Paul's Fulfilling Life

Ryan’s 8th Birthday Celebration

2012-02-11T00:23:00.001+08:00

This was a last minute event, but it was understandable as my friend, who is a bus captain with SBS Transit & his wife is a nurse at Khoo Teck Phuat hospital.

I am glad to be invited to their first child’s 8th birthday celebration. According to Eileen, his mum, this was his first birthday party, held at Woodlands Point, MacDonald’s.

You will be surprised that the birthday boy is pretty shy, unlike his younger sister, who is more proactive in interacting with the guests.

Happy 8th birthday to Ryan. Hope u like the birthday gift from Uncle Paul as I feel that the gift will enable you to play & learn at the same time. =)

樱柳开花

2012-02-10T23:35:00.001+08:00

今年是非常特别的一年，因为那么多年以来，我家每年摆放的樱柳从没开过花。今年却在大年十四，开了美丽的叶子。

我非常开心的与几位朋友分享我的喜悦。朋友们都说我家人将在今年发了！！之前，听人家说，今年我全家犯太岁，因为爸爸和弟弟属龙，妈妈属牛，我属羊。我总是不会把这些放在心里，因为我认为开心也是过一天，生气也是过一天，不如开心的度过。为何要让风水和五行操控我们的人生。

妈妈看到樱柳开花，赶快的要拍全家福。希望我家人能在今年事事顺利，发啊！！

New HP For Paul

2012-01-31T23:54:00.001+08:00

My brother had been complaining that he needs a better camera phone for his school projects, but I was not too keen to get him the Samsung Galaxy S2 as I feel that he does not know how to take care of his belongings well, and I feel that he should be taught that money is hard earned.

In the end, I got the Samsung Galaxy S2 for myself and passed my Galaxy S for him to use.

I thought I have gotten a good deal, paying about $200 and I got some accessories (2 covers and a portable charger) that came along with it, although I didn’t get the colour that I wanted in the end.

CNY Gathering @ My House

2012-01-31T23:31:00.001+08:00

Every year, during Chinese New Year, I would invite some of my friends to my house for a Chinese New Year gathering.

This year, with some of the usual people that I invited, I invited some new friends, whom I have met in the last year to my place as well.

I would like to thank the following people for accepting my invitation to come over to my place for the gathering.

Jonathan
Ah Liang
Alex
Raymond
Ann
Sharon
Chloe
Gonnie
Kian How
Bryan
Jasmine
Wendy
Huiyu
Ricky & Eileen (with their 2 children,Ryan & Charmaine)

I hope u guys enjoyed the gathering, especially the homemade yusheng that my mum.

I also would like to thank Chloe, Gonnie & Eileen for the photo taking. =)

Work Musings

2012-01-25T00:42:00.001+08:00

It has been a hectic three months at work as although it was bonus month in December and salary adjustment month in January, it was indeed a busy period these 3 months as I was rushing the corporate tax returns for my clients in November. Little did I expect that the IRAS to issue the tax composition fines in January to our corporate tax clients that we had not completed due to various reasons, which I would put it down to communication breakdown.

During these 3 months, a lot of “office politics” happened in office too, making it going to work is like working in a place, where a war is happening, and you must have your weapons ready to fight the war or defend yourself to avoid getting hit.

Let’s hope that all these will end in February as my boss promised to look into them after January.

Although I feel that I have been quite adequately rewarded in the bonus and in the salary adjustment exercise, I would prefer to work in an environment where there is no 溏心风暴(fighting for power) as it can be rather draining on the company’s staff too.

Happy New Year

2012-01-24T16:21:00.003+08:00

I know this may be a little late, but since the Chinese New Year traditional celebration is for 15 days, it is always better late than never.

Wishing all my friends and blog readers:-

a Happy & Prosperous New Year. May the Year of The Dragon brings the fire in you to make it the best year for the Year 2012. 新年快乐，万事如意，恭喜发财，身体健康！！！

Happy New Year

2012-01-24T16:21:00.001+08:00

I know this may be a little late, but since the Chinese New Year traditional celebration is for 15 days, it is always better late than never.

Wishing all my friends and blog readers:-

a Happy & Prosperous New Year. May the Year of The Dragon brings the fire in you to make it the best year for the Year 2012. 新年快乐，万事如意，恭喜发财，身体健康！！！

A Good Deed

2012-01-16T00:14:00.001+08:00

I had boarded the bus (Service 128) from my usual bus stop at Royal Plaza at Scotts on Thursday

This service is a semi-express bus service that serves from Shenton Way to Ang Mo Kio during evening peak hours. As I settled down on my seat on the bus, I noticed that a young girl sitting beside me appearing anxious as the bus travelled past Newton Road. The bus had not stopped as it was part of its express route, which would take the bus to Bishan MRT.

My guess was that the gal had boarded the wrong bus. She seemed rather lost. I tried to talk to her, asked her where she was heading to. My guess was right. She told me she was heading to Newton Road. I told her that the bus will stop only at Bishan MRT. She was stunned at first, but I managed to calm her down told her to follow me as I would be alighting at the station. She called her mum in the meantime, telling her that she took the wrong bus. I believed that her mum told her to take a cab when she reached Bishan. I could not understand what she told her mum as I believed that they are Japanese.

As the bus reached Bishan MRT station, I asked the gal to alight at the station and accompanied her to wait for a cab. I waited for her to get into the cab before continuing my journey home.

Gonnie’s Birthday Celebration Dinner

2012-01-07T16:27:00.001+08:00

The dinner was initiated by me as I felt that I had to thank the group for shelling out the “Zinc” bag as my birthday present during my birthday celebration KTV last month. After a group discussion through Whatsapp, the date, time , place for the birthday dinner was set. I asked the birthday boy, what he wanted for his birthday and managed to get the present with the help of Chloe.

The meetup was on Wednesday at Marche Restaurant at 313 Somerset. It was fortunate that I had made a reservation for the seats as it was surprisingly packed for a weekday. I had managed to get a cake from The Icing Room before heading in for dinner.

^{The tiramisu cake I got for the birthday boy, The cake melted and was saved by Jessica & Kianhow.}

^{The guests for the birthday dinner with the birthday boy, Jessica, Kianhow, Lance & myself}

^{Gonnie with the beautiful ladies, Chloe & Jessica}

^{Gonnie with me, Lance & Kianhow}

^{Gonnie with his gift from us}

^{Photos courtesy of Chloe & Gonnie}

After the dinner, Jessica, Chloe & I were given a lift by Kianhow back home.

1st Countdown at The Heartlands

2012-01-01T13:26:00.001+08:00

This year marks the 1st year that I have ushered in the heartlands. I had wanted to try out how it was like celebrating at the heartlands and had wanted to avoid the crowds at Vivo City & Marina Bay, after an experience last year.

I decided to purchase the ticket from my Resident’s Committee, which was priced at $2, and there are snacks, drinks, goodie bags & a chance to win a lucky draw. It is definitely more worthwhile than jostling with the crowd and sweating it out.

The countdown was held at the Jalan Kayu Community Hall, which is about a 10 minute walk from my house. I was asked to help by the CC manager with the Games stall, as a result, I was at the venue at about 8pm.

The good thing about the hall is it is pretty spacious and air-conditioned. I could usher in the new year 2012 in the comforts of being in an air conditioned hall.

^{The booth I was manning with fellow RC member Mr Ang.}

The queue for this game was surprisingly long. We had to make some changes to the rules of the game, in order to ensure that everyone gets a chance to play and get to enjoy.

^{A photo with Bugs Bunny for the memories =)}

On this note, I would like to wish my blog readers and friends a Happy New Year. May good tidings be with you in this coming New Year. =)

2011- The Year In Review

2011-12-31T01:30:00.001+08:00

It has come to the time of the year where I do a review of the year that is coming to an end.

This year, has been quite a turbulent year, but I am glad that I managed to get past it pretty unscathed.

Study

This was the 2nd year since I have given up on my ACCA studies, and started my 1st year as a full fledged Accredited Tax Practitioner. The 1st year passed quite uneventfully. However from next year, I will be required to undergo 30 hours of Continuing Education Programme each year, totalling 90 hours for 3 years, before I am allowed to renew my membership. I am still very interested in my line of work, therefore, I will try to keep this accreditation, which will be useful for my work. I credit this to my manager and my bosses who are willing to impart their valuable tax knowledge to me. Till today, I feel that I am still very enthusiastic about learning new things.

Work

It has not been a smooth flowing year at work, thanks to many changes in the audit arm of the firm. In fact, for quite a number of times, I got really frustrated, as colleagues were not very co-operative, getting into the game of office politics. But I guessed its all in the course of a day’s work. Overall, I am glad that my boss recognises the hard work that I put in with a reasonable pay package that is pretty competitive in today’s employment market.

Friends

It was a year, where some friendships were lost over petty matters, but I am glad to have made quite a number of new ones through my volunteer work in IRAS Volunteer e-filing exercise and grassroots events.

These friends, whether old, new or discarded have taught me a number of things in order to make myself a better person. Without them, I may not know I have these faults or hidden talents.

BGR

I have made no progress on this front this year. I guess these things cannot be rushed, although I know that my mum is a little worried about this. I have told myself that if I cannot get married, so be it. Maybe, Heaven has something better in store for me, or my Ms Right has not appeared yet. I certainly do not wish to fall in love with the wrong person and suffer the pain of a divorce later.

Volunteer Work

This was the year which I extended my commitment to volunteer my time to grassroots events as well. I joined the Jalan Kayu Zone 4 RC as an observer in January this year. I feel that as a resident of my neighbourhood, I should give some input as to how my estate should be like. The 2nd reason was to thank my ex-MP, Mr Wee Siew Kim for helping me with my cheating case that I was involved in last year. Although, I didn’t get my money back in the end, I am thankful for his help.

My first event was the National Day Children’s Art Competition, which went on successfully after several nights of preparation. For the 1st time, I volunteered to test myself in hosting an event. The children in my area surprised me with their knowledge about Singapore. Not only that, I never knew that hosting can be so fun.

On the IRAS Volunteer e-filing exercise, which I volunteered for the 7th year, the Facebook page that I created for the volunteers to mingle and share their experiences was made official by IRAS. I would like to thank Clara, Stacey & Rena of IRAS for their faith in me.

My efforts for volunteering for these 7 years were rewarded with a Outstanding Volunteer Award & Long Service Volunteer Award this year.

I would like to thank Ms Angie Lim, Liasion Officer for The Serangoon CC & the taxpayers who came by to the CC to e-file their taxes. I certainly look forward to do for you guys next year.

Singing @ K Group

The KTV group on that I have been an organiser celebrated its 3rd Anniversary this year. This year was a mixed year. We are happy for Yanling, one of our pioneer members, who found her true love and got married. The bad part was because of the decline in service standards at the group’s flagship branch, Partyworld International Building, the branch was switched to Partyworld Liang Court.

This switch was only possible after several rounds of complaints cum negotiations with the Partyworld management. I am glad that for the sake to keep the group together, I was able to negotiate with the management for a resolution to the problems faced.. I certainly did not expect to have such negotiation skills when I went to discuss with the Management.

On this note, I would like to wish my blog readers and friends a Happy New Year. May what you hope for in the Year 2012 be fulfilled. =)

Christmas Eve Countdown

2011-12-26T17:02:00.001+08:00

I had decided to go ahead with my plans this year for a Christmas Eve Countdown as I decided not to let last year’s new year countdown unhappiness bother me too much as I feel that as organiser of an event, I am allowed to ask along who I wished to ask along in the first place.

I am glad that, despite the short two week notice I have given, I managed to ask along Chloe, Gonnie, Sharon, Jennifer. Lance & Kian How decided to join us at the last minute. It was fortunate that I managed to negotiate with the people at Music Dreamer Live Café to let us have another 2 seats, as the people at the café have remembered me and the group of friends that I asked along during the Christmas Countdown & New Year Countdown last year. Let’s just say something happened at these two events which made them remember me & my friends that I asked along the last round.

Dinner was at Xin Wang HK Café at Marina Square, as a few of my friends did not wish to have dinner at the food court. I thought I made a good choice as I could use my birthday voucher which was expiring soon, and at the same time, I could avoid the 2 people I disliked at the Marina Square foodcourt as I received an sms from Raymond that they were heading to the foodcourt before going to the same place I was heading. It was fortunate that they did not dare to create a scene at the café. I guessed some of the KTV group members had already gave them a stern warning after suffering in their hands as well.

I thought my table was the “highest” in the Countdown, as Kianhow was requested to sing by one of the singers to sing a song on stage as a warm up, which he obliged with the theme song of the movie that is on everyone’s lips at the moment, “那些年”by 胡夏. I actually wanted to go up to the stage and sing one song as well, but after Kianhow’s performance, the event kicked off.

