Expat Vs Foreign Talent

Its a pretty addictive experience being an expat. Almost all your basic necessity is taken care of. You have a better pay cheque as compared to working in your native country and you get to experience a different culture and lifestyle. An expat is someone hired out of their own native country to provide a skill to a company that they can't get locally.

Now thats an expat. A foreign talent is someone from anywhere in the world. Thats where the similarity ends. The term "foreign talent" is coined by the Singapore government to replace the term "Foreign labour".

Recently, the government has been allowing these foreign talents into Singapore, with wide open arms, to increase the GDP. These foreign talents can be the lady behind the Starbucks cash counter or he can be the waiter, who can't speak proper english, serving you at the restaurants to that telemarketer thats trying to sell you some banking products.

With an influx of these foreign talents, it has caused certain displeasure amongst the local population. The public transport for one, has been strained to the max. In a recent conversation with a client in Singapore, he mentioned about how taking a public transport every morning is a gamble for him. "Every morning, the trains will be packed lo. Sometimes, I wait for 3 trains, sometimes 4 or 5 trains before I can get into the train."

When i was a student, I remember that the trains being packed, but never will I have to wait for 3-5 trains in Ang Mo Kio like my client have to.

I would have say, however, that expats would benefit the economy as it would create more jobs for the locals. However, foreign talents usually compete with the lower tier Singaporeans for job. For one, employers can hire a foreign talent for a fraction of what they have to pay a local. They don't have to contribute to the CPF for the foreign talent and they don't have to worry about the foreign talent going to the army for reservist. The locals are already losing out in competition because of these factors. Many of my peers from NTU, SMU, NUS, are having difficulties looking for job in the current market. Employers can choose to hire someone from a random university at a cheaper rate.

Even the old lady on the streets picking cans and cardboard boxes, faces competition from a foreign talent.

People in Dubai would always ask me why would I want to go overseas to work when the whole world is flooding into Singapore. And I told them that it is exactly the reason that I left Singapore. I felt like a foreigner in my own homeland. Singapore, I felt, was losing its flavor, identity and slowly becoming a city without a soul.

In my recent trip back to Singapore, I overhead a conversation of two middle aged "Aunties" on the bus.

Aunty A: Eh, who u voting ar?

Aunty B: PAP lo

Aunty A: but my daughter ask me vote another party le

Aunty B: why le PAP good what!

Aunty A: My daughter say that PAP let a lot of foreigners in.

Aunty B: Really ar?

Aunty A: Yeh, even the toilet uncle near my house has been replaced by a china man. Now he selling tissue. He say no choice.

Aunty B: Huh? So charm ar?

Many Singaporeans are quick to point out that we are displaying a xenophobic behavior when we do not welcome foreign talents. However, it is difficult to welcome them when there were many people in Singapore were already having difficulty making ends meet without the competition.

Beach Party Galore!

Every year, when it comes to winters in Dubai, its like hell broke loose and all the creatures hibernating somewhere in the fridges in Dubai, suddenly appear. Then again it might just be because of all the beach parties. Before winter, you see people camping in the gyms, working their ass out, so that they can flaunt it in the beach parties.

Everyone starts sun worshipping just because it is more pleasant to be out in the sun. Last week at Nasimi, it was a crazy party, the line up of Deejays were wonderful. Not like I remembered who was there, but I think I had a great time. Thats all that matters right? RIGHT?

Sandstorms, Brown clothes and all those in-between

Sandstorms isn't something I've seen in my part of the world. Its a pretty awesome sight to experience. The WHOLE city covered in sand. Then suddenly, i remembered about my laundry. Not good at all!!! 

But as I've learnt being here for almost 2 years, a major sandstorm in Dubai, signifies a major change in weather. And true to that, the weather became way cooler as compared to the past few days! 

However, there are some things you should do in a sandstorm. You shouldn't...

1. laugh with your mouth open. Before you know it, you will be coughing with all the sand in your mouth
2. wear white. Your clothes will turn brown. Just like my laundry
3. open your eyes. Shades come in really handy in times like that, to look good, AND to protect your eyes. But that's secondary, really!

