Category: Uncategorized

  • On George Floyd: Doing the Right Thing

    (Another 10 minutes read, apologies. Maybe my strong response goes beyond being edgy.) Out of goodwill, I touched base with a few non-local friends who had opinions, or are affected by the sparks of protests ignited by George Floyd’s death. Deliberately leaving the questions open, I left it to my friends to develop their points…

  • On George Floyd, Freedoms and Ignorance

    Instead of exercising freedoms of speech and expression (as what the United States claims to be a paragon of) to have open conversations about race, as well as about law and order, we see police brutality, race issues and protests unfurl across the country. Years back, I was in the US myself. Showing public displays…

  • Circuit Breaker Diary: Week 2

    (More mundane days are redacted.) Monday, 13 April The start of a new week. The highlight today was takeaway during lunch. I went to takeaway food from a Japanese food stall and was greeted with emptiness. There were more stall employees than people ordering takeaway. How would any of these stalls survive when the relief…

  • Circuit Breaker Diary: Week 1

    Tuesday, 7 April Woke up to the realisation that it is a circuit breaker. Thankfully some colleagues sent me some links on free courses on Pluralsight. Still trying to get used to work from home. It feels odd, because I never optimised my house for extensive work from home (WFH). How I wish I bought…

  • A Different Dimension of the Novel Coronavirus (nCOV) Crisis

    Is nCOV the same as SARS? H1N1? Or is it something else? Depending on who one asks, and which perspective you seek, one will get different answers. The dynamic nature of a crisis is such that there are information gaps, which I will spend some time to opine on. Medical Facts First, let us lay…

  • Another End of Year Post

    Are end-of-year notes still a thing? Even if they are not, I think it is good to write them, even though I plan to take a different approach to this. I don’t think you, as a reader, would appreciate a “year summary” very much. However, there is a central question I have for this year,…

  • 对台湾旅游的感触 (Feelings about Taiwan Travels)

    I travelled to understand the world and what the best talents could do – that was through a unique road trip through the United States. I travelled to discover just how different people can be even in close proximity – that was through train rides for city escapades in Europe. I travelled to sense, with…

  • Eva: Probably the Most Under-rated Airline I’ve Taken

    Flight DetailsFlight: BR216 from Singapore to Taipei-TaoyuanFlight time: 4 hours 40 minutes (scheduled)Departure: slightly after 1525 hours.Arrival: approx 1945 hours. (plane caught up!) Review As a traveller who often leans for a full-service carrier instead of a budget carrier should the price differential not be great intra-Asia, I have expectations that the premium I pay…

  • Value of our Values?

    A number of my friends had strong responses to Prof. Koh’s claim of Singapore being a “first-world country with third-world people”. It was also fairly interesting some responses online became one of blame, as opposed to constructive feedback. That has been a theme for a while in civic society, which supports Prof. Koh’s claim. Many…

  • Correlation Between Teaching and Joy

    I miss school very much. At times, I wish I can just go back to school and simplify life to one dimension: work on graduation! I have a soft spot for education partially because I have also been a tutor. In fact, besides writing, the only other job I have ever done part-time was being…