Collin Ng's Blog

Penned by David Mason, a former partner of Price Waterhouse and is now running his own consultancy in business communications in the United Kingdom. His article first appeared in the Business Times on 25 Oct, Tuesday and also in the Straits Time on 27 Oct, Thursday. Quote I've been coming to Singapore for the last 48 years, which makes me feel ancient. Mind you, the first visit in 1963 was merely a one-day stopover on a ship back to the United Kingdom. We berthed at what is now the container terminal and I bought my first transistor radio at what is now Raffles Place, from a small shop which was near Change Alley. We could not afford Robinsons on other side of the park. Immediately, I can hear young Singaporeans saying: "Huh?" Singapore has changed dramatically. I came to live here in 1979 and stayed until 1997. Since then, I have worked here on and off every year and have had the opportunity to see the place change and grow. Modern Singapore is a success story. From...

This is taken from Malaysia politician, YB Lim Kit Siang's blog post, http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2011/10/23/four-nations-four-lessons/ by this gentleman, Gregory Mankiw. Quote By N. GREGORY MANKIW The New York Times October 22, 2011 AS the economy languishes, politicians and pundits are debating what to do next. When we look around the world, it’s hard to find positive role models. But as we search for answers, it is useful to keep in mind those fates that we would like to avoid. The recent economic histories of four nations are noteworthy: France, Greece, Japan and Zimbabwe. Each illustrates a kind of policy mistake that could, if we are not careful, presage the future of the United States economy. Think of them as the four horsemen of the economic apocalypse. Let’s start with Zimbabwe. If there were an award for the world’s worst economic policy, it might well have won it several times over the past decade. In particular, in 2008 and 2009, it experienced truly spectacular hyperi...

This was my second cycling event this year, experienced my first with OCBC in Singapore earlier this year and following suit, its Malaysia edition. I enjoyed the Singapore edition and was certainly keen to partake in the Malaysia one which was a first by OCBC. I managed to convince my running mate, Chua to join me though Chua is not as avid as me when it comes to cycling. The event was scheduled on 16 Oct, Sunday. We planned to be in KL one day prior; to check out the venue and to collect our kits, among others. I had booked DoubleTree by Hilton, the official hotel of the event but to our dismay, it was 'official in name' as not much of publicity could be found at the hotel premises, save for a lone pull-out banner displayed at one corner of the lift lobby. It is a nice and comfy hotel, no doubt. I picked up Chua at his place in Bukit Panjang before 7am on Saturday as we had to cross the Woodlands causeway before 8am if we wanted to avoid the heavy jam later. We managed ...

Taken from the blog of Malaysian veteran politician, YB Lim Kit Siang, an article written by a Douglas Tan from The Malaysian Insider. Many Singaporeans, especially the Gen Y are grumbling about living in Singapore, the high cost, lack of freedom, among others but alot more Malaysians are eager to seek lives outside, read on. Quote — Douglas Tan The Malaysian Insider Oct 12, 2011 OCT 12 — Recently, YB Teresa Kok asked me, “Why are Malaysians so keen to leave this country? Life overseas is not necessarily easier!” I agree that life overseas is not necessarily so. In fact, my cousins living in Hong Kong, Singapore and London tell me regularly that they miss the food and that everything is much cheaper at home (except cars). They complain about the weather, high cost of living and their long working hours. Despite this, when the possibility of coming back home is raised, they give me a smile and a shake of their head. Is living in Malaysia really so bad? What is it that other countr...

It was my first outing organised by YMCA but for sure, won't be my last with them after this enjoyable trip. We've found good new company, especially the senior citizens among us. The trip was scheduled on 8 Oct, Saturday and the 6 of us, Dora, CK, Kiat Sing, Kany, Yan Ping and me had arranged to meet at Woodlands station by 0645 hrs to take a Johor bound TIBS bus over to Singapore Woodlands check-point where we were supposed to link up with the rest. Unfortunately, we later learnt from Kiat Sing that Kany and Yan Ping had taken ill thus had to give this trip a miss. We arrived at Singapore check-point before 0700 hrs, early for us as the meet up was scheduled at 0730 hrs. While waiting, we witnessed an accident. A Malaysia registered combi was making a reverse which rammed into another Malaysia registered combi. Not a major accident, the rear of one dented the front of the other. Quickly, Dora took down the number plates of the two combis (cannot remember the number no...

With permission from Malaysia opposition MP, YB Tony Pua, this article by Sara Lau was taken from his blog. Quote Sara Lau is a lawyer who has recently graduated from Reading and will be completing her bar in London. She interned with me in August and below are her thoughts. “You are young, talented, hardworking and determined – where do you want to go after you graduate?” I have always thought myself optimistic about my country. When people asked me whether I wanted to stay or leave after my studies, I always answered that I wanted to be a lawyer in Malaysia – to work for my community and my country. When my peers told me that their parents told them to run, I was judgmental of them. To me, they were quitters. Maybe Malaysia was not in a good economic place at the moment, but I was so sure in my heart that this will come to pass. On closer inspection, I realised it was not just because of the returns and low wages in Malaysia that was making them run... I called myself an optimist, bu...