^{Some of the prizes that we won from the games segments. KianHow, Gonnie, Sharon & I were the game masters, winning the most prizes for our table.}

^{Personal photo with one of our KTV group friends, now resident singer at the Music Dreamer Live Cafe , Carolyn}

Group photo with Carolyn with Gonnie, Chloe & Lance

Personal photo with Erick, aka. Jianli, part-time 933 DJ

Group photo for the memories with Jennifer, Kianhiw, Gonnie, Chloe, Lance, Sharon

I would like to thank my friends for their support and encouraging words for this successful event. =)

1st Visit To City Square Mall

2011-12-22T18:40:00.001+08:00

I was telling my mum that I have not been to City Square Mall since it opened a few years back and was quite keen to pay a visit now as I am on leave.

The recent fury about the nation’s MRT system caused me to have 2nd thoughts taking the MRT. It was fortunate that my knowledge about the bus services serving Singapore is able to get me around the country, I got there after my late lunch.

I was fascinated by taglines located at the shopping centre’s lift lobby. This really fits the shopping centre’s tagline of it being Singapore’s 1st eco-friendly mall.

It is difficult to spot these recycling bins in Singapore, although I do know of there is one which is near my office. =)

It is quite common to find that in the new shopping centre having a skypark at the top level of the shopping centre, but interestingly, at this shopping mall, the skypark is not located at the top level of the shopping centre but 3 floors below.

It was a breeze touring the shopping centre, as there was surprisingly not many people, despite the school holidays.

After that, I met up with Winston for dinner. It was supposed to be a group dinner with Jayce, Carol, Candy & Allan but they were either under the weather or had last minute appointments. It was great to meet up my fellow Manchester United fan for dinner at TCC at Centrepoint. =)

Thanks for the dinner treat bro!!!

Belated Birthday Wishes

2011-12-20T21:42:00.001+08:00

Yesterday was a busy day for me, but I still had birthday wishes flooding in on my Facebook wall & messages on my handphone. Thank you to all of you. =)

I got a happy belated bd whatsapp message from Ben today morning as well. Thanks a lot!!!

Trip to The Singapore Flyer

2011-12-20T21:19:00.001+08:00

My mum had asked me what I had wanted to do since I will be on a week’s leave from work. I told her I had lined up some programs for myself, since I had decided not to take any holiday trips in view of the uncertain economic outlook and bad weather that has been affecting the region recently.

I had requested my dad to bring us to the Singapore Flyer. My dad works in a company, whose staff are allowed to bring up to 4 persons to the Singapore Flyer at a hugely discounted staff’s price for a ride that usually cost about $30 per pax.

I was joined by my parents & my mum’s colleague, together with her colleague’s child. I would say that the ride was rather enjoyable especially with a little kid running around, bringing laughter to all of us.

I let you guys make a guess as to how much these photos, which has a hard copy and soft copy that needs to be downloaded from a website. Let’s just say, if not the discounted tickets my dad had for the Flyer, I would not have purchased the photos taken by the official photographer.

After the ride, I went to Nex Shopping Mall. I decided to get a new watch for myself after I damaged the Solvil Et Titus watch in my fall at Bugis on Friday as I felt that the rubber strap watches that I had were not professional enough to match my office wear, given that I work in a mid-tier CPA firm.

I got a watch that is quite similar to this design by Solvil Et Titus. Although it is a little expensive, I have faith in the above watch as my previous one, lasted for 6 years, before the fall damaged the strap. I guess I shall treat this as my own birthday cum Christmas present then.

After that, I was at the Serangoon Garden Post Office to collect my birthday present from my Facebook friend, Amy, who sent it via registered post. Thanks Amy for the Famous Amos & the Winnie The Pooh. =)

I was back at Nex at night to meet up with Wendy & Xiuling. The meet up was to celebrate Wendy’s birthday & my birthday. The dinner place was at Café Cartel. I would like to thank the gals for their gift, which I thought was useful, given that the budget constraints they had.

The biggest surprise was definitely from Wai Ling, who never fails to surprise me with her wordy birthday card every year, when I got it last night.

Our friendship, I feel has grown stronger by the year. Sometimes a simple gesture is good enough to let the person know that you care. =) Thanks Wai Ling for the wordy card. I think our friendship has gone beyond what words can describe. =)

The Wedding of Yanling & Vincent

2011-12-20T20:25:00.001+08:00

I had received a whatsapp message from the bride herself somewhere last month that I would be invited for her wedding on my birthday. I have known Yanling since the Singing @ K group had first started, so no matter what, I had to be there to share her joy with her.

The wedding, held at Parkroyal at Beach (a.k.a Plaza Parkroyal Hotel) was one of the best weddings that I have attended for this year. The groom, Vincent, actually took the trouble to invite a group of singers from Ai Qing Hai to sing a few songs for Yanling.This gesture shows that her hubby truly loves her a lot. I am happy for her as she has managed to find her lifelong happiness.

It was great to catch up with Candice, Catherine, Karen, Albert, Danny & Jas, as it has been quite a while since I caught up with some of them. I am glad that they remembered my birthday and wished me at the wedding table as well.

May I take the opportunity to wish the couple a happy and blissful marriage!

Birthday Wishes From Friends

2011-12-18T14:42:00.001+08:00

Today marks the day where I officially turn 32 years of age. I hope it will be a good year ahead for me ahead. =)

Birthday wishes via Facebook

Updated on 19 Dec 2011 1.02am

Birthday wishes via SMS/ Whatsapp/ MSN

Xiuling: Happy birthday !! May all your wishes and dreams come true. Stay cheerful and healthy always!!

Linda: Hi Paul happy birthday to u and wishing u all the best for the new year 2012!

Anna: Happy Birthday Paul! All the best to you and dreams come true. Have a nice day!

Chairman (Lawrence): Happy birthday bro

Baoyi: Mr Paul, wish u happy birthday !! all to best to ya in anything u do… Find your Mrs left too. Enjoy your BIG Day followed by your holiday. =)

Mandy: Happy birthday Paul

Serene: Happy birthday!!!

Weng Kiat: Happy birthday Paul, Wish you have a good & enjoyable day.

Melvin: Happy birthday Paul !!! May all ur wish come true.

Alfred: Happy birthday buddy. Have a gd one tonite !!!

I also would to take the opportunity to share with you guys my birthday photos, taken by my official photographers, Gonnie & Chloe. =)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150471663878104.389197.743298103&type=3

My Birthday KTV

2011-12-18T03:22:00.001+08:00

I certainly did not expect my birthday KTV to be affected by a massive train disruption on the North-South line, or the sudden heavy downpour as I was just about to start my birthday KTV. The fortunate thing was most of them got there in the end. =)

This year’s celebration was a small scale one as I have deliberated & segregated my guest list into various groups so that it was easier for me to manage. In the end, there were 11 people who came by my KTV. They are:-

Alex Lee
Jue Liang
David
Yi Feng
Jonathan
Raymond
Chloe
Gonnie
Jessica
Estella
Bryan (joined for dinner & desert only)

I would like to thank Alex for getting my cake, David for the movie fun pack, Chloe, Gonnie, Jessica & Lance for the bag & handmade card.

I certainly enjoyed myself and hope that my abovenamed guests did too. As for the photos, I guess I have to wait for Gonnie, who became my official photographer for the day when he posts up on Facebook.

These are the wishes that I have received so far via Whatsapp & Facebook

Whatsapp

Li May: Happy birthday. Enjoy singing later!

Sugar: …. Wish you happy birthday =)

Facebook

The reason why I am using screenshots is because the wishes are pouring in as I typed this . =)

Pre-Birthday Dinner With Ann

2011-12-17T12:24:00.002+08:00

My long awaited 11 days of leave started yesterday as I tried to make it as event-filled as possible, since I would not be flying around to nearby countries for a holiday.
I waited for my new TV to arrive yesterday, before catching a cab ride to meet up with Ann at Bugis Junction for a pre-birthday dinner. The reason for the early meet up was because she was not able to meet up for my birthday ktv today.
Dinner was at a HK café at Bugis Junction. I did not expect to have another birthday treat so soon again as I felt that I should have bought her dinner instead as she bought my present and is saving money for her coming operation.
It was nice to catch up with her as it has been quite a while since I last saw her. I would like to thank her for the dinner treat. =)

Sharing of Joy With My Colleagues

2011-12-16T18:18:00.002+08:00

I had decided to share my birthday joy with my bosses & my colleagues this year, with the hope to clear some of the misunderstandings that we may have with one another in the course of working with them this year.
I was a little shocked to note that the misunderstandings seems quite hard to clear that one of them actually remarked in front of me that the cake was not nice at all, and only 2 auditors actually thanked me for the cake or wished me a happy birthday. I didn’t wish to voice my unhappiness as I felt that I do not want to spoil my mood over such a happy occasion. I am glad that the people in my own department, my bosses & the receptionist enjoyed the cake. In fact, the receptionist was a little worried that I may take it to heart about the nasty comments that she actually messaged me privately that she enjoyed the tasty cake. =)

Picture courtesy of TCC Facebook Page, The cake which I got for my colleagues =)
My manager, who was stunned by these petty actions by my audit colleagues commented that we would be in for further rough rides ahead. She & I are of the view that the audit colleagues should work hand in hand together, rather than “playing office politics” between departments. In this way, we can serve the needs of our clients better.
Let’s hope the relationship and communication can be improved between the departments soon as it is hard to work in an office with different factions.
Lastly, I would like to thank my boss for the shopping voucher gift from CK Tangs & Takashimaya. =)

Dinner With ACCA Classmates

2011-12-16T17:49:00.002+08:00

This gathering was planned at our last meeting in late October. The reason for the early plans was due to Elaine’s impending birth of her 2nd child in early March, next year.
It was fortunate that our meeting was not at Royal Plaza At Scotts as the North-South MRT line had been down for the evening rush hour, but at the Swissotel Merchant Court Hotel’s Blue Potato Restaurant. The food was not too bad, and we would like to thank Peggy for introducing to us this place.
It is always nice to catch up with them as they would always update me with the latest happenings in their lives and developments in their work. It is definitely heartening to note that they actually remembered my birthday and actually asked Tammy to get the birthday cake for me. I am touched by the gesture. =)

Me with Elaine, Peggy & Tammy with my Oreo Cheesecake

I would like to thank Elaine for giving me a ride home, although the ride was rather long as there was a massive traffic jam on the CTE as we headed home. =)
Thanks ladies for the birthday surprise and dinner treat. Till our next meet up in May. =)

New TV For Paul’s Family

2011-12-14T23:46:00.001+08:00

My apologies to all my faithful readers of my blog. I haven’t been able to blog for quite a while as I had been rushing the deadline for the Corporate Tax Income Tax Return & immediately after that, my manager was on leave for about 10 working days. Many events had happened at work that were unexpected, when my manager was not around. These unexpected events required my undivided attention to handle them, as a result, I was not able to blog much.

Last Sunday, I was accompanied by my mum to shop for a new TV set for the family. My old TV set had been giving me problems by powering off by itself intermittently when you are watching your programs. Therefore, we decided to get one after a family discussion.

Went to Suntec City Gain City Electrical Fair, but was a little put off by the sales tactics employed, therefore decided to head to Harvey Norman to take a look. I was tempted by the Samsung Smart TV’s features, able to surf YouTube, Facebook on the TV, but the price was rather expensive, and we felt that we are usually not at home, therefore, we would not be using the features so much, except watching TV.

In the end, we got the Sony Bravia TV with HD features, which I felt would serve our needs better. Looking forward to Friday when the TV arrives.

Birthday Gift Shopping For Alex & Myself

2011-12-03T23:11:00.001+08:00

I had arranged to meet up with Alex & Ah Liang to do birthday gift shopping since I was tasked by Jonathan, Estella, Evelyn, Weng Kiat, Raymond, Ann & Mandy to select the birthday gift for Alex, while Alex was tasked by the same group to ensure that I get my gift.

The blue training kit for Manchester United for the 2011/2012 season. I was surprised that the price was quite low for the training kit.

Alex requested that I should add on an accessory to the shirt. I was a little apprehensive at first as I know a few of them are not that financially well off so I chose this cap after much coaxing from them.

This was what Alex chosen for his birthday gift. I actually chose the other colour of the same design for him, but he felt that blue looks better than the black one, so he chose the blue one instead.

After the gift selection, we headed to the lucky dip corner before having our dinner at NYDC and calling it a night. I would thank Maria of Nike at Wheelock Place for helping us to gift wrap the presents.

Rene & Wenna’s Wedding Dinner

2011-12-03T22:24:00.001+08:00

My friends, Jonathan, Catherine & I were invited to the so called wedding of the year last Sunday. The wedding dinner of our Foodie Club friends, Rene & Wenna.

I would call this a unique union as Rene hails from Germany and Wenna is a Singapore Chinese. I would call it a East West union. I am glad to be a part of this wedding dinner held at Marina Mandarin Hotel.

Before the wedding, I took some pictures as the Christmas tree caught my attention.

