It's only March...sigh

This would probably be the first time I am working and I dont quite like the people who employed me. For one, I dont quite like their attitude towards people, despite the industry they are suppose to be in to inspire people. I am pretty sure their team aint very much motivated...

My feelings doesnt come from personal experience but rather from the sideline observation. I dont like the brusque way they talk, I dont like the haphazard way they work. Maybe I am too used to working in a structured, professional MNC that its a real eye opener to work with a small firm like theirs, where their word is the law, and the law can flip flop every other day without reasons.

But seriously, imagine this.
In the small office space, where everyone is on the line, it is unavoidable that a certain level of noise is in place. Yet, our boss would turn around and yell at everyone to "SHUT UP" just because he was on the phone. Even when it was not directed at me but my peers, I feel offended at the way they were talk down to. Couldnt he had at least said "Guys could u lower the volume?" The thing was, the team werent even chitchatting. They were either on the lines with other potential customers or vendors. So what gives him the right to be so rude to people who are helping him to earn his keep?

There are many many other tiny details that is so out of line but I wont state them all here. It isnt me having an issue with them both. It seems that everyone here thinks the same of them, including my vendor who has some brushes with their extreme hot and cold attitude.

I dont think they are bad people. On the contrary, I think they prob are interesting characters but just not great people to run a business because they lack the steadfast and calm personality to motivate and drive the crew.

Anycase, I am sooo looking forward to the end of my contract, so that I can begin the part time basis. Everyday heading to office is such a dread because of the lack of challenge and supporting environment.

Will end of April not come soon enough?

Why do I work? I must be out of my mind

Work is dull.
Work is boring.
Why on earth did I start working?
Itchy backside.

Every morning, I had to drag myself off my comfy bed.
Every morning, I cursed at the bad traffic air pollution in central as I walked from the MRT to Hollywood road. There is so much smog an d exhaust fumes that I feel so out of breath by the time I am done climbing up the hilly steps because I am suffocating from holding my breath.

Every lunch, I dread to think of what horrible disgusting food I can eat. I miss lunch at causewaybay. Not only for the wide variety and price, but also a much more appetising offerings.

Every eve, I had to fight my way through the pesky overcrowded train station, and stand in the long long line way home. One those days I have to attend class at TST, I am almost squashed from front to back from the relentless crowd that pour into the train. The only good thing is that the HK train is well ventilated and its never stuffy, making it more bearable than peak hour train in Singapore.

Every other night, I will have to try to perk up and go grocery shopping to cook dinner. After horrible lunch, all I want was light healthy soup to compensate for the crap I down myself with in the day.

By April, my contract will end but the project will not
I hate to think how my boss will ask me to stay and I will be cringing like hell inside....
Do the professional thing to stay on, or selfish thing and make a run for it?

就想賴著你插曲：禮物 - 劉力揚

I love this song from the Taiwanese Drama - Down with Love. [download]
One of my fav lines in the song is below.

"世上最殘酷的　恐怕是時間
困住人　一切卻還向前 "

Translated:
"Time is probably one the most cruel thing in life,
Everything else moves ahead, while the person is trapped behind."






禮物 - 劉力揚

終於可以在今天劃上句點
一整夜　翻閱過去畫面
快想不起我們為何會訣別
只看到那雙你送的鞋

走一步又一步　我才發現繞了個圈
走了好幾年　又回到原點

＊你送的禮物　會不會太特別
毫不避諱　那不安的傳言
但漸行漸遠　習慣到沒感覺
難道你早想要我走遠

＃你送的禮物　在此刻好體貼
陪我回憶　把過往走一遍
穿了這些年　難免會有污點
就像每段愛　總會有終點

世上最殘酷的　恐怕是時間
困住人　一切卻還向前
乾涸的眼再擠不出一點鹹
愛到如此可悲的境界

走一步又一步　卻跟不上你的腳步
你滿意了　為什麼我卻只想要哭

重唱　＊,＃

你說做自己吧　我們都做回自己　哦
不要再為愛受委屈

你送的禮物　原來是一場劫
終於分別　宿命一樣準確
可笑到想要　你賠給我時間
愛情有時廉價得可憐

光著腳我一路奔跑　鮮血淚水一路狂飆
收起我的驕傲　承認曾經備受煎熬
鞋上那記號　只有你能明瞭
過了這一夜　我就全忘掉

Updates

I dont know how some people does it. To work, to have othr activities and blog at the same time. Something has to give..what do they give up?

It has been a while hasnt it? Since I actually sat down proper to write anything. In between my going well renovation, work and Jap class, it's near impossible to do anything else I like like Pilates & watching dramas.