A Walking City

I've always dreamt about living in a walking city, like one of those you see in "the sound of music" where u walk around and the shop keepers will greet you and ask you how is your day as you prance away with a flower in you hand feeling all chirpy. Ok! that is a little too much but you get the gist.

Well this comes to what I wanted to share about Dubai, it has NONE of this at all. Dubai is a city made for cars. Not for bicycles, motorcycles, scooter, foot, none of the above. It is made for HUGE cars that look like tanks.

Everyone here drives one of those huge hummers, the size of a mini school bus. When I was contemplating to buy my dream BMW Z4, i realized it looked so minuscule beside one of these giants. And yes, I have yet to mention about one of those monster trucks they drive here!

The huge toys they have here!

Before I arrived in this city, there were images in my head, I would walk to the nearest markets, get to know the place and the people. But then again, it was all in my head. During Ramadan, almost all the restaurants are closed and people would usually gather for meals at friends places. The night before it was my turn to cook dinner, the Metro had to breakdown. The cabs had to disappear from the roads. The weather had to be 45 degrees. The mall had to be horribly far away. 

I had to go to the supermarket to get my groceries by hook or by crook if not the dinner party would not materialize! I was thinking, since I could see the mall, it should take too long. Somehow, I conveniently forgot about the 8 lanes highway between my apartment and the mall. Although it was in plain sight, I had to walk to the nearest overhead bridge, which was about 1 km away from my house and the mall and 1km back towards the mall. 

It wasn't the distance that killed me, it was the temperature that did. When I arrived at the supermarket, I was drenched in my own sweat. Then a cab appeared.

I almost pulled my hair out i swear. Well, then again, this is Dubai. There are days you would kill to be here. There are others, you would die being here.

Dubai's Winter

As a kid, I learnt that deserts were burning hot in the day and freezing cold at night. This, i discovered wasn't true when I first came to Dubai. The 45 degrees heat lasted through the night. I felt like I was in a sauna. Even when there was a gentle breeze, it felt like the hair dryer was on full blast in my face.

Like many Singaporeans, I thought that coming from the tropics, I would be able to handle the heat. Not so smart at all.  I dreaded the first six months I was here, choosing to hide indoors, with the best invention on earth, the air conditioner.

But when I almost gave up on wearing clothes in Dubai, winter came. Dubai became like the most beautiful, comfortable place on earth. From 45 degrees, and not seeing a person in sight on the streets of Dubai, the city became a gorgeous cooling 23 degrees with every critter hiding in the caves in Dubai crawling out to beach parties, watering holes and gathering at the outdoor cafes. If you have a good imagination, it almost felt like you were in Europe.

People become nicer, and more tolerant, the parties start to get crazy and the concerts go on full swing. This is Dubai in winter.

This is where I hide during Summer... My cave, the shopping mall.

And this is where I will be, during winter...BY THE WATER!!!

I can't wait =)

Oh my god....!

Four Catholic men and a Catholic woman were having coffee.

The first Catholic man tells his friends, "My son is a priest, when he walks into a room, everyone calls him 'Father'."

The second Catholic man chirps, "My son is a Bishop. When he walks into a room people call him 'Your Grace'."
...
The third Catholic gent says, "My son is a Cardinal.. When he enters a roomeveryone says 'Your Eminence'."

The fourth Catholic man then says, "My son is the Pope. When he walks into a room people call him 'Your Holiness'."

Since the lone Catholic woman was sipping her coffee in silence, the four men give her a subtle, "Well....?"

She proudly replies, "I have a daughter, slim, tall, 38D breast, 24" waist and 34" hips. When she walks into a room, people say, "Oh My God."

Dubai's Quick Fix

You know how you enjoy the convinence of using a disposable fork and spoon, disposable plate, disposable chopstick just because of the ease of throwing them after use? Well, many of the people in Dubai are the same. You hardly find substance here. (before you people out there get offended, i said hardly, there are those rare gems around that you would need to filter through to find. Maybe, just maybe you guys fall in that catagory)

Why am I writing this post on a Monday morning you say? I have been chatting with this friend online for quite sometime, lets just call this friend A. A is part of an airline company that is situated in this part of the world. As an air crew, A flies around most of the time and its almost impossible to catch A in Dubai for lunches or dinner, hell, its almost impossible to catch A in Dubai at all!

