Can’t think of any XVI March 3, 2009

U.d.d.e.r.s Ice Cream!!

Had a great evening there on Sunday, so great that I’ll be heading back there tomorrow, but with a different clique

We tried 8 exotic flavors, there are: Rum Rum Raisin (too strong for me), Baileys & Bourbon (absolutely LOVE it), Orange Choc Bitters (too much became too bitter for me!), Lychee Martini (not bad), Tira-miss-u, Caramel with Sea Salt? And 2 others that I can’t recall… opps! I’ll note down what flavors I try tomorrow. Hee

Oh and the plate of 4 flavors with waffle cost us about $16? =) Sampling of any (or all) flavors are welcomed too!

—

I feel much better now. Thanks to Yilin who drilled the 3 words into my head: WHEN I’M READY.

Honestly I’m not sure whether the ball is in my court now, but at the very least, there’s a need to apologise to ***** and well… hope to start things from scratch again. All when I’m ready.

I’ll wait

Vicky’s Chocolate Fudge Cake~ January 25, 2009

My generous aunty and uncle gave my family a cake for Chinese New Year. I’ve never heard of this brand before -Vicky’s.

This isn’t your usual Secret Recipes/Bakerzin etc confectionary brand hence many of guys might not have heard of its name before. However, don’t underestimate its yumminess! This home-made brand only bakes 1 type of cake – its signature chocolate fudge cake. The pictures will do the explanation

Before you even open the box, you’ll already be able to smell the rich and heavenly chocolate scent. The cake is soft, not too dry or crumbly and coated with sufficient chocolate that doesn’t make you go “oh sorry, too chocolatey for me”. It’s definitely one cake that pleases my palate! I’ve no doubts about ordering it in future

For more information, please visit: http://www.geocities.com/vickyschoc/index.htm

P.S. Just a wacky fact about me: I get pissed off if the cake I eat gets crumbly. You know, when the cake “collapses” the moment you put your fork through? I’m quite particular about this because it shows the baker’s efforts, and I don’t want to end up “scooping” a cake too. Being a cake lover (to hell with those who say that cakes are fattening!!), I’m very picky about the quality of cakes that pass my palate

What’s new? January 6, 2009

Chinese New Year is around the corner. Many retails see this time as a (huge) profit-making opportunity. But as you all know, Chinese New Year goodies are the same every year, and I won’t be surprised if you tell me that you’ve lost interest in savouring the many goodies.

Therefore, innovation comes into play in this case. There’s not a need to come up with a complete brand new idea (and it would be risky too). With some bright concept modifications, you still can be able to make your products attractive. Look below…

The candies are very cute, especially with the Ox in the middle

As for the pineapple tarts, they cost like $25 a container! So much for the baker’s meticulous efforts huh >.< They look really like little “sun tarts” to me. Hee!

P.S. Second picture taken by my Daddy using his palmtop, hence the discrepancy in picture qualities

Trying too hard~ December 29, 2008

I just heard Channel 8’s news regarding this new “Olympics” education curriculum.

Bullshit.

Even though we may be hosting the inaugural Youth Olympics, I don’t see this need to force facts/sportsmanship upon students from age 6 – 18. Sportmanship is acquired through nurturing from young, and knowledge of the Olympics is learned through keen knowledge seeking.

Most importantly, it is an undoubted fact that you can never instill these “sports values” and inject those chunks of facts into minds of students within a restraining 1 year.

I’m not trying to be a wet blanket, it is just that I’m unhappy that such curriculum can be started just for the sake of “saving face” i.e. “saving the host country’s face”. I am sure many of you agree with me that most Singaporeans lack vast general knowledge, you tell me:

1) Which country started the Olympics?

2) What was the story behind the marathon run?

3) What are the official languages of the International Olympic Committee?

