Thursday 31 May 2007

Homosexual money

My former employer has paid the money to my private investment company yesterday, so from now on I can start behaving like Scrooge McDuck (I never knew that this was his name in English, in Dutch we call him Dagobert Duck)
Anyway, I met an investment advisor (who by the way is totally sgboy's type) yesterday who brought a young girl to the meeting who he introduced as a trainee. A good investor advisor always starts with questions about your private life ("married?", "children?") so after I told them I am gay the girl kept staring at me. Perhaps it was the first time in her life she sat across the table from a gay man?

Edith Piaf - Non je ne regrette rien

I watched "La Vie en Rose", the recent film about the life of Edith Piaf tonight. I liked it; the movie jumps from her childhood to her death bed and back. A kind of continuous back to the future which in this case works well for keeping the movie interesting. I learned a lot about Ms. Piaf's life such as that "Non, je ne regrette rien" is a love song! I guess I never really listened to the last line before.

Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait, ni le mal
Tout ça m'est bien égal

Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
C'est payé, balayé, oublié
Je me fous du passé

Avec mes souvenirs
J'ai allumé le feu
Mes chagrins, mes plaisirs
Je n'ai plus besoin d'eux

Balayés les amours
Et tous leurs trémolos
Balayés pour toujours
Je repars à zéro

Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien, qu'on m'a fait, ni le mal
Tout ça m'est bien égal

Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Car ma vie, car mes joies
Aujourd'hui, ça commence avec toi

No, nothing.
No, I regret nothing.
Neither the good done to me, nor the bad;
to me, they're all the same.

No, nothing at all.
No, I regret nothing.
It's all paid for, swept away, forgotten;
I don't care about the past.

With my memories,
I've lit a fire.
My sorrows, my pleasures,
I need them no more.

Swept away are my loves
and all their tremors.
Swept away forever.
I start from scratch.

No, nothing really.
No, I have no regrets.
Neither the good done to me, nor the bad;
to me, they're all the same.

No, nothing.
No, I regret nothing.
Because my life, because my joys,
today, begin with you.

Wednesday 30 May 2007

Be careful when meeting sex dates via the Internet

A story from the town where I studied and lived from 1979-1985:
The police have arrested four men who deliberately infected homosexual men in Groningen with HIV. The police in Groningen announced this on Wednesday. The men met in chatrooms on the internet and made dates to meet at sex parties. There they were drugged with GHB and then injected with HIV-infected blood. Five victims between the ages of 25 and 50 have reported to the police so far. The suspects, three of whom are homosexual, are two 48-year-old men from Slochteren and two men from Groningen aged 33 and 34.

The public prosecution department has charged the men with premeditated grievous bodily harm. The maximum penalty which could be imposed on the suspects if convicted is 16 years in prison. The sex parties took place at the private homes of the suspects or the victims. Drugs were mixed into the drinks of the victims without their knowledge. They were then sexually abused and injected with contaminated blood. The injections were mixtures of different samples of infected blood from the suspects. Two of the suspects have confessed. The police say the suspects "got a kick" out of doing this to their victims.

Tuesday 29 May 2007

Is this going too far? (4)













Dutch broadcaster BNN plans to air a television show ("The Big Donor Show") this week in which a terminally ill woman will decide who out of three young patients will get her kidney. Viewers will be able to advise the 37-year-old woman, known as Lisa, via text messages which of the candidates to pick. The show is scheduled for next Friday in a prime time spot. BNN, whose former director Bart de Graaf (picture) died 5 years ago from kidney failure after spending years on a waiting list for a kidney transplant, told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper that the show wanted to highlight the acute shortage of donors in the Netherlands. The show is produced by Endemol, the Dutch entertainment powerhouse that invented the Big Brother television show in 1999. Several transplant patient organisations and politicians have objected to The Big Donor Show. “This is going in the direction of selling organs,” a spokeswoman for the Dutch Transplant Foundation told Algemeen Dagblad. A Christian Democrat Member of Parliament called on the nation's ministers of health care and culture to stop the show. The Labour PvdA minister Ronald Plasterk says the programme is "inappropriate" and objects to the "contest element" of the donor show. He stressed that the Media Act does not allow the authorities to ban programmes in advance. Nor does the minister plan to make a moral appeal to BNN because he does not support pressuring media to self-censor. In the Netherlands, organ transplants are bound to strict rules. People are not allowed to choose who their organs will go to after they die. But with kidney transplants - which can be carried out while the donor is still alive - they are allowed to choose, provided there is proof of a relationship between donor and recipient. BNN says the show is distasteful, but necessary to get attention from the public for the problem of a lack of donor organs.