A seemed like a nice person and a very suitable canditate to be a friend to keep in Dubai. A however, has this habit of calling off the meeting we arranged. We have had 5 failed appointments before we finally got to meet up. Once by me, 4 times by A.

Any normal person would have given up at the third attempt. You know the saying, "once bitten twice shy". So what does 5 times make me?  I really wonder sometimes. It either makes me a really patient person, or an utter fool.

When we met, it was nice. We talked about life, the world, travels. But due to a flight A had to catch, we had only about an hour to meet up. We arranged to meet up a few days later when A is back. Having met A, i thought that perhaps the failed meetings we experience previously is a thing of the past. Not so...!

This morning, when i woke up this Monday morning, I saw a message with , " I would love to meet up, however, I have to help my friends move on the date we're supposed to meet."

Friends at home always mentioned that I have lots of friends here. I said yes, that true, but many of them are just sustanance, not substance. As much as I try to be everything a friend is, you put yourself out there, you be nice, I feel that its almost impossible to really find proper friendship in Dubai.

After a year, this is all too clear, no expectations, no disappointment. People come and people go. Many of them just want a quick fix. Just like how you love your instant noodles, quick, convinient and settles your immediate need.

Like the junk we people hate to love. Like the junk we people eventually become.

Travel and living...

Being in Dubai has given me the luxury of time to reflect upon myself. What I want in life, how I want to live life and where I want to go in life.I have been blessed to be an expat at such a young age and to explore a new country with a whole different culture as compared to mine.

However, I have to confess, I have been quite a tv junky in Dubai watching Discovery Channel Travel and Living. I always dream of a career in traveling. Like how they do it on discovery channel. I hardly see any Asian hosts doing these crazy around the world travels and I akways dream do fill that position.

I love watching Nat Geo as well, having crazy hosts do out of the world things , traveling to dangerous places or seeing things that you can only see though your tv screen.

I did photo journalism in school and journalism having a dream of being a travel journalist or a travel host. However, I'm now in one location, in middle east! Ahhhh! Well, that's quite a dream job yeh?

If only....

Dubai through my eye

Dubai Though My Eyes

After taking a 9 month sabbatical slumber from blogging, I decided to get back to where i  have left off. My excitement of exploring this new city wore off after two months and I fell into a slight withdrawal from Dubai.  All I wanted was to get out! The first year is always difficult,like everyone says. I'm not saying that living in Dubai is easy for me now, it's not, it's getting eas-ier. 

If we compare Dubai to a lady, she isn't that French super model that you'll fall head over heals over, she isn't the Italian bombshell that make you breathless and weak in the knees, neither is she the Spanish babe who stole your heart. Let's just say that Dubai is akin to Durian, blue cheese, caviar. I'm not saying it's a tough pill to swallow, but its grows on you, slowly but surely. Dubai is this lady below the Arabian veil that doesn't show you it's charm, however, if u take some time to get to know her, you'll slowly fall in love. 

There's a million and one things you can do in Dubai and the sky is the limit. Hell, you can even conquer the skies if you wanted to! Choose between taking a hot air balloon or sky diving close to the tallest building in the world.

I'm not about to write an advertorial for Dubai, however, as I'm penning my thoughts  on a flight home from Dubai, I realized that I'm reaching my one year mark in Dubai before I even noticed it. I've given myself 2 years in this city. It's either that I like it and live through it happy, or suffer the next year which was what I did for the past 7 months. 

The last two months I'd say, was when I picked myself up again and started to look at this city again through a different set of lenses. The friendship I forged here helped me tide over troubled waters.

Dubai, guess what, I'm ready to take the plunge for one more year! 

P.S: I don't like crying babies on planes......