I know that the authorities are trying their best to make this event a success that will boost our country’s reputation further. And educating the citizens is a good way to get them prepared for this crucial ‘make or break’ event. Nevertheless, I feel that all time and sweat spent on coming up with this curriculum will not help much. Why? Because trying too hard in such a short period of time may prove otherwise. It may spark some interests for those toddlers: young and open to new experiences. How about those teenagers? Surely you won’t expect them to have a sudden outburst of enthusiasm for sports activities and adding on, academic studies are still their primary and only concern, nothing can override that notion implanted in their minds ever since they stepped into school. On the cynical side, you think that all schools will work accordingly to educate the students? I reckon they’ll still prefer to focus on “breeding” more straight As students for the 2009 PSLE, GCE O & A Levels.

This is a typical case of doing something for the sake of doing, period.

P.S. Answers for above:

1) Greece *Shame on you if you don’t know it*

2) The story tells of this Greek messenger who ran from this town called Marathon to Athens (without stopping) in order to announce that the Persians lost in the Battle of Marathon. Sadly after announcing, he collapsed and died from exhaustion. Hence, “Marathon” is the name given for the long distance run.

3) English & French.

Why sell when most don’t care? October 22, 2008

Why do people here still bother to sell insurance as their sole means of income?

Ok I do not have a solid background knowledge in the insurance industry here so if I make generalisations or prejudicing statements, pardon me for my ignorance.

As all of you know, having a full time permanent job as a ‘financial consultant’ aka insurance agent is a taboo locally.

TABOO.

Most of your friends, ex-colleagues, relatives or even strangers, would love to shun away from you.

A good example, I just picked up the phone just now and a guy from Prudential called asking for my Dad, as I was partially lazy, I just put down the phone without mentioning anything or bothering to let my Dad know about the call.

Fine, I’m rude!

Reflecting on my own behaviour, I realized the issue here is, we do not need people to keep pestering us to buy packages regarding the indemnification of losses that we might face which in reality, most likely would not occur in our lives (unless you are extremely unfortunate). As for the scaredy-cats, they would have taken the initiative to buy tonnes of them already.

Secondly, I wondered to myself, why would people want such a job when they know that it is not socially admirable or crudely speaking- accepted by the consensus. The only logical reason that I could think of is that, those poor folks are not qualified for other vocations? Meaning they even fail to qualify to sell other things like cars, property, IT-gadgets etc. My ex-boss (who sacked me) once told me: if you want to step into the salesline, make sure you are selling things that you are passionate about so that you enjoy what you are doing and hopefully be able to make a windfall of profits during the peak of your career. So according to this statement, there are two possibilities:

1) Those pitiful folks love insurance packages. (Really?)

2) Or, sadly, they do not know of such rationale.

I prefer to follow the latter. For who the heck love selling insurance!!?? Tell me!! Unless you are undoubtly sure that you can constantly hit the target sales by a substantial amount, if not, what is the thrill of being an insurance agent?

Some might love competitiveness, I’ve met such people before, and yes, they do well in their field, good for them. But it is difficult to convince me that there are locals who adore targets, don’t mind constant rejections and love selling insurance because ‘if you are happy, we are also happy for you too.’ CRAP. 

Well maybe I should be more realistic then, I guess everyone hates this kind of job, and accepting such a vocation is just purely for the sake of their ricebowl matters. For in Sg, the unspoken rule of ‘no money no talk’ prevails, and it is still a wiser choice to have widely unaccepted job rather then to be jobless ya?

Oh before I forget, with regards to the recent financial meltdown, I guess being a relationship manager is also a blacklisted job now too? Minibonds anyone?

Ignorance is never a bliss. October 2, 2008

Today’s My Paper forum write-in regarding the Singapore Grand Prix made me read with laughter, because it really showed how idealistic and ignorant some Singaporeans are.
I just want to pick up some key points and give my views about it.

“As most of the spectators were wealthy foreigners, I wonder if the event was more for them than for Singaporeans.”

Which part of his brain is not functioning well? Or does he drastically lack some political/business background knowledge?! OBVIOUSLY the primary purpose of this event is to lure in foreigners so that we can further boost our reputation as an attractive tourist destination and well, take this as a chance to get ourselves internationally known before we officially start next year’s Marina Bay Integrated Resorts. This event, if you want to put it hypocritically, is a ploy just to show the world how efficient we are when coming to organizing events (we took a mere 7 months only to put up the 3 days show?). Hence, the world will come to trust that Singapore sure is a top location for hosting international/business events.

