laremy.sg

• How To Succeed Through Motivational Fear & Hunger

Slightly cliched, but I think we need to read these kind of stories once in a while.

• The Church (not the Bible) discriminates against gays, says pastor

“The story of Sodom now linguistically linked to sodomy was an issue of inhospitality to visiting strangers. It is never an account about same-sex relations. It was as defined in Ezekial 16:47-50 as pride, gluttony, and prosperous ease and refusal to aid the poor and needy. Sodom is a symbol of God’s judgment rather than same-sex relations.”

• The Bad Management Stimulus

“…bad management pushes a lot of capable people out of their day jobs, and those people go on to become entrepreneurs.

…leaving a boss who is Satan’s learning-challenged little brother is relatively easy. And if the general economy isn’t serving up wonderful job opportunities at other companies (thanks in part to bad management) then you can see why people gravitate toward starting their own companies.”

• Try to convey more in stage directions than is physically possible

“ENTER ALAN, WHO HAS JUST UNDERGONE A PROFOUNDLY MOVING RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, CAUSING HIM TO SEE THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE UNFILTERED BY EMOTION OR DESIRE.”

• Fri, 5 Jun 2009: Shallow dent, deep impression

“The dent was so tiny it was practically invisible if you did not know where to look. It was only about half an inch in length and was so shallow you had to put your finger there to feel the unevenness. It was difficult to see not only because of its size, but also because the car was covered with advertisement stickers that masked it.

“And you want to charge me $100 for this?” I turned to him and asked.

“Standard procedure,” he answered, looking at his sheet.”

• For Indians Trained in the West, It Can Be Hard to Go Home

“India is “sitting on a huge opportunity” to create new businesses and tap into thousands of science and technology experts, Mr. Ayyadurai said, but a “feudal culture” is holding the country back.”

At the summit, it was like one big happy family sitting down and playing the popular card game Happy Families.

(via The Online Citizen; Hat-tip to How to Write Badly Well; what ‘flogging a dead horse’ means.)

• Question the model

“Grading is a waste of time. We only do it in schools and universities. It’s a sorting technique, not truly an evaluation technique. Iterative and formative feedback is what’s really required for learning.”

• 1001 Rules for the Singaporean

“Getting things straight for the citizens, new immigrants and foreigners living in Singapore.”

• Stalking Saint Jack

“…all I could feel was a profound sense of disconnected history and lost landscapes.”

• Price of bilingualism

“I am comforted that finally someone at this high level of government has come to see my point of view, which I have voiced for a long time.”

• BES

“It’s only fair the girls get a turn.” – Nanashee expands on her previous post and publishes her take on the different categories of women she has encountered.

If you’re a Singaporean, and you’re going overseas for work or travel, it’s probably best if you register your details with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

I don’t know how much information is used for ‘surveillance’, but I think it’s always good to be prepared in the event of any emergencies.

BTW I found out about this thingy after submitting an Overseas Travel Notification to the Ministry of Defence – not because I want to, but because it must be done.

Anyways, there was a nifty little link provided at the end of the confirmation page which brought me to the MFA eRegister system, and I thought I’d share it with everyone because I think all of you should know about this.

Also, since the Civil Service often gets more brickbats than it does bouquets, I thought I’d take some time to express my pleasure at a good idea (IMHO) and a good example of synergy at work.

Okbye.

• On being Bland in the Lion City

“Sure, his account illustrates the usual argument relating to the lack of press freedoms in Singapore, but I suspect it has got to do with the chronic “kiasi-ness” (literally means fear of death in Singapore colloquial-speak, can be used to refer to literal or metaphorical death) embedded in the hearts and minds of government bureaucrats.”

• Be more open to reduce policy errors

“One would have wished that, over such a long period, someone within the Government had identified the mistakes.”

Identifying the mistake is one thing – being willing and able to adopt a new and better course of action is another.

• PES

“The army uses it to categorize men by their fitness and combat readiness level, and it stands for Physical Employment Status. Me, I use mine to categorize men by their childhood traumas, and it stands for Prick Evaluation System.”

IMHO, the categories are a bit more fluid – some guys can be a combination of a few characteristics.

• mrbrown and the flood

“I think we should [look on] the bright side [of things]. Perhaps we can try to make the best of things. If you cannot stop the flooding, why not make Bukit Timah the Venice of Singapore? What could be more romantic and prestigious than living in Singapore’s Canal District?

…

The fancy schools along that stretch can have annual Boat Races there, a la Oxford and Cambridge. ACS, SCGS, Hwa Chong, NJC, St Joseph’s, all competing in the annual Bukit Timah Freak Flood Inter-School Boat Race.”

• Asia Sentinel Loses a Singapore Correspondent

“While the governments of Burma, China and Iran tend to arrest troublesome foreign reporters or expel them without delay, Singapore’s more media-savvy government prefers a subtler approach to repression. The non-renewal of a work visa is their preferred method for getting rid of foreigners with minimal fuss or attention.”