P.P.S: 3M needs to improve on their ear plugs. It isn't cry baby proof yet! 

Dubai metro, ladies only!

And so here I was happily minding my own business, taking my virgin train ride in Dubai!

it's nice clean and cheap, what else can we ask for right? so I was on the train and it was pretty empty. I decided to take the first seat I saw .

from the sides of my eye, I could see a lady giving me a "I am so gonna bitch slap you" kinda look.

I decide that I shall move seats before she pounces on me and shread me to pieces with her cheap fake nails.

I thought that she was staring cause I was sitted on the handicapped seat. "oh well!" I thought.

as the train went on, I was just playing happily on my iPhone minding my own business, more and more people came in. And they did the same thing before they took their seat, they stared, at me!

now I was getting a little worried. was berms not allowed in Dubai? or was my hair so outta place that they had to stare?

I just sat at my corner seat feeling all uncomfortable, with all the dagger stares! I swear this train ride was even more dangerous then charging into a raging bull wearing red.

Suddenly this huge guy came into the carriage and turned and left the carriage as soon as he entered.

it occured to me that I was the only guy in that carriage like a thorn amongst the roses, and all that after 30 minutes.

So, innocently I asked the lady beside me, "erm..... is this a ladies only carriage?" She smiled like as though she could feel how uneasy I was right now, laughed and said," yes, I think u are in the wrong place!"

Mystery solved!! I was in the wrong carriage!! so now, I thought, how am I going to make my exit through all the dagger eyes?

I decided that it was wise for me to just take out a magazine, bury my head in it, and try not to make eye contact with all the she wolves!

when it reached my stop, I rushed out faster then you can say Supercalifragilisticespiedidocious! yes, I was in such awkward position!

So the warning I have to all my male readers out here, please note that they have a ladies carriage! if u treasure ur life, stay out of their zone!

alas, what an adventure it was to take a train in Dubai!

PS: I took the gold class one on the wu back, cause I suppose that was the safest! thank god, allah, whoever !

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Dubai Metro, Ladies only!

And so here I was happily minding my own business, taking my virgin train ride in Dubai!

it's nice clean and cheap, what else can we ask for right? so I was on the train and it was pretty empty. I decided to take the first seat I saw .

from the sides of my eye, I could see a lady giving me a "I am so gonna bitch slap you" kinda look.

I decide that I shall move seats before she pounces on me and shread me to pieces with her cheap fake nails.

I thought that she was staring cause I was sitted on the handicapped seat. "oh well!" I thought.

as the train went on, I was just playing happily on my iPhone minding my own business, more and more people came in. And they did the same thing before they took their seat, they stared, at me!

now I was getting a little worried. was berms not allowed in Dubai? or was my hair so outta place that they had to stare?

I just sat at my corner seat feeling all uncomfortable, with all the dagger stares! I swear this train ride was even more dangerous then charging into a raging bull wearing red.

Suddenly this huge guy came into the carriage and turned and left the carriage as soon as he entered.

it occured to me that I was the only guy in that carriage like a thorn amongst the roses, and all that after 30 minutes.

So, innocently I asked the lady beside me, "erm..... is this a ladies only carriage?" She smiled like as though she could feel how uneasy I was right now, laughed and said," yes, I think u are in the wrong place!"

Mystery solved!! I was in the wrong carriage!! so now, I thought, how am I going to make my exit through all the dagger eyes?

I decided that it was wise for me to just take out a magazine, bury my head in it, and try not to make eye contact with all the she wolves!

when it reached my stop, I rushed out faster then you can say Supercalifragilisticespiedidocious! yes, I was in such awkward position!

So the warning I have to all my male readers out here, please note that they have a ladies carriage! if u treasure ur life, stay out of their zone!

alas, what an adventure it was to take a train in Dubai!

PS: I took the gold class one on the wu back, cause I suppose that was the safest! thank god, allah, whoever !


[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Hong Kong , dimsum, wax and yum

Food says a lot about a culture. For the chinese, we love our Dim Sum. In direct translation, it mean to "touch someone's heart". Think of it as a chinese tapas or small morsel that allows you to try a bit of everything. For the best dim sum , one has to head to Hong Kong! They eat dim sum for breakfast and it is THE BEST! 

