy will bring it down once that photo has been exposed to all his room-mates as he became the laughing stock of all.

I wonder what idols’ photos will be there now? I remember seeing the sweetie-pie singer from Hong Kong Vivien (can’t remember her last name as I’m typing now, sorry guys!) as a rather popular choice then. Who’s the reigning princess now? Maybe you can drop me some comments and keep me updated!

There was no air-condition in the rooms, and there certainly wasn’t any mosquito nets covering our beloved friends and brothers while they were sleeping!

But I guess the nets are there for a good purpose, as I understood how dangerous it can be if they were being “attacked” by dengue mosquitoes in the middle of their sweet, nice slumber.

At that time, not all the recruits will be sent to Pulau Tekong. Some of the luckier ones we visited had the chance to stay on mainland, and I remember one guy who booked into a camp near Yishun with rooms that were air-conditioned! He’s the luckiest chap among all, and I must agree that visit was one of the breeziest one for us too.

Looking back and comparing to the present lives, we have came quite a way. Although I don’t have to do National Service, but guys, we ladies have our fair share of worries, anxiety, heartaches and sleepless nights when you were out there, somewhere in a remote island learning how to defend our country, while making friends with some out-of-the-world creatures like owls and bats.

“Honour and Passion” would have been a much more enjoyable watch if they don’t “advertise” too blatantly on how the army looks like, as they did when the youngest son of the family Wenguo booked in for the first time. But I guess, this is the best way to showcase what they have and the new recruits’ lifestyle to rest the many hundreds of mother’s minds at ease, to know that now their precious sons will be nicely taken care of. 

When they are in the jungle that will be another story of course. That we know, and understand.

But I can’t deny the fact that the food looks so much yummier than before! Well, whether or not the looks deceive I won’t know, maybe not until a decade later will I find out…

The best part of the show? In my opinion, I’m still looking out for the development of all the love stories taking place in the family. Oops! Is this my occupational disease? Maybe, or maybe I’m just born with this passion! 

mobiHunt

I’ve always been a great fan of treasure hunts and reach-the-end-point competitions, especially those where you have to solve clues at different stages to move on ahead. Perhaps blame it on an over-competitive spirit, having grown up in our dog-eat-dog society, but I’ve always loved the thrill of such competitions and pitting my brains (and my limited brawns) against others in a race against time and space to reach the goal.

Last year, I made a quick and impromptu decision to take part in the SMRT Challenge, an Amazing Race of sorts where contestants, in groups of around 4 to 5, have to figure out several clues to locations around the island, hop on the train to those places, complete tasks and reach the final locations as soon as possible. Though it was a physically (and mentally) few hours, I didn’t regret my decision at all. (Plus, coming in third for the youth category and getting a decent cash prize only helped to reaffirm my choice).

So, recently, I got quite excited because, other than this year’s SMRT Challenge (which I won’t be able to take part in), I’ve heard of another treasure hunt sort of challenge, only with a twist.

The NS Portal mobiHunt, organised by NCS Portal City (which is behind this site you’re reading), is similar to The Amazing Race and other such races, only it’s played with handphones (hence the title).

Based around the Orchard area, players will be given instructions via their mobile phones, clues as to where to go and also information about their surroundings (because how embarrassing is it to be Singaporean and not know lots about the most hip and happening streets in Singapore?).

The top few teams will get cash prizes (ooh!) and, not only that, EVERY SINGLE participant will be getting goodie bags and movie passes (which is reason enough for me to sign up) and some groups even stand the chance to win bottles of wine along the way.

I’m not doing any advertising or anything but it really does sound like quite a lot of fun. I mean, you solve clues, run around Orchard, find out more about the area and, along the way, you get goodie bags, prizes and maybe even cash at the end if you’re good enough. It’s like getting paid to have fun. 

So, for those interested in these sorts of things or want to win some goodies or just want to have an activity to hang out with friends and have fun with, go have a look at http://mesh.portalcity.com.sg/mobihunt/about_mobihunt.html and find out more. If I won’t be in camp on that day, I’ll definitely be joining so I hope to see you all there!

Field Camp

I guess one of the most outstanding and note-worthy points of basic military training would be the six day field camp (although I heard it used to be seven). Although most combat units would have several field exercises, I would think that the first one would be the most impacting and memorable, something which my friends have all agreed on too.

Well, over the past two weeks, I’ve completed my own field camp and, I have to say, it was definitely a very interesting and different experience from anything I’ve ever done, even in the army (well, save for the few outfield trainings we had to prepare us for the camp).

Before I started the camp, I was quite nervous at the prospect of attending the camp. From what I had heard prior to the camp, it would be a time of immense discomfort, with dirt, grime, soil and mud being the permanent fixture of daily life.

While there were definitely moments when it got uncomfortable (not having the chance to shower properly, for one, and having to sleep on the wet, muddy, mosquito-infested grounds, for another), overall I thought it was actually quite an enriching adventure. Besides, as one of my campmates reminded us, it ain’t supposed to be a chalet right?

Learning the basics of jungle and urban movements and operations was quite exciting, if tiring, a welcome deviation from the slight monotony of physical training and drills back at camp. While the living conditions and dirt and general sense of un-well-being are not something I would like to repeatedly revisit, I thought it was a good chance to toughen me up some and, like all urbanized Singaporeans should, return to Mother Nature for a while.

Another thing which actually made my time there more enjoyable (but which didn’t work for many others) was the food. Unlike most of the guys I’ve spoken to whose reactions to outfield rations range from bearable to absolutely intolerable, I have an inexplicable love for quite several of the different rations. Every meal felt like an adventure and I actually got excited several times before eating when I opened the packet to take a glance inside.

Like I mentioned earlier, the field camp experience is not something I would like to have to do several times (or even a few times) but overall it went better than I thought and I think I actually came out of it all the better, both as a soldier and as a person.