Life For Rent

Interviews interviews and more interviews.

I behave strangely sometimes. I upload resumes, get called for interviews and rejected all but a few so far.

Maybe it is not my who’s strange. I upload my resume which states very clearly what I am after yet I get calls to insurance companies for positions as financial advisors. Why? If I wanted to do that I would have worked in our own family ‘business’..

Anyone has any technical work at their work place up for grabs?

Speaking of insurance, I chanced upon a report on this guy named Chrstopher who was putting down the entire population of financial advisors, seemingly implying they are out to commission as much as they could regardless of what their clients really needed. He tabulated critical illness policies having huge premiums in comparison to policies that pay out on hospital admission and surgeries. My overall feel to it is the same as a certain person who sells Aviva policies to recruits in BMT. A very biased approach which does not hold the entire truth. Yet damaging statements are made like “between 50 bucks in commission or 5k, which would you push for if you were an agent.” Quote unquote.

I hope someone speaks up soon. The profession is at stake and I hope it doesn’t come to a point where everyone feels someone will write in and then ultimately no one does.

My opinion is simple. State what you feel. That is fine. Do not put someone or a profession down. If you were a job applicant going for an interview and they ask why did you decide to leave your current company and you say cause you and your boss had disagreements and he is a maniac, you’ll think you’re insulting him but in the eyes of the interviewer, you are insulting yourself just as well. Besides how does he know if one day you will not bad mouth him the same way. He’ll probably pass the buck on you.

Hmm hardly relevant, but indeed, damaging statements should not be made to confuse the public. If a doctor came up one day and crititised something, and the profession (he was a doctor but decided to become a lawyer cause he couldn’t stand the way fellow doctors practiced in the past) with facts that the general population will not fully understand yet enough to cause a panic, I think it is so wrong…

I was chatting with my mom about CPF earlier. Goodness knows how the topic came about. Oh yes she said I should work asap to get CPF contribution else I lag behind my peers and I shot back at her “What for?”

This whole CPF, when I thought of it, its a dodgy thing. Its main aim is to ensure the citizens when they do retire they have enough to go through their retirement independently, isn’t it? At least, its primary role, so the government will not have to step in with welfare and stuff for every retiree. But in the past, we could use our CPF contributions for shares, unit trusts..what else? A whole lot. Now it is being clamped down to housing and stuff. If I had a say, I say prohibit housing as well. Why? When you get a house, I presume you ought to be working. If you can afford to get a house you should be able to service the loan and interest of the bank. Having 60k and buying a car at the cost of 60K does not imply I can maintain it. What is the point of CPF if when I retire, I do not have enough? It is meant to safeguard my own interest isn’t it? Why not lock it in. By using cpf to pay for housing, it ‘free’s up some of my cash, which probably will be used on silly things. Think about it. Never mind the dual purpose of having CPF funds for the government to invest (there is no such thing as a free lunch where someone keeps money for you for no reason)., its main aim is to ensure a good sum for us to retire. Many of us simply do not have that sum! And then we say, when we are old, “better to be dead then sick.”

Working individuals on average, should have the ability to finance their housing loans. The CPF should be locked for their own sake. All too often than not, it is not, and that is where financial advisors come in these days, to draft out your plan for you all the way to retirement to ensure that you have more than a few dollars left. The use of CPF for insurance policies is fair enough for it covers would-be expenditures, both for self, or for the family. Housing takes off a huge chunk of it even though it has a ceiling and coupled with little bits and pieces of purchases that can be used with the CPF fund, there is really very little left. I would look and streamline what that can be purchased using CPF and what that cannot.

A plan, that does not achieve its ultimate goal eventually, is considered a failure to me. If by the time I retire and I do not have much left, it is partially my fault for over utilising my CPF funds, and also the government’s, for making it possible. The fact that property valuation can go up is not relevant. It can also go down, and what am I supposed to do, sell my property and live with a child of mine when I retire?

The flexibility is there, I suppose end of the day it is our responsibility to ensure we have enough when we retire. How do we define enough? Good question, it is tough, but at least a sizable amount considering the age we retire. A financial planner can do an educated analysis for us I believe.

Nuff said.

Been rather ill with fever and throat inflammation again. It is better now..Lots of studies and assignments to do. Been prepping myself ready for the treadmill championship challenge beginning july. Carbo intake increased and I do expect to lose at least 1.5kg of water and another plus minus 1kg of fat mass during the actual run. Longest distance wins. My goal? No idea, we’ll see how far I can go before I tap out. At least 30km. There are rules and it favours people who can visit the gym during off peak hours. The mighty mark system says it needs the rest before the challenge, with a mild increase in fat storage that will be used during the run. That fat will come from carbs which is essentially sugar that we are talking about and not chicken skin mind you

Will tell more bout that in the later days. Have a good midweek everyone!