Just let the pictures do the talking!

Sweet pork Bun!

Prawn Dumplings!!!! Totally yummy!

Ok this dish in direct translation is called the Phoenix's claw. But of course its just chicken's feet. I used to not really like it, until i tried this in Hong Kong! Melts in your mouth! 

My favourite, Siew Mai! Its like a dish all singaporeans like!

This bun, i think its a specialty to Hong Kong. Its like custard in a bun!

The pork ribs were to die for!

And Bird's nest soup! Suppose to revitalize your skin! YUM! Even if it doesnt, its really yum! 

And if you ever go to Hong Kong, dont forget about visiting the Madame Tuseude museum! 

I really loved the Hotel I had in Hong Kong. Its called, I Regal, obviously inspired by the whole I pod i phone culture. The internet was fast, the place was simple! Simply love it!

The gem in OLD DUBAI

Guess what guys? I have just discovered a gem of old Dubai, Karama! Even the name has a kick to it! Like KAWABLANGA! (u know, what those ninja turtles yell!)

Ok for people that don't know where Karama is, it is actually part of Old Dubai. Its slightly off town and new Dubai. Getting there is pretty simple, just take a Metro to Al Karama or simply, take a taxi. If you think that shopping in Dubai is way way way expensive, then try this little Gem! Clothes, shoes, bags, wallets, watches, sunglasses, caps, belts, all you want, you can get,at a really affordable rate! Shopping here is like going to Chatuchak in Thailand, its like a little treasure hunt cause you don't really know where the stalls are! 

Guys, word of advice, PLEASE DONT BRING YOUR GIRLFRIEND HERE, unless you've gotta deep pocket, just too many things to buy here. Ladies, 3 hours of shopping isn't enough, I dont even think 1 day is enough, just go in your most comfy outfit, nothing too fancy! 

Remember to take a break from those crazy shopping with a little street food or one the affordable restaurants there.

3 Felafel for 1dhs? Thats simply crazy! Top that up with 2 dhs for a can of soft drink and you are set for another few hours of crazy shopping! The arabian street fast food is simply yum yum, try their samosa or  an arabian Shawarma! YUM! 

Its like an arabian style sandwich, with tomato, lettuce, vegetable, meat and bread! All in one! If you are in the mood for Pakistani food, try one of those Pakistan restaurant around the corner. Try their grilled meat and chicken curry! Dinner for two shouldnt go above 30dhs and you would be FULL!

There's just so much to see and do there, however, do try to avoid going there in the weekends, it would be crazy packed! But, once you are there, go exploring the stalls and spend an evening there for dinner. Totally worth it, trust me! 

P.S: I will be off to Taiwan, so see you guys in a while! till then, ciao!

Come dine with me?

I love watching the show "Come dine with me". Its wonderful how those people come up with these dinner parties for random strangers. Sometimes friendship might blossom out of these dinner parties, and other times, people would just hate each other at the dining table! Well, I am thinking since, I hate crowds and I hate paying crazy amounts for partying on Xmas eve, I was thinking of having a dinner party for my friends here in Dubai.

Maybe I might even start this food exchange, dining movement here? Lets see how it goes!

I'm thinking,

Starter: Carrot, radish and dried shrimp spring roll with sweet thai chilli sauce, Or fried wantons with dark soy sauce

Main Dish: Singapore White Chicken Rice, Kai Lan( Green Vegetable)  with Oyster  Sauce, Bean Sprout with sesame sauce

Desert: Green Bean soup with Sago

What say you? Come dine with me?

Europe or Asia?

Being in the Middle East, we are actually very blessed to be able to fly to Asia and Europe at a very affordable rate.  It's coming to the end of the year and the whole world seems to be slowing down a little. So...... I have been deciding where should I go since I am geographically in such a strategic location! After talking to a few of my friends, I have narrowed my search for year end travel trip to 4 places... Do me a favor, read through and share with me where I should go!