Photo taken with Jonathan before the dinner at outside the ballroom.

I hereby wish the couple have a happy & blissful marriage. =)

From Ang Teng Beh Tau To Revenue House–Skit & Exhibition

2011-11-27T13:07:00.001+08:00

I was invited by Ms Clara Ng, IRAS Principal Corporate Communications Officer, to attend this Skit & Exhibition, by virtue that I am one of the long time volunteers for the IRAS e-filing volunteer exercise that began since 2003.

The reasons I had decided to participate in this, was because I saw the programme highlights that there was a talk by the IRAS Investigation Officer, which I thought will be useful in my job. I have been in taxation line for about 8 years, and the love for the job is still burning in me. The talk will help me understand how IRAS uncovers tax evasion and what are the compliance requirements they require of taxpayers.

I thought the skit was rather light hearted and funny, as it protrayed the move of IRAS from Fullerton Building to Revenue House. One of the words I remembered from the skit was “Cannot, Cannot” I thought the officer did well when he protrayed the character.

Here are some photos from the Skit & Exhibition. For more photos, please refer to my Facebook Profile.

I enjoyed the day at IRAS. Thanks for the effort of the IRAS officers, otherwise we would not have such a funny & enjoyable skit to watch.

RC Tree Planting Day

2011-11-20T19:32:00.001+08:00

I had received an email from the RC Manager that RC members are activated for this event today. Little did I expect that I was asked by my fellow RC members to host this event for them at the last minute. I would like to thank them for having such confidence in me.

After this hosting gig, it reaffirms the belief that the children nowadays are getting smarter & you be surprised how they answered the questions, which seems so tough.

The event also marks the opening of the fitness corner located at the front of my block. My area’s MP, Dr Intan also planted a tree sapling at the front of the fitness corner. As usual, she greeted me and asked me how am I? Looks like I am starting to get known in the grassroots circles, which can be a double edged sword.

KTV Saturday

2011-11-20T19:12:00.001+08:00

This KTV session was eagerly anticipated by some members of my group, who said that they would definitely support me if I change to this outlet at Liang Court. Although the location was rather out, as a few of them pointed out, the response is not as bad as thought. We still managed to achieve a good number of people joining us. I do appreciate those who joined us, despite it being a “out” location.

When I reached Clarke Quay, I rushed up to the TCC at the Central to get a cake for ah Liang, as we were going to celebrate his birthday at the KTV session. Some members were asking me why I always get the cake from TCC. The reason is it’s the nearest cake outlets that I can find when I do KTV outings at International Building & Liang Court. It is not because I have the TCC card so I liked going to TCC.

I was there at 2.30pm. The manager was quite obliging. As it was a new outlet, I have designed a new signboard for my future events held at Liang Court.

This cost me less than $4 to do it. I don’t believe in spending too much to get a classy design. =)

As I stepped into the gathering room, I managed to see this MTV. It was the movie soundtrack of “那些年,我们一起追的女孩” so decide to capture this.

I was glad that the KTV session had passed on without any hiccups, except there were some miscommunication in 2 members drinks, which was resolved amicably. I was glad that the discussions I had with the Partyworld Management paid off, and we had some pleasant surprises from them too, which caught us off guard, but good enough to get my members to ask me to skip International Building once and for all, and continue at this new branch.

Changing a branch to operate from is not easy. It means having to build up the rapport with different people again. The good part is knowing new people. The bad part is that we have to understand how different people work differently and get a good fit.

I hope that the newbies who joined us yesterday, Li May,Ee Ling, Lee Lee & Winston enjoyed yesterday’s session with us.

The above photos are taken for Ah Liang’s birthday.

After that, we went for our dinner at the Kopitiam before heading to Shanghai Dolly for a music listening session, and Starbucks for a chill session before calling it a night.

A Good Deed

2011-11-15T00:01:00.001+08:00

Picture courtesy of Google

I was out of my office and was about to cross the traffic light to the bus stop, when I saw a Service 111 bus (SBS 9247) with its hazard lights on. Finding it strange that it has no passengers on board the bus, my 1st instinct was the bus has most likely broken down. I decided to go over to see how I could assist the bus captain when the lights turned to my favour.

The bus captain was one of the few that was transferred from Service 74, the bus that I usually took on my poly days to school. He told me the bus had a loss of gear. Apparently, there was a string of buses behind him that was not aware that the bus had broken down. I told him to open the cover of the bus & take out the triangle sign to warn the other buses. I also helped him to signal out the buses behind him, before helping him to make a call to their HQ informing of the breakdown. I also advised him to take out the service plates too, to avoid misunderstandings with commuters, who thought that the bus was still working.

It feels good to do a good deed once in a while.

那些年，我們一起追的女孩

2011-11-14T23:42:00.001+08:00

It has been a while since I last caught a Chinese movie. I was recommended by Chloe to catch this movie. It was fortunate that my volunteer friend, Angela was also interested in the movie too so we decided to watch it together.

I felt that the movie was pretty good. It really made me laugh,but at the same time, my school days memories just came flooding back. =) I managed to get hold of the book as well, after Angela told me that she had ordered an extra copy for the book.

The book is a definitely a good read. =)

Birthday Brunch @ My Village

2011-11-13T15:04:00.001+08:00

The brunch was to celebrate my cousin, Adelle’s birthday. This shopping centre is located at Serangoon Garden was choosen as she felt that my mum had not recovered sufficiently from the injuries suffered in an accident in mid Oct to go to Tanglin Mall.

The new shopping centre, which opened at almost the same time as Nex had a open sky garden as well. Brunch was at the Old Hong Kong Cafe. I felt that the food was okay. The ambience was not bad.

Hope that my cousin had an enjoyable time with us.

Angry Prelude To A Friday

2011-11-05T01:34:00.001+08:00

The day started on a bad note. As it was raining, I took a cab to work. The journey was surprisingly smooth but it was not to be when I reached the office.

I have been and will be covering for my manager for 10 days as she is clearing her leave now in Korea. I thought I was doing quite well, considering that the work she had to leave behind. I have been working hand in hand since I joined the company about 4 years ago.

I was not surprised that I was being called into the office by the senior partner after I was being warned by the managing partner of the audit firm that I have been “passing comments” about their work, leaving the new technical partner wondering what was going on between the tax department & audit department recently.

I am not supposed to say what transpired between the involved parties in the meeting, but I must say it certainly got me very heated that I had to restrain myself from losing my cool today.

Basically, I am just following the instructions of my senior partner, who is my paymaster. I am not a person who can sit down & gossip like a market like what some of the staff does. I am one who is concerned about my deadlines and prioritizes the urgent work first. I am one who offers my assistance to speed up when requested. If all these things done by me are not enough and appreciated, there is no point in working for you guys and rushing for you guys and getting brickbats and words being put into my mouth after I have rushed the work for you guys.

If not for the love for the job and my good manager and my good bosses who appreciates what I have been doing, I would have left a long time ago.

This certainly spoiled my mood for the day that it really took some good food and a TV show to wash down my anger.

Happy Birthday To Wai Ling

2011-10-29T23:08:00.001+08:00

This is my 1st time trying to use the print screen key on the computer keyboard to print this from the Facebook screen. This also shows how technology has evolved since I know Wai Ling about 8 years ago.

I got to know her through a random Internet chat, ICQ. We got even closer after knowing that we had maintained a blog, and we always read each other’s blog and give each other advices if we got flamed in our blog. Friendships made through the modern technology of Internet were never thought to last long for most of us but my friendship with Wai Ling is certainly one of the few exceptions.

In this extracted Facebook screenshot, I was rather surprised and touched by what she wrote after I told her that I may not be able to send her a birthday card this year for her birthday as I had been busy with my work. She was a little sad, and she actually wrote that she has been keeping the cards that I sent her since I knew her.

Time really flies but I guessed our friendship grows stronger each year, like old wine.

Happy belated birthday, my dear friend. I guessed you must have enjoyed with her loved ones. =)

Deepavali KTV Gathering

2011-10-29T17:30:00.001+08:00

I was invited to Andrina’s house for a usual public holiday KTV gathering on Deepavali.

It was always great to sing and relieve my stress that I am facing at my work . Lance & Jonathan Ya were there to join us as well.

We were introduced to some new songs by her during the KTV session & we would like to thank her and her hubby for the dinner treat of chili crab. I must say it is very good. =)

Here are some of the songs she introduced us recently

This song by 張靓穎費玉清山水合璧 is a great song I feel. You would be surprised how the two singers who hail from 2 different eras managed to blend so well in their singing. The song is divided into 2 parts, which I think is to deter piracy.

Enjoy the songs!!!

Birthday Celebration For KH

2011-10-29T02:16:00.001+08:00

The birthday celebration was supposed to be earlier but I guess the birthday boy and the rest of us had many commitments to look after, as a result, the celebration became belated.

Dinner was steamboat at 天天火锅。This was my 2nd time there.

Pictures taken using my beloved Samsung Galaxy S

Looking at the spread that we had, it is not hard to imagine that we had a 3 hour long dinner, followed by desert at 记得吃.

Steamed egg by the birthday boy, nice skill from him and great coaching by Jessica

Birthday boy with Jessica, myself & Lance

Birthday boy with the ladies, Chloe & Jessica

Birthday boy with our gift for him

Photos courtesy of Chloe

Jessica, Chloe & I would like to thank the birthday boy for driving us home. =)

Meet Up With K Friends

2011-10-23T19:57:00.001+08:00

It was supposed to a group gathering, but it ended up becoming a friends’ gathering as the response for Raymond’s group gathering was poor. My purpose of going to the KTV is to catch up with Raymond, Ann & Estella as it has been quite a while since I met them, since the last KTV gathering in July.

The gathering place was at Northpoint Partyworld. This was the 2nd time, I was having a shorter 3 hour session, after singing at Nex Mall. Apparently, Partyworld has changed its pricing for its newer branches recently. All I can say, 3 hours is not enough for me.

It was great catching up with them.

Confidence Booster Dinner for My Friend

2011-10-22T00:20:00.001+08:00

I had arranged to meet up with my IRAS volunteer friend, Angela to try to boost her confidence for a job interview that she had today. Apparently, she is applying for a temp tax associate position and had sought my advice on how she could get the job as she really hopes to gain some work experience as she is keen to work in the tax line.

Dinner was at Din Tai Fung at Junction 8 after I told her that I was not too keen on having Swensens since I had two rounds of Swensens at Nex for my previous two gatherings with friends in the last week.

Desert was at Hagen Daz at Junction 8, where we got a set of Hagen Daz vouchers which would expire at the end of Nov.

During the course of the dinner and desert session, I shared with her my experience about job hunting and being a part-time student. She appears to me that she has a talent for tax, despite not working in tax line. Besides she is a sporty gal, as she plays table tennis and volunteers regularly and she is a bright student, having coached her in tax before.

I hope she will be able to get the job as it would be a good exposure for her.

Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover

2011-10-19T00:25:00.001+08:00

I had boarded the Scania Wheelchair Accessible Bus as shown in the picture above today on Service 54.

Friends who have known me should have heard me mentioning about this bus, which is wheelchair friendly, but the design is unfriendly due to its additional step when you moved to the back of the bus for seats. As a result, I usually would take a seat at the seats meant for the old, pregnant ladies, disabled & young children. I am entitled to sit there anyway as I am physically challenged anyway.

I was rather disturbed when a fellow commuter asked me to get up and give up my seat to an old lady at the Novena Church bus stop. I decided to stand up and didn’t wish to argue with her as her attitude seems a little unfriendly.

Once I stood up, she kept quiet and apologised to me for failing to note the fact that I was physically challenged and asked the two children sitting beside me to give up their seat to the old lady.

I wish to say, some things happen for a reason, therefore don’t judge a book by its cover. If you want people to respect you, respect others first.

ACCA Classmates Gathering cum Birthday Celebration for Peggy

2011-10-19T00:05:00.001+08:00

The meeting up was suggested by Tammy after she missed the last gathering we had at Vivo City as she was held up by work commitments.

The meeting place was once again, the Carousel Restaurant at Royal Plaza on Scotts as this was the only few places that Elaine knows how to get to by driving. But I must say for a halal buffet, this place is certainly not bad for food and good place for gathering.

I know Peggy’s birthday was around the corner, on next Friday. I asked Tammy & Elaine to keep it from her that we were going to celebrate her birthday. It was then I knew that Carousel has a complimentary cupcake for people who are celebrating their birthday in the restaurant for the month and there would be a waiter assisting you to take a polaroid picture for the celebration.

We hope that Peggy enjoyed the birthday celebration with us. Till the next gathering, where Peggy says that she wishes to celebrate my birthday & Elaine’s birthday on Dec 15.

Public Transport Breakdown

2011-10-16T17:47:00.001+08:00

Being a regular user of Singapore’s public buses, I have encountered some vehicle breakdowns while commuting on Singapore’s public buses. Therefore, when I usually travel on a bus that breaks down in the midst of my journey, I will usually try my best to ask the bus captain what assistance they would like me to help them on.