“Commercialism reared its ugly head, and only those who could pay top dollar got tickets for the event.”

What a fool. Don’t you know this unspoken rule: ‘No money no talk’?

“Such sporting events should be made accessible to the masses instead of only the rich.”

Crap. You should be grateful that Mediacorp broadcasted the 3 days event without asking us to pay an extra cent. And it is a fact that such sporting events are targeted at the wealthy aristocrats. It is part of the rich men’s culture to go to such events where it is more than just viewing the race, for I’m sure they take it as a good opportunity to expand their social network as well, right? Furthermore, if we were to make this accessible to the masses, it would be the same thing as him saying that golf should be a sport where everyone including the lower class can afford? What rubbish! Maybe he’s just plain ignorant that we live in a world where different social classes and income segmentations divide us into our respective lifestyles, such that yes, there are even sports just to cater to the upper class because they have so much disposable income, the businesses cannot resist but come up with an event like this just to earn their money. And even though it is quite a pitiful fact that the income disparity is widening locally hence the finer things in life are enjoyed mostly by those on top but not the men in the street, no one is to be faulted upon, and blame it on yourself if you can’t afford these tickets. Privileges are never shared equally, you earn them based on your own capabilities and not by requesting the organizers to make this an all accessible event. Can you have some sense of pragmaticality please?

P.S. My comments given are one-sided, but I can’t help it.

A case of dissatisfaction. September 25, 2008

I find it more and more loathsome when I pass by local nail parlours, especially the ones in heartland areas (there are like 6 in Ang Mo Kio? Including 2 inside AMK Hub).

Why?

Because they are tarnishing the positive image and standards of nailart set by Japan, and worst, offending those proper nailart manicurist who underwent training for years before starting their own businesses.

Ya I may sound like a snob and you may well be condemning me in your heart now “then what about you!? Can you do better than them?!”.

My answer: Definitely yes.

I find it really appalling that these heartland shops hire those China labour who don’t seem to know shit about Nailart. Furthermore, when I look at the samples that they display through the glass boundary, I think my fugliest designs look better than theirs. For once, the lines are not even drawn properly, the colours ain’t matching/attractive (they just use plain flat basic colours), no gems or ‘gems’ that can’t look more plastic, 3D acrylic flowers that are deformed, or designs that are so simple which makes one an idiot to give away $80 for that kind of standards. Yes $80! Because according to them, 1 nail design costs approximately $8, so 10 nails sums up to $80. CRAZY.

A few weeks ago, I was given a brochure by one of the parlours in AMK and as I look closely, I found the pictures rather familiar, then it occurred to me that those cheaters actually took them off NailUp magazine!! What tricksters! Using other people’s work as your own and publicising it to naive customers!? I don’t have picture evidence as I threw those brochures away already.

Where are the standards? To me it seems like anybody who knows how to apply basic nail colours can open a nail shop, or maybe I should put it this way : anybody who knows how to apply nail polish can then just buy a hell lot of OPI or ORLY nail polishes, do up some crappy designs to display, and tadah! Proudly establish themselves as a nailart salon offering services worth $80.

Ok fine, afterall these are heartland shops right?

And if you suggest VOXY or Dashing Diva, my goodness, yup they are much better than those offered in the heartlands but I think there is still a lot of room for improvement. I remembered last year when I went to Guardian at Paragon, I was excited when I saw one of these 2 brands’ housebrand nail polishes (I can’t exactly figure out which brand was it, I think it’s Voxy?), I thought to myself ‘wow! must be good stuff!’, but upon a close up look, the colours ain’t very special, limited choices too and some have their contents dried up already (ok not really their fault maybe Guardian placed them there for years), but what a turn off, really.

