Enjoy the Morning

In our everyday lives, we wake up, take breakfast and rush to work in the morning. We do not have the luxury of enjoying the nature and feel the cool air in the morning. If you slow down and be aware of the surroundings, you will be surprised at what you have missed out. Birds flying and singing in the trees. Sound of insects in the bushes. We only see the daily rush of people boarding and squeezing in the buses, LRT, MRT during the morning rush. People driving cars, horning at others on the road. Lives have become so hectic.

For the past 1 month, I am not in the same lifestyle like most, the only rush I would get was to squeeze in the LRT to send my daughter to her childcare in the morning. After sending her to the childcare, I have all the time to myself. Sometimes, I will shop in the NTUC market in the nearby mall. In the mall, most of the shops are closed, except for a few stalls selling newspaper and magazines, the food stalls and the supermarket. The supermarket opens at 8.30am every morning, and you will see about 2 dozens of people waiting at the entrance. Before the opening, there are crates of boxes lying in the entrance, and the staff are sorting and carrying them into the supermarket everyday. You will also see many uncles and aunties (those in the late 50s) and maids carrying their trolleys waiting to swarm in the supermarket when it opens. A staff of the supermarket will usually start by greeting everyone and hand a green basket to everyone queuing to get in the store. While in the store, you will see more staff rushing to arrange and fill up the merchandise on the racks. A few cashiers will wait patiently at the counters. I get to enjoy the not crowded supermarket and it is surprising the cashiers are more helpful than when they are busy.

Enjoy the morning while you can, as morning is very short. Do slow down and soon you will realise what you have missed out every morning. For me, I am enjoying the slow walk and the nature, and it helps to calm me down and take away some of my pressure. Try it!

Enjoy the Silence at Night

I have been attending classes at my part degree course this week, and am busy trying to complete my pre-course assignment. Night time is a good time to do my assignment and conduct researches than doing them during daytime. It is very quiet most of the time, except sometimes I do hear babies crying or someone chatting in the playground. But overall, it is the best time to study.

I have been a Night Owl since the start of my assignments. I will usually get up early at 6.40am and prepare breakfast for my wife and daughter, and bring my daughter to her childcare after that. When I come back home, I will check my e-mails, sending resumes and eat breakfast before going back to bed.

I have to carry on like this for another 1.5 years or so until my course ends. It is very tiring doing my part time studies and having a family at the same time, as compared doing full-time study. But I do enjoy studying but I don't like the exam part. I pick up new knowledge and hope it will help me in my future career advancement.

In the meantime, I have the opportunity to enjoy the silence in the night.

How to stay loyal to the company? Part 1

Have you ever wondered how you can make an employee stay loyal to the company? There are always turnover of employees every year. I remembered when we were in Primary school, we were made to say the Singaproe pledge before our class starts and it goes like this:

We, the people of Singapore
Pledge ourselves as one united people,
Regardless of race, lanugage or religion,
To build a democratic society,
Based on justice and equality
So as to achieve happiness, prosperity and
progress for our nation.

So what if companies have their own pledge? I thought of many versions, and this is one of them:

We, the employee of XXXXX (Company's name)
Pledge ourselves to work hard for the company,
Regardless of normal shift, morning shift, afternoon shift or night shift,
To be punctual for work everyday,
Based on loyalty and MBO,
So as to achieve high revenue, high profit and low turnover in our company.

The New Anchorvale Community Club

It has finally come. The New Anchorvale Community Club (CC) has shifted to its permanent location at 59 Anchorvale Road, which is about 5-10 min walk from my home. It was previously situated near Sengkang Central under a HDB building. Now, the new CC has a new home, and will also house a new Sengkang Sports Complex and a swimming pool. There will be a soft launch of the CC on 24 November 07, but the Sports Complex and swimming pool will not be ready yet. I have been waiting for this for many years now. I will be able to bring my daughter to the swimming pool every week once it is open. And I am looking forward to start playing badminton again in the new Sports Complex, where it will have 12 badminton courts. See link http://jalankayu.community.org.sg/NewsRpt/AVNewCC/NewCC.htm

Another good thing is, the property prices of our neighbourhood has risen due to the recent economy bloom and the new CC, Sports Complex and swimming pool near the vicinity. However, I am not going to sell my house for now. I am going to enjoy the new facility first and my daughter is currently enrolled in a Primary school just across the road.