Picture taken from Google Wikipedia

On Friday, my assistance was again called upon, after the Service 851 (TIB 1147L) that I was travelling on broke down after the exit door of the bus was not able to close as one of the parts came loose. The bus captain was my friend, He had known me through my regular commuting of Service 851 from Marymount Road to Thomson Road since 4 years ago.

I could hear some passengers cursing and swearing at the bus driver and the faulty bus. It was not the fault of the bus driver that the bus broke down. In fact, the SMRT buses are better maintained than the SBS Transit buses as each bus is issued to a bus captain and the bus captain uses the bus until the bus is scrapped. If the bus captain changes his bus service, the bus follows the bus captain to the service the bus captain goes, unlike SBS Transit buses, whose buses are driven by bus captains who uses the bus on a weekly basis or a trip basis.

I assisted my friend to tell all passengers to claim their refunds from Transitlink Office and guided them onto the next two buses on Service 851 that came along in about 7 mins after the bus breakdown.

I feel that one has to be more tolerant over this. Things do break down after a long period of usage. This is part and parcel of life.

Catch Up With Wai Ling & Kit Chan Concert

2011-10-16T14:04:00.001+08:00

I had arranged to meet up with Wai Ling & her 2 little ones at her place yesterday afternoon at her place. I was late for the appointment as my overly concerned parents were talking to me and the cab that I was involved in a minor accident. It was fortunate that it was just a minor scrape on the taxi’s side view mirror and it didn’t hit us from behind and I was able to reach there safely.

It was great to see Wai Ling, Guojun & the new little one, Lexuan at her place. I am surprised that Guojun still remembers me despite not seeing him for 2 years already. =). As usual, he posed for me to take some pics. He takes after his parents’ friendly and bubbly nature.

Heard from Wai Ling that GJ likes to watch lion dance & do the lion dance. So this is with him doing the lion dance.

This is the latest addition to Wai Ling’s family, the little Lexuan at 1 month plus. I was saying she looks exactly like Wai Ling

It was nice to catch up with her and the meet the 2 little ones. We were talking about meeting up at my place over CNY next year at my yearly CNY house visit.=)

After dinner at Wai Ling’s place with her friends, I headed to MBS Grand Theatre for the Kit Chan concert.

I went alone for this concert, but I met Desmond & Yvonne while I was at the concert. The couple was celebrating their 2md wedding anniversary and this concert was a part of their wedding anniversary celebrations.

Overall, I thought the concert was awesome, as I felt that it really showcased her powerful vocals in Cantonese, English & Mandarin. She did a French song as well. I hope she do her 20th anniversary concert in 2 years time. =)

My friends, who are anticipating a lot of photos from the concert are going to be disappointed. As my seat was near the aisle, there were many ushers monitoring us, therefore I was not able to take many photos.

Her concert poster. It was going at $25. Have to thank Yvonne for capturing the shot for me. =)

Bought her new album instead at $22, which I felt that it was a better memento for her concert. =)

Took a cab home after the concert. I was stunned by the news from my brother that my parents met with a traffic accident. Fortunately, both of them suffered slight injuries to their hands (Dad) & legs (Mum).

One Good Turn Deserves Another

2011-10-02T01:54:00.001+08:00

While on the way home, mum sms me that she did not cook dinner and dad & her was at the Blk 147 coffeeshop for dinner.

When I reached there, I was greeted by unfamiliar faces, as I had never knew them to be my parents’ friends. I did not feel that it was right for me to raise questions how they knew my parents as I knew that my parents would tell me later, or at the course of the dinner, the answer will be out.

It was after the dinner that I knew what happened. Apparently, my dad had witnessed an accident involving a university student some days ago. The driver involved in the accident had run a traffic light as the university student was crossing the road. She was hit by the car, but was fortunate to suffer slight injuries. My dad, who was behind the hit and run driver assisted her to call her family to bring her to the hospital.

The dinner was a treat from her parents to thank us. I always believe that we should always help people wherever the person is in need of our help. As such, I am proud of my dad for doing so.

Baby Gareth’s First Party

2011-10-02T01:16:00.001+08:00

I was invited by Stephanie & Andy to the first party of their baby boy, Gareth today.

I would like to thank Stephanie & Andy for their generous hospitality. Baby Gareth is so adorable that he knows how to pose for the camera. =)

Stephanie was rather apologetic that she did not get the chance to chat with me much, but I really enjoyed the ang ku kueh and chendol on the menu. =)

Wish Gareth will grow up happily & healthily.

The Birth of Caleb: Congrats To CP & Angela

2011-10-02T00:37:00.001+08:00

I was taken by surprise when I received Angela’s sms that she had given birth as I remembered she mentioned to me that the expected due date of Caleb was supposed to be in early Nov.

Apparently, Angela had a water leakage with her water bag that caused her to need to give birth prematurely. Baby Caleb is still in ICU due to the premature birth. Let’s hope everything will be fine when we visit him on the full moon celebration.

Meetup With KTV Khakis

2011-10-01T22:01:00.001+08:00

This meetup was called as Jonathan Teo and I had not met Chairman Lawrence for close to 4 months and we wanted to update him on the unpleasant happenings at the past two KTV outings as well as catch up with him.

I had asked her to get Wendy along as Jonathan & I feel that with a female voice in our committee, more ideas & views can be put forward. Dinner was at Xin Wang at Ion Orchard. It was an unlucky day, which nearly caused me to be late for the appointment.

It was good that they had come & put more ideas & views forward to improve the future events’ organising of the group. Although Jonathan & I have taken over the group from chairman for quite some time already, we still respect him as he is the founder of the group.

It was nice to hear him sharing with us his trip to Egypt and Rome.

The dinner was close to 4 hrs. It was certainly great catching up with them.

Johnny English Movie Sat

2011-10-01T21:26:00.001+08:00

I was supposed to have blog this last Sat, but was too busy to do so.

I was invited by Wendy to join her for this movie. She managed to get a pair of tickets for the movie as part of her staff benefit. We caught the movie at Plaza Singapura Golden Village Cinema.

I personally found the movie pretty funny and enjoyable. I was asked by Gonnie & Chloe to stay behind for the credits after the movie. I am glad that I did, as it was even more funny. I would give the movie a rating of 4.5 out of 5.

After the movie, I was asked by Wendy to accompany her to Nokia Service Centre at Vivo City. It was to send her Nokia phone to the service centre for repairs.

After the movie, we headed home.

The Parting of A Great Colleague

2011-09-28T00:06:00.001+08:00

I was quite surprised when I heard that this colleague of mine decided to leave the company after 4 years of service. I have always felt that he has always done a good job.

This colleague has a hearing problem, which I came to know of when I joined the company. To allow him to hear me better, I always stand close to him and talk slowly to him so that he could catch what I was trying to say.

He had wanted to leave when another close colleague of ours had left but I asked him to stay on for the sake of his family commitments. But I guessed he could not take the stress of being scolded by the bosses, and decided to throw in the towel. I think my gossip colleagues played a part in his leaving too.

I hope the audit partners do know what they are losing as the good staff are all leaving one by one and the morale of the department is pretty low at the moment. It is having an impact on my department as well, since we need to work hand in hand with them.

Extended KTV Saturday

2011-09-22T00:04:00.001+08:00

I had wanted to blog about this for quite a while, but was too busy and I was recovering from my flu that had bugged me for about two weeks since 9 Sep.

It was an unusual rainy Saturday for a KTV session for the group and most of the group committee members are not around. It was left with me, Alex (who offered to help me) & Wendy (Chairman’s gf) to run the session. The session was held at International Building.

Fearing that there would be hiccups like the one in July, I was there pretty early, as well as to get a birthday cake for the birthday gal, Jessica. It has been a tradition of my group to help to celebrate the birthdays of group members whose birthday are near to the date of KTV session. I was glad that Jayce was willing to share the cost of the birthday cake with me.

My worst fears did come true. There were some hiccups at the session that made me launch a complaint to the Partyworld management again. I am glad to have been given a reply and some options to ponder before the next group gathering.I

This was our cake for Jessica from TCC.

Photo courtesy of Serene

Jessica with her birthday cake

I m glad that she liked the celebration & the cake, as I had to seek the manager’s permission to use the VIP room (Room 23) for the cake cutting. The fortunate thing was that the manager was rather accommodating to the request, and knowing that we had been unhappy with the service in some of the rooms, he added another additional hour for us. =)

Mid Autumn Festival Celebration With Jalan Kayu Residents

2011-09-12T23:13:00.001+08:00

This was my second RC event that was held on last Saturday, which I thought it was more meaningful to be posted today as it is Mid Autumn Festival today.

I thought that the event was well organised, except that the rain made it impossible for the children to do the lantern walk and the balloon sculptor who failed to show up, otherwise the program would have been more exciting.

Ordered To Rest @ Home

2011-09-10T17:42:00.001+08:00

My throat had felt a little itchy since Monday. From then on, I knew that I had to try to drink loads of water to try to counter the bad throat. The bad throat appeared to subside on Tuesday & Wednesday, but came to its fore on Thursday morning when phlegm came out and I started having a runny nose. Since I knew I had some work to clear, I decided to report for work first. Unfortunately, the throat and runny nose got worse, so I decided to drag myself to the doctor.

The 24hr clinic doctor, Dr Phan, said that my throat was badly inflamed and gave me a strong course of antibiotics with a dosage of 625mg, a runny nose medication & a phlegm dissolver to counter the phlegm. He was concerned by the fact that I seldom fall sick and this could be a prelude to a strong virus, therefore he decided to give me a day of medical leave to rest at home. I decided to take his advice as readers of my blog would know why I decided to take his advice.

Also the thought of having some activities over this weekend and the next weekend, which required my presence, I felt that a break would do me good.

Meetup With ACCA Classmates

2011-09-10T00:15:00.001+08:00

The meetup took me about half a day to co-ordinate. I am thankful that there is Whatsapp now, as the four of us installed the application on our handphones. The venue was finally settled at Brotzeit German Bier Bar & Restaurant at Vivo City.

It was a pity that Tammy was not able to join us. This was my first time at this German restaurant, which Elaine recommended. Although it was her 1st time there too.

I felt that the chicken & sausages were great but not so for the salad and apple struddel. It was fun catching up with Elaine & Peggy especially after not meeting up for close to 5 months. It was good to know that Elaine is pregnant again and will be a mother for the second time next March.

Till we meet again next month for Peggy’s birthday at the request of Tammy.

Last Minute KTV Session & Shopping Trip

2011-09-05T00:08:00.001+08:00

I was asked to tag along by my mum for her classmates’ gathering. It was an interesting ktv session as this was the 1st time I had the opportunity to sing in a secondary school. I did not know that Yuying Secondary School has a KTV room for its alumni.

After the session, we went down to Nex Shopping Mall. I had the opportunity to try out the new Mercedes Citaro bus. It is definitely much better than the Scania bus in terms of design & seats.

I also had the opportunity to tour the new bus interchange which was opened yesterday. The concourse is much smaller than the old one but it is more convenient now as it is linked to the shopping mall & MRT station.

Happy Birthday To Curryegg

2011-09-04T23:12:00.001+08:00

I knew I was supposed to do this birthday post on my dearest sister’s birthday but I was too busy with my work. The fortunate thing was that I managed to leave a birthday greeting on her Facebook wall on her birthday using my beloved Samsung Galaxy S handphone.

I hereby would like to wish her a happy birthday once again. Hope that she study hard and stay pretty and cheerful always. =)

Belated Birthday Celebration for Kerlyn

2011-08-27T18:35:00.001+08:00

The planned gathering was planned last week on the birthday of the birthday gal. The place for the gathering was at Swensens at Bishan Junction 8, which the birthday gal & Wendy selected. Anyway it is always good to enjoy Swensens, especially the ice-cream.

Happy birthday to Kerlyn, once again.

Congrats to Wai Ling & Sze Wah

2011-08-27T17:53:00.001+08:00

I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations to Wai Ling, my long time blogger & Sze Wah for the birth of their second child, a baby gal on 21 Aug 2011.

As I was busy with my work and was not able to visit her during her stay at the hospital. So I decided to send a hamper from Noel to her & her family two days ago.

Hope the above hamper is useful for her & her gal. =) Congrats to the couple once again. =)

More Photos from National Day Children’s Art Competition

2011-08-21T16:58:00.001+08:00

My zone’s National Day Children’s Art Competition was a huge success, with 120 tickets printed & sold that day. It was a good experience for me as this was my 1st time hosting such a program for children.

Below are some photos taken from the RC photo album on Facebook.

Do enjoy them!!!

National Day Dinner

2011-08-13T15:10:00.001+08:00

This was my 1st National Day Dinner as a RC member on 6 Aug 2011. I know this is a belated post. I had wanted to post this up earlier but was busy with the National Day Block Party earlier & my work, therefore had no time to post this.