Ok as I’ve checked, Dashing Diva is actually from the United States? But so what? As a company who aims to ‘Re-invent The Nail Salon experience’, I think it ought to do better locally. I once entered the shop at the Suntec branch, but the staffs gave me the ‘can you afford our services?’ expression and I just walked out with a negative first impression. From then, I never care to look into the shop when I walk passed it. Maybe it is a personal thing? And I can’t judge their services by that trivia incident right? Ok I’ll try walking in next time I go Suntec For who knows it could really be a wholenew The Nail Salon experience

I’m writing all these because I’m dissatisfied with what the current local market offers for nailart fanatics here. Of course, it’ll be unreasonable to compare with countries like Taiwan and Japan, since we Singaporeans don’t even give much shit about dressing up in the first place, so who cares about those nails right? However I feel there’s still much more to improve. Plus I think it is really an embarrassment that we aim to be first class citizens but we don’t style according to standards. What kind of society are we living in?

Ok, I’m going to end off here. Feeling sleepy. Good Night. I hope you agree with me on certain points mentioned

Can’t think of any VIII September 24, 2008

I kind of regret cutting my long nails to the short length now =P

It was because my left thumb nail chipped and I just impulsively snip snap for all of them, which resulted in the short length!!

Never mind, I shall start all over again. Been really busy these few days as well, my mind’s full of project stuff: when to compile, whether my parts followed the requirements as stated, how to improve to make the project better overall. And for next week, I think it is time to start slogging for the final examination It’s never too early right? Plus 3 out of my 4 modules require me to understand and remember plenty many theories so that when I get the paper, I don’t freak out and stare blankly like an idiot

The F1 race will begin this weekend, and many stars have arrived at our shore already. I’m not fortunate enough to meet them nor even view the race close up. Oh and I’ve one lucky friend who will be going there this Friday, she said that her Dad got the tickets free via OCBC? Wow! Sure lucky! Afterall watching Formula One is more for those aristocrats or die-hard fanatics ya? Since I’m neither of the two, I’ll just spend my weekend at home but of course, I’ll watch out for any news relating to F1, I’m not so apathetic ok!

And if I’m free, I’ll probably catch Vicky Christina Barcelona provided that it isn’t R21! I read the synopsis at Wikipedia and found that the movie appeals to me because of the self-discovery plot that transcends the sex scenes and beautiful Spain scenaries (where it was filmed at), to let us understand how the two female leads: Vicky and Christina “ended at where they begun”. Furthermore, director Woody Allen’s muse, Scarlett Johanssen is in it as well. The Wikipedia link is here.

I’m not ending yet! Yesterday when surfing through Wikipedia (yes I do, it is fun to read through articles that enlighten), I chanced upon this sadistic way of disfiguring one’s face called Glasgow’s Smile. It is done by killers who would cut the victim’s face from the edge of the mouth to the ear diagonally at each side of the mouth, so that it forms ya… a so-called ’smile’. If you want to know more about it, including the credit-card insertion into the mouth and kicking the victim so that he suffers in agony then screams which results in a torned apart face, click here. A point to note, I’m writing this in my article NOT because I’m advocating it, I just want to share with you all how malicious humans can be and well, it is just for the sake of general knowledge.

Alright, I’m going to end here with this clip that I found interesting because I’m a nailart and Jolin fan Ok I think I’ve been blogging too much about the two. Lols, no worries my blog won’t evolve into a 100% Opps! Jealous blog. No way!!

P.S. And regarding this post where I mentioned about opening a Nailart Salon, hehehehe! I wish I have the capital and other resources to. For now I’ll just do my own nails and those of my friends (which I feel nervous!) :P

八月十五 September 14, 2008

中秋节快乐！

月亮圆圆的，照亮着夜晚，真是一片美景啊！

希望大家在今年的中秋节吃够多月饼。现在在市场上月饼口味真多，但是我的最爱还是传统莲蓉单黄。今年我也很喜欢吃大烙饼，可见我是比较传统，哈哈。

刚才我送日文老师一个大烙饼，她告诉我日本也有月饼，叫做“げっぺい”(getbei)。但里面的馅是红豆沙，他们是把月饼当成一种平常的饮食，没有特别的意思。还有，他们的传说是月亮里住着两只在做饭饼的兔子，很有趣！

好了，大家去赏月吧！^_^

Antique~ August 28, 2008

In this article blogged about 3 weeks ago, I mentioned about Haji Lane (5 minutes walking distance from Bugis MRT). And when I went there again last Saturday to get my bag, I took quite a number of photos of this place, so that I can do a pictorial post for this lane which is a rarity in our skyscrapper filled Singapore.

