Beat the bak kwa queue

Chinese New Year is here and everyone are rushing to purchase their festive goodies at the last minute. They look at the queues at these outlets in dismay and then purchase the goodies at market price after a long wait of three hours or more. We also have the smarter ones, who not only get to have a quick purchase, they even get a discount! That's where everyone will be flocking to after the news hit the papers.

I'm sure no one can resist the temptation of a slice of red and juicy bak kwa! Yet, the adults are starting to complain: Chinese New Year is one that will empty their pockets, for not only do they distribute a generous amount of cash to the children in red packets, they also purchase new clothing, decorations and goodies!

If you were kept up-to-date, you would have targeted your purchases at the factory outlets in the Woodlands area! That's right, not only will you be able to purchase your goodies quick, you even get a 5 to 10 percent off selected products. These sales are usually spreaded through the word of mouth and the main customers live nearby. Definitely, by participating in the factory sales, you get to avoid to crowd at their main retail stores at malls and in the heartlands!

While most of the bak kwa stores are holding factory sales, some feel that it is a waste of manpower. Customers also find purchasing bak kwa more convenient in shopping malls, while others think that they can also snatch deals from other companies as the factories are lined up in a straight line.

Whichever way you choose, it doesn't matter as long as you get to purchase it. In your opinion, which way is better?

Rules on the bus go round and round

I take the bus home everyday from school and have noticed that after so many years, people still don't follow the rules. They don't spare a thought for others. Be considerate to others and others will be considerate to you. Here is a recap of 4 of the rules when taking a bus.
Really simple to follow, right? Queuing up is respecting others who arrive earlier than us. Moving to the back of the bus is sparing a thought for others who have no space to get on. No eating or drinking on the bus is making the place clean. Giving your seats to the pregnant, disabled or those who children is being helpful. Often, when the bus becomes too crowded at the front, the bus driver has to shout for the people at the middle to move back. I feel that this is really not needed if people had the initiative. Imagine foreigners in the buses. How will they think about Singaporeans? No courtesy at all?

Same goes for trains. Recently, the fine for eating and drinking on MRT trains was imposed and officers are stationed in most trains to catch those inconsiderate people. Think about it: How much will SMRT have to spend if the carpeted floor was stained? No pets and durians allowed on the buses and trains either as the former might create droppings and the latter might produce a smell that will irritate some. Always allow the people in the train to come out before entering: That's basic courtesy.

Like what they always say, courtesy begins with me.

They make life better

I wanted to do a review on Happy Family, but decided not to as it is still too early to judge and comment on the show. I might do it next week. Instead, here's a meaningful variety show that won the "Best Variety Show" in last year's Star Awards and have come back for a 2nd season.
That's right. Life Transformers 2 is a variety programme hosted by Quan Yi Feng and Christopher Lee. This programme aims to help the less fortunate in life, for example treatments for sickness, work for the jobless, school for the children and house cleaning. Through this programme, we are able to feel for them and see how fortunate we are when we see the other society in Singapore. They have their problems, we have ours, but whose is harder to solve and more important for survival?

It pains to see them suffer without anyone helping. Come on, where have all the kind people in the world go? Fortunately, those willing to help have applied as volunteers. In fact, this process not only helps the less fortunate, it allows them to learn an important life lesson that can only be experienced, not taught. Through this show, we can also see the true side of the two hosts. While filming, they are able to crack light jokes despite of their feelings then. This really stands out to me and I really appreciate their efforts. This show would have easily obtained the "Most-Watched Variety Show" in this year's Star Awards 2010 if not for "The Wedding" of Christopher Lee and Fann Wong.

I personally feel that Quan Yi Feng is a host of her own. She is often asked to host helpful programmes like "Buzzling Cashier" and "Life Transformers 2" as she really can host it. Life Transformers 2 is really a nice and touching programme and we should all watch are remind ourselves to be happy with what we have.

Life Transformers 2 runs every Monday at 8pm for 1 hour with 10 episodes per season.

The pig that ran away

The wolf that dropped into the cauldron was never a real wolf! In fact, it was a Santa-sheep-in-wolf-clothing coming down from the chimney to deliver presents to the good ones. Just as the pig in the brick house was about to celebrate the death of the "wolf", the real wolf suddenly barged in! Turns out that the wolf finally realised that the fastest way in a brick house was through the door and not through huffing-and-puffing. The wolf then, with little effort, gobbled up the last little pig and completed his stomach collection of the Three Little Pigs.

That's where the pig from McDonalds went. By now, everyone should have known about the case of the missing pig at McDonalds to some degree. Just in case you don't, here's a short summary of the incident.

McDonalds outlets in Singapore are selling Doraemon zodiac lucky charms for $2 each with every purchase of a set meal, in which proceeds will go to charity. However, the collectors of these charms with stumped when they saw the whole set:

Where did the pig go? Instead, it has been replaced by Cupid. For several days, there were much speculation and discussion from Singaporeans. One clever forumer even suggested that Cupid sounds like "cute pig" and thus can be considered as one of the 12 zodiac signs. Fortunately, McDonalds explained few days in that this move was done in order not to offend the Muslims and thus replaced it with the Cupid, reasoning that Valentine's Day also falls in February.

For several weeks, there has been much objection to this move. Collectors said that due to this change, they are unable to collect the whole set of zodiac Doraemon charms and thus make their collection incomplete. Muslims have also voiced out that they do not mind as this is not a food, but merely a soft toy and this is not non-halal. Some people have pointed out that this disrespects the Chinese zodiac, which has been around for many centuries.

Alas, McDonalds finally decides to rescue the pig from the wolf's tummy! McDonalds apologises for the action and states that the Pig will be available in mid April.


I guess that's good news to the collectors. What are your takes on this?

"I coulda bin a contender"

Contend with what we have and not be unhappy with what we don't. You can always see things in more than one perspective: Which perspective to look from, the decision lies on you. Take a look at this picture of a gecko and a cockroach:

The gecko won. While the gecko has to fight for food, we get our food conveniently at our nearest supermarket or food store. Still, we complain that our food do not taste nice. Some people in this world don't even get food.

Remember the Si Chuan earthquake a few years back? Now, the people there have not totally overcome the incident yet. What kept the survivors alive was the spirit and the belief that they will survive. These are the optimists. Some of them gave up hope and stopped struggling for that little hope of life. These are the pessimists. Guess who won the struggle.

People really do not know how to count their blessings. Let's view the current big news: earthquake in Haiti. It was a strong one and not to be underestimated. Do you believe that this might be a good thing for Haiti? Ask yourself: Did you know that Haiti ever existed? If you look at it from the bright side, this might actually be a chance to turn the economy around with all those donations from organisations and companies. However, Haiti has dealt a great blow. This will affect its population and advancement as a country. Imagine yourself experiencing this earthquake. How will you feel?

Be contend with what you have. Here in Singapore, we are free from natural disasters. Although we are small, we are noticed because of our unique culture and attractions. Here in Singapore, we live a peaceful life without much interruption. Here in Singapore, we have enough to eat and eat till "I coulda bin a continent". Will you count your blessings?

Time does not fly

It runs. Okay, let's cut Leoj short. I will take this time to share with everyone my views about time.

Time. Remember how our parents, seniors (mouse over) and teachers tell us countless times not to waste time as time flies and is precious? Yes, definitely. Time is precious. We should use our time wisely and do more meaningful things. Here is a story:

"Daddy, how much do you earn an hour at work?" the little boy greeted his father as he came back from work.

His father was surprised by his question and said with a glaring look, "Why do you want to know? Not even your mother knows that. Don't bother me now, I'm tired."

However, the boy insisted and the father eventually gave in, "Twenty dollars per hour."

"Okay Daddy, could you lend me ten dollars?"

Showing his restlessness and positively disturbed, the father hollered, "So that was the reason you asked how much I earn! Go to sleep and don't bother me anymore!"

Late at night, the father meditated on what he said and felt guilty for shouting at him. Maybe, he thought, his son wanted to buy something.

Finally, trying to keep his mind at ease, the father went to his son's room.
"Are you asleep, son?" the father asked.
"No, Daddy." the little boy said, partially asleep.

"Here's the money you wanted to borrow earlier," the father said.

"Thanks, Daddy!" rejoiced the son and he took out another wad of bill from under his pillow.

Upon seeing the money, his father was angered, "Why do you still want money when you already have so much? Do you know how hard it is to earn money these days?"

"Yes, Daddy, but I did not have enough. Now I have twenty dollars!" the boy said.

"Why do you waste this money on something useless? Money is precious!" his father shouted.

Before he could finish, his son said timidly, "Daddy, could you sell me one hour of your time?"

As you can see, time is precious. Too precious to spend it all on work, so do remember to spend time with your close ones. Until here, I would like to clarify, I am not saying studies are not important. No, that is not the point at this time. Here, we are discussing about time, so let's try to put this is another way. Time is precious, so shouldn't we spend our time wisely revising and upgrading ourselves instead of wasting our time? (:

Asking around, you will realise the value of time.
The value of one year: Ask a student that has failed his annual examination.
The value of one month: Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
The value of one week: Ask a weekly editor.
The value of one day: Ask a daily-wage labourer.
The value of one hour: Ask the lovers who are eager to meet.
The value of one minute: Ask a person who has missed the bus or train.
The value of one second:  Ask a person who has survived an accident.
The value of one milli-second: Ask a person who has lost a race.

Here we have, precious time.

Together, we conquer

As promised, I will be posting drama reviews. However, I decided to expand it to include books, movies and other interesting stuff, so I will just categorize them under "Review Monday". Oh, and to add colour to the blog, I will be posting comic strips randomly, mostly to make my point. That's Leoj in the banner above.

I wanted to complete this review yesterday, but I did not have the time. I will now post, just in time for the last episode tonight at 9pm!

That's right. "Together" is the Channel 8 Year End Blockbuster 2009, running for 36 episodes at 9pm everyday from Monday to Friday. The story is setback to the 1967, right after the WWII ended. It mainly revolves around the lives of 6 friends who live together in a shophouse. The story reflects true events of the past, like the Robinson Fire and the shortage of rice at one point of time in history. $4 eye lash rental, 1967 Car Race etc. stuffs from the olden days that our seniors will remember. As the story progresses, the years increase rapidly and they slowly grow up, getting more involved in the world and relationships. The finale today will end in the 1900s where North Bridge Road will be demolished and they have a final reunion dinner at the shophouse.

This is not just a typical plot. There are not many times where shows are set in the olden days in recent years as usually these shows require more time to prepare and film due to the differences in the time period. Two good examples are 2008's Blockbuster "The Little Nyonya", which caused a sensation and a craze of the peranakan culture, and 2007's Blockbuster "The Golden Path", in which the first few episodes were set in 1980s. There is another one planned in 2011, where the blockbuster will be a musical ("A Song to Remember" - tentative title) and set in the 30s and 40s which 10 original soundtrack. (A chance that it might be filmed in China!) I love this genre of shows as the storyline is refreshing and the characters are interesting to watch. The actors fared well, up to expectation, since most of them are experienced. The bad guys were real bad, and the good guys were excellent. I actually liked the plot when it involved action where policemen were dragged in the scene, but they were slowly eliminated (corrupted) and the last one standing disappeared without a trace. Wrestling was also included as one of the major components of the show.

It would be better if more details were provided and explained in depth, as nearing the end of the show, there were alot of things unexplained, left for the watcher to guess and interpret. However, I have to admit that the linking of the story was amazing, and I hope that Mediacorp will produce more shows of this genre in the future.

Rating: 4.5/5