These were the official photos from the official photographer, Mr Mork Heng. I am not going to put up the photos that I took as they seemed a little blur. My family also attended the dinner with me, after my dad asked me what was the cost of the ticket for the dinner. I am seated at a different table from them as my RC has sponsored a table for us in recognition for our efforts in grassroots events for the past year.

I was quite surprised that my area’s MP, Dr Intan remembers me after seeing me only twice before this.

Overall it has been a good experience attending the dinner. =)

Sharing of Experience For National Day Block Party

2011-08-13T14:36:00.002+08:00

I was asked by the photographer of my area’s bi-monthly magazine to do a short write up about the National Day Block Party which I did. This is what I wrote as a draft which will be sent for editing for publication in the September issue of Jalan Kayu Tracks.
My name is Paul, from Jalan Kayu Zone 4 RC. I had joined the RC in January 2011, at my friend’s encouragement. This friend of mine, whom I got to know through a yearly volunteer event a few years ago is one of the executive members in the YEC at Yio Chu Kang.
I was asked to help to organize the National Day Block Party during the RC meeting in July. Although I had the experience of organizing KTV events for adults through Facebook regularly, it was definitely my 1^st time organizing such a big-scale event for children. It did not help the fact that my committee members were quite new to this as well. Fortunately, the senior RC members were very helpful in guiding us how to do it.
Due to the limited budget that we were given, I volunteered to take up the hosting duties for the quiz segment. It took me 4 nights of researching over the Internet for the quiz questions. The good thing was that I had studied History during my Secondary School days and have been reading newspapers frequently, therefore it was not too difficult. I was worried that the children would find the questions too difficult to answer that I emailed the questions to my fellow RC members and my friends for advice and comments before finalizing my quiz questions. It was my 1^st time hosting an event!
On the day of the event, the children surprised me with their knowledge of Singapore and their enthusiasm to answer the questions, especially the tough ones. This was indeed a satisfying moment as all the efforts to get the event up and running were not put to waste. In fact, all of us are humbled by the positive response we had from the residents.
Please feel free to give feedback and comments. =)

My 1st Residents Committee National Day Block Party

2011-08-10T13:53:00.002+08:00

The day that I had been waiting for nervously had arrived. The meeting on National Day Eve had ended at about 11.15pm. After chilling for a while, I hit the sack at 12.35am.
I was up and awake by 7.50am on National Day as I had to be at the RC Centre by 8.30am to do the setting up and preparation. I was glad when Nelson told me that David, the RC Zone 4 Vice Chairman will be assisting me with the hosting duties. =) I have spent 4 nights to hunt for the questions and a day to do up the hosting script. Although the script was not used, it did give me a feel of how the program should be run.
I would like to thank my committee members, Mr Ngiam, Veronica & Joanna for assisting me and making the event a huge success. Not forgetting to thank fellow RC members, Nelson, Mr Ong & Merilyn for assisting us as well.
I also would like to thank my mum, my brother and my friends, Wendy and Catherine for being there to support my 1st event. Also thanks to Evelyn, Weng Kiat, Alex Lee, Mandy, Angela, & Wai Ling for their moral support. I really appreciate it.
Thanks for the words of encouragement from the ex chairman of the RC, Mr William Chin & my friend, Catherine, they felt that I have done a good job. =)
Here are some photos to share.

The rest are on my Facebook. =)

My Hosting Script for The National Day Event

2011-08-07T15:47:00.002+08:00

I just managed to work out the draft hosting script for the National Day Event I am hosting. I am thankful for all the comments that I have received from my fellow RC members and friends.
Just feel that sometimes, no matter whatever you do, some people, no matter for what reasons, will not be happy with the arrangements. I just wish to say that I am already trying my best to try to get this event going, considering the fact, that this is the 1st time I am organising an RC event. I have also tried my best, despite the fact that I would like to have a free hand to organise the event, just like what I usually do for the KTV events I have on Facebook, I accommodated to the requests that I should somehow follow the past years’ format to do the event. I know that I am not very familiar with how things are run at the RC, therefore in the end, my organising committee only made some changes to the event as we had a limited budget to work on. I even volunteered myself to do the hosting for the event as the members feedbacked to me that our budget for the lucky draw would not be enough if we were to hire a host for 2 hours.
Anyway, I will continue to do my best, and hope that everything turns out well on Tuesday.
Below is a draft of my hosting script. Please feel free to give your comments.
Hi,
Good morning to all RC members, residents, friends, ladies & gentlemen,
My name is Paul, and I will be your emcee for the 2^nd half of this event, which will include the quiz segment, the prize presentation ceremony for the art competition, the lucky draw, followed by lunch.
For those of you who are more attracted by the snake & ladders game that we are having at the other corner, you can do so. Not to worry, there will be prizes for the kids who are participating in the snake & ladders game as well. =)
Let’s start off with the quiz segment. If you know the answers to the questions, please make your way up on stage. The one with the correct answer gets a prize. =) I am a little nervous here as this is my 1^st time hosting an event for all of you. =)
Emcee to start asking questions, which will include these 6 questions at the end, before the conduct of the prize presentation for the art competition & the conduct of the lucky draw.
1) Where is the National Day parade held this year?
a. The Float at Marina Bay ( Correct answer)
b. The Padang
c. National Stadium
2) What is the theme of this year’s National Day Parade?
a. Reach out Singapore
b. One People One Nation One Singapore
c. Majulah The Singapore Spirit (Correct answer)
3) Now’s let’s invite some children to come on stage to sing National Day Songs. The first 3 children who can come up on stage to sing will win a prize. Each child must sing a different song.
4) What does Majulah Singapura mean?
a. Onward Singapore ( Correct answer)
b. Together Singapore
c. One Singapore
5) BONUS QUESTION: Majulah Singapura is also the national anthem of Singapore. The first person who can come on stage to sing the national anthem will win a prize. ( MC to invite all to stand to sing the anthem too when the first person comes up)
Official Version - Majulah Singapura
Mari kita rakyat Singapura
Sama-sama menuju bahagia
Cita-cita kita yang mulia
Berjaya Singapura
Marilah kita bersatu
Dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura
Emcee to request cue for National Anthem to be played and residents to rise and sing the National Anthem.
6) BONUS QUESTION: the first person who can come up on stage to say the National Pledge (complete with action - clench their right fists to the left side of their chest) will win a prize. ( MC to invite all to stand and stand the pledge together.
The Pledge in English
We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation.
The moment that everyone has been waiting for has arrived. I would like to invite our Jalan Kayu RC Zone 4 chairman, Mr. James Soh on stage to distribute the lucky draw prizes.
Emcee to announce the prizes based on 20^th to 1^st in the order.
What an exciting end to the lucky draw! I am sure all of you are hungry. I understand that the buffet lunch is ready. Please queue for your lunch with the food coupon issued. With that, we have come to the end of the event. I hope everyone has enjoyed yourselves in this event.
See you soon!!!

Hosting Gig for RC National Day Event

2011-08-06T15:38:00.002+08:00

At the RC meeting on Tuesday, it was confirmed that I would be hosting the RC National Day Event, the National Day Block Party. At the previous meeting, discussing the nitty gritty details for the Children Art Competition, a external host was too expensive, and a host from among ourselves. Since I felt that I have not been contributing much so far to the event, I thought it would be good exposure for me to learn more about hosting. I am thankful to the RC for giving me the opportunity to try out this hosting gig. Thanks Mr Ong Kee Tiong & Wai Ling for the confidence & faith in me. They feel that I can pull it off. =)
I am asked to think of 40 questions about Singapore for the children & adults. It took me about 4 nights to come up with the questions.Here are the questions. Hope that you guys can give me some feedback and comments.
Questions for the Quiz Segment for National Day Floor Party
1. What are the official languages in Singapore? English, Mandarin, Malay Tamil
2. What year did Singapore become independent? 1965
3. Where can the Merlion be found ? Merlion Park, Sentosa
4. Which are the national songs that can be heard in at least two languages? Home, Where I Belong, One United People, Together, We Will Get There, Shine for Singapore
5. Which national song was used twice on National Day? Home
6. What animal did Sang Nila Utama see as he set foot in Singapore? Lion
7. Who is Singapore’s 1^st PM? Lee Kuan Yew
8. Who is Singapore’s 1^st Chief Minister? David Marshall
9. Who is the founder of Singapore? Sir Stamford Raffles
10. Who is the first Resident of Singapore? William Farquhar
11. Which singer has the honour of singing the NDP song twice? Kit Chan & Stefanie Sun
12. Where was the Surrender Document signed when the British surrendered to the Japanese? Ford Factory, Bukit Timah
13. What was Singapore’s name during the Japanese Occupation? Synoan-To
14. Which pioneer had a hospital named after him? Tan Tock Seng
15. What was the old name of Singapore? Temasek
16. Where is Singapore’s oldest reservoir ? MacRitchie
17. Who is the person on our dollar note now? President Yusof Ishak
18. Name 4 places that were named after Sir Stamford Raffles ? Raffles Hotel, Stamford Road, Raffles Place, Raffles City
19. What does the colour red on the Singapore flag means ?
red symbolises "universal brotherhood and equality of man"
20. What does the colour white on the Singapore flag means ?
white, "pervading and everlasting purity and virtue".
21. What does the crescent moon on the flag mean?
The waxing crescent moon "represents a young nation on the ascendant".
22. What does the five stars on the flag means?
The five stars "stand for the nation's ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality".
23. Where is the place where Malays gather for Malay festivals? Geylang Serai
24. Where is the place where Chinese gather for Chinese festivals? Chinatown
25. Name the official flower of Singapore ? Orchid / Vanda Miss Joaquim
26. When did Singapore attained self-government? 1959
27. Which country was Singapore a part of before its independence? Malaysia
28. What is the NDP theme song for this year? In A Heartbeat
29. Who is the first President of Singapore? Yusof Bin Ishak
30. Who is the longest serving President of Singapore? S R Nathan
31. How many terminals does Changi Airport have? 3 terminals & 1 budget terminal
32. When did Singapore started hosting the Formula 1 Night Race? 2008
33. Which island is the SAF conducting its Basic Military Training? Palau Tekong
34. The NDP used to be held at ____________ before it was torn down for redevelopment recently. National Stadium
35. The MRT began running from Yio Chu Kang to Toa Payoh on _____________ . 7 November 1987
36. How many stations are there on the MRT network now? 79
37. How many MRT lines are there on the MRT network? 4
38. The two main bus & MRT operators are __________& _____________ . SBS Transit & SMRT
39. SBS & SMRT runs __________ services. 263
40. What is the colours on our flag? Red & White
I look forward to your comments and responses on this as they will be factored into my emcee script which will be finalised by Monday, =)

Birthday Celebration For Chloe

2011-08-02T00:01:00.001+08:00

This birthday celebration was initiated by Gonnie, who added me, Lance, KH to a group chat session in Whatsapp about a month ago. Jcca was also invited for this gathering.

Dinner was at Mushroom Pot at Orchard Point, where we had the mushroom steamboat. It has been a few years already since I last had Mushroom Pot.

I felt that the standard of the food had dropped and only some of the food items are nice, like the mushroom fried rice, the bun, fried noodle.

After dinner, we went to catch the movie, Captain America.

I felt that it was a great movie. I would give it 4 out of 5 for this movie. Do stay back for the ending part, as there is a part of the movie after the credits!!

After the movie, we had to find a place to settle down to cut the birthday cake as we were too full from the dinner. In the end, we settled at Old Town White Coffee at Cineleisure.

The thorns: Myself, Lance, Gonnie & KH

The roses: Jcca & Chloe

The birthday gal making her birthday wishes. =)

Our gift for the birthday gal, from myself, Lance, KH & Jcca

The mystery of the gift revealed!! The female version of the replica home kit for Manchester United for the new season.

I certainly hope that Chloe enjoyed her birthday celebration with us and liked the gift, we gave to her. =)

A Saturday of Fiasco

2011-07-29T00:05:00.002+08:00

This song best describes how I felt over the last weekend
For the 1st time in history, I did not know how I was going to describe what happened on last Saturday that it took me a few days to decide and calm myself down and pen it down in my blog.
I had planned a bi-monthly KTV gathering session for the group members. As the usual manager of Partyworld International Building branch was on leave (He is the one that usually take my bookings, wherever I have KTV gatherings), I was asked to contact the branch directly. I decided that besides making a phone call to the branch, I had to make an appearance at the branch to communicate with the supervisor better. It also shows that I am sincere and not playing a fool about this. In the end, I had to go there twice, each time to increase the number of rooms that I had previously booked. It was unfortunate that the supervisor who took in my request misunderstood my request and did not give me the additional room that I requested on my second visit.
On the actual day of the event, I had a hunch that something may just go wrong somehow, therefore I decided to step in early into the branch early. So when the usual branch staff told me that I had only these rooms to work with, and the branch was operating at full capacity. It was not possible to give us an additional room at that point in time. Jonathan and I had little choice but to try to accommodate the people into the rooms we had. The staff also tried to assist us by checking if there was any last minute cancellations to help us get a room. The situation was not helped by the fact that 2 people came by unannounced, without informing us through Facebook or sms. The fortunate thing that we finally got the room that we wanted so badly to accommodate the rest, one hour after the event started.
This whole episode made me a little listless, let alone had the mood to sing. The things that perked me up was a whatsapp message from a friend, asking me to enjoy my singing and gave me 3 microphones, and the understanding from most of them who attended the gathering, including the newbies.
However, there was this member, who attends the group sessions regularly. I was shocked by the remarks he made over MSN about how badly organised the ktv was for this round? It seems like the group is a little messy this round and will go downhill if not careful.
These remarks prompted me to write this to all members of the group.
On behalf of the group’s organizing committee, we would like to thank everyone who have supported the group’s KTV events since the group first event, about 3 years ago.
We are encouraged by the strong interest that the group has been generating since its first event. We hope to keep the group going with the intention of gathering people with the common interest of singing and hope that friendships are formed between all of you.
The organizing committee is delighted to see a good turnout for the KTV event that we organized on 23 July 2011. However, due to some miscommunication with the Partyworld Management, we were given a room short for this event. This unfortunate event was complicated by the fact that the management was not able to give us the room that we requested for as they were operating at full capacity that day. We had no choice but to try to accommodate all of you first in the allocated rooms. We knew that this could have caused some unhappiness among the people who attended the event that day, in terms of the allocation of rooms. We seek your understanding on this, and apologise if you have not enjoyed at this event.
We also note that some of you may have issues with the sound systems and the service staff that day too. The people in my room encountered faulty microphones and slow service of drinks. However, this is something beyond our control.
Moving forward, the organizing committee has decided that with effect from the next group gathering, tentatively expected to happen in September or October 2011, we would do the following:-

The closing deadline for registration of events will be strictly enforced. This would prevent the fiasco that we have encountered today. Members who clicked after the registration deadline will not be entertained.
You can choose to communicate your intention to attend through the following platforms:-

1)      Facebook by clicking on the event
2)      Email – paul1979@singnet.com.sg
3)      SMS to the organizers
We hope that by doing this, your enjoyment to the event will not be compromised, therefore we seek your co-operation and understanding on this.
Thank you.
Paul
On behalf of Singing @K Events
I also wrote an email to Partyworld feedbacking the poor service. They have since gave me to what I feel is a positive response.
Hopefully, all is cleared by the next gathering.

Office PC Burned

2011-07-23T12:35:00.001+08:00

This happened on Wednesday when I was working halfway when the office PC that I was using suddenly hanged. Knowing my office PC well, I had to reset my PC without letting it shut down and restart by itself as it is a recycled PC that has been previously used by my 2 audit department colleagues before it was passed to me for use. You can imagine how good the PC is.

Just after I press the reset button, I smelt a burning smell. From my experience obtained from working in a computer service co-coordinator some years ago, I knew that most likely the power supply on the CPU was burned. This shocked my colleagues when they smelt the burning smell.

I was given a temporary laptop for use for these few days at work. I am not used to it as I am more accustomed to having a CPU with a LCD monitor as my home PC and office PC have wide screen displays, making my work easier.

I had to ask from my boss a new CPU as his son was adamant that I use another recycled PC from the secretarial department. I was relieved that my boss accepted my explanation and agreed to my request. I am looking forward to my new PC. Let’s see how good it is.

Durian Feast

2011-07-23T01:14:00.001+08:00

My brother and I were invited to a durian feast organised by the Lee Clan Association last weekend by dad.

The event was held at Punggol Park at Hougang. It has been a very long time since I have been there. It was also my first time having durians at a park. It was an interesting experience eating durians at the park.

I would do it again if there is another chance to do so.

百里挑一回来了

2011-07-17T18:39:00.001+08:00

这两个星期，我都没办法在网络上在找到“百里挑一”的节目。这个中国上海的节目是爸爸妈妈在我为他们订阅了新电信的付费频道后，他们认为这个节目不错，能让我更了解女孩子，以便让我能在与女孩子交往时，比较有话题与她们分享。

这节目我认为会被停播两期的原因，是因为其中有有一位参赛者，在参赛时，与另一位参赛者发展了恋情，后来，在两个月结婚。另一个原因是，最近，在中国，发生一起杀人犯上节目找个伴侣，而被认了出来。

希望这节目能继续播放。

Work Mix Up

2011-07-17T12:56:00.001+08:00

I am sure that most of you have met by hiccups and made mistakes at work. I feel that the most important is to be able to learn from mistakes & not to repeat it again.

Working in a professional firm for about 8 years, I do have my fair share of hiccups and mistakes. In fact, at my previous firm, I was called in to my boss’ office and fired at for the mistakes openly in front of everyone. It was really embarrassing to be shamed for my mistakes in front of so many colleagues.

This happened again in office this week. Fortunately, the targeted person was not me. The mistake, I personally feel that could be prevented if proper measures and training were in place.

I think the worst part for my colleagues was being scolded by the audit partner through the speaker phone. If I were the boss, I would have called them into my office, shut the door and talk to them about their mistakes privately.

I would also give them a chance for them to work and repent from their mistakes.

Movie Week

2011-07-17T02:03:00.001+08:00

This week, I had the chance to watch 2 movies. The first one was

I was asked by Alicia to join her for this movie, which she called along Mandy too. We caught the movie at Plaza Singapura. Our dinner was at Manhattan Fish Market after Alicia said that she did not enjoy food at my first choice, Xin Wang Café.

I felt that the movie was not bad. I would give it 3.5 stars out of 5 stars for the movie.

The 2nd movie I caught was

I was asked by my 2 IRAS volunteer friends, Wendy and Angela to join them for this. Wendy had been bugging me in the past week, to book the tickets, which I did last week and got the best seats.

Before the movie, we actually had our lunch at Swensens, where we helped Angela celebrate her birthday, which was on last Sunday. We hope that she enjoyed the mini birthday celebration.

The movie was great with great graphics and ending. I would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. =)

Official Photos from IRAS Photographer for VES Ceremony

2011-07-17T01:04:00.002+08:00

I have managed to get the official photos for the IRAS Volunteer e-filing appreciation ceremony late last week, after some hiccups.
As there are in all 263 photos, I have decided that I would put up the Facebook links to the 2 albums that I put up.
The links are as follows:-
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150241710054353.323511.611359352
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150241740399353.323522.611359352
Happy viewing !!!

Farewell for Lanny

2011-07-10T15:45:00.001+08:00

A group photo for the memories!!!

From left: Weng Kiat, myself, Evelyn, Lanny, Jonathan & Jue Liang

Our farewell gift for Lanny, A Nike jacket & a photo frame containing the photos we took during the CNY Gathering at my house earlier this year.

This outing was supposed to have happened 2 Saturdays ago, together with the birthday celebrations of Jonathan & Raymond, but Lanny was not able to make it as her family was on a short whirlwind trip to Singapore, therefore the date was fixed by her to meet up yesterday as she would be heading home to KL next Sunday. It is unfortunate that Ann & Raymond were not able to join us due to their work commitments.

The 1st part of the celebration was the KTV session. Although Lanny’s voice was not in a good condition yesterday (she has been down with a bad sore throat for the past two weeks), she still came by to sing with us. We really appreciate that. The session kicked off with Lanny, myself, Jonathan & Jue Liang taking turns to warm the room for the 1st hour as Evelyn & Weng Kiat were held up by something before this.

All of us took turns to become Lanny’s backup vocals as her voice was not able to hold for long. It ended up that towards the middle of the session till the end of the session, we ended up singing most of the songs together in the list with a majority of time with only 1 microphone as the other microphone had a problem that the technician was only able to rectify 1 hour before the end of the session.

Some of the songs we sang include :-

Evelyn says this MTV is cute. =)

We sang this song three times yesterday. I started off with this Chinese version, Lanny decided to do the Cantonese version after seeing this MTV. Weng Kiat did the Xiao Jing Teng version.

This was one of the few songs we repeated due to the faulty microphone.

We also sang this song as part of 鄧麗君medley of 7 songs that is only available at Partyworld KTV. It was introduced to me by Candy. It was good that we had two Cantonese song singers in Lanny & Jonathan. Otherwise, this medley of songs totalling at a length of 14 mins can’t be executed.

After that, it was dinner at the Asian Kitchen @ ION Orchard as Lanny wanted to have that for dinner. It is a Chinese restaurant that I thought had a similar feel to Grandma’s Place @ Nex. The food was not bad, but I must say the place is really crowded but the service is good.

Part 3 was a chill session at Coffee Club Express @ Wheelock Place. This was also where we asked Lanny to unwrap her gifts from us as most of them did not see the photo frame and the photos before we took photos as mementos.

We hope that Lanny would have a more fulfilling life back home in KL. We know that she has decided to be home to spend more time with her family. We sincerely wish her all the best. =)

Stephanie’s New Born

2011-07-08T23:03:00.001+08:00

Photo courtesy of Stephanie’s IPhone, which she whatsapp to me on receiving the hamper

My friend, Stephanie just became a mum about two weeks ago. As her friend, I am happy for her, having attended her wedding about three years ago.

I actually got to know her through my long time blogger friend, Wai Ling, who introduced Stephanie & her hubby, Andy to me when we met up for lunch during my birthday about 4 years ago. From then on, like what people say, the rest is history. Our friendship just bloomed.

I decided to order a hamper for her family in celebration of the occasion. I chose to do it online with Noel Gifts. It has been a while, since I last got a hamper from them. In fact, the last time I ordered a hamper from them was for Wai Ling’s boy, Guojun. The boy is already going to be 3 years old & his mum is going to be second time mummy soon.

I hope Stephanie will find the gift useful for herself & her baby boy.

百里挑一

2011-07-06T23:58:00.001+08:00

I was rather surprised that this show that I put up on Facebook to share with my friends garnered an unexpected response from Gonnie & Lance. Gonnie actually requested me to put up past episodes after watching the kindergarten teacher get married in this episode.

I was rather surprised that a couple could get married after 2 months of courtship. Especially when after viewing the previous episodes, you will come to know that she is really good at talking. Not many guys can outtalk her.

Hopefully the author does not get selected anytime soon, otherwise we would not have much fun on the show. =)

Bye Bye Molar Tooth

2011-07-06T23:26:00.001+08:00

The molar tooth that had given me countless visits to the dentist since my NS days finally given way last night. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel any pain when the tooth gave way. Perhaps it was due to the good fillings done up by the dentist who attended to me 4 years ago.

I decided to take half day leave to see the dentist to see what he says about the condition. The dentist told me what I had predicted. My molar tooth had lost its crown and have to be extracted. I asked for more time to consider for this operation as I am not in pain at the moment.

The reasons why I am taking some time to think about this is because:-

I am not worried about the cost of the extraction. I am more concerned about the cost of the implants / bridges to cover up the hole.
My teeth are already quite big and my mum is of the view that removing the molar without implanting a new implant would give my teeth more space, since it’s a molar at the back of the mouth.
My busy work schedule has also been a concern as due to the fact that we have been shorthanded and there is no space in the office to accommodate an additional headcount, my boss has decided not to hire any tax staff for the time being. This also explains why I am shelving my holiday plans. It has been quite a while since I really went beyond Malaysia already. The fortunate thing is that my boss has been understanding and appreciative of what I am doing and have been rewarding me accordingly. This is the motivation that keeps me going.=)

Work Musings

2011-07-02T00:17:00.001+08:00

You can see that I have not been blogging so much about the bad stuffs that I encountered in my current job since I joined this company 3 years & 4 months ago. The reasons for this, is ever since that two auditors, who caused some problems in my job by not providing the assistance that I need left the company. In fact, one of them was asked to leave due to low productivity. The other reason is my interest in the job is fuelled by my bosses’ words that they feel that I am a capable worker that they feel that they can impart their wealth of knowledge to me. They have not disappointed me as I feel that I am still learning new things, despite being in the taxation industry for close to 8 years. Besides that, they have been supportive in my application for admission to the Singapore Institute of Accredited Tax Professionals. If they had not supported my application, I guessed I would be at a loss as to where I am heading as I know that I was losing confidence in the ACCA qualification. With this accreditation, there is something for me to fall back on.

I thought my nightmare was over, but recently, it came back again, after several auditors handling major cases of our firm failed to ensure proper accounting schedules were done up for tax purposes. As a fellow co-worker of the firm, I agree that being an auditor is tough these days, with many changes to the FRS to take note, and the tight timeline being put on by my audit partners. But I note that you guys always take advantage of us, using your bosses to hurry us to complete the tax provision. Please note that in all the other audit firms that I have worked for, the auditors have to work on the tax provision themselves. The tax department of the firm is only in charge of the preparation of the final tax computation and the completion of the Form C or income tax return. You guys do not know how privileged you are. In fact, I have ex audit colleagues calling me and asking me for help with doing tax provisions after they left the firm. I would actually name most of my auditors lame ducks as they lack of this critical skill to do tax provisions. This would reduce the marketability, should they decide to switch jobs.