I hope you guys can have a good look at the photos that I’ve picked from the 30+ ones that I’ve taken altogether. They show the disparities, between a shabby street where most of us avoid going and the modern shopping malls that we spend most of our leisure time in. Well I guess from this experience, I learnt that you really can’t judge a book by its cover – good things are hidden, you got to dig them out, even in a place like this.

Enjoy the pictures!! I can’t snap photos inside most of the shops. So yeah, sorry about it!!

So? Want to go there and have a look at the place yourself?

Yesterday once more~ August 24, 2008

Aloha!!

Presenting to you guys my new cloth bag from… don’t tell you all!!

It costs S$53. Yeah, pretty expensive huh? Anyway it was a gift from my BF *thanks!* I chose this bag because the design is simple yet with a touch of orientness.

Ok next, I went to Azabu Sabu at Marina Square for dinner. I would certainly go back there again because the the food is really comparable to the authetic ones that I’ve savored last year in Japan, furthermore, the price is pretty affordable to me (though of course I can’t eat here every week!). I had Hotpot Chicken – S$18.80, my BF ordered Sabo Style Teriyaki Chicken – S$11.80 and we finished our meal with the Shira Kuri Mitsu dessert – S$8.80. One last thing, we didn’t have to wait aeons for our food even though the place was packed, so this gives me another reason to go back there!!

Had some difficulty pushing all the ingredients into the about-to-overflow pot. Look at the brim!

*drools*

It tastes exactly like the glutinuous rice ball. You are supposed to dip it into that black glass of honey before chewing it =)

Oh, and before you guys deduce the size of my appetite after seeing the large set shown above, I didn’t finish the entire Hotpot set myself ok!? I shared it him. So now you know the size of his appetite. Ok fine, he doesn’t have a monstrous type of appetite lah, or else I think I would have been eaten up by him long ago.

News headlines: Girl engulfed alive by brobdingnagian appetite boyfriend.

Ok joking!

We then headed to Esplanade to catch the fireworks. I took 4-5 video clips of the show but I can’t seem to upload them so erm, too bad Anyway, I think this picturesque photo is good enough to end my article Hope you guys have a great Sunday! Remember to catch the Olympics closing ceremony tonight, I’ll be racing back home from Jap class which ends at 7:40pm -.-”

Not enough,losing them… August 21, 2008

Hi all!

Today I want to do a short writeup on the recent hot topics here: our flagging birthrate and the new policies relating to it, as well as give my opinions on the ‘quitter’ issue (those who studied abroad and end up starting a career and life there). Hmmm, in general, my points are going to be rather negative with an ‘unloyal to Singapore’ tone, because my thoughts are: you can’t use money to solve everything, and I think it is a human trait to follow whomever that give us better options and prospects, especially when the ’sense of belonging’ here isn’t very intense. Am I right?

The root cause of the worrying plunge in birthrate is not money.