Spending time with friends......

So I am back from London. Mixed feelings. The weather was miserable: cold and rainy. So we spent a lot of time in bars, clubs and restaurants. To be honest, I got a bit tired of my friends' constant hunting for sex. Well, not all of them, but some. The best part of the trip was meeting up with my London friends VI (who now calls himself JS), AA and MT and his partner PE.
On Friday went to Kudos, G.A.Y. bar and G.A.Y. Both MT and VI/JS showed up in Kudos which was nice of them. Later that evening I was just about to go home when VI/JS re-appeared and made me dance for hours. G.A.Y. on Fridays has 80s/90s music so I enjoyed the dancing and singing. I think VI/JS needed a shoulder that evening as he was complaining a lot about all the guys in London that only want sex, and how difficult it is to make real friends. I could see what he meant as he was constantly approached by horny men who wanted to kiss and touch him. In the end, I walked him to his bus stop and I just hope he felt a bit better.
On Saturday we showed Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and London Eye to WI. Lots of walking in the cold, dreary weather. In the evening we all went to Heaven and WOW! is everyone a model there! So many gorgeous men of all races and colours. London is really a mini-world; I mean, where else do you see two black men making out with an Arab? MA and I started counting the guys who were older or fatter or uglier than us, and we only found 6 in a full club with thousands of guys. Depressing.
Had lunch at MT and PE place on Sunday. Sweet guys and real friends. AA joined for dinner with the gang, but I felt I had to apologize for their uncivilized behaviour....In the evening we went to Long Yang Club at The Edge - by that time I was not really enjoying the weekend anymore. Too much hunting around me.

Thursday 24 May 2007

Going to London

I am going to London for a short holiday tomorrow. Monday is another national holiday (Whit Monday) so I'll have three nights in rocking London. There will be 5 of us: RO and WI are leaving on Friday morning, followed by MA and I (we work Friday morning) leaving Schiphol for Heathrow Friday around 4pm. OS will join after work on Saturday evening. I am looking forward to seeing all the sights (again), meet AA, VI, MT and PE, and have beers and dance in Kudos, G.A.Y. and Heaven.

The nicest tourists in the world

A survey done with owners of European hotels found that they prefer to have Japanese guests, followed by Americans, Swiss, Swedes and Germans. The least popular guests are the French, and Chinese, Russians, Indians and English are also not very popular.
Not surprisingly, the best dressed tourists are the French, Japanese, Italians, Spanish and Swiss. Americans have the worst taste in clothes, closely followed by the Brits, Germans, Chinese and Russians.
If you want a big tip, you are best of with American, Russian, Japanese, Swiss and Australian guests. The worst tippers are the Germans, French, Italians, Spanish and Chinese.
I just love these useless statistics!

Monday 21 May 2007

Mr. Gay candidates















These are the candidates for the Mr. Gay Netherlands contest who will be (s)elected on June 15 in Escape Dance Club in Amsterdam (50 meters from my office!) What a meager selection of males, the selection committee must be full of lovers of thin skinny boys. I would have preferred a little more variety. I see dozens of guys every weekend in the bars who are better looking than these candidates.

The real reason I like Asian guys....

...is Tao and tantric:
"Tao and tantric understanding puts the anus beyond the usual rimming, fucking and fisting of western gay sexuality.
It puts an Energy dimension, understanding the anus as a leading sexual object in its own right. For, within the anus, at thumbing distance, lies the portal of the golden spot, the 'other' exit point for the erotic energy within the groin chakra, the first being the penis. Once awakened, this potent spot not only can combine with the penis to form an erotic 'axis', it has the power to even surpass the penis, and connect directly with other erotic points (like nipples, foot, armpit) to induce high levels of inner erotic energy (chingch'i) buildup. At extremes, they can overflow into electric spasms of pure delight,, or earthquake rumbles, which can be held for extended periods (a minute, more)...
This form of High-level Inner Orgasm (HIO) is different from the lower-level flushes and wave orgasms, or continued 'edging', usually tried by lone practitioners, as it involves the contribution of a high-energy level Giver, focussing on the power of the goldenspot plus the other erotic partnerpoints, adding his own forward energy into that of the Receiver's..."

