happy labour day.. LESS we complain..

tomorrow, May 1.. is mayday.. is labour day.. a day when we celebrate the contribution of the labour workforce towards the development of our respective beloved countries..

it is also a time for many who are without employment to ponder the meaning of the day.. that it was supposed to acknowledge the economic and social achievements of workers, instead it has become a time to scramble and go all out to hunt down employment possibilities..

so for the lucky us who remained in the labour force even though many within our ranks have fallen to the dreaded Rs.. recession, right-sizing, restructuring, retrenchment,.. need i go on??

LESS us complain.. be thankful of not having to worry as much.. and let us all try our very best to help pull ourselves and those that have fallen OUT of this mess.. so that come next labour day.. we can really pat ourselves with having really rescued the world out of the current global economic crisis and the many victims it claimed along the way..

fear.. of the "what if"..

we are all being consumed by FEAR right now.. fear of the H1N1 flu spreading to our shores.. fear of collapse of this and that.. fear of depreciations of this and that.. fear of diminishing returns to this and that.. fear of the "what if's"...

so we are faced with yet another challenging chapter in human history with the 'what if H1N1 became a super virus that could spread so quickly it would decimate most of the global population' scenario.. YES, we should be prepared for the worst case scenario.. but have worrying and fearing taken over our common sense??

i read recently an article of a woman in New York who let her 9-year old boy ride the New York Subway alone carrying the guidelines that of New York Subway Authorities or something.. the guidelines did state that it allows over 8 year-olds to travel alone.. the woman let her child ride one stop, and that she was there to greet him at the next stop.. but upon the child leaving the following stop, he was accompanied by officers who posted a barrage of "what if" questions to the lady that at the end, the child decided to ask his mother to accompany him next time.. he was more bothered by the officers' non-stop questions than being in the subway alone..

so here's my point.. we have become a little timid, a little bit less adventurous, a little bit scared too easily.. granted the global events of the past decade have slowly reshaped our believes, but we should not be living like this..

true.. the world is a more dangerous place than it was many years ago.. but it is not to say the world has changed so drastically that it is so unsafe.. precautions, proper education and common sense must prevail..

in the case of the current H1N1 flu.. more and more scientific information has been released suggesting that though deadly, preventative measures can be taken.. the is no need to panic (just yet).. and nor should one FEAR the "what if's"..

human race has survived many trials and tribulations.. and it will survive this one..

as the movie tagline goes.. carpe diem..

let's be vigilant..

it is a bit distressing to know that we are yet facing another disease that is getting so much media coverage.. the SWINE FLU.. but since it was firstly detected in mexico and the world swine is offensive to some parties, i think i'd stick to MEXICAN FLU (advance apologies to the country)..

according to WIKI..

Swine influenza (also swine flu) refers to influenza caused by any strain of the influenza virus endemic in pigs (swine). Strains endemic in swine are called swine influenza virus (SIV).

Swine flu is common in swine and rare in humans. People who work with swine, especially people with intense exposures, are at risk of catching swine influenza if the swine carry a strain able to infect humans. However, these strains rarely are able to pass from human to human. Rarely, SIV mutates into a form able to pass easily from human to human. The strain responsible for the 2009 swine flu outbreak is believed to have undergone such a mutation.

In humans, the symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of influenza and ofinfluenza-like illness in general, namely chills, fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness and general discomfort. The strain responsible for the 2009 swine flu outbreak in most cases causes only mild symptoms and the infected person recovers fully in a few days.

Of the three genera of human flu, two are endemic also in swine:Influenzavirus A (common) and Influenzavirus C (rare). Influenzavirus Bhas not been reported in swine. Within Influenzavirus A and Influenzavirus C, the strains endemic to swine and humans are largely distinct.

therefore, let us all be vigilant.. if and when you yourself or your friends and kin exhibit the aforementioned symptoms or suspect of being infected by the flu, please consult a doctor..

“怎麼男生皮膚也那麼白？”。。。

最近，很常聽到 “你的皮膚真的很白呢”..而且, 也被說 “皮膚真的很白的男生”。。 有點錯噁感。。 不但女性朋友，連親屬和咖啡店的阿姨都有說過。。 這是否意味著男生不可以太白？？



小頌必需澄清。。 從上午7時30分至下午5時，小頌都處在一個沒有窗戶的辦公室，也只有熒光燈照明。。 所以我白的概率當然會比別人高。。 僦變更白咯。。

那麼，為什麼這些傢伙都列為陽光男孩？ 而白白的小頌 我，僦不能跟陽光誇上等號？？

本人承認。。 每天都有在防曬。。 可我沒有特地去避陽光。。不像一些司機。。 把他們的車停在紅錄登前的那棵大樹下避曬。。 也不過幾分鐘而已。。 真的。。 不會講， 也沒力氣講！！

防曬就是最基本防皮膚癌的方式。。所以，記得防曬喔。。

好無奈。。 小頌僦是那麼白。。 不要在講我了。。

the art of complaining..