Jordan


Jordan is just a three and a half hours flight away from Dubai. FlyDubai flies there at Dhs665 return, inc taxes. For the price of about 200 USD, you can step back into a time capsule, thats Petra!

This must be one of the 7 wonders of the world, this piece of magnificent architecture carved into the mountains. I guess I would have to out on my Indiana Hat and some trekking shoes to get to this place!

Jordan also is the Bethany! Jesus was Christened at this location and Moses first saw the Holy land at Mt Nebo. There is also so much to explore in the deserts with the castles and the Arabia history! Gorgeous aint it?! 


Trivia time, where can you can free spa mud that gives you baby smooth skin and at the same time float in the sea while you read a book?  That has to be the dead sea! Its also in Jordan. My friends were telling me that once you get into the dead sea, your skin become SOOOOO baby soft that a little scratch would cause a huge scar!

Nepal


It would take me roughly the three and a half hour to fly to Nepal as well. It would cost you roughly $250USD to fly there via Air Arabia. I was always so drawn to the whole beauty of the art of the tibetan buddhist and the whole idea of visiting Nepal and Tibet.

Nepal is also a very popular destination with backpackers. If you aren't too picky with the choice of backpackers inn, a night could cost you US $4 - 10 depending on what fancy stuff you want. 

Going to Nepal to a tibetan buddhist is like going to Mecca to a muslim. With its scenic view and affordable living it is a great choice for travelers traveling on a shoe string!

Greece

Greece speaks for itself. The history, the scenery, the language, the people, the architecture, the weather, basically EVERYTHING! And the best thing is, I found out that flying there costs only US$ 250 ! I wont elaborate that much about Greece, cause I think most people know about this beautiful country and what it has to offer! Just looking at the picture is enough to want to go there!

Egypt

Egypt is like every history buff's secret fantasy.  Flying there would cost about US550 with Emirates. There is just soooo much to see in Egypt. The pyramid , the river nile, the mummy etc etc. And yeh, the weather now is just so appealing for you to visit! 

At the end of the article, I am still unsure of where I should visit. All of them are within reach! Gosh, if I had the time, I'd go visit em all!

What do you do in Dubai?

Many people ask me what do I do in my free time in Dubai, or more generally, what IS THERE to do in Dubai...

Well if you haven been to Dubai and explored it, you ought to! Its pretty bustling and full of activities! And of course it wouldnt hurt if you had a circle of friends to make life more interesting.

If you are REALLY clueless on what to do in Dubai, I'd recommend you to get a Timeout Magazine (they didnt pay me for this really... i just really like what they have to offer!) Timeout magazine writes very timely articles. I am not sure if it was pure coincidence or was someone reading my mind! When I was considering to adopt a pet, Timeout covered a story about pet adoptions in Dubai. When I was looking for the best places to go for a short trip, Timeout covered it! U get the idea! This magazine tells you whats happening, where's the hottest parties of the month, the clubs to look out for, activity clubs you can join and stuff! Really wonderful for below 10 DHS!

Then again, if you are the outdoorsy type, there isnt a better time to head out and have fun in the sun! The weather now in Dubai is simply fabulous! Its bright and sunny, yet really breezy and cooling at the same time!

Desert trails - Spend a day out in the desert in one of those jeep! Try camel riding, sand surfing, arabian food, dress up in the whole arab look, get a henna tattoo and simply go arabian for a day! There isnt a better time to head out and just get crazy in the desert.

Get together for a BBQ! BBQ is in the rage right now, everyone seems to be planning for a BBQ party! I know I am looking forward to a BBQ party tomorrow! But do remember to get some warm clothing. It can get chilly at night in the end of the year. Most apartments in Dubai has a BBQ area at the roof. Preparing the BBQ food isnt too much of a hassle as well. Supermarkets are stocked up with Pre-marinated BBQ friendly food. So just get some friends, go to the supermarket and get them to BYOB, there you have it, a PARTY to remember! (stay tuned for my own BBQ party pictures tomorrow!)

If you have a deeper pocket, try one of those sky diving in the urban jungle. Why explore the city from the grounds when you can soar in the skies? I have yet to try this, but if there's a chance, i certainly would!

I wouldnt really recommend you to explore the malls, because that you can do all year round. BUT BUT BUT, with all the sale going on, you HAVE to visit the malls. Visit the Dubai mall, and spend a whole day there. Being the biggest mall, you can get your LV beside your Bottega, try some African cuisine then hop to a French cafe for desserts. Its such a huge mall, a day isnt enough! While you are there, dont forget to eplore the tallest building in the world. The Burj Khalifa.

Oh well, there's simply too much to do in this weather and people are already in the mood to celebrate the end of the year! I shall add more to this article soon. For now, nap time!

Back in Dubai

To all my friends and readers, sorry I have been away fir a month for compulsory military service back in Singapore! Coming back to Dubai has been pretty wonderful! First of all it has to be the weather, its soooooooo cooling now and it makes walking in the open enjoyable! I hope this lasts forever!

Its always nice to meet friends here in Dubai as well.... I've been hanging out now with this motley crew of Danish, German, Russian and myself, Singaporean gang. Its pretty funny, people from all over bonding over a few beer, trading asian jokes, German hitler jokes, rude danish jokes, u get the gist!

Anyway , Ill add more about what has happened to me the past month soon! Its now time for me to hit the bed.... =) cheers guys and hello Dubai....again

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

The best 10 minutes you'd ever invest in your life... take a breather and read this article!

 

Don't work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

-----
Written by Adrian Tan, author of The Teenage Textbook (1988), was the guest-of-honour at a recent NTU convocation ceremony. This was his speech to the graduating class of 2008.
-----

I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.

You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process” and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they’re wrong.

The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term “Karoshi”, which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn’t say “be loved”. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.
You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

Cats outta the bag!

OK THE CAT'S OUTTA THE BAG! Yep i am back in Singapore to give my friends a suprize birthday visit and back to army for a little while... i will be away for a while but please stay tuned ok!?

International Readers... Thank you!

My intentions of writing this blog initially was so that my parents would have a rough idea of what i was doing on the other side of earth. But it slowly became quite a pleasurable experience and a vehicle to share my experiences with my friends and readers from abroad.

Recently, I got to know quite a lot of friends from all over the world and many of them were actually quite curious about life in Dubai. So this blog came in handy! AFTERALL, pictures speaks louder then words ya? =)

I actually didnt think that I had much people reading my blog. Until recently, I discovered this function where I could check on who actually chances upon my blog. There were people from the US , Singapore, UAE, China, canada, spain, Egypt, Malaysia and recently TAIWAN!

Talking to people around the world widens our knowlege and lets us learn more about other's culture. To me, its such an enjoyable experience. Usually, the media shapes our idea of what the general population is like but, the best is to get to know them, first hand.

I have been talking a lot to this Taiwanese recently, initially for business, but from business, the topics moved on to food, culture and Taiwanese drama... I am a huge sucker for Taiwanese food and drama. Put me there for a month with all the XXL Crispy Chicken, Oyster Mee Suah, Braised Pork rice etc etc, I will put on at least 5kg i reckon! No wait...the last time i was there for 3 weeks I put on 5 kg... and i might just look like my fat Taiwanese friend Phill Chuang.

But on a side note, thank you for reading my blog and sharing it with your friends Phill... and Jade....!! Currently, I am in the process of planning for a trip to Taiwan and you have no idea how excited I am. It feels like you are dangling a piece of braised pork in front of me and i have to wait for 3 months until I am allowed to eat it. Thats how excited I feel.

To end this off, I would like to say, to the new friends in Dubai, to the friends and family I miss so much in Singapore, to the Fat (Phill) friend in Taiwan (Jade, i am sure u are beautiful, dont worry, Fat only refers to Phill), to the new readers that chance upon my blog,

THANK YOU FOR DROPPING BY! You make me a very happy boy sharing my life... It would make me happier though if you left a comment in my comment box... ok? =)

Love you all xoxo