I decided this morning that I would not rush to complete my household chores. As a result, I had the rare opportunity to savour the newspaper and read more of it. Two articles caught my attention and got me thinking about the country I live in and the people who run it. I shall not share my thoughts here as it is pretty hard to put into words, and if I did, I think some parts have to be 'censored'.
Read them if you have time. What do they tell you?
NRD almost spoils the day for would-be couple
Quest for peace
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
A new mobile phone, a new century
Eugene came home last night with a new mobile phone for me. My old Nokia which I inherited from him has definitely seen better days. It has survived my crude handling, and a crack on its casing is getting larger over time. It had also gone swimming in my jeans pocket once...no, it wasn't in the washing machine. It was a swimming pool, but that's another story (some of you should remember why I went into a pool in my jeans!)
The new phone is another Nokia, a newer model with more features than I think I'll ever need. When Eugene asked me what type of phone I wanted a couple of weeks back, I told him I just needed one to make and receive calls and SMS. And preferably one with a camera so that I could take pictures on the go without having to lug our rather bulky digicam along everytime.
So he got me a black Nokia N73 which has a camera and other features for downloads, web service, music and who knows what else (Call me simple and practical, as you can tell, I'm not crazy about over-featured gadgets). I was simply happy to get a new phone to be able to get around in this modern world. Caitlin was near ecstatic when she overheard the 'new phone' conversation. She went, "A new phone?!! Wow, it's coooool. Does it have games?"
Kids nowadays are so different from the time when I was a kid. The only phone I knew then was a black table-top type with a circular dial which went 'clack, clack, clack' when it retracted after you dialled the number. Even then, not everyone had one in their homes. We had one and I remember many neighbours and friends from the 'kampung' nearby used to come over to borrow our phone to make calls.
The games I played were home-made, for e.g. 'five stones', 'hantu galah', a skipping-jumping game using rubber bands strung together to make a long 'skipping rope', and kicking some contraption made of chicken feathers stuck to a small circular rubber base. Sometimes that was substituted with a bunch of frangipani flowers tied together with a rubber band. The TV images were black and white (colour only came when I was in Standard 5)and we never ever thought games could be played using a TV or a phone. And a computer? It never existed then, what more a PDA.
My almost-five-year-old daughter now talks to people using a mobile phone,and a cordless phone, plays various games on her dad's mobile phone and PDA, and the computer and TV. When I was five, I lived in the 20th century. Caitlin was born in the 21st century. I can already see a generation gap. I wonder what it'll be like for Caitlin's children towards the mid-21st century. Hopefully grandma Anna will still be around to blog about it!
The new phone is another Nokia, a newer model with more features than I think I'll ever need. When Eugene asked me what type of phone I wanted a couple of weeks back, I told him I just needed one to make and receive calls and SMS. And preferably one with a camera so that I could take pictures on the go without having to lug our rather bulky digicam along everytime.
So he got me a black Nokia N73 which has a camera and other features for downloads, web service, music and who knows what else (Call me simple and practical, as you can tell, I'm not crazy about over-featured gadgets). I was simply happy to get a new phone to be able to get around in this modern world. Caitlin was near ecstatic when she overheard the 'new phone' conversation. She went, "A new phone?!! Wow, it's coooool. Does it have games?"
Kids nowadays are so different from the time when I was a kid. The only phone I knew then was a black table-top type with a circular dial which went 'clack, clack, clack' when it retracted after you dialled the number. Even then, not everyone had one in their homes. We had one and I remember many neighbours and friends from the 'kampung' nearby used to come over to borrow our phone to make calls.
The games I played were home-made, for e.g. 'five stones', 'hantu galah', a skipping-jumping game using rubber bands strung together to make a long 'skipping rope', and kicking some contraption made of chicken feathers stuck to a small circular rubber base. Sometimes that was substituted with a bunch of frangipani flowers tied together with a rubber band. The TV images were black and white (colour only came when I was in Standard 5)and we never ever thought games could be played using a TV or a phone. And a computer? It never existed then, what more a PDA.
My almost-five-year-old daughter now talks to people using a mobile phone,and a cordless phone, plays various games on her dad's mobile phone and PDA, and the computer and TV. When I was five, I lived in the 20th century. Caitlin was born in the 21st century. I can already see a generation gap. I wonder what it'll be like for Caitlin's children towards the mid-21st century. Hopefully grandma Anna will still be around to blog about it!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Dance little lady, dance...