OK.. so we all have experienced the GREAT services provided by our monopoly ISP.. it isn't great but we make do.. when days of bad connection come, our only avenue of recourse is calling them directly to make a complain.. lodging a complain with the consumer association seems to have not resulted in any improvements, so basically you would just call in.. and once very often you will loose temper with the customer service offices on the other end..

i understand that they work on some form of script.. that you need to check this and that.. do this and that.. etc. etc.. but those steps are really most of the time useless when the basic problem was the line itself.. so you BERADE them..

BUT.. i found out that doing this has a side-effect which i did not consider.. because of job requirement, i moved to a different location but the existing line could still be utilised for broadband application.. herein lies the problem.. i think they have flagged the line as being troublesome.. too much complaints.. as i tried to apply for a connection on the old line, i was told that the ISP would probably be reluctant to approve the application due to fear of more complaints because of inconsistency problems with the line..

HENCE.. i feel a bit perturbed.. i mean it is the customers' right to complain.. and it was not the fault of yours truly to complain but merely exercising what i as a consumer am entitled to do.. and for that the company has decided to not grant me approval when i did nothing wrong..

further, the new location has no problem with the same account (after i moved it).. which led me to believe that it was the old line that was faulty.. because of faulty lines and interrupted services, i made those complaints as entitled.. the ISP should have tried to solve the exiting problem(s) instead of denying an application..

if more people experience the same type of problems and make complaints, will they also be flagged and subsequently denied approvals?

i might continue to complain to higher authorities..

mealtime conundrums..

one of the many conundrums that life throws at you is the mealtime selections.. granted we are living in paradise-ish conditions (NOTE: i say this because our current living conditions are considered somewhat luxurious when millions around the globe struggle for basic shelter, food and sanitation/healthcare), when it comes to our gastronomical desires to satisfy that extremely picky palate we find ourselves with asking that similar question : "WHAT TO HAVE?"

of perhaps we're just too spoilt..

remember.. you EAT TO LIVE.. not LIVE TO EAT..

running on empty..

ever get the feeling that you are just trudging along with no target in sight.. essentially running on empty, which is a bit ironic as cars on empty would not run unless going down an infinite slope..

perhaps is just normalcy setting in.. and that with normalcy, there is nothing to bring ups or downs.. just flatline.. which sounds dire..

i think the daily talk of the global slump is wearing me down.. economic-downturn fatigue..

if only..

maybe i need to be inspired.. SUSAN BOYLE, inspire me..

the complexity of being menial..

as one procrastinate on the content to this posting, one was struck with the doomed feeling of an impending negative improvement of one's command of the english language.. the daily short messages on the instant messaging services has left one limited to searching for ways to abbreviate many words and terminologies used in daily conversation..

hence lies the complexity of being menial.. that within the need to excel beyond the current proficiencies that one holds on the english language, one is faced with the insurmountable obstacle that is the less than stellar command by peers.. which has led to the diminution and the interlacing of different colloquialisms to improve comprehension.. o woe is me.. scratch that.. it is an extreme privilege to be able to enhance the daily interpersonal experience with conducting high level speech maligning exercises that redefines the social acceptance of proper mannerism when interacting with peers..

with this, one leaves the discussion for another proper avenue and period..

competing with the downline??

i received a call from the insurance company that i trusted my well-being to.. and got a funny surprise.. it was outright soliciting to top up on my current plan..

while the sales pitch was to be expected, i was a bit shocked that the head company is actually direct-calling its customers who were already being served by their field agents to push sales.. if i were an agent, i would be pretty unhappy with the situation.. how could the head company, which i worked for is actually competing directly with me too..

in essence, the head company has by-passed the goodwill and effort on the agents part to promote a sale to the customer.. in my opinion, this is just unethical.. if the product was handed over to the agent in charge and subsequently presented to me, then i would have less of an issue, but to by-pass the agent and at the same time mentioning his name in the hope of invoking any sort of kin-ship and relationship is a bit.. unseemly..

or perhaps i hold too high a standard.. since the economic crisis, everyone is trying to survive and these companies do need to still make those above-normal profits to be able to generate the cashflow to reward their top managements or top agents or whatever..

or am i being too cynical.. i don't feel comfortable about this..

a little sun, perhaps??

being cooped-up in an office is one thing.. but in one of those offices with no windows with a view of the outside world..

artificial lighting and air conditioning for five days a week.. makes me appreciate the sun a bit more..

wish i was at the beach, relaxing on a sun-bed or something..

eh.. i don't like the heat too..