Critical Inquiry

Shopping in China requires one to bargain hard in order to get good square deals. During my recent trip, some of my tour mates actually encountered bargaining from over RMB3800 to sub RMB1000 while I managed a 33% discount on edible pearl powder, an expensive component of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Those who do not bargain will give the stallholders a sudden windfall and those who do intend to buy should know what is the right price before bargaining in order to avoid overpaying for inferior quality products. If you are in Japanese and in Nanjing, China, you better keep your nationality a secret. The Chinese sentiments against Japaneses' lack of remorse and denial of the well documented incident of Nanjing Massacre still run high. The citizens of Nanjing have their own way of getting back at unremorseful Japan... Jack up the prices when selling to Japanese tourists :-D

It is common to encounter beggars on the streets in China and the experience can be quite fascinating for Singaporeans who do not really come across beggars back at home. Two specific encounters with beggars left a deep impression on me... The first incident was when touring one of the tourist attractions... This beggar approached us and when rejected, decided to give us a piece of his mind scolding us for being stingy, etc. What audacity! The second incident occurred when we were waiting outside the restaurant for our tour bus to pick us up. Our local guide got into an argument with this beggar whom supposedly had been begging in that spot for at least the past 5 years and earns more than our guide! It is not advisable to give money to beggars as there is no way we are able to ascertain the truth of their seemingly hopeless plight. There are far too many fake beggars on the streets of China who prey on the kindness of people. Always donate to charities who have the experience and abil

I never really appreciate the complaints that I read about internet censorship in China till I was there. The censorship seems to be on a quite significant scale and many perfectly legit sites were not accessible. I was not even able to access my own blog! While I do believe in censorship, the scale of such censorship does make me wonder just how much censorship is too much...

When visiting China, it is not hard to gather that progress in the country is charging ahead at almost full steam. Everywhere appears to be undergoing some sort of construction and new modern cities are coming right up beside the dated old housing of yesteryears. Even the usual grouses of visitors about China's toilet facilities is being gradually addressed. Toilet facilities are getting more modern and with improved sanitary conditions at areas frequently by tourists... a small start in a vast country with much to do. However, there still is some way to go in terms of toilet facilities as while there has been upgrades, there is often insufficient provisions for the human traffic resulting in long queues. A jaggernaut awaken, China is a economic superpower to be reckoned with soon, and it is chilling to consider having to go headon against it. Without the natural resources to fall back on, Singapore has to adapt and survive, seeking and creating opportunities that put us on a win-w

I was in China and noticed that the cabs had shields for the drivers unlike in Singapore where the drivers were unprotected from the passengers. Personally, I do not like the idea of such shields as they appear to convey the notion that the place is not safe and relatively prone to mugging hence the need for such protection.

This week sees release of the movie adaptation of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and it has created some discomfort amongst the religious who believe that the film will distort believers' view of Christianity. Such films should be promoted as it makes people ask tough questions about their own beliefs. It may swing either way, making people pick up a religion or making people seek better options, but the human race will end up better instead of unquestioningly swallowing the so-called Truth. Only questioning, even questioning our most fundamental beliefs, and seeing the truth for the truth, will lead us to betterment. You can ask people to open their minds to your religion but always remember to open yours too to question your own for the true nature of things are oft clouded by hidden agendas. Do go catch Da Vinci Code and think for yourself! It may be a fictional piece but it is a good fictional piece of work.

Sent a bouquet of roses to my girl's workplace and managed to surprise her. The story from her is that the bouquet was left on her desk as she was away. When she got back, she did not immediately notice it (must be quite blind since it is quite a large bouquet). Instead, someone with her pointed it out and she was momentarily stunned and lost for words. Called me over lunch and could hear the happiness in her voice but it was not really easy to talk as I was with some colleagues. Guess we will have a better chat tonight... Have not made anyone so happy in quite a while :-)

I wanted to take a break and go on a holiday and after checking the papers, decided to take up a China package with Super Travels which was being advertised at less than $600... When I was there, the package actually came up to about $1500... the $600 advertisement is just for some bait to get people interested in their tours. Since price was still largely within my budget, I took it up despite the highly misleading advertisement by Super Travels and was informed that the tour will be confirmed 2 weeks before departure. When the 2 weeks before departure arrived, Super Travels failed to call to confirm the status of the tour and after a day, I called up to enquire only to be told they will do some further checks to see if the tour is indeed cancelled. When Super Travels finally confirmed the tour will not be proceeding, it was already almost 1 week and there was only a week left to my intended departure date. Already upset at the significant delays, I asked for the refund of my deposit