Not money. It is our mentality of starting a family and raising kids that is the key to this problem. In our ‘no money, no talk’ society, the first consideration when buying something or making an investment or pursuing something new is: is it worth the cash spent? How will it benefit us? What are the opportunity costs? Majority of us do not consider the non-money aspects, such as the social benefits, personal well-being etc (sorry I can’t seem to recall the proper term for it). I guess most of us, when talking about having kids(among all my close friends, I seem to be the only one who wants offsprings?), we associate it with terms like ‘tedious, difficult, kids are getting from bad to worse nowadays, expensive, I’d rather spend the money on myself’ etc. We hardly hear ‘kids? Wow! It’ll be the best thing on earth to have children because they will bring us so much joy and happiness, they complete the circle of life!”. It is difficult to change this mindset that has already been around for quite a period of time? Ever since the ’stop at 2′ policy which was superbly successful. And maybe it is due to traits of the Generation Y group (in which 1/3 of them are adults already and are supposed to be hitched by now!). It seems that our priority is achieving our materialistic desires and our appetite for those wants keep growing. Additionally, it may be due to the economy, if I ain’t wrong, we seem to be having more ‘bad years’ than ‘good years’ now which consequently causes us to tighten our purses, bringing a reduce in spending power which indirectly lead us to frown upon the issue of having kids. However, if we are willing to brush aside our hunger for the numerous wants(this may sound impossible), and look into life issues like getting married, starting a family, having children, watching them grow, passing them our knowledge and like what the M.O.E. wishes ‘moulding them to be our future leaders’ (WHAT IS WITH MOULDING? EVERYONE IS UNIQUE AND WE DO NOT WANT TO END UP LIKE SOME FACTORY-MADE GOODS WHERE EVERYONE IS IDENTICAL FROM ACADEMIC SKILLS TO DRESS-SENSE), I think that the happiness and satisfaction that stems from this will be more fulfilling than just splurging on material needs.

Now for the ‘quitters’ issue, I still do not see the logic behind for calling them ‘quitters’. As stated above, it is of mankind to move to a greener pasture. Well, I know it sounds very controversial to say this and if pro-PAP (OMG what did I type!!) people read this, I think my passport will be confiscated, anyway, hello? How many of our top management positions are grabbed by ‘foreign talents’? And the reason for this? Because we are not capable for the posts? We are simply not good enough? So since we are treated in this ‘you are good, you keep your rice bowl; you are not good, who cares if you are a citizen, go find your own ways of earning a living’ manner, we end up with a ‘no sense of belonging here’ attitude where we are rather vulnerable to accepting ‘better opportunities that await us overseas’.

I know I sound very discontented with my 19 going to 20 years of stay here. I seem like someone who is downright unappreciative and ungrateful of what the PAP has done for us for the past 43 years.

I am not.

I am just simply pointing out the flaws of the typical Singaporean outlook of life and giving my self-made explanations for them. The main point of this writeup is not to rant, whine and propagandize it into an anti you-know-what article (I don’t want my family to face bankruptcy), I hope you all understand the gists of this post.

Have a good night =) and meanwhile you can ponder on what I’ve said before you head to bed. Cheers!!

P.S. I am encouraging my parents to send my precocious brother overseas once he completes his A-levels and NS, I think he deserves a place in an Ivy League university And of course, he should be made a ‘quitter’ too.

A generous treat! July 31, 2008

Today I received an email surprise from the director of Shugar- a DIY nail art concept store.

(Double click to enlarge.)

Honestly I never knew that such rewards actually exist! It is like I don’t know her personally and she is giving a one time 15% off services and goods for me(with no minimum spending!!) just because she read my blog and realizes that I’m a trueblue nailart fan? Wow, initially I thought I was dreaming, for most retailers are quite stingy on giving discounts. I guess this is my little treat for going all out to find the orange stick! Haha, and being a marketing student, of course I find that this is a good method to draw potential customers too!!

I’m going to drop by Shugar tomorrow and get my hands on more 3D stickers(theirs are really durable and won’t peel or chip off easily unlike those found in Sasa), orange stick and well, maybe some other nailart related items? Unplanned in-store buying habits!

Tata!! More on Shugar here.

P.S. A point to note, please do not copy the image, print out and take the 15% discount voucher for yourself!!! For if you do, you have no integrity or honesty and you would have broken a cyber law for copyright! SHAME! However, if you are still in desperate search for a voucher, there is one promotion currently going on now. Infor this way

P.S.S. To Bibiana: I hope you don’t mind me showing the world that email that you sent me!

Where and what else?? July 26, 2008

Another weekend is here again

Nono, I should put instead of for there is nowhere else to go and nothing much to do.

On our sunny island, we have restricted land area hence limited places to spend our weekends at.

Well, the more popular outing places are:

1) Town aka Orchard/Scotts/Somerset 

2) Vivocity

3) Bugis

4) Plaza Singapura

5) Marina/CityLink area

Ok that’s all, unless you include heartland malls like Junction 8, Tampines Mall etc.

