Typical Singaporean Annoyance

This is one of the issues that have been bugging me for a long time, our world-class public transport system.

Mr Brown's latest post prompted me to make this post as well, because I share the same experience everyday, which also makes me want to swear.

On a good day, it takes me 50 minutes to get from home to office, from the time I leave the house, to when I get to the office. Sometimes, it can take up to 1 hour. The journey is a typical walk->bus->train->bus->walk routine. In particular, getting from home to the MRT station is a 'short' 3 bus stop affair. But let me break this journey into the timings of the respective segments.

The train journey takes a very reliable 20 minutes. The following wait for the bus, and the bus journey (2 stops) itself, takes on average 5 minutes, and the walk to office takes another 5 minutes.

Doing the math, this implies that the bus journey (plus waiting time) takes from 20 to 30 minutes JUST for 3 bus stops! It is easily as long as the entire train segment!

The problem is, as you would have guessed, that the bus just takes soooo loooooong to arrive. During peak hours, there is still a 15 minute interval between arrivals.

Compounding the problem is the overwhelming graciousness of Singaporean commuters. At this point, I cannot be sure whether the offenders are Singaporeans or foreigners, but this definitely is a national phenomenon - people simply refuse to move to the rear of the bus.

Countless times, the front of the bus is tuna-packed. It is amazing that 3 to 4 people can squeeze into 1 meter length of the bus aisle at the front of the bus, and 6 people can cram onto the area in front of the driver, including the steps. The back of the bus, however, from the exit to the rear, has a grand total of 5 standing persons.

Some (able-bodied) people simply like to board the bus, and stop RIGHT at the exit even when there is tons of space at the rear. Alright, you are in a hurry, you want to get off the bus FIRST, fine. But more often than not, these people take up almost the entire width of the aisle, meaning that people boarding the bus after them are not even able to squeeze past to get to the rear of the bus. Yes, you can say 'excuse me' to get past them, but come on, who is in the wrong? So not only are these people being selfish by standing at the exit, they are also being inconsiderate by not allowing more gracious people to pass.

If it was an old person who has problems walking, or if he or she had a trolley, luggage in tow, then it makes more sense to stay at the exit. But sometimes, the offender can be a well-made up, nicely dressed lady with nice hair and a pretty face, or a smartly dressed executive. You'd wonder what's the point.

Everybody wants to get to work, or school on time. I do not blame the people who keep wanting to squeeze onto the bus even though there is obviously no more room. How can I, when the next bus will come in another 15 minutes, which would also likely be jam-packed (well, at least at the entrance anyway)? Why should I, when the back of the bus is so spacious, with the passengers there oblivious to the plight of their fellow passengers.

Best Place to have Breakfast in Kuching

The Kuching Food Awards over at Kennysia.Com has chosen

6. Best Place To Have Breakfast

Winner: Choon Hui Cafe, Jalan Ban Hock.

Here's an excerpt from the review:

Located close to town, right next to Grand Continental Hotel, Choon Hui is as authentic as it can get to a old-fashioned Kuching Chinese-style coffee shop. It is open during breakfast hours only, starting business very early in the morning and finishes around 11am.

Why did I mention this? Well, because this cafe is run by my uncle. Personally, I've never been to Kuching before, and I didn't know my uncle's coffeeshop can be THIS popular, and they are only open for breakfast. Man!

So if you are visiting Kuching anytime, do drop by to try the kaya toast (I heard it is a sell-out item everyday).

Low Income Earner

This chart indicates that gross wages have shot waaay up in the past year. Seems like engineering and IT are in favor once again, at least at the managerial level.

1. Research and development manager - $9,385
2. Computer operations and network manager - $9,300
3. Computer and information systems manager - $8,930
4. Technical manager - $8,595

My gosh, this makes me grossly underpaid. What to do, when your company is in the declining electronic manufacturing industry?

These are gross wages, so there may be some large AWS component in there for 2007. Maybe next year we would see something different as widespread decline affects most industries.

As the report shows, electrical and electronics engineers bottom out the list

1. Electrical engineer - $4,665
2. Electronics engineer - $4,615

Scopes up!

Random Shots

Look at the sky, and say "wow"!

Is that a flower?

Let me sin, just this once!

Where is he drinking from?

Sony Ericsson G900

My Ideal Phone?


There have been many candidates for my ideal phone already. What are my criteria?

• > 3.2MP camera
• 3G
• QuadBand (is this a given for 3G phones?)
• WiFi
• FM Radio
• Bluetooth

Worth mentioning features include

• Handwriting recognition
• StickyNotes
• TrackID music recognition
• Business card scanner

While these doesn't make it an iPhone-beater (the G900 doesn't even look/feel/sound like a SmartPhone), this unit still distinguishes itself among other 'conventional' mobiles phones in a stylish, right-sized package. GSMArena calls its cousin G700 a SmartPhone in disguise (feature wise, G900 is a superset of the G700). Well done, S.E.!

The Sony Ericsson G900 is physically identical to the G700 with a 2.4" 262K-color TFT display of QVGA resolution. However the G900 has more to offer than its sibling - bringing Wi-Fi support and a 5 megapixel auto focus camera it looks set to cause high-tech high-end excitement. - GSMArena

380 hours standby time and 12 hours of talk time is rather impressive. A whole gamut of organizer functions is ideal for a disorganized person like me. Is it possible to write my own applications for the phone? (this was why I got my Nokia E65 in the first place, but I have not written anything for it until now, even though I've done it in school for the N70, anyway, S60 phones are all the same).

Too bad HSDPA (3.5G) isn't supported. Neither is there infra-red.

Upon seeing an advertising blitz on the train back from work today, I went to the shop to take a look, and there was one on live display, not just a dummy model.

It's the right size and weight (<100g).

Tell me when will you be mine ...