Actually, I feel that the client should do the accounting schedules themselves as they are definitely more familiar in their field of work, rather than us the tax agent or the auditors. Otherwise, we are no different from account clerks as we do up the schedules from general ledger.

This was definitely a very pent up and frustrated Paul, who is not about to give up on his interesting and exciting job for the time being but certainly wants my audit colleagues to know that everyone has a job to do, not only you but me too.

3 in 1 Celebration

2011-06-26T19:39:00.001+08:00

I was asked by Ann to help her plan for a mini KTV session as she would not meeting us for quite a while after next month due to some personal reasons. It ended up that the gathering had an additional 2 birthdays to celebrate as well.

Ann had asked me to gather Evelyn, Jonathan, Weng Kiat, Raymond, Ah Liang & Lanny for this mini session. It was unfortunate that Lanny could not join us due to some personal reasons. She has promised to make up for us before she heads back to Malaysia in mid July.

From the photos above, you can see whose birthdays we were celebrating. We are heartened by the fact that Jonathan likes the Adidas T-shirt we gave him. It was only yesterday that I knew that Ann and Raymond don’t take strawberry cake. I have to agree that the cake chosen by me was a tad too creamy.

Yesterday’s session was really like a retro ktv session as Jonathan said he wanted to sing retro songs and we actually went along with him and kept the song list as retro as possible. The songs include:-

We actually end off with the Theresa Teng’s medley of songs to round off our retro ktv session.

After that, it was dinner at Xin Wang Café where we had a good time chatting and eating. =)

Brother’s Birthday

2011-06-25T12:48:00.001+08:00

This year is my brother’s 23rd birthday. Having bought him a cake as a birthday celebration last year, I decided to do the same for this year. This birthday was special to him as he will be entering NTU to commence his university studies on 1 Aug.

I decided to get him a cake from here.

I hereby wish my brother all the best in his upcoming studies!!!

Grandma’s Birthday

2011-06-25T12:39:00.001+08:00

Last Sunday, my family were asked to attend my granny’s birthday celebration at his place. My family was asked to get a cake for my granny. In the end, my mum got 2 cakes for the occasion as my extended family has close to 30 people. Paul, as my granny’s favourite grandson and eldest grandson just paid for the 2 cakes, while mum made the choices for the cakes.

It was supposed to be a home based birthday celebration but the buffet caterer made a mistake by putting the order for the buffet to be at night. Therefore, my uncle had to use his contacts to find a restaurant to cater for close to 30 of us. In the end, the place of the celebration was at Teochew City Restaurant at Centrepoint.

It has been quite a while since we celebrated my granny’s birthday, since she was paralyzed from waist down about 3 years ago after a fall.

Although, it was my granny’s birthday, this adorable baby gal became the star of my granny’s birthday celebration. She is my cousin’s daughter, Vera

It was good to see that my grandma so happy. Happy 87th birthday to my grandma and wishing her with many happy returns.

IRAS VES Appreciation Ceremony 2011

2011-06-18T22:58:00.002+08:00

This is my 7th year attending the ceremony and this year was a special year for me as it was my 2nd time that I know that I will be receiving 2 awards. The 1st time happened in 2007, when I had to receive the award on behalf of the now defunct Contact 123 IT Centre.
This year was special as besides the outstanding volunteer award, I had received a commemorative plaque in recognition of my long service to this exercise for the past 7 years.

I was there with my mum only. I had wanted to ask my friend along too but she had something on.

Receiving my outstanding volunteer award

Receiving the commemorative plaque

For more photos, and a video on the opening speech by the Deputy Commissioner, please refer to my Facebook Profile.

Communication Is The Key

2011-06-18T22:35:00.001+08:00

I feel that communication is important in whatever things you do, no matter whether it is work or BGR or friendship.

In the past week, I encountered a few things that made me realise that communication is the key if you want to get things done.

My aunt had wanted to introduce a Vietnamese gal to me recently. Apparently her colleague has a cousin who is about 27 or 28 years old. I was under the impression that this gal has been working in Singapore, but after finding out more information from my aunt, I decided not to progress further after discussing with my mum, as we feel that there were many problems that we may have to face. My dad was like rushing me into accepting the gal, which I did not want as I didn’t want to end up like one of my relatives, whose Vietnamese wife ran back home and failed to return.

Recently, my work also met by many problems as the auditors have been shoddy in their work, doing it without proper cross referencing, making my job very tough and time consuming. Even my manager is jammed by their shoddy work, stuck with a case for about two weeks already.

I decided to highlight this to my bosses and my audit partners. They were agreeable to my suggestion that I will report to them any shoddy work that is passed to us for it to be reworked on.

Hopefully, it will be better, instead of me having to lose my temper to scream and shout at people always.

First Grassroots Dinner

2011-06-12T19:56:00.002+08:00

It has been 5 months since I first joined the grassroots as an observer. According to People’s Association, I am required to serve the grassroots as an observer for a year before I am admitted to the organisation as a full fledged member.
Yesterday marked the 1st time I participated in a Grassroots event. It was the dinner for our retiring MP, Mr Wee Siew Kim. I have decided to participate in the dinner as Mr Wee had tried to help me in the cheating incident that I suffered about a year ago. He actually helped me to write a letter to help me to clarify the whole legal process that I went through. It was partly because of this I decided to join the grassroots.

The dinner was held at the Jalan Kayu Hall at Hwi Yoh CC, which was near my place. The food was alright, although I thought that it was a little steep for the dinner to be charged at $30 but I was just there to show our appreciation to the MP.
It was indeed a good experience. =)

Birthday Gifts Shopping

2011-06-11T02:34:00.001+08:00

I have 2 friends whose birthdays are approaching. For one of them, the birthday gift was also a farewell gift as she has decided to go back to her home country for good, while the other, I must say I regard him as my older brother to me, despite the short time that I knew him.

Buying gifts can be a headache sometimes. I was fortunate to have Evelyn & Ann to accompany me to get the gifts. In fact, they were be sharing the birthday cum farewell gift with 3 other friends and myself.

First stop, Adidas, where I saw a suitable gift for my older brother. He was telling me that he had too many of his red Liverpool jerseys, therefore I chose something different for him. Ann & Evelyn thought I made a good choice and the price was reasonable too.

We actually had wanted to get an Adidas jacket as a farewell gift for the female friend, but the display piece was the last piece. The ladies and I were not comfortable with the fact that it was a display piece. In the end, we decided to head to Nike at Wheelock Place, where I had previously made a research on the jackets and took one of the photos when I was there to collect my reserved new Man U kit. Once again, have to thank Yani for reserving this for me and giving me a special price for this. =)

Fortunately, Evelyn was of a similar build to our friend, therefore we were able to make a good judgement if the size we chose was right. In the end, we decided to get the jacket. Luckily it was not the last piece. =)

After the whirlwind 1.5 hrs of shopping, it was time for dinner. Evelyn had suggested NYDC but there were too many people queueing for a table. In the end, we settled our dinner at Sakae Sushi, where we had filling bento sets and a good 2 hr chat before calling it a night.

Let’s hope that the birthday boy and gal liked the gift we chosen for them. =)

端午节

2011-06-05T18:06:00.001+08:00

今早被妈妈从温暖的被窝叫醒。原来，爸爸腰带我们去李氏总会参加他们的端午节的活动。

这是我第一次在爸爸参加李氏总会，成为他们的会员后，我第一次参加李氏总会的活动。

由于天不作美，我们只好电召德士去那里。我想不到的是，端午节的传说原来不只是驱元，还有另外两个不为人知的传说。

我在那里吃了八种不同的粽子，真的好饱啊！！！

今天真的搜获不少，对端午节有更深的了解。

Bad Service By Nokia

2011-06-05T17:35:00.001+08:00

This entry is to share the bad service that my dad experienced at the Nokia Vivo City yesterday.

My dad had purchased a Nokia N8 handphone a few months ago after his Motorola handphone was caught in the rain and rendered unrepairable.

He had went to the Nokia Service Centre after realising that he was not able to use several functions that requires the use of the semi-touch screen of the phone.

According to my dad’s account, the service centre staff had told him the phone had gone into water again. But according to my dad, he has always placed his handphone in his pocket and had never dropped it into water. If this happens because of my dad’s sweat that has got into the touchscreen phone, does this means that the product designer did not factor in sweat going into the phone. What angered my dad was the staff said that the repair was chargeable despite the product having a product warranty.

Having a bad experience with Nokia Service Centre many years back, I have since decided not to use Nokia handphones anymore. I think my dad feels the same way as me too after this incident.

百里挑一

2011-06-04T17:08:00.001+08:00

我在我爸爸的介绍下看了这个节目。我觉得这个节目挺有意思。虽然，我并不急于寻找另一半，但是，这节目让我了解现在的女孩子在想什么。

你会发现中国的男女都会在二十多岁开始就想找一个伴侣，我觉得中国电视台在这一点做得非常成功。或许，他们的生活节奏没有新加坡的那么繁重。

我建议大家能观看这个节目。如果你有Singtel MIO TV Channel 36 可以在每个星期六早上十点三十分观看这节目。如果没有Singtel MIO TV，你可以在Youtube 观看这个节目。

Balloon Sculpting Session

2011-06-04T16:20:00.001+08:00

I was invited by my fellow volunteer friend, Wendy, who is also a grassroots member at Yio Chu Kang CC to join her at this event organised by the CC.

Actually, I was a little apprehensive about this, as I am not a good balloon blower, nor I am good at pumping balloons. I was just there with the hope that I can make new friends.

It was interesting to see that a balloon being able to be sculpted into so many interesting objects. But sad to say, my fingers are not that nimble. I was only able to sculpt a puppy with loads of assistance from Wendy’s friend.

This event is indeed an eye opener as the trainer who taught us was only a 19 year old ITE student. I think young students nowadays are pretty talented.

SCO Concert @ The Esplande

2011-06-02T23:52:00.001+08:00

My mum and I were given tickets by my dad to enjoy a joint Chinese orchestra concert with the performers from China & SCO last night.

It was good to see the best of China & SCO coming together to stage this performance for us, which I truly enjoyed. =)

KTV Session Saturday

2011-05-29T21:47:00.002+08:00

After a break for about two months, I organised a ktv session for the group, which I am one of the organisers. This session was unique in many ways as this was the first time, I was rather afraid that the session would not go on as smoothly as planned as there were two people which I wanted to ban, showed up at the event.
My committee members have decided to let them join in for the event, but I certainly did not want them to be in the same room as me. In fact, a lot of the members did not wish to be in the same room as them, so in the end, I decided to put them with Chairman, his gf, his sister and newbie Eugene.
My room had 3 newbies. Candy, Leon & Derrick. I had knew Candy & Leon from my previous gatherings at KTV Club SG, while Derrick was Mandy’s friend. I certainly hope that you all enjoyed yourselves. Judging from the amount of fun we had, singing duets together, I guess all of them should have fun. =)

Outstanding Volunteer & Long Service Volunteer Award For Paul

2011-05-21T01:26:00.002+08:00

I just got this email from Rena, IRAS Corporate Communications Officer stating this:-
Dear Paul,
Congratulations once again on being awarded the 2011 e-Filing Volunteer - Outstanding Award!
We are pleased to share that you were being nominated by your Volunteering Centre for this award in recognition of your commitment, service and leadership qualities, and good understanding of the e-Filing system.
In recognition of your contributions towards Volunteer e-Filing Service for the past years, we are pleased to share that we'd like to present you with the Long Service Volunteer Award" on the same occasion.
We would like to invite you to the IRAS e-Filing Service @ the Community Appreciation Ceremony to receive the certificate of commendation and plaque from Our Commissioner, Mr Moses Lee. You can also invite two guests to attend the ceremony with you to share in your achievement!
At the same time, please advise us on the following before 31 May 2011 (Tue).

Name to be printed on the certificate/ plaque
Confirm your attendance,
and the number of accompanying guest(s) together with their NRIC no.

Thank you.
Rena SOON
Snr Asst Corporate Communications Officer (Corporate Development)| Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
It is indeed hard for me to imagine that I have been volunteering for this since the Year 2004. In the course of volunteering these years, I have certainly met by many people that have enriched my life in one way or another.
I would like to thank IRAS for giving me the opportunity to help the residents of Serangoon.

Fast & Furious 5

2011-05-15T19:49:00.001+08:00

I was invited by Jas to catch this movie. We were joined by Jonathan & Ernest. We had dinner at the Kopitiam food court at PS before heading to the Cathay for the movie.

I thought the show was great. I will be eagerly waiting for Part 6 if there is any.