Erotic partnerpoints! I love it. "How are your erotic partnerpoints today?"

Sunday 20 May 2007

Diet

Yes! It is time for a diet. I just weighed myself and I am 96 kgs. That's about 12 too many. I am going to go on a diet from now, and my first goal is 88 kgs on July 1st. Pray for me hehe.
By the way, if you want to see what really fat people look like, go to http://www.dimensionsmagazine.com/dimtext/kjn/people/
heaviest.htm

Parlez-vous Francais?

It was a long day yesterday. We had our annual reunion of our group of University friends, 14 of us, economists who studied in Groningen from 1980 - 1985. I missed the previous two reunions as I lived in Singapore in 2005-2006. Yesterday, we all met in the morning at MAA and LI's new farm house South of Utrecht. It is HUGE and they have 20,000 square meters of land. After coffee and cakes we left for the Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park for a long walk. Back at the farm around 6pm, followed by food around a camp fire. MI brought a new girlfriend, a French girl who only speaks French. I had to dig deep to get my French language skills up and running, it had been a long time. Left the party around 10pm and proceeded to April. I drove into town so could not drink alcohol. Me so clever! After 4 coke lights I called it a day and was in bed by 3am. This morning: blisters on my feet from the long walk.

Friday 18 May 2007

Croc, gorilla and IW2



Apparently the croc bit off the arm of a Taiwanese vet more than a month ago, but I just saw the picture today. More recent news is that a mountain gorilla called Bokito escaped its confines in the Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam this afternoon. Four people were injured when the gorilla toured the zoo. One woman was grabbed and dragged along by the animal. She had to be taken to hospital. The Dutch version of King Kong. Visitors were evacuated from the zoo. A spokesperson says there were thousands of visitors in the park at the time of the incident, but that no great panic broke out. Once again I had to live through a day of headaches caused by bloody alcohol, and I even cancelled a dinner appointment with MR and RO. I must say yesterday was very nice: I had a few beers with MA, JE, IW1 and IW2. Until yesterday I didn't know IW2 very well; I am glad to have spent some time with him as he is a very nice and funny guy. One never has enough friends, right?

Most sexy uniform: pilot

A new piece of interesting research has been done by German newspaper Die Welt. Women between 20 and 49 years of age were asked which uniforms they found "most sexy". The results: 33% pilots, 25% army, 13% police. Least attractive uniform was that of a lift boy (elevator assistant). This research once again confirms that women don't go for looks, they go for $$. Give me a good old crew cut soldier in uniform any day!

Thursday 17 May 2007

Ascension Day

Today is Ascension Day, a national holiday in the Netherlands. Of course, being a mostly secular country, nobody cares about why we have this holiday but everyone is enjoying a day off from work. And even better Ascension Day is always on a Thursday so almost everyone gets or takes Friday off as well. A four-day weekend has just begun! In case you want to know: Ascension Day marks the day when Jesus Christ ascended up into heaven. It was 40 days after his resurrection from the dead, which was on Easter Sunday.

More hatred by Yvonne C.L. Lee

There is a debate going on in Singapore which was started by the government's decision to allow anal and oral sex for heterosexuals, but not for same-sex couples. Yvonne C.L. Lee is an Assistant Law Professor at NUS who has been very vocal in spreading hate, lies and false arguments against homosexuality. Today, there is another letter from her hand published in the on-line version of the State's Times, from which I quote: "Under the proposed Penal Code amendment, homosexuals wishing to lead 'private' lives may do so 'peacefully' in Singapore, provided they do not foist their homosexual acts on the public or seek to mainstream homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle." Dear Ms. Lee: homosexuality is not a lifestyle. Is what people like to do in the bedroom and other places where they have sex. And it is none of your, or any governments' business. Homosexuality is normal and has been around since mankind emerged on the face of this earth. Your writing is full of hatred and poison. You may know that all real heterosexuals are totally OK with homosexuality, so you must be a closeted lesbian. Please, go and seek psychiatric help. Really, as soon as you accept your homosexuality you will be a much happier woman.

Wednesday 16 May 2007

Conejo en la luna

Conejo en la luna ("Rabbit on the moon") is a Mexican - British movie directed by Jorge Ramirez Suarez.

The story: Mexican Antonio Santos and his English lover Julie are determined to get away from a tightening web of crime and corruption - the birth of their baby only serves to increase their need for safety and justice. However, an unfortunate coincidence means that the couple suddenly find themselves trapped in the centre of a political conspiracy. All at once, the innocent Antonio and Julie are at the mercy of a network of murderous politicians and their police force cronies. Before long, they find themselves no longer merely fighting for justice but struggling to survive.

It's a good crime movie / thriller; I liked the acting of the various "hijos de puta" who shows us the reality of a highly corrupt country. What's more, all of these bad guys have non-standard sexual habits: when the phone rings or the assistant knocks on the door, we see these characters either being sucked through a glory hole, handcuffed to the bed and whipped by a girl with big boobs, or just enjoying the oral skills of a young male secretary. As strong as they may be in their official jobs, once the clothes come off and the dick replaces the brain they become vulnerable. A good movie.

Tuesday 15 May 2007

A disturbing trend

Since I changed jobs, my office is in the main gay drag of Amsterdam, so all the bars that I usually go to are a stone's throw away. Today I had agreed to meet ex-colleague UW for dinner, and as I finished work a bit early I had a drink in April. Chatted with WIB, and DO showed up. I hadn't seen DO in a long time, and found out that he is a good friend of WIB. I put one and one together and concluded that DO is into bald guys: his ex-bf WIL is completely bald and WIB is almost there. Anyway, DO told us that he met a cute young American guy and he is thinking about importing him to the Netherlands.
A disturbing trend is emerging: the guys that were imported to the country by usually older partners are now Dutch citizens and are using the liberal rules to bring young boyfriends here. I think it is called to beat someone at his own game. Good for them!

Monday 14 May 2007

VI

I had a long chat with VI tonight which was so nice. I met VI in 1993 when he was 19 and I .... already a bit older. I still vividly remember meeting him on one of the Friday night dance parties at COC in Amsterdam. He was alone, staring at the dance floor, and I had to take a deep breath before I dared speaking to him. So young and cute! His passport and airline tickets got stolen the next day, so he had to change his plans and stayed a week at my place. (no, I didn't steal the passport!) We have kept in touch ever since, meeting in Amsterdam, London and Taipei. We have never had sex (except for the French kiss he once gave me while under the influence of something that is definitely forbidden in Taiwan) Now it has been a while since we last met, I guess at least 3 years ago in Taipei. I am so looking forward to meeting him again next week in London.

Eurovision Ukraine 2007 - Verka Serduchka - Dansing

A Eurovision song as they should be: bad and very, very camp! Ukraine was second.

17 May: International Day Against Homophobia

Why are Mercedes cars so expensive?

DaimlerChrysler moved to undo the most expensive and one of the least successful mergers in auto industry history Monday as it agreed to essentially pay to dump the money-losing Chrysler unit which it paid $37 billion for nine years ago. DaimlerChrysler (Charts) announced it will sell an 80 percent stake in its U.S. brand to Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity investment firm that will pay $7.4 billion. But the German automaker, which will be renamed simply Daimler, will not actually get most of the money that Cerberus is paying for the once proud automaker. Instead Cerberus will contribute $5 billion to the Chrysler auto operations it will now control, with just over another $1 billion going to Chrysler's finance arm. While Daimler will receive the remaining $1.4 billion of Cerberus' capital contribution to the sale, Daimler expects to have to cover another $1.6 billion in Chrysler losses before the deal closes. So Daimler estimates that it will end up paying out about $650 million to close the deal, and that its earnings for 2007 will take a $4 billion to $5.4 billion profit hit due to charges related to the transaction.

I am in favour of giving development aid to poor countries, but am not sure that the US qualifies......

Sunday 13 May 2007

Eurovision politics

As expected, an Eastern European country won the Eurovision Song Contest: Serbia. (OS said: "a lesbian from Serbia won") There are lots of complaints in Western Europe that all Eastern countries are guilty of political voting. For instance, Serbia got the maximum 12 points from all the other ex-Yugoslav republics. Long time Eurovision favourites such as Ireland, Germany, France and the UK ended at the bottom of the tables.

Spiderman 3

This is a bad movie. A chaotic story in which Spiderman needs to fight 3 enemies (one of whom changes into a friend), very moralistic and just plain boring. You can save your €€ and $$. The only highlight of the movie is actor Topher Grace who is quite cute.
I had a very busy weekend. Was home late Friday (my bosses were explaining the strategy of the company), met SA for drinks and got home only around 4:30am. On Saturday I first went to see my mom for mother's day (RE joined as we were on our way to our card playing session; RE is one of my gay friends who knows my family well), and had dinner + playing cards at ERV's place. Again home around 4:30am this morning.