And the usual happenings that most of us would engage in are:

1) Shopping

2) Catch a movie

3) KTV

4) Buffet

Yup, countable happenings.

Unless you want to hop down to Sentosa and spend a day out at the beach suntanning, playing volleyball, people-watching etc. Or go down to East Coast/Downtown East and cycle?? Kayak(my JC hobby!)?

Help!! We need more places for us to spend our leisure hours at!! And more sources of fun-filled activites!!

Anybody got good suggestions??

2 years training to be a Domestic Engineer??? July 12, 2008

“Females should be drafted to serve in child-care centres”

- One big component in copying the Swedish scheme of state-organised familial support is manpower. Singaporean females should be drafted to serve in child support centres when they turn 18; just as male Singaporeans are conscripted into learning soldiering in national service. Many younger Singaporeans no longer have domestic capabilities. It is not anti-feminist to learn how to cook, do household chores and care for youngsters. A village used to raise one’s child. The scheme can create a modern version of communal care.

[Taken from Straits Times Forum, 12 July 2008]

UTTER BULLSHIT.

1) Domestic capabilities and soldiering are 2 different matters at the extreme end of each other. For one, you can learn how to cook, wash clothes, tidy and clean the house from your parents or maid or whomever, it is solely up to you whether you intend to learn these skills. However for soldiering, no matter how patriotic you are, you still need teamwork from other soldiers and public goods(guns, tanks, airplanes etc, can you buy these off-shelf?) for exercising of military skills. Not to mention that NS training involves many secretive strategic skills that are not publicised unlike domestic skills which mainly involves only common sense. Hence is there really a need for females to be drafted to serve in child-care centres?

2) Ladies imagine, for 2 years of your life, do you want to devote all the time learning how to bake cookies, mop the floor, wash bedsheets and scrub toilets? What exactly do you get out of these 2 years of your precious youth? Maybe you might get some sense of the ‘it takes a village to raise one’s child’ but please, in a Singapore society where most of us do not even bother to greet our neighbours, what makes you think that communal care exists here? And even if it can exists(if the author insists so), chances are that this ‘communal care’ will not last for long as we do not live in Kampongs anymore, the ‘Kampong spirit’ has already ceased to exist.

3) Somewhat also about the 2 years spent, would you ladies prefer to spend this period furthering your studies or do what I’ve said above(wash bedsheets and scrub toilets). If you think long term, which path would gain you better deals in life later? And also, most ladies here do not aspire to be housewives or even maids, I am sure most of you ladies prefer to sit comfortably in your air-conditioned office wearing designer suits and earning at least 5 grand a month right? In a competitive society here, it is more necessary to find ways to be financially secured first rather than excel in domestic capabilities(unless you intend to be a domestic engineer), am I right? So back to the question, is it really essential for ladies to be drafted to serve in child-care centres?

4) Even if ladies here want to be drafted to serve in child-care centres, have you considered the ladies to child-care centre ratio? I think the ratio would be 100000:1. How many centres are there in Singapore? And even so, not all of them would open their doors and welcome 18 year olds for training. This is not some child-care internship!! Furthermore, if they recruit them, a large number of permanent child-care takers would risk losing their jobs because now that since they can have young energetic 18 years to perform the same duties gleefully, why is there a need to employ those older permanent workers who demands for a higher pay?

5) We do not have so many babies to let all the 18-year olds take care. Oh I forgot, not just 18 year olds, we have to consider the 19 and even 20 year olds, as this ’service’ is approximately 2 years? Again, have you considered the ratio? And also, not all parents would support the idea of having their precious baby be taken cared of by 18/19/20 year old trainees.

In the nutshell, this is the most fatuous and ridiculous piece of writing that I’ve ever seen in the ST Forum, I bet when LKY reads it, he will literally LAUGH OUT LOUD and fall off his chair or sofa or whatever he is resting his bums on.

To the author who gave this nonsensical suggestion: do you have shit for brains??

P.S. My Bf suggested that the ladies might as well also undergo training to be nurses instead.