Mandy’s Birthday Celebration

2011-05-08T13:07:00.001+08:00

The birthday celebration for Mandy was planned about 3 weeks ago, with Evelyn, Weng Kiat & myself as the planners. It ended up that Evelyn was caught up with something and could not attend the celebration & Weng Kiat fell sick. Therefore, I had to execute the plan on my own.

First up was a KTV session with the birthday, which Alex, Ann, Raymond, Jue Liang and myself had to warm up the room for an hour before the birthday gal made her grand entrance, in her new pair of glasses, courtesy from us. =)

Dinner was at Xin Wang Café, which was booked in advance by me as I knew it was going to be crowded on Polling Day. Thanks to my membership card, otherwise, we would have a hard time looking for place to settle dinner.

After that, we proceeded to Clarke Quay to find a place to chill. We ended up in TCC Café instead as the pubs were too crowded. It was a great chill session as we found out more about Alex & Raymond.

At 3am, we left and were left stranded at the Clarke Quay taxi stand waiting for cab. If not for Alex walking to Chinatown to hail a cab for us at about 3.45am, we would still be stranded there. This really showed his good side!!!

Election Fever

2011-05-08T12:41:00.001+08:00

I guess almost everyone who had the opportunity to vote yesterday were caught by the election fever that gripped the whole of Singapore for the past two weeks.

I shall not reveal which party that I voted for in this election. Let’s just say that I voted to the group of candiates that I felt will be able to represent my concerns on housing and high cost of living in Singapore. It actually took me a few days to decide

This was my 2nd time voting in the election. I attended an election rally for the 1st time, since attaining the legal right to have a say in Singapore. Although the rally that I attended was not the party that was contesting in the GRC that I am in, I am impressed by what the party shared at their rally. The pledge taking moment at the end was an emotional moment for me as it showed that the people at the rally were truly concerned about the future of Singapore, myself included.

With the results of the elections announced, I certainly hope that the Government will look into ways on communicating its policies across before implementing them.

Labour Day Public Holiday Singing Session

2011-05-02T23:50:00.001+08:00

Jonathan Teo, Jonathan Ya, Lance, Jas were invited to Andrina’s house for a public holiday singing session.

Enjoyed hearing these 2 songs and singing at her place, before heading to Old Airport Road. Gotta thank Jonathan Teo for the dinner treat. =)

Source Code The Movie

2011-05-02T00:28:00.001+08:00

I was asked by Henry, one of the people who attended the group’s ktv session quite some time ago, to join him for this movie and at the same time, give him some feedback on the new card game he had created.

I thought that the movie was great, save for the part that was a little repetitive in the beginning. I recommend all of you to catch it.

Master Your Own Finance Seminar

2011-05-01T15:24:00.001+08:00

I was asked by mum to attend this seminar. I was a little worried that it was those one of those sales tactics by people. Therefore I decided to join her at the company’s premises at Park Mall.

It was a great talk by Mr Dennis Ng. I picked up a few good pointers about managing my own finances. But I was partly right as towards the end of the seminar, he was trying to sell his courses to us. It was certainly not cheap to attend them. I was smart enough to stop my mum from signing up as I felt that the cost was rather high. I feel that if you wish to manage your own finances, would you spend such a big sum just to attend a course?

In the end, we bought his book which was only a small fraction of what I would have spent for his course.

What An Answer Given By My Management Office

2011-04-26T22:52:00.001+08:00

My boss handed me a letter from the management office yesterday. Apparently it was a reply from them about the lift trap incident that happened to me twelve days ago.

In the letter, Mr Wong, the Centre Manager of the Far East Shopping Centre Management Office stated that being trapped in the lift for 25 minutes is normal, and within the standard rescue timing of 30 mins set by the management.

He chose to evade the rest of my questions that I raised in my letter. I was thinking if I should raise the matter to the press.

An opportunity struck today. I managed to catch hold of the same lift that I was trapped in breaking down again today. Perhaps, I should really take my mum’s advice and bring this up to the press, since the management office failed to resolve this matter well. Bad press about the shopping centre may help to improve its management staff’s attitude.

Good Friday Easter Weekend

2011-04-24T16:34:00.001+08:00

On Good Friday, Jonathan Teo, Jonathan Ya, Lance, Jas & Alex Xu were invited to Andrina’s house for a mini ktv session.

It was good to see Jonathan Teo back in Singapore after his European adventure and he actually bought some souvenirs for all of us, which were keychains & chocolates.

It was the 1st time I heard this song on Friday and I thought the song is nice.

On Sat, I was asked by mum if I wanted to go for a prayer session and IKEA Tampines to source for new furniture for my home.

Reached IKEA Tampines and started researching on the furniture that we could get. In the end, we had a shortlist of what we wanted to get. We managed to get the minimum $200 required for the membership and purchased all the items today as we also discussed with my brother about how he felt about the shortlist before purchasing them.

We took a cab home after that.

Featured On The Serangoon Newsletter

2011-04-22T12:30:00.001+08:00

I mentioned in my blog before that I had received an offer to be featured on the Serangoon Newsletter to share about my volunteer e-filing experience over the years in the Serangoon area.

The article is featured here for you guys to read. I know that the surname is typed wrongly and I have highlighted to the editorial team.

Meet Up With Friends

2011-04-22T12:15:00.002+08:00

I met up with Chloe, Gonnie, Lance & KH last night. The meet up was called by Chloe, as she said that it has been a while since we last met up since Lance’s birthday.
The meetup place was at Nex @ Serangoon. Dinner was at a restaurant called Grandma’s place, which serves Chinese food. I thought the dishes were not bad, just that the portions were a little too small for 5 of us.The price was quite alright for the 5 of us.

Photos courtesy of Chloe
Desert was at a chill place, called Teadot. I felt that the vanilla cupcake I had was great. We discussed with Lance about our singing techniques during the course of the desert session, before heading for our movie session.
The movie we caught was Hall Pass which I thought was a funny comedy. I would recommend you guys to catch it.

Is This How You Manage A Building

2011-04-22T11:36:00.001+08:00

I was rather pissed off by the explanation given by the building management managing my office that I decided that I should write this complaint letter directly to them, with a copy being given to Far East Organisation, the overall in charge of the Far East Group in Singapore.

I refer to the abovementioned incident and my telephone conversations with your Management Office staff, Ms Linda on 14 April 2011 and an unidentified male staff on 18 April 2011.

I am one of the staff working for P.C. Lee & Co at Units #10-05/#10-06. I have since worked in this company for about 3 years. During my stay with this company, I have discovered that the 3 passenger lifts at the building would take turns to break down in a month. Sometimes, the lifts would actually break down for a few days.

I would like to relate my 2 experiences of being trapped in the lift recently. The 1^slt incident that happened 2 weeks before the abovementioned incident. My lift ride was stopped abruptly on the 6^th floor, and there was no display of which direction of where the lift was heading and the storey button did not respond to my touch. The fortunate thing was the lift door was able to open by itself after suddenly stopping.

I was not so lucky for the 2^nd time on 14 April 2011. I was going for my lunch when my lift ride was abruptly halted on the 6^th floor. This time, the lift door did not open. Therefore, my colleague and I took turns to press the alarm bell. When there was no response from your side after 5 minutes, I called back my own office to get the number of your management office. Meanwhile, another lady who was in the same lift as us called OTIS, the lift maintenance company engaged by the management. We were surprised to hear that we were to stay in the trapped lift for about another 30 minutes, as this was what the OTIS staff had told her when she asked him when he could send someone down to rescue us. I called the Management Office 3 times after that, in the course of the 25 minutes we were trapped in the lift before we were being rescued by the OTIS staff.

My questions for you are as follows:-

1. Why is the lift at Far East Shopping Centre always breaking down? It is not as if that we have not been paying maintenance fees for you guys to do a proper job to maintain the building and its facilities and this includes the lift. I understand that you would levy a late payment charge when we pay our maintenance fee late, even for one day. This means that it is only right that we expect a first class service from you, since you are so prompt in collecting maintenance fees from the tenants. I also understand that the management fees have always been raised every year, but it seems like no improvement is seen in my 3 year stay in this building. If the lift always break down, please spend some money collected from the management fees to replace them.

2. Why must the Management Office wait for the OTIS maintenance guys to come and rescue us? Why are the staff not trained on lift rescue operations? According to my dad, who used to work as a Building Maintenance Manager at a major Orchard Road shopping centre said that the management office staff should have a spare key to access to the lifts when incidents happen. They are supposed to be rescued within 10 minutes. To be trapped in the lift for 25 minutes is ridiculous, and you are talking about a shopping centre cum office building in Orchard Road. I have been trapped in a lift at my old office at Keypoint at Beach Road before and I was rescued within 10 minutes by the building maintenance staff. The building maintenance staff also sent an apology note to all the affected users of the trapped lift. I have only heard you pushing aside your responsibility and giving excuses such as passengers’ fault in misusing the lift.

3. The Management Office should think of ways to improve the lifts, as it is always slow, instead of handling tenants’ petty complaints, like one of the offices had too many wet umbrellas being left out to dry at the office corridor during rainy weather. The sight of your staff carrying a camera just to take pictures of the wet umbrellas blocking the corridor are a waste of time. They could have used this time to think of a way to create space for us to put our wet umbrellas during rainy days. This would definitely heed the Government’s call for our people to be productive and innovative.

I hope to hear a favourable explanation from you with regards to how you are going to solve the problematic lifts at Far East Shopping Centre.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

Let’s hope the management office wakes up from their slumber and solve this as soon as possible.

Stuck In The Office Lift

2011-04-16T11:26:00.001+08:00

In my 3 years plus working in my company at Far East Shopping Centre, this was the 2nd time in 3 weeks that I had been stuck in the office lift. The 1st time, the lift just suddenly stopped but the lift door opened by itself after a short while.

But I was not so lucky on Thursday. My colleagues and I were looking forward to our lunch at 12pm. We took the lift down. As we reached the 6th floor, the lift suddenly stopped and the lift door didn’t open. My first instinct, was to press the lift alarm, which my senior and I took turns to do it.

We didn’t hear any responses or voices from outside after 5 mins. That was when I decided to give a call back to my office, to get the Management Office’s contact number. I managed to get the contact number from my boss, after I told them we were trapped in the lift.

I called the Management Office at 12.07pm. They said that they have heard the alarm but the lift maintenance company, OTIS’ phone lines were busy. A lady, who was in the lift with us, decided to call OTIS directly and fired them over the phone at 12.10pm. I called the management office at 12.12pm, telling them to hurry up. I said that it is ridiculous for us to wait for another half an hour. I called again at 12.20pm, and this time I really lost my temper and shouted the the Management Office officer. We were finally rescued at 12.35pm.

I had a quick bite before heading back to office, although my boss called me and told me that I could have come back from my lunch later. But seeing my work piling up on my desk, I knew I could not afford to do so.

When I was back from my lunch, I decided to call the management office to let them know my displeasure. I told the officer, It is ridiculous that the lifts are always breaking down, almost once every month. Granted that the building is old, but there should be proper maintenance procedures to ensure that the lifts are in good working order. Someone in the building maintenance department should be trained to rescue people who are trapped in the lift. To wait for the OTIS maintenance team for about 30 mins to rescue us is ridiculous. You guys always tell us to pay the building maintenance fees on time. If we did not pay on time, just for a day, we are charged late payment interest. Instead of handling the tenants’ complaints, that our colleagues’ umbrellas are blocking the way, when we hang out for them to dry, a solution should be resolved on how to solve the “lift always break down, and sometimes for a few days”.

I was sharing with my family this when I had dinner with them at night. My dad, who used to work as Building Maintenance Manager at a major shopping centre at Orchard too, agrees with me. He further adds that if the management office charges late payment interest for one day, the maintenance service should be at first class. My mum adds that, when the lifts break down each time, please take photos to show the management office to show how poor they are!

IRAS Volunteer E-Filing Session 6

2011-04-13T00:23:00.001+08:00

The volunteers, Paul, Angie (Liasion Officer), Wenjun, Jason, Samira & Haris

The above photos are taken by The Serangoon CC staff, Depak who happens to be my poly friend’s hubby’s friend. I was a little surprised that he could still remember my face 3 years after the wedding.

The weekend session went on quite smoothly, with the exception for 2 of the customers. One of them came by with a partnership return (Form P) and asked me to help him to e-file. I am glad that I am equipped with the knowledge to assist him, although I knew that I should not have done it.

The second one, I would call him Mr. Special. He was very secretive about his Singpass that he was so afraid to let me see his Singpass and used my document file to cover the keyboard as he typed his password. As he typed, he dropped my documents on the floor and messing it up. I had to pick up and rearrange myself and he did not apologise for what he did. In the end, he insisted on keying in his Singpass secretly. I decided there and then to walk out to let off my anger before I exploded.

If you are so worried about people knowing your Singpass, why not you do at the comforts of your own home?