We have a showgirl in our hands. Caitlin loves dancing to some of her favourite songs. This video of her at one of her best was a spontaneous one taken last night. She was engrossed in colouring a picture when she heard her favourite song, the Teen Titans theme song, playing. She leapt out of her chair and got grooving. Have fun watching this. We were pretty tickled watching her 'engage' with the camera when we were shooting it.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
New job for Eugene
Eugene has just started a new job at a local telco company. Now he's back to what we call the 'client's side' (if you're familiar with that term). For the past ten plus months, he was with an advertising agency with emphasis on interactive marketing and prior to that, with another ad agency after eight to nine years in broadcasting.
Now that I look back, his career seems to be swinging between client and consultancy, having worked in market research firms and ad agencies, and also doing marketing and promo-related work on the corporate side for many years.
I on the other hand have always shunned joining a consultancy. I doubted if I could stoop to the demands of sometimes idiotic clients so I chose to remain on the corporate side, enduring the demands of in-house 'clients' instead!
Do wish him the best.
Now that I look back, his career seems to be swinging between client and consultancy, having worked in market research firms and ad agencies, and also doing marketing and promo-related work on the corporate side for many years.
I on the other hand have always shunned joining a consultancy. I doubted if I could stoop to the demands of sometimes idiotic clients so I chose to remain on the corporate side, enduring the demands of in-house 'clients' instead!
Do wish him the best.
Work and Wealth
I was in the lift going up to my apartment upon returning from the market when a lady stepped in. She smiled and said to me "How nice to be a homemaker, no need to go to work". I smiled back and told her that I still work, but from home. By then, the lift doors opened. I had reached my floor and had to step out.
In my mind, a homemaker still works. The only difference is that the work involves household and family-related work at home instead of company or business-related work in an office. It could still also involve business-related work if one chooses to telecommute, freelance or have a home-based business.
The advantages are that I have more flexibility in terms of time, and am boss of my own. I have the choice to work as much as I want to, realise my full potential and earn as much as I'm worth and am able to. In a job, most bosses and companies are not able to provide for that. You are governed by your job scope and are worth only as much as the number of hours you put in and the results you show based on that. There are people who are really happy in their job, passionate about it and jump out of bed every morning shouting "Hurray! Another exciting day at the office!", but how many are?
Why are most people in a job? For money, survival, to put food on the table, personal satisfaction, out of obligation or expectation, to not waste the degree they had earned and their parents' or their own hard-earned dollars to send them to school.....? The list of reasons could be a mile long but I guess, the main reason for most people would be for money, in order to achieve or obtain other things in life - to meet at least the basic material needs, to save for a rainy day, to give their family a better or more comfortable life, to be able to afford nice holidays, good education for the kids....
How much money is enough? Some say they don't want too much and can settle for a simple life. Some say they want as much as possible. What is the true meaning of wealth? I came across this article which perspective I find pretty clear, and one of the quotes in the article stood out to me: "Where we spend our money discloses our true values, what we hold important."
I would want as much money as possible, not because I'm money-minded and simply want to be rich, but because I think there's a lot we could do with money, based on the quote I just mentioned.
In my mind, a homemaker still works. The only difference is that the work involves household and family-related work at home instead of company or business-related work in an office. It could still also involve business-related work if one chooses to telecommute, freelance or have a home-based business.
The advantages are that I have more flexibility in terms of time, and am boss of my own. I have the choice to work as much as I want to, realise my full potential and earn as much as I'm worth and am able to. In a job, most bosses and companies are not able to provide for that. You are governed by your job scope and are worth only as much as the number of hours you put in and the results you show based on that. There are people who are really happy in their job, passionate about it and jump out of bed every morning shouting "Hurray! Another exciting day at the office!", but how many are?
Why are most people in a job? For money, survival, to put food on the table, personal satisfaction, out of obligation or expectation, to not waste the degree they had earned and their parents' or their own hard-earned dollars to send them to school.....? The list of reasons could be a mile long but I guess, the main reason for most people would be for money, in order to achieve or obtain other things in life - to meet at least the basic material needs, to save for a rainy day, to give their family a better or more comfortable life, to be able to afford nice holidays, good education for the kids....
How much money is enough? Some say they don't want too much and can settle for a simple life. Some say they want as much as possible. What is the true meaning of wealth? I came across this article which perspective I find pretty clear, and one of the quotes in the article stood out to me: "Where we spend our money discloses our true values, what we hold important."
I would want as much money as possible, not because I'm money-minded and simply want to be rich, but because I think there's a lot we could do with money, based on the quote I just mentioned.
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