Choices

The supposed final episode of 有话就说 came and went. Woke up in the midst of the replay and managed to catch the round-up by each of the guests. One comment struck me, and continued lingering even after the show. In his final comment in the entire series, 蔡深江 said something about such programmes inevitably having lower viewer ratings, and that it's a matter of whether one values the part on "提高新加坡人的素质" over viewership ratings. Ultimately, if the viewers prefer watching light-hearted shows, the broadcaster could simply broadcast these shows only and then Singaporeans' 素质 will not improve.

Relativity

X means more to you than Y if simply chatting online with X can chase away the gloom that was indirectly caused by Y. Similarly, W means a lot more to you than V if the sudden presence of W can stick an almost permanent grin on your face and erase the deep frown was caused by V.

Whatever it is, thank you for the pleasant surprise, V. Your extremely unexpected presence is worth way more than any stress relief sessions one can get. And as weird as this sounds, I'm just glad to see you in good shape! =)

新衣哪有旧衣好

Was thinking about what I was going to type in this entry when the song just popped into my mind. It feels just not too long ago when 黄老师 taught us this song one Tuesday during our Higher Chinese class. In fact, it's almost the 11th year since both 黄老师 and Mr Foo sang this song on Chinese New Year. Come to think of it, I really wonder how and what Mr Foo is doing now. Hmm...

As you grow older, you can't help but agree that "friendships" made past school days may just not withstand the test of time. Or perhaps, this time round, it's just me being over demanding. Still, it certainly doesn't feel good to find out how one of your friends is unhappy through some internet social network system, particularly if this friend happens to be a person you whine to when things happen. One cannot help but wonder if one is really that unreliable. Then again, one just cannot be bothered anymore. Perhaps this was simply just a matter of "usable connection".

It was only over dinner with Tony, Jeremy, Vivien, Guohui last week when I realised it's coming to 2 years since I first joined Income. And almost 2 years since Meisi had her brain hemorrhage. Bumped into her and her parents this evening, and found out that she'll be going for her follow-up operation on the 21st this month. It's a long road to recover, and I'm not even sure if things would become back to what they were. Still, I'm just glad to be able to keep my friend of 18 years and counting and to be able to talk to her too.

Just like I'm thankful to be able to chat on MSN almost daily with a particular old friend. Like I said earlier, perhaps only older friendships can withstand various thunderstorms. Or rather, they may just be the ones most deeply etch in you that it becomes way harder to erase without a trace.

The first peek into 2008

Wonder if age has anything to do with the number of people I know making resolutions this year. In any case, reading all the resolutions made me decide that the main thing for me to achieve this year would be less reliance on my friends. Looking at matters these few days, I'm still wondering if this would be achievable.

A brand new year usually brings about fresh new starts. That's perhaps the reason why I've been hearing of certain resignations these few days. First, there was Jeremy "informing" me just before Christmas that his last day would be 4th January. And then, there was the email from Lenz as well saying that his last day was yesterday.

Cliche as it sounds, time really flies. Over dinner with Tony, Vivien, Jeremy and Guohui today, I realised it's been almost a year since my resignation. In fact, the IEs (ie. Tony, Vivien and Jeremy) are well on the way to finishing their 2 year bond with Income. To think it felt just not too long ago that I was stuck with them at Sentosa. I couldn't even remember how I got closer to Tony. Too much free time on my hands? I really can't remember.

One of Guohui's colleague asked me yesterday if I regretted joining Income. Frankly, I would say, much as I didn't exactly see eye to eye on many of their policies, Income is, and will probably always be an integral part of me. Without Income, I probably wouldn't have had Christopher as my pupil master. No opportunity to be a over-paid receptionist and truly enjoyed my first month of work. I probably wouldn't have met a lot of my Income colleagues, whom over time became friends, or people who could bring a smile to my face. I guess work is not just work alone, but a complicated mesh of relationships, contacts as well. And most of the time, it is the latter that makes or breaks the memory of the place, and funny enough, Income will always retain a special "homely feel" for me.