The Ugly Duckling Concert

My daughter was very excited last night and could not sleep until 3am in the early morning. She will be performing in her childcare concert today. We were traumatized and we were kept awake by her rolling in bed. She is sleeping with us in a Queen size bed and a single bed placed side by side.

Morning comes, and I have to dreadful task of send her to the childcare before 9.20 am, while my wife catches more sleep. My daughter was very excited in the morning, and you cannot feel the tiredness she had, but her eyes did get puffy due to lack of sleep. So I brought her to McDonald's for breakfast before sending her to her childcare. After that, I head right home to catch some sleep as well.

My wife and I managed to reach The Grassroots' Club beside Yio Chu Kang MRT station at 1.40pm. The shows starts at 2.00pm. We were anxious to see our daughter in her performance. She is acting as an old lady in the concert "The Ugly Duckling". The show started with speech by the childcare director, and followed by the Graduates Ceremony. My daughter is in K2, so she is one of the graduands. The sight of her wearing the graduands clothes makes me realised how fast she has grown up.

My daughter's performance did not appear until the 2nd half of the concert. She sat on a rocking chair, holding 2 long "needles", kneading a piece of cloth. The music started and her friends danced on the stage, and after 2 minutes, she walked gingerly with a cane to the centre of the stage and started dancing. It was a pleasure to watch her dance, and she seems to enjoy it a lot. She danced for about 30 sec, and she talked to the ugly duckling and returned to her rocking chair, and she stays that way until the scene ends.


My wife and I were disappointed with the childcare arrangement of my daughter's performance. For all her efforts, she was given slightly more than 5 minute play, in which she is involved in only 1 minute of action. She was one of the best dancer and performer in her last year's concert, and she is still attending ballet lessons. So we are disappointed she is not given better role and a full song/music to accompany with her dance.

I am very proud of my daughter's performance nevertheless, and I believe even with the short little time, she is one of the best performers in the concert. Well done Victoria, we are proud of you!

Happy Deepavali

Today is Deepavali, the festival of light. It is the day when the good triumph over the evil.

Wishing all a happy Deepavali. May the world live in peace and prosperity.

5 years Anniversay - Not to be

This day, 5 years ago, I joined my last company. If I am still at my last company, I would have served 5 full years there, which means I am entitled to my 5 years service award. Now the 5 years award is a miserable S$200. It also reminds me of my 3rd year, when a few of us, including my ex-boss and ex-colleagues, celebrated our 3rd year anniversary during the company's year end lunch. Those were the days.

Today, I received a surprise call from China. My ex-colleagues from Shenzhen, China, called me via my ex-boss's handphone. I was really surprised and touched with this gesture of my ex-boss and the blessings from my ex-China colleagues. Although we did not really talk much, as the reception was not that good, it helps to uplift my spirit nonetheless.

I visited the Kuang Yin Temple in the afternoon. I prayed hard, hoping to find a job soon. It has been almost a week since I was retrenched, and I am anxious to find a job soon. I can only wait, as I have already sent out my job application e-mails out. Wish me luck.

Welcome to my 1st blog

Welcome, welcome. This is my 1st posting at Pureskill Corner.

A friend of mine created a blog, and I was inspired by his articles in his blog. Do drop by regularly to read my write-up, and comment. Feel free to express yourself here.


Here is my experience of what has happened to me recently:

I was retrenched by my company recently and I was feeling depressed for the past few days. I could not concentrate well, even though I tried to put up a positive face. Sometimes I could not sleep well. That is what you will feel when you are faced with this. There are many things on my mind: Will I find a job soon? I am near 40 year old, will any company wants me? Will I be able to get the same or better pay than my last drawn pay? etc.....

I have many well wishes, and many friends and ex-colleagues who promised to help. Thank you all who show me your supports and help.

Everybody says the job market is very good now. But if that is the case, why am I retrenched? And some other companies are experiencing it too. Well, my only hope is to find a job soon. So wish me luck.