Friday 11 May 2007

Neologism

A neologism (Greek: νεολογισμός [neologismos], from νέος [neos] new + λόγος [logos] word, speech, discourse + suffix -ισμός [-ismos] -ism) is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created ("coined") — often to apply to new concepts, to synthesize pre-existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary. Neologisms are especially useful in identifying inventions, new phenomena, or old ideas which have taken on a new cultural context. The term "e-mail", as used today, is an example of a neologism.

I invented a neologism today for the "concept" of a regular fuck buddy: "sucknificant other". Will the term make it to Wikipedia?

Thursday 10 May 2007

Eurovision 2007: Netherlands - Edsilia Rombley - On Top Of The World

Semi-finals tonight, finals on Saturday. 42 countries participating.

Restaurant Abou El Sid, Cairo

The flight schedule between Amsterdam and Cairo was exhausting. Outbound I arrived at Cairo airport at 2am and was in my room around 3:45am and at a breakfast meeting at 8am. This morning we left the hotel at 1am to check in at 2am for a 4am CAI departure and 8am arrival in AMS. So basically I skipped two nights. In addition, we had meetings all day from breakfast to after dinner drinks. Anyway, it was a good and useful trip. Yesterday we had dinner at this restaurant. The food was nothing to write home about, but the Umm ali dessert was wonderful. Umm ali is a national dish of Egypt, and is a raisin cake soaked in milk and served hot.

Lately, I have been living a healthy life........

A virus contracted through oral sex is the cause of some throat cancers, say US scientists. HPV infection was found to be a much stronger risk factor than tobacco or alcohol use, the Johns Hopkins University study of 300 people found. The New England Journal of Medicine study said the risk was almost nine times higher for people who reported oral sex with more than six partners.

Now, think about the title of this post.......

Back from Cairo and depressed

I just arrived home from a business trip to Cairo. In the bus that took us to the plane last night, a (young cute) guy offered his seat to me! Do I look that old? I have never been so depressed. Have to go to work now (after sleeping only 3 hours on the plane), more later.

Sunday 6 May 2007

Curse of the Golden Flower



It was a good Saturday. I chatted with ER in the morning; good to catch up. Went into town to buy a gift for MA who has his birthday party today, and just as I was about to leave the house SU called asking if I want to come for a coffee. JH also was there, half in tears about the end of his relationship with BE. JH's story was familiar, as he knew from the beginning that BE was here only temporarily before going back to Spain.
In the evening watched Curse of the Golden Flower. I liked it, mostly for the great costumes and decor, and for the looks of second price Jai, played by Jay Chou. DZ told me later in April that Jay Chou's main job is singing rather than acting and that he is very famous in China. Unfortunately, unlike his older half-brother in the movie,Crown Prince Wan who is played by Liu Ye, he is not gay. Had a few drinks in April where we finalized the plans for the weekend to London.

Saturday 5 May 2007

Two idiots meeting

On the other hand, Prime Minister Lee thanked Mr Bush on his resolve for tackling the problems in Iraq and the Middle East. Mr Lee said: "President Bush is quite convinced that what he's doing is right and I told him what he is doing is right, that in Iraq, America has to take a firm position."

Prime Minister Lee has wrapped up the Washington leg of his visit to the US and headed to San Francisco. I wonder: to discuss decriminalization of oral and anal sex between consenting male adults, or is he just going to visit the Badlands and The Bar? I hear there are some nice girlie bars for Mr Lee's wife, too.

Friday 4 May 2007

Sweet ER

Sweet ER sent me a sweet message tonight. Stop, I don't know if it was meant to be a sweet message, but it felt that way. Nice. Thanks, ER.

Bitterballen

Yesterday was the official good-bye event from the company that I gave the best years of my life to. My ex-colleagues who are nice, friendly and hard-working all showed up, and the worthless individuals that also get a salary for making other lifes miserable were, fortunately, clever enough to not show their faces. BC gave me a nice speech summarizing the weird course of my career; JS spoiled me with wine and AY with chocolates (which by the way also put my diet plans on the back-burner); and HJ and AH enjoyed the free booze so much that the waitress closed the bar on us. Loaded with wine, chocolates and flowers I made my way home and felt nostalgic.
In other news, I returned the rental car and picked up my new car today. For the first time in my life I have a black car. Shiny, sexy, black.
By the way, bitterballen is a typical Dutch snack that we always serve at functions and small parties. You don't want to know what they are made of, but with mustard they taste oh-so-good.