A few of my friends are now back for their holidays and I have noticed something when it comes to love that’s generic across people who are working/studying/staying overseas, away from home.

What does being away from home, friends and family do to us? Do they make us more vulnerable to love out of home? Perhaps it’s that being in a foreign land we tend to be ‘on our own’ and at least the female friends of mine, seem to fall prey to relationships. In a bad way. There is very little I can help with. Heck I don’t even think I should interfere. Even I can’t come up with a good solution for them. I just loan a pair of ears and perhaps through their experience I learn something as well.

I have seen very stable and good relationships fail the test of time of being seperated from one another. But is it a fair test in the first place, to be put through the test of time living apart. It can be tough. I believe, it is tough. Ultimately the success or failure of the whole test is dependent on the two parties involve I guess, rather than a generic ‘can’ or ‘cannot work’ scenario.

I would love to hear from couples or individuals who have gone through such tests of time. A relationship can be a solid rock, taking the brunt of problems living together, financial matters, decisions, living apart, the list goes on. Yet it can survive. Love, wherever it is placed or grown or kept seems to be able to withstand adversities better than the human body and minds. It is hard to ‘test’ the foundation of a relationship. Be it platonic, romantic, or pure family ties. It is during a period of crisis and adversities, where ties are tested. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. How apt the saying.

How many have been in a relationship and gone to the stage where being with a partner all the time (ie living with them) may seem such a suffocating thought. What bout the 7 year itch? How does one overcome it? How does one safeguard oneself and his or her relationship. To protect and to serve (literally) to the fullest capacity of one’s abilities?

1 and 1 doesn’t always make 2. In the game called love, there are no rules, no boundaries (we only set imaginary boundaries within our relationship). Itis a no rules game, where anything goes and anything can happen. To be part of the game, there is a price to pay. Are you willing to play the game? All too often, we use our ‘credit card’ to pay without second thoughts. It is only till much later would you get the ‘bill’ and realise what a fool you may have been. Some say, its not what you have, its what you once had.

What a minute. Didn’t I just say, there are no rules?

Make your move, and never look back. Chess is an amazing game. It trains one to move that move, and not look back. You may have a strategy, but in a game of two people, the strategies will change. No point looking back. Plan your next step towards your final goal. In love, it is not to defeat the other. Instead, I look for a stalemate. A draw. Both can be winners, or losers, depending on how you look at it. As long as both parties are happy, the game has ended, and it will not be judged by anyone else. It should not.

A good game doesn’t conclude from a pure victory or defeat. It ends with a unity of the players. Respect for one another. Committment to the game. And responsibility to one’s ownself, of his or her happiness.

Checking out the timer above, it does indicate my ORD has arrived!

I was in camp, in uniform for perhaps one last time in my life. I do not have a parent unit after ORD and hence will be in a holding list, so am crossing my fingers there!

This day’s also the day my trainees pass out from their course. My last batch indeed. Kinda symbolic ya know. My trainees and I, each and everyone moving onto a new phase in life, going past a milestone and stuff. Someday they will be in my shoes too. I bet they probably can’t weight.

To be serious the 2 main things I couldn’t really bare to leave behind is chao keng chao and garang guay, my two fellow NSFs in my wing. Terence, who was inducted into the unit on the same day as me will ORD in a couple months. I bet he can’t wait either, to get out of there and be in school and stuff.

I saw X (representing a name) who’s pretty fond of Terence, today. Looks like he was in a lousy mood of sorts. I gotta say he is quite a good near range volleyball player tho!

Ah okay back to today..here’s sharing with ya the momumental ORD photo I took with my 2 very good buds. The last time I will be in that outfit, perhaps?

Ah yes in case for those of you who were wondering what I have been up in the month of may and june. I have been working very hard physically. Phase one included trimming down my body fat % and see my weight drop from 79 to 74.8kg. The target was 75kg. The end of phase 1 saw me eating nonstop for a weekend as described some couple weeks back. Phase two had 70% weight training and 30% cardio. I shan’t go into specifics, but if you are interested, sign up for the Mighty Mark system!

No pills powders and definitely no steroids necessary. Just a handful of hard work, a dash of determination and perhaps a pinch of motivation is all it takes for starters.

Just in case you are wondering how the mid of phase 2 training looked like, here’s evolution in the making for you.

I have not measured my stats. I reckon the last time someone did take a measure of my arms, its 16 inch on right and 15 on left. The rest hasn’t been measured. It doesn’t bother me much though cuz I aint training to compete. Basically its to lose some weight, get some muscles working again and more importantly, find that outlet I need for all my frustrations. It’s between another human being and metal plates in the gym, which would be better? You get the drift.