James Gomez had been detained and prevented from leaving for Sweden, with his passport and boarding pass beening confiscated, and taken to the Police Cantonment Complex to have his statement taken. I guess he never expected that the controversy over his application for a minority candidate certificate will become so huge. With this incident, I get this feeling that James Gomez is potentially becoming the next Chee Soon Juan, making a name for himself via the wrong reasons and alienating themselves from Singapore voters. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said "When I call a man openly, you're a liar, you're dishonest, and you do not dare to sue me, there's something basically wrong. And I will repeat it anywhere and you can't go and say, oh, I have apologised; let's move on. Can you commit a dishonourable -- maybe even one which is against the law -- an illegal act and say, let's move on because I've apologised? You may move on but you're going to move on

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) has said its poor showing at the polls was due to an election which it describes as "undemocratic" for the reason of rules being changed and introduced before and mid-way through the elections, the media waging a relentless campaign especially against the SDP and a lawsuit by Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Lee Hsien Loong silencing the SDP and preventing it from engaging and questioning Health Minister Mr Khaw Boon Wan on the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) issue... It is interesting how people cannot see their own inadequacies even when it is so glaring. SDP's internal fracture is so serious that its Chairman, Ling How Doong, does not really interact with the Secretary-General, Chee Soon Juan. How can a party that cannot agree internally have the ability to lead Singapore? Furthermore, the party has a focus on idealogical issues when Singaporeans are far more concern with bread-and-butter issues that affect immediately... who cares about ide

The dust has settled and the results of the Singapore Elections 2006 are out. The Parliament is not seeing any change from the previous composition and the People's Action Party (PAP) has retained 82 seats. The opposition holds on to their 2 seats held by Chiam See Tong and Low Thia Khiang from the wards of Potong Pasir and Hougang. The results of 66.6% won by PAP is roughly in line with the party's performance over the past few elections, excluding 2001's which skewed votes tremendously in favour of PAP due to security concerns then. The opposition in the form of Worker's Party put up a very good fight this time and if they do keep this up, the subsequent Singapore elections should be very interesting to follow.

Today is the day when all the campaigning and rallying over the past 9 days receive a report card. Who will prevail? Will it be PAP, WP or SDA? We shall know later today... I was at the polling station early this morning to cast my vote for my preferred party. The efficiency of the polling station is stunning. I did not even have to queue to cast my vote... it was just like taking a slow stroll around the polling station. In less than 3 minutes, I was in and out of the polling station! Well done! The Elections Department has performed a superb job!

Australia's recent travel campaign tagline of "where the bloody hell are you?" started showing on Singapore television recently. Maybe I am still largely a traditional Asian but somehow the tagline just turns me off totally. Maybe Australia just still isn't a part of Asia. While it had been keen to join Asian groupings, it had not succeeded and is not likely to in the near future so long as it keep up this lack of understanding of Asia...

This is an exciting general elections with more than half of the seats being contested. Up till now, I have been kept busy with following the news on the papers and television. Initially, I had hoped to go attend a rally someday and feel the mood for myself. However, work has really kept me too busy to date... Hopefully I can make time for at least one rally before the actual polling day on Saturday.

What are human rights? By dictionary.com, it is the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law. Once so often, there will be advocates of human rights who slam Singapore for not embracing human rights. However, are such assertions true? Singapore is being denounced because we do not subscribe to their versions of human rights. Maybe I know not what exactly are human rights... I know that now my basic needs to sustain living are met, I know that I am free to say what I want as long as it does not breach the law, I know that I will be treated fairly in this society, I know that I am able to walk the streets late at night without fear of being mugged, I know that as long as I am willing to work I will not starve. I know a good square deal when I see one and human rights as being advocated by many of these organisations are nowhere near a good square deal.

Was over at Marina Square Swensons for tea and the service really sucked big time. I had an apple crumble and when the waitress poured in the syrup, it splattered and scalded me and there was not even an apology offered! I was not very pleased and my friends were also complaining about the service. Finding a feedback form on the table, I took the trouble to pen down my dissatisfaction with the service that I received from the Swensons staff and dropped it into the feedback box. Giving my real name, real contact number, real email address to justify that there is a real problem with Swensons' service standards. However, I suspect that there will not be any real followup to feedback. Thumbs down to the Marina Square Swensons and I will try not to frequent it again.