Thursday 3 May 2007

Satire in Singapore

I enjoy reading www.talkingcock.com "Singapore's Most Powderful Satirical Humour website". Always funny, but maybe a bit over the top sometimes. For more subtle satire, one should read the letters to the Straits Times (also known as the State's Times, or the Government Propaganda). Two of this week's beauties for which I want to commend the authors (very funny, very subtly written, well done!) are here:

SINGAPORE is internationally recognised as one of the cleanest, safest and most efficiently run countries in the world. We enjoy a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices and a per capita GDP equal to that of the four largest West European countries.
Singapore is unique in that it has been a bridge between the East and the West for centuries with everything from a colourful ethnic enclave to an uber modern business centre, from serene gardens to sleek skyscrapers, state-of-the-art infrastructure, a harmonious blend of culture, cuisine, arts and architecture yet continues to embrace both the traditional and modernity.
As a regular international traveller, I am constantly reminded that what we have here in Singapore is a shangri-la.
Just as you ever have a reason to feel proud of this utopian nation that you have created, you also ever have a reason to feel proud of your national carrier - Singapore Airlines.
Singapore's enviable reputation is mirrored in the reputation of Singapore Airlines. Among aircrew from other carriers, the SIA service is held up as the gold standard. This superior service is the reason that most people I know choose to fly SIA.
Four times this year I have taken the flight that would have to be the ultimate test for any aircrew - the world's longest flight, 18 hours from Singapore to New York.
Amazingly, the crew managed to maintain the highest levels of professionalism, courtesy and genuine care throughout the flight.
Feel proud, your national carrier is truly a credit to your nation.
Gary Anthony

SINGAPORE recently signed a significant treaty with Indonesia.
Not many realise that Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world (220+ million people) and almost 3,000 times larger than Singapore (1.9 million sq km).
Just a short boat ride out of Singapore waters and one does not take long to see that Indonesia has hundreds of islands (17,508 to be exact), many of them larger than Singapore.
Our leaders stand side by side with great nations of the world; the US President flies to meet our leaders to discuss regional security; and our neighbours designate special economic development zones to attract investment from our country.
Our global economic and political influence is so strong that other nations will protest if our leaders visit certain countries or an ex-politician visits our leaders.
Both developing and developed countries are so eager to learn from us and our success that our Government will start to sell our governing and administrative expertise to other nations.
We are living in one of the most densely populated countries in the world; 4.5 million people on 700 sq km of land. Yet we are so amazing that we can even 'outmanoeuvre' mother nature - through sheer determination we have reversed the role from an importer to an exporter of fresh water.
Larger nations with huge natural resources like Australia are knocking on our doors to learn how to supply water to their people.
Singapore is like a 25kg sumo wrestler standing beside giants (in fact we are many times smaller).
Although we are small, every move we make is watched by all the great players in the world.
Singapore is truly unique, but what we are and what we have achieved are definitely not coincidental.
It took a strong team of leaders and administrators spanning almost two generations to achieve what we have today.
How do we value our Government when it had done the almost impossible and is able to influence great leaders of the world?
It is tough for Singaporeans to stand by and support difficult policies, but we must realise that it is tougher for the Government to put them forward and implement them.
Luckily for all of us, Dr Ng Eng Hen was right; that most Singaporeans know how to cherish, protect and grow our little red dot, the dot we call home.
Syu Ying Kwok

A real job again

Since the announcement that my previous department was going to close down, in August 2006, I had a very relaxed life. I suddenly realized that for the last nine months, it didn't really matter what time I woke up or went to work, nor did it matter if I decided to go home very early. All changed on Labour day. Now, the alarm clock rings at 7am (and I can't ignore it), I grab a quick sandwich for lunch, and I am home around 7 or 8pm, exhausted and with little energy left. I have a contract for three days a week, but my bosses made it clear that they expect me there from Monday - Friday, which is good for the extra overtime $$, but not so good for my relaxed lifestyle.
In other news, I decided to go on a serious diet. Since coming back to Amsterdam I gained a "few" kilos, and I want to get rid of them. This weekend I will post my current weight (blush) and I will provide weekly progress updates on this blog.