My abs? Ah. Don’t even ask. Why? haha.I train hard I try to give myself a good pat on the back…errr abs as well. I have no abs. Haven’t been training them much. Why? Take a look.

I think I should begin soon though, the intensive one. What say you? The most shiong I have tried so far is what I call the cable pulldown for abs. Since we are at this, here’s a tip off mighty mark’s system. hah.. If you want durian seed abs, you know the 6 or 8 seeds, you must use weights. Crunches alone at most will give you a firm and toned abs with abs the size of grapes at very best. You want durian seeds, you need weights.

I seem to be down with a flu again. *sigh* Tomorrow it is pink ic collection day, and then to ECP for my trainee’s cohesion day. Showers are expected in the morning though…grrr..then it is off to chevrons for your perm staff cum my ORD cohesion I reckon.

Thank you Song jie for the ord gift idea and event planning for tomorrow. I do look forward to be with you all, one last time as fellow colleagues later.

Meantime I have been listening to Sarah Mclachlan’s World On Fire. It is a great song. It will be featured on the soundbyte for next month. Look out for it. Thank you Jonathan for introducing the song.

I’ll catch up again soon enough. I’m kinda sinking into the same mood I once had after my O levels. Ah.. Unspeakable thoughts.

Great weekend of food and sentosa. Not much of a sun but nontheless fun. I suppose great company supercedes great sun. What ‘great sun’ will probably do to me is to get me tanned in 5 mins instead of 5 weeks. But I will look 5 years older after all of that.

I was reading this little posting on a forum and found it pretty interesting. It is on homosexuality at DNA level. Note that it is a study based on male homosexuality. They have not been able to isolate gene influence in the formation of female homosexuality. ie, no genetic basis for lesbians as yet?

Here it is :

As far as I know, male homosexuality in Drosophila and Homo sapiens is hypothesised to be controlled by 2 totally different genes. While male homosexuality in Drosophila is indeed discovered to be influenced by the FRU gene, human male homosexuality is more correctly linked to the HMS1 gene in the Xq28 locus. This makes a lot of sense – since gays practically do not reproduce, why is there still a stable number of gays in the society IF it’s really genetic?

One thing we ALL have to note is that whatever phenotypic outcome, there must be a genetic and environmental influence. As all who have touched the least bit on genetics should know, phenotypic variance = genetic variance + environmental variance. Hence, a portion of the “no inheritance” claim is eliminated by the environmental portion.

As for the genetic portion, the gay gene is identified on Xq28 – locus number 28 on the long arm of X chromosome. Sex-linked, and inherited from the mother. Since this HMS1 only takes effects on males, it has no effects on the mother. The mother is still straight but the son is gay.

Scientists studying the HMS1 allele also proposed that male homosexuality is actually part of nature’s means to increase birth rate. HMS1 does not produce a protein signalling for male-male attraction but stimulates male attraction. If it’s expressed in a female, she’ll be more fertile, more attracted to males and hence, totally straight. When expressed in males, it prompts attraction to males instead of females, hence male homosexuality. As such, the HMS1 gene actually is NOT the same as the FRU gene which is specific to homosexuality. HMS1 is meant for increased female HETEROSEXUALITY which, in heritance to a male offspring, becomes a primer to male homosexuality.

-end-

There was a link as well though I didn’t understand a word on it. hah hah..maybe someone who has done genetics can give some insight.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=gene&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Graphics&list_uids=3165

Oh oh the ORD timer is a single digit! I hardly even realised. 3..2..1..

wooo hoo!!

Welcome to the world.

Ah.. Summery summery june. ORD june. Had a rather great haircut today. Think I kinda like it a lot. Started to do formal clearance today and sending emails to my colleagues in my unit thanking them for the inspiration and support throughout my service term with them. If you ask me, what am I gonna miss from NS? I can tell ya it is a lot. Happy to go but sad to leave is the sentiment right now.. as I have been saying..

Talking bout missing…did my monthly sashimi loading at Ikoi over the weekend. Wanna check it out? This is what that came through the ala carte buffet style japanese food that I so love..especially the sashimi. Take a look.

And this is what is left some 2 minutes later.

Spotted Dan over the weekend as well over a road show that I walked past. It was nice to see him again. Just in case you are wondeing, Dan’s like my si fu. I did production work for him during jive drive once upon a time and I learnt a lot from him, apart from the kind of friendship he has with people. He is still the same Daniel ding dong bell Ong after all these years. Nice to see somethings never change..

I would really like to visit Sentosa soon again for a nice swim and some great fun. Think I will be popping by next Fri for my trainee’s cohesion activity day. Till then for those of you going over the weekend, let me know yar?

Cool!

By the way, I still think the creative’s zen micro battery life is horrendous..totally horrendous. Makes me wonder if the product was even worth buying..

Au revoir for now! Time for bed!