It was my first participation but this Yellow Ribbon Prison run event was the third consecutive year on 18 Sep, Sunday. As I missed the registration last year, I therefore registered early for the 10km competitive run - These offenders should be given second chance in lives. On last Friday, I had a long evening run with Chua, Dora and CK. Chua and I covered some 18km, slowly building up for the year end Stanchart Marathon. Yesterday (Saturday), one day before the prison run, I decided to skip long cycling and gym activities so that I can get ready, physically & mentally for the run this morning. Though it is a 10km event (my usual practice run is more than 10km each time), I can't help feeling the adrenalin rush inside me. As expected, I was fighting hard to go to sleep which was quite frustrating. I kept waking up, having intermittent sleep until the alarm sounded off at 5.30am. Before 6am, I was already out of my house. I didn't drive as the starting and finis...

Our meet-up group led by Kwan and SP organised a climb to Gunung Belumut in Kluang on 28 August, Sunday for some 23 of us with one dropping out at last minute. As it was an early morning departure at 7am at Woodlands MRT, we (Anna, CK and I) had arranged to spend a night at Dora's place in Woodlands to save all the hassle of rushing from our home. Also, we were expected to stay up late to watch the 'LIVE' telecast of the PE result on Saturday evening till dawn. Everyone turned up on time as Kwan kept reminding all that he was prepared to wait till 7.15am for the last person only. I had fish fillet at Macs for breakfast, so too for Anna, CK and Dora who ordered their own share. When we arrived at the Woodlands immigration, Anna felt faint. She said something in her breakfast could have caused her that. At the Johor immigration, we waited for quite a while for her while she rushed to the toilet. Dora kept her company throughout while we waited in the combi. Fi...

This article is written by a friend of mine and I am pleased to post it on my blog. Quote As the Presidential Election Campaign of Singapore is underway, I would like to share my knowledge on what someone needs to know as they prepare to go to cast their vote. First and foremost, one must recognise that this is not a run to elect a set of policies that a certain political party professes or practices as against the other. The President should be non-parisan, we are not voting for People’s Action Party (PAP), which is the ruling party, or the “Oppositions”. So please get this right before you proceed and please get over the 2011 GE fever because PAP has won the majority vote and shall be the ruling party for the next 5 years. If you are unhappy about their policies and their performance in the next five years, you will get your chance to vote again in five years’ time. If you think that you want a greater representation to come from PAP, you have your chance too in five ye...

This article was taken from this source, http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2011/07/18/doctored-709-photo-whos-responsible/ All top journalists as well as management personnel in New Sunday Times and Berita Minggu responsible for the photographic falsification of a PAS Unit Amal volunteer as a violent 709 protestor armed with knife when he was holding a Malaysian flag and not throwing rocks at police should step out and own up. It is a violation of all the basic tenets of journalism of truth, fair play and responsibility for New Straits Times through the New Sunday Times and Berita Minggua to commit such a blatant and flagrant breach of journalistic ethics – a base and lowly act of irresponsibility not only to the profession of journalism but also a great disservice to the plural Malaysian nation-building. The Malay daily Berita Minggu had on July 10 front-paged the picture of a heavily-built man in a white T-shirt with a black cloth wrapped around his face. The man, shrouded in smoke, was...

This 'Ride for Rations 2011' was organised by the Sunlove volunteer organisation in Marsiling which supports the needy families, a fund raising project. There were some 60 cyclists in this event, and among our kakis, we had Kevin, Chua, Corinna, Hooi Yen, Clarence and me. We were to cycle from Malacca via Batu Pahat to Singapore over 2 days covering some 230 km. We were scheduled to leave by 26-seater express coach to Malacca on 8 July, Friday first. I took half day leave, went home at noon to take my bike and then cycled to Lavendar where the two coaches were on standby for us. Chua had to cycle from his home in Bukit Panjang and Kevin did likewise, from his home in Holland area. The coaches were scheduled to leave at 3pm. We were there at about 2.30pm. We had to take out the front wheel of our bike, then loaded it to the back. Some wrapped their 'championship' bikes with wrappers to prevent being scratched but I didn't. Kevin's bike is the easiest, a ...

The biggest run event for women in Asia, numbering some 12,000 runners and this honour goes to the Great Eastern 10km 2011 which commenced this morning (3 July). Save for last year, this is Winnie third participation in the 10km event. I offered to pick her up at her place in Clementi at 0615 hrs. We were on the highway on the way to Suntec, where the flag-off was to take-place at 0730 hrs and she received a call from her maid that she left her running shoes at home. We were not too far away and we were able to turn back quickly. Her shoes were then handed to her and off we go back. Again, on the highway, she remembered she left her chip on the table and one more time, we had to turn back to her place for the chip. This time, we made sure everything that was supposed to be brought for the run, was brought along before driving off. Boy, what a start before the run but we were still not too late for the run - it was a little over 0700 hrs. Driving all the way from AYE and then, e...

This morning (Sat, 2 July) I arranged to do cycling with some friends, all 5 of us at East Coast. I have my own bike but all my friends had to rent one at East Coast. We were supposed to cycle from East Coast to Changi Village and back. After getting the bikes, we set-off at about 8.30am to Changi Village. After cycling for 2km, one of our friends had a flat tyre. Just a short distance away, there is this bike shop called 'Our Family Corner' and we went over to ask to use their air pump. We approached this sullen-looking middle-aged Chinese man who happened to man the shop. We sought his help for an air pump. He flatly refused our request pointing to a notice pasted at their shop which I didn't want to read it. He said air pump is only available for use on weekