i heffa new ipod!

Wednesday, December 26, 2007



And in return someone else heffalump:



Good deal, methinks.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 posted by zyn :: 4:44 PM :: 4 Comments :: permalink


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getting into the spirit, part 2

Monday, December 24, 2007

Reading ST Forum is one of my favourite activities. The letters that people write in really say a lot about being Singaporean.

Like this one:

Shocked over gift-wrap encounter at toy shop

MY WIFE and I bought a 14-inch Beancurd Asst Colour (a huggable soft toy equivalent) for $19.95 from Action City Store in Marina Square on Dec 14.

After I paid for the item and walked out of the store, we saw a signage that promoted free gift wrapping for items that cost $20 and above. My wife signalled to me to see if they could gift wrap this item on our behalf. What I encountered next left me speechless.

I walked up to the woman and asked if she could wrap the item that I had just bought from the store. Her first comment was: 'Your item so big'.

She called out to her colleague in the store. A man came out, looked at my item and told me that my item cost $19.95, five cents short to qualify for free gift wrap.

I pointed to him that the difference was small and hoped that he could make this generous exception to have my item gift wrapped. He repeated his point about the shortfall.

I offered to give him the five cents shortfall so that my item would 'qualify' for the free gift wrap. He (obviously and understandably) declined and again referred to the notice posted.

I then appealed to his goodwill to overlook this five-cent difference to establish good public relations with his customers and making them happy. The 'stinger' came when he rebuffed me and reiterated that it was 'company policy' and walked off leaving me standing there.

This was about 7.30pm when the crowds were heavy and there was much human traffic. About three people who saw what transpired were also shocked by the behaviour of the staff.

A nice elderly Caucasian woman came up to me to ask if I was all right. She comforted me by suggesting that these workers were probably 'temps' and that they were young. She said that in the UK, people were more flexible and gracious with their customers as they based their service on building relationships and loyalty and not just dollars and cents.

As I reflect, I realised that this male worker was not skilled to deal with situations 'out of the box'. He just kept repeating the same thing over and over again without engaging me in the appeal that I made.

As Singapore progresses towards promoting tourism and graciousness, I wonder if more can be done to assist our sales personnel to raise their level of professionalism.

Ng Bock Hon

Okay. While I agree that in general service staff here are not very flexible, I think to a large extent it's not their fault, because many of them are just employees and don't have any authority to extend favours or discounts. But the disgraceful behaviour that really stands out about this letter - to me at least - is that of the writer's! I mean, he clearly didn't qualify for the $20 minimum for FREE gift-wrapping and he still has the nerve to ask for it and bitch about not getting it?? Seriously! This is the worst kind of Singaporean - who assumes that he has "rights" as a consumer and insists on exercising them. Disgusting.

As if that wasn't enough, another disgusting consumer left the following comment on his letter:

bluefairy

i am not surprised by the lack of flexibility in most of the people here. i went to a well known ice cream shop in clementi and bought a tub of hand made ice cream. the boss herself scooped the ice cream onto the weighing machine and it was slightly over 700 g that i was buying, about 20g more, and know what she scooped some of back and make sure she give me the exact amount. the staff just follow her example.

As another astute commenter noted, this customer would definitely have kicked up a big fuss if she had gotten 20g LESS ice cream. What right does she have to make a snide comment about not getting MORE ice cream than she paid for?? I cannot believe these people. It was bad enough when people complained about getting a bad deal, or having to pay more than something was worth - now they're complaining about NOT getting things they DIDN'T EVEN PAY FOR??

I hope they all have the miserable Christmases that befit such misers.

P.S. This post is called getting into the spirit because, in the spirit of the season, I have been kind enough not to get into the deplorable language standards displayed in the above letters.

 posted by zyn :: 11:49 AM :: 3 Comments :: permalink


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home alone (almost)

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

My parents are in Melbourne for the week and I have been charged with the care and feeding of the entities known as my younger siblings, even though there are very few actual resemblances. My sister, for instance, likes to travel to third-world countries to do charity work. My brother reads Neal Stephenson.

And they're both staunch Catholics. But that's another matter.

Anyway in this week I have been abjectly humbled by the amount of work my parents must have had to do to raise the three of us. Since they left I've had to ferry my siblings around to various activities, do the grocery shopping, cook meals, and take them out to dinner and a movie. Today I got up at 6.45am to play driving instructor while my sister nervously drove to school. (It's quite cute, she sticks out her arms straight and stays in the left lane. More evidence of the vast gulf between us.) Then I went Christmas shopping, which took the whole day. I'm exhausted. And my parents have only been gone three days.

So it's true what they say - you don't really appreciate your parents until they're not around. I'm just glad I learned this lesson before it's too late.

On the subject of being humbled, I'm starting to draw up my resolutions for next year. (My persistence in this futile exercise every year is proof that optimistic irrationality is alive and well.) Tally of last year's resolutions: work less, check, thanks to subbing stint. Drink less, big check, thanks to removal of certain bad influences. Which also led to - Stop smoking, biggest check of all!

So at the top of my list for next year, I think, is: be a humbler person. This year I've already gotten everything I want; I should be simply grateful for that. Now it's time to sit back, enjoy life - and think about what my resolutions should be for 2009.

 posted by zyn :: 12:29 AM :: 4 Comments :: permalink


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getting into the spirit

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Rewatching Love Actually, my favourite Christmas movie (actually possibly the only one I've ever liked).

I may not always love you
But long as there are stars above you
You never need to doubt it
I'll make you so sure about it

God only knows what I'd be without you

If you should ever leave me
Though life would still go on believe me
The world could show nothing to me
So what good would living do me

God only knows what I'd be without you

- God only knows, Beach Boys

 posted by zyn :: 10:06 PM :: 6 Comments :: permalink


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my latest cause

Friday, December 07, 2007

On Facebook (how many of my entries have been inspired by Facebook??) there is this application called Causes. I hate applications, so I haven't added it. But basically you add the application and then a little box appears on your profile to say what causes you stand for.

It's surprising what some people claim to stand for, given that they've never shown any evidence in real life of backing those causes. But, as a column in today's papers says, it's easy these days to say you support something - just click a button and soon everyone will know about it. Offline, some people talk nonstop about their so-called allegiances, as though volume and volubility alone were qualifications. Self-professed environmentalists who drive cars, animal rights supporters who eat burgers, gay rights supporters who say "that is so gay" and not about the latest Prada shoes - these people are all hypocrites.

The worst part is, not only do they boast incessantly of their heightened awareness of the state of the world, but they also insist on making other people feel bad about not supporting their causes like they have done; which, in substance, consists simply of joining the relevant Facebook group.

So for all those people who believe that clicking a button - or wearing a badge, or buying a bumper sticker, or just talking loudly over other people - gives you the right to sanctimoniousness, wake up and smell the dung that your stupid free range cow has just dumped all over the nice environmentally-unfriendly machinery. In other words, if you want to associate yourself firmly with a cause, make sure you're prepared to back your convictions with suitable actions.

If not I will join the anti-hypocrites group on Facebook and talk very loudly about how I hate hypocrites who talk loudly.

 posted by zyn :: 9:09 PM :: 9 Comments :: permalink


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BFFs

Monday, December 03, 2007

This NYT article I read on Sunday manages to put into words - albeit very extreme ones - everything I've always struggled to say about female friendships.

Over the years, I have come to reluctantly accept that I have more male friends than female ones. My reason for this is so innate it's difficult to explain, but it's simply this: guys are easier to get along with than girls.

Some people like to dismiss that, in an irritating fashion, as sexual tension. "Of course it's easier to get along with the opposite sex, you just flirt lah!"

But that's not really it. For one thing, most of my male friends are gay. It's just that guys are generally more laid-back and less catty. Or at least less genuinely claws-bared, daggers-out, no-holds-barred catty. They're less obsessive, less insecure, less competitive. With girls it's always about exclusion - backhanded compliments, meaningful glances, sly smirks. I hate that. Guys don't do that. They just don't have that many levels in their brains. That's why they can be more chill.

The number of good female friends I have, I can count on my fingers (maybe toes, on a good day). They are without exception people I respect with sincerity. I don't really need to respect my male friends, though. Not that I don't, just that I've never had to think about it.

I'm not sure I believe girls who say they have a whole group of extremely loyal and purely female friends. I've never met any group that had absolutely no backstabbing or resentment or one-upping. Mixed groups are better, some of the tension is taken out by the presence of disparate guys.

So the barriers to entry may be higher for girls to make other female friends, but I think the ones who do pass muster at the end are much more worth it.

 posted by zyn :: 7:38 PM :: 4 Comments :: permalink


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