I had a sudden craving yesterday.
While storming my way through the thick piling human traffic crowd at central station, it suddenly hit me how much I wish I had a pipping hot crispy skin prata before me. Chicken Mutamak with lotsa onion and egg will be fantastic. Throw in a hot cup of indian milk tea...that morning will be so perfect!!! I was drooling in my head as I trudge myself forlonly towards my office, passing by muffins and sandwiches shop without care. As I munch on my pret-a-manager pasta soup in the morning, it was an excercise to keep my tummy full than of any form of enjoyment. As I sat in office mechanically finishing my breakfast, I thought back to my old company cafe in Singapore. Where everymorning, I get to choose from prata, kaya sandwich toast, or some malay style breakfast like nasi lemak, or even chinese carrot cake with dark soya sauce. Damn.... where did all those local cravings come from suddenly?

I had HK morning breakfast. If its not ham sandwich, its macroni soup or dim sum... it's soooo lacking in variety. Well at least that is the case in central.

It's mid March now and looks like my job is gonna get extended. crap. I really dont want to work full time anymore. I miss that quality of life when I get to do whatever I wanted, when I wanted. So far, my colleagues have been good. It's small office, so thankfully there isnt backstabbing, badmouthing or politics. The only down side is I hate working in central because there is soooo little variety of local food unlike causeway bay. Those places at Soho...i dunno....not my cup of tea.

Renovation work is in good hands, and good time.
Looks like it is gonna finish faster than I expected. I like my contractor. We work well together and from our interactions, he is one contractor with brain that think about practicality of what he built. He takes pride in what he deliver and hence he is also alot more detailed oriented than I expected. Unlike the contractor I had in sg previously, this contractor gives much thought about various dimensions and materials. So in a way, I feel reassured and he certainly took some stress away from me. So much so that I have only visited the apartment 3 times since it started work in Feb.

Yet unlike in SG, work doesnt go on everyday in the apt. SO that explains why it takes a much longer time than in sg. Funny planning huh. But at least the staff he chooses seem to deliver good work. The tiling work is good. So much better than I had anticipated! Happy!

The place is done with the tiling and wetworks and false ceiling. What is left really is the carpentry and the painting. It's gonna be some work that I have do like shopping for wall decal soon! Excited!

It's still pretty much undetermined how the whole place will turn out. Kinda half excited and half worried about choices I make. Time will tell...or rather I will know by april!

Tiring Friday

After being back from CNY, this is one of the most hectic periods ever.

Apart from pulling in hours for work, I was mercilessly "hounded" to finalise my renovation bits. I could barely keep my eyes open during my Jap class. I am so positively going to suffer and pay the price comes my test period.

Met my contractor yesterday afterwork at our new unit and my intended 2 hour meeting stretched from 6pm to 10.30pm instead. My poor husband was also left dinner-less as we move from room to room to nail down the details from cabinet height to the functionality of the drawers I have in mind... I dont like to leave it to Interior designers alone because they can give a general proposal but it will never be customised to one's needs & preferences. And because I cook, I have very specific ideas about how to categorised my storage systems from storing dry provisions to placement of my bin etc.

By the time we were done, both my husband and I are totally exhuasted. What's left is to pick the tiles and fixtures tomorrow....

When I got back last nite, it was back to the drawing board to tell him the ideal height for the bathroom vanity table top etc. Finally collapsed into the bed at 3.30am. I am soooo looking forward to Monday where I can take the day off and just sit back and relaz on my birthday.
Yipppppeeeee!

First post after gettng back to HK

Am finally and reluctantly back to HK.
I had to adjust my mentality and language back to Cantonese as well.

The first person to welcome me back to HK is the bloody mobile spam.
The second person is my contractor and finally the third is my new neighbor from downstairs.

Previously before I had left for Singapore for Chinese new year holidays, my neighbor (a retired old couples) from below had requested to have a quick chat. So I had gone down with my contractor in tow to listen to his grievances about how the previous owners (the people who sold us the flat) had wreaked his ceiling during their renovation work, causing water leakage and totally disregarding their feelings and ignored him. Comes this time, they are still reliving the paranoid nitemare and wanted us if possible not to "dig" too deep when ripping up the existing wooden floors.

Perhaps this is the reason in life why my "calling" in work is project management with customer service. It makes it easier for me in life to deal with "complaints", "feedbacks" and work at reassuring them that I completely empathise with them... Frankly I didnt do much except to lend my ears but my neighbors were totally elated. They keep saying we are very reasonable as compared to the previous occupants. My contractor later told me I was very nice to "entertain" such requests and most HK people wont give a shit. I explained that I could understand his emotions and it doesnt take much to just spare 10mins of your time and cost me nothing else. People nowadays talk too much and listen too little... and perhaps so why tensions always ride high rapidly, excluding times dealing with morons and arseholes.

So comes today, I awoke to my dear neighbor calling me again and before he can say anything, I wished him a very happy chinese new year with a string of Chinese well wishing... That probably place every one in a good mood and he told me that my renovation is in good progress. Honestly, I havent even seen the state of renovation my place is in yet but since my neighbor say its fine, I am crossing my fingers. We have only just got started. However, He just wanted to remind me about the waterproofing works - to do a better job than the previous owner. I said ok and not to worry, I have been reminding my contractor about the same thing.
With that, he wished me good success in my renovation and that we will move in to the complex happily soon. And in return, I thanked him and that hopefully we can invite him over when we moved in.

I too hope my place renovation will go smoothly. Well, it has been "blessed" by so many parties from my contractors, the security guards, the management, to my neighbor, so I am hoping these combined "power" of good wishings will rub good luck to my unit and free me from future headaches now and later when we move in.

After 2 weeks of idling back home, it's kinda hard to kick into high gear. Dragging my body all over the house, and its back to the routine of laundry and work and cooking. Thankfully my very considerate husband had done his share of housework and folding the clothes away to reduce my load when I am back. I am thankful:)

Last nite getting off from the late flight, I was even more surprised by the lovely vase of flowers that welcomed me home. My husband has good taste. He picked all the lovely shades that I love. As I went about to unpack and putting the bags out of the way, he gave me a second surprise. I have to admit, my husband is much sweeter than I credit him for at times.

It didnt quite register in me why he was dragging me through half the bag boutiques while we were back in Singapore. I had mentioned off handedly some time back about needing a nice dinner bag but I had long forgotten about it but he remembered. However, I didnt quite catch on to his eagerness in trying to get me one, to the point of wanting to buy 2 Prada bags which I was having fun trying with. You should see the sales girls' eyes lit up like fireworks. Of course I will never frivolously throw my money away like that so I told my husband no. The girls were trying to convince ME that I should get both. Nice try girls, but I am not a believer that it is a must to stock pile on luxury brand names.

In the end, we left without buying anything because if I am going to spend such an amount, I much prefer to get a new piece (not display) and make sure I still like it at second or third look. I hate those sales tactics where they try to tell u it is the LAST piece..limited design...blah blah. Like I care I said. If its gone, its gone. No big deal. My quality of life is not going to diminish or that I will be deprived of future happiness. My heart wont skip a beat if I never see it again.

So when I came back last night, my partner happily told me that he went to several stores in HK and confirmed they had new pieces and the colour I wanted. I looked at him inquisitively, asking why is he more keen to get me the bag than I am? Awwwwww....he went through all the trouble because my birthday was coming up. Even without the bags, I am touched and happy by the devotion and thoughts alone...

There are really only 2 things in life that are really intimidating....The first would be getting married, and the other would be house renovation.

They are certainly not something you can walk away from easily. They both require huge committment and once u start the ball rolling, there is really no looking back.

Getting married is terrifying because well, nothing in life is predictable least of all another human. Renovating the house is terrifying because there are so much unforseen events. Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.... Hence, If you put your trust in the wrong person for both events, you are pretty much screwed.

So far, I think I am still in good hands for both.
My HK renovator seemed like an ernest guy enough and responsible enough. At least he calls to update me stuff and doesnt leave me hanging up in the air. I am cross my fingers.

Design wise, its atonishing what stuff are in the market right now. Fake wood tiles. Amazing. They print the wood pattern on the tiles soooo well on the tiles its almost hard to tell from a distance unless u get to touch them, with products from china being the sole exception of course. The wooden designed tiles from Australia and Italy look fantastic..the china ones just look cheap and nasty at half the price of course. I had a choice, I picked those manufactured from Malaysia as much as possible. Dont know...just dont like the idea of supporting this halfhearted shit from China.

It's quite funny. How I am living near China, but I am paying high labor cost here in HK but cheap materials. When I did reno in Sg - 4hrs away from china, I had to pay higher cost for materials, but ending up with cheap China labor...What an irony.

They had started to rip the wooden stuff out of my apartment now. All I can do is really just sit tight, cross my fingers & toes and pray. Wish me luck

Bad luck, headache and all

All I can say...life is a roller coaster and bad things come in two.

Just collected the keys and on day of inspection of unit, we found the whole apartment flooded with water. Apparently the stupid stupid stupid maid next door had choke the pipe and tried to pumped and forced the stuck materials down the pipes. She continued to use her kitchen and water rushed through our toilet and flooded the whole house, saved the master room and kitchen.

It was a nitemare, hassle and frustratin matter, especially the useless management office didnt want to press after the next door unit since he claimed it was "inconclusive" to determine the other party was at fault. The good thing is insurance is covered, but as to how much can be claimed is undetermined. Not only that, the renovation period will have to extend since I have now to rip up the whole wooden flooring in both bedrooms, dining room, living room as well as the cabinets.

In a way, I kept myself upbeat and positive thinking, that all these happen before we start our renovation and thus able to "identify" the problem, and change my renovation plans in time. Also, knowing this potential problem, at least I am gonna swop all the wooden flooring to tiles, and ensure my wall attached cabinet is gonna be lifted off the ground! The troublesome thing is that the flooding occured before we collected the keys and so the insurance is covered under the seller. The good thing is that it doesnt seem to raise our insurance premium since the claim is not made under our name. The bad thing is that everything is subjective.

Maybe its all predestined. I honestly hated the flooring and was in 2 minds about whether to ripped the whole flooring. However cost and renovation timeline were major factors, and now heaven willed it that I need not think about it and just go ahead with it. I just hope the insurance claim will break even at least with what we need to do...damn.

So far, my contractor seem to be rather reliable and experienced, advising me that he has encounter similar problems and suggested to checking the common pipe during renovation. If determined it is the common pip problem which he suspected, we have the right to request the building management to change the pipe...then again how long will that take is an unknown factor.

My husband is pissed and annoyed of course with all the various aspect, even though I am actually the one dealing with it and following up with the various contacts, such as the lawyer, contractor, seller, management... He told me that I am only focusing on the positive aspect and I asked him why dwell on "if only" since there is nothing he can do to change the current situation and what lies ahead? I told him positively at least knowing ahead now, can saves us alot of hassles in future. And that the flooding had occured just one day before which still falls under the seller insurance because my husband had forgotten to buy our own insurance, which would have been a headache!

Anycase, there are so many questions and no answers.
Doesnt help when I have to start my temp work next monday.
So much to do, so little time. Damnnn....

That is why I always hate china people, irresponsible, selfish etc and worse, these people who doesnt teach their maid proper way to dispose garbage and stuff, and still think that the household pipe can infinitely take any rubbish and use it without care. Its like out of sight out of mind and not their problem once they dont see it. Bastards.

Apparently I just found out our neighbor who flooded our place is a 60+yr old guy who is living with 3rd wife/mistress, who also is a very young Shanghai woman... Gossip mill is that he leads a rather "indecent" lifestyle... I dont really care how many young china woman he fk, so long as he doesnt fking cause more headaches for us!

Quay Grand Suite (Sydney)

As usual...my usual erratic, random and non chronological posting.

After staying in several rather disappointing major hotels in Sydney (which frankly isnt up to par compared to Asia standards), I finally found one accomodation worthy of my expectations. Recent stay in Quay Grand Suite (located near the Sydney Opera house along Macquarie street) proved to be a rather comfortable and convenient experience.

Quay Grand is actually a service apartment and not a hotel, so the one bedroom comes equipped with a proper kitchenette and laundry services. We chose the room overlooking the garden as we wanted more tranquility and green. The alternate is the harbor view but I have enough of harbor view after living in Sydney.

The bed was a good size (unlike in HK, Australians probably cannot fathom any couple cramming in small mattress), the bathroom comes with a jaccuzzi bath and seperate walk-in shower. The only thing that remained a relic and time for an update is the music player. Who on earth still uses a cd with casette tape player in such modern days? It's about time someone tells the management to stop being cheap and change it to an MP3 and Ipod player soon.

The only time where I had a shock was to discover how dirty the mechanism of the jaccuzzi bath was. I had expected there to be grime but seeing the black grimy stuff sitting and floating atop the bubbles was honestly a little disgusting. I never intended to use the spa pool function since I knew it wont be clean but I just hit the button on for fun after i was done with my soak. Eeeeewwweeee..... that is why - never install those fancy jaccuzzi bath at home unless u are willing to spend time and money to upkeep it. A normal bath tub is good enough though in Australia, taking bath is a decadent luxury for the longest decades (previously) due to the rainfall scarcity. And now, the sky is dumping truckload of gallons of rain on them across the country.... Joy to the farmers...

Anyway back to hotel review.

The contemporary bedroom and living spaces are both rather spacious by Australia standards. It even comes with a small outdoor balcony for the die-hard cig puffers. The room is rather well insulated from noises, which is a big welcome change from the usual lame wafer-thin plaster wall-dividers in other major hotels.

I stayed in Sheraton Sydney hotel in this trip as well.
The breakfast was good and worth waking up for. Its bathroom is big but noise from corridor is an issue for me. I didnt like being awaken by drunken neighbors stumbling back from wee morning drinks, or hyperactive screeching children racing down the hotel corridors from the rooms to the lift. Plus, I could faintly pick up a not so pleasant smell in the toilet with my ultra sensitive nose. Perhaps the toilet bowl area needs a good scrub down from previous occupants' lack of good aim.... or perhaps someone ought to conduct global wide seminar on why "Men should learn to aim right before peeing" followed by bonus session 2 - "Men should learn to WIPE down if they miss" It's such a BIG hole, how does one miss it? *Shake head*

Another good thing about Quay Grand Suite, its situated near the bus stops that goes to city. In fact there is even one free shuttle bus that picks up people along QVB street that heads street back to the harbor terminal. So its really great for people who doesnt want to buy Travel Ten (a local bus pass for 10 trips)

Monkey-dog?

Was strolling around Lane Crawford IFC and spotted this sitting on the counter.

I couldnt quite decide really...

Is it a Monkey? A Dog?

A monkey on fours?

Whatever, the "identity-crisis" animal it's meant to be, its rather cute...

Chopsticks

Chopsticks... Yep, that is exactly what caught my attention while dining in my usual Jap restaurant last week.

Perhaps subconciously I had picked this up but never quite fully realized it, that is when I get served fully by a native Jap staff in Japanese, the whole dining experience is completely different as compared to being served by a Hk staff.

It isn't just about the soft mannerism, politeness and better service...its about attention to minor details down to chop sticks placement. The first difference I spotted was that I get served with proper chopsticks, not the disposable ones. Perhaps Japanese clients generally prefer not to use disposable chopsticks in restaurants, as such when I was conversing with her in Japanese throught out, I get the honor of extra attentive level. When she placed the chopsticks, it wasn't enough that it was on the holder, she made sure the pair had the logo faced up perfectly and aligned side by side. A Hk staff will not take the trouble trust me! I looked at the tables around me, no one else got the proper chopsticks except another Japanese table...hmmm. Secondly, In true Japanese style she would proactively apologised should she notice there be a longer delay between the dishes served. without being asked, the Jap waitress will check and informed the eta of the next dish. Again a trait sorely absent frm Hk staff. It would be hardpressed to expect any remote resemblance from the Hk counterparts. It is more likely for me to be flinging my arms desperately enquiring where is my next dish everytime I get a Hk service staff.

I like being served by Japanese staff because it completes the dining experience. Take a Japanese out of japan but the spirit of service lives on in them. When one goes to japan, people might complain about price or amenitie or language barrier but bad service? Almost unheard of.

When my dinner ended, she politely enquired if I had lived in japan. I have come to a conclusion that if a non Japanese is able to go beyond saying hello bye and thank you, they would always politely compliment that one's Japanese is very good. I know my spoken Jap is rusty and crap but they always tell me I am good... Feel so undeserving each time sigh...

Ahhh.... always nice to have an old friend in town.

Sharkbones, Sharkfins...

I was faced with a mild dilemma yesterday. I went to Lei Garden for dinner and asked them what was the daily soup of the day. I thought I misheard what they said, so I asked for the written menu so that I can read for myself. I didnt hear them wrongly, the soup of the day was indeed written as boiled shark bone soup.

Ok. This is where I was a little caught off guard. Sharkbones?
So is it ethical or non-ethical?

I have been against anti-sharkfin consumption for a long time now. Basically, for the senselessness of the cusine, as well as the cruel disposing of finless shark left to die in the sea. In addition, it will cause a rapid decrease in the shark population and throw the eco balance off its charts.

It is fast becoming a common knowledge that eating sharkfin as a traditional delicacy is retained for no justifiable reasons, except that it is just a "chinese tradition" to mark celebratory occasions, or at times merely to flaunt wealth & status. The fin itself is tasteless, and quite frankly, has little nutritional value to sustain our wellbeing. I fail to see how other more common food cannot substitute this insatiable need to eat sharkfin.

So now, sharkbones?
For or against?
In the end, I forgo the soup dish completely because I figure if in doubt, stick to your instincts.

This brings to mind an event that occurred during recent Christmas.

My partner all along understood my stand against sharkfin, as such out of respect for me, he has discontinued this dietary habit introduced by his folks from a young age. Yet during Christmas meals with his family, I am always confronted with this offending dish without fail. I would always politely decline the dish. While I cannot expect his family members to change for me, I do expect my partner to a certain degree, not cave in to the dish before him.

Finally, this recent Christmas, I had enough in light of well other events that transpired. I took my cue when he was lamenting on the indirect "collapse" of the Copenhagen talk on dealing with Global Climate, and how people should support the green act with their political votes rather than their mouth. He commented people just want to stick to their old habits and not care or understand that fossil fuels are not infinite etc... I took the opportunity to question my partner on why he was willing to abandon all his principles on Christmas day? I drew parallel that if he was unwilling to rid totally his sharkfin habit, who is he to expect other people to understand and make habitual changes over such a "big and remote" concept of going green? He is not unlike the people who didnt want changes to their daily life. And then I asked him, how could he be so passionate against whale hunting and an advocate for Australia's whale protection but yet turn a blind eye to the uncontrolled sharkfin trade? Both are equal partners of the ocean life. Both deserves same treatment and respect.

My partner gone quiet.
He agreed to go cold turkey and rid himself of eating sharkfin from future Christmas meal.

It probably wasnt easy for him but I am proud of him for doing it.
Apparently his mum had gone hysterical and ballistic over his request to exclude his share from her future sharkfin dish preparation. She kinda got upset because to her, "eating sharkfin" is the Chinese family tradition. Back in my head, I was thinking "oh save the crap logic." On one hand, she didnt retain any (worthy) Chinese culture and traditions in her kids, and yet, she wants to cling on to the singular senseless consumption of sharkfin? All her kids and grandchildren grew up not having or knowing their chinese heritage, language nor values and she wants to talk about "traditions" with me? Talk about irony. But that is her problem, not mine.

Anycase, this isnt a stand I will back down from regardless.
My partner deserves a good pat on the back.

Singapore Mac Donald's unilateral decide to drop the "Pig" from its zodiac collectibles

Did anyone else read about the PR mess Mac Donald made in Singapore in killing the "pig" character from the traditional 12 animal zodiac sign? What a furor it created...I couldnt believe such blatant discrimination against non muslims...

It was an absurd, "stirring-the-pot" marketing mess made by Mac Donald Singapore with regards to the Chinese Zodiac plush collectible? I was totally nonplussed after reading the article.

Apparently "some idiotic" personnel in the Macs team had decided to pull out the "Pig" character from the renowned Chinese Zodiac collection, and replaced it with a cupid representation. Their rationale was Mac Donalds is a Halal restaurant and this stunt was to prevent offending the Singaporean Muslims. So instead, they didn’t have any issue offending the Non muslim Chinese. Good to know that.

To me, this is pure insensitivity against Chinese non-Muslim customers. The point to note, this is another case of political correctness gone overdrive and totally mishandled. As a non-muslim Chinese, the immediate reaction was "why are the Chinese non muslims being marginalised and discriminated?" A giant American corporation suddenly felt they are conversant enough with the various religious faiths and native traditions to make such an arrogant unilateral decision? Even if the decisions are taken by the local staff, a corporation on the whole has to bear some responsibility.

With this move, I felt the deeply entrenched Chinese tradition / culture is being sidelined because of some idiot who decided to place one religion over the beliefs of many others.

While I am all for racial and religious harmony, however to create a non existing matter into an issue, this is surely not to be encouraged? It couldnt have been the decision of a single person. A chain of people who approved it apparently has not real understanding of the individual beliefs.

The first fundamental question that goes to refute Mac Donald's argument.
When has faith's Halal definition of non-consumption of pork been changed to non- association with pig related objects?

In the first place, Zodiac IS a CHINESE custom. So in celebration of a Chinese custom, how does another religious faith come into play here? Are u telling me next that the whole country should refrain from any Chinese New year Celebration when it is the Year of the Pig? While the Muslims have every right not to purchase the pig animal if it truly offends them, the Chinese also have every right to retain our rights to purchase the Pig character. The crucial point to highlight here - we are NOT celebrating a Muslim festival, the collectibles is a representation of our Chinese heritage while embracing the arrival of CHINESE NEW YEAR. Hence it is incomprehensible as to why are the Chinese being deprived of its cultural rights and traditonal "mascot"?

The second question begets the next thought, why should Muslim be the only religion be taken into consideration? How about Hindu religion that advocate the non consumption of beef? Shouldnt Mac Donald's just withdraw the OX character? Make it better, let’s propose not to sell any beef burgers. Oh no? Simply because Indians typically do not kick up a stinker or have some certification to back them and as such, their viewpoint doesn’t stake a claim? So explain to me Mac Donalds, why isnt the company practising what you preach about religious sensitivity towards our fellow Hindus in Singapore? Why is there such a glaring double standard?

Back to the Muslims; care to explain why wasnt Dog character withdrawn as well since it is common knowledge how Muslim would avoid any contact with dogs. So it is an issue for them to come in contact with a real dog but really, a doggie character is perfectly fine? So really, help me out here.

Mac Donald's logic is so flawed that I almost wanted to laugh from exasperation. Taking their logic one step further, should all hawker centers that currently have Muslim stalls and Chinese stalls coexisting together be demolished? If the Mac Donald logic stands that selling of plush toy is unforgivable, isnt it worse to have sale of pork taking place within close vicinity of the muslim stalls?

More importantly, if we were to confine ourselves to the idea of banning all sale of pig related products, then ideally cinemas should refrain from airing pig theme movies like Charlotte's web and Babe. For their sake, all Muslim patrons should be prohibited from watching such offending movies due to 2hrs pig exposure. Libraries and book stores likewise should pull out all pig related items from its shelves to align with this Macdonald's warp definition of respecting the Muslims. As for Disney world, Universal world it is time to say goodbye to the infamous Mr Porky pig character and our "threee little pigs" . that is if they want Muslim tourists to patronise their theme park. A big No No to pigs.

The list goes on as to why this promotional stunt is such a stinking mess. It is illogical, arrogant and neglect the long practising belief of the Chinese with our zodiac signs. Quite frankly, this reeks of pure ignorance, poor judgement and ill advised partiality. This PR blunder has got to be halted.

If Mac Donald's staff had truly been using their head rather thinking with their arse, they should have retained the PIG character, as well as adding the Cupid character for our fellow patrons who had no wish to collect the pig character. In this way, Mac Donald's would have successfully made both the Chinese non-Muslims and Muslim customers happy. Instead of grabbing the opportunity to display their ability to promote harmony across all faiths, this singular oversight has landed macs in the middle of a negative media storm.

What Mac Donalds Singapore is doing from this incident is not a practice of sensitivity. Rather, its action and any support of this comes across more as a display of religious intolerence and contemptuous demand of a one-sided submission and surrender of other religious and cultural rights to the Muslim faith.

Someone really ought to get demoted for such a PR mess.

Strait Times News Extract (link)
FAST-FOOD giant McDonald's has stirred up a controversy by omitting pig characters from its latest toy promotions.

The pig soft toy was expected to have been part of a 12-character Doraemon set depicting the animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar. Customers wanting the toy would have to pay $2 on top of making a food purchase.

But McDonald's decided not to include the pig toy to avoid offending Muslim customers, and had a Doraemon Cupid toy in its place instead.

The move has upset Chinese customers keen on collecting all 12 toys in the series. One of them, staff nurse Daphne Koh, 26, said: 'I was born in the Year of the Pig and would have collected the whole set. But without the pig, it makes no sense for me to do so.'

Retiree May Liaw, 55, who had wanted to buy a set to decorate her home for Chinese New Year, said: 'It is strange to have Cupid in place of the pig. The set is incomplete and I am not interested in individual pieces.'

Various online forums are also abuzz with discussions on whether the fast-food chain has overreacted.

How I came to love reading...

As I strolled along the children's book section, I found the shelves lacking of good books. I'm not refering to the writing, rather, I wish there is a broader range of content that are more thought evoking for the young developing minds. The hot and popular range from vampires, to magical adventures of sort are fine, except it isnt exactly character moulding and in touch with reality.

I miss the classics. Ocassionally, I still derive much joy glancing through some of my childhood favs.

If someone is to ask me what was my first favorite book, unhesitatingly my reply would be "Sing to the Dawn". Though my favorite children author remained unreservedly to date as Enid Blyton.

If someone asked me what was the first book I read (that I didnt quite like), it would be "The Ugly Duckling". Ghees I hated that book. The title seared into my head because my brothers had refused to explain the words to me, instead demanding that I should underline the unknown words and to look up the dictionary on my own. Damn, reading became such a chore that I decided I had rather guess the meaning than the hassle of checking up the dic. That habit ultimately ended up as a useful "ability" as I eventually discovered in high school, since my English papers always required me to guess the meaning of the word in passages and comprehension under the vocab section. Ha!

"Sing to Dawn" wasnt a book someone picked for me. Instead, it was a gem I had found nestled amongst the scores of books kept inside the neglected storeroom. At my old home where I grew up in, my mum used to pack all the unused books into the storeroom. I remembered there were like numerous elongated shelves built from floor to ceiling, filled with tightly packed books. There must be over hundred books in that tiny dark room which became my favourite secret hideout. It was truly my magical store. Unknown to rest of my family, one of my treasured past time then was to grab a stool (since I was too short to reach books at the upper shelves) and browse through all the books laid forgotten in the dusty shelves.

Due to our vast age difference, my brothers had many great books. From the hard cover novels, to literature books and encyclopedia. By 8yr, my brain was starving for something to occupy my mind with. Since I didnt have a playmate near my age and my mum had this policy that "girls" should stay at home at all times, those books were ultimately my saviour for years to come.

My mum didnt buy me alot of story books. She would if I asked for it specifically or when they are recommended by school. When one is young and you understand your family financial status, you kinda instinctively know not to ask for "non essential" things, so I was more than happy to raid my brother's collection. That was how I found "Sing to the Dawn" and begun my proactive foray into the world of books.

The books I was exposed to were probably my brother's textbooks. Though some were really good adventure friction.

I cherish his Egyptian encyclopedia with all the pictures and narration from the mythical gods to the tragic story of Cleopatra the most. Which probably explain my ongoing fixation with the legends and stories that evolved round the mummies and treasures displays.

Following next, I bulldozed my way through the William Shakespeare's novels patiently awaiting its next reader. Much that I didnt quite understand some of the words written in old English/ Latin used in Macbeth and The merchant of Venice but the content was nevertheless thoroughly enjoyable. I truly admired the idea of "a pound of flesh" that it made quite an impression in my young head. Subsequently in later years, I went on to finish the rest of titles for leisure and reread those I had pored over as a kid...much to the skepticism of my friends who couldnt fathom what is so interesting about those books. Their loss, not mine.

At 10, I proceeded to conquer my brother's collection of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen collection, primarily A Tale of two cities, Oliver Twist, Christmas Carol, and Sense & Sensibility. In the same year and the following, I went on to Animal Farm and was incredibly sad when the book ended.

It was at the same year that I borrowed Enid Blyton's collection on The Faraway Tree, Secret Seven, Famous Five, Wishing Chair, and Naughtiest Girl series, not to forget my fav Hardy Boys series and those too became my all time prized reads.

As I look through the children book section of today, and compared to what I was reading when I was young, I am glad I grew up with my brother's rich literary collection instead of these fantasy books. I remembered those books more vividly than those children titles like Snow White, Sleeping beauty etc.

Frankly, I have always hated those princesses books. In fact, the 2 most significant characters whom I had despised and disliked since I was a kid had always been Snow White and especially Little Mermaid. Till this day, I still didnt like these 2 famous wimpy characters. When I was young, I didnt like the mermaid's attitude but even more so that I didnt understand how she could willingly abandon her family for a guy whom she didnt know. Somehow, I just knew it was a stupid idea and being so flaky to blindly wish the prince would know who she is esp when she couldnt talk. Christ, I hated bimbo even when i was kid....and there truly is not an ounce of syrupy romantic gene in my bones... Come to think of it, I had never ever wanted to be a princess even as a little girl. I much rather go on an adventure than to live the mushy lines of "live happily ever after" Eeeweee...

I think reading books beyond my years had a significant impact on me. I drew many inspirations from it. Most of all, it shaped my viewpoint in life, my objectivity and frame of mind dealing with events and decisions in my life, including people around me. Indirectly, it influenced the way I behave, and the way I recognise people for who they are as depicted in the books. Just like how "Sing to the Dawn" had given me an insight about sibling bond, and about going after what your heart desires (basically modern go getter syndrome) that a girl is equally competent as a guy, which was reinforced by my all-girls school environment. Which is probably why I hope my nephews would read as widely as they can at an early age and benefit from reading as I had the fortune to. Then again, everyone is different.

I wonder how many people realise reading is not about enhancing the language skill. It is about the kid absorbing and digesting the content and the important message that comes through from the words as the author intended.

There isnt an age limit to how far a kid can read. I am glad there was no one to ever tell me I couldnt read a book because it was too deep for me to comprehend. Most of all, I am glad my partner loved books as much as I do. By the time our years of our unsettled living come to an end, I look forward to having my own reading room to host the infinitely large amount of beloved books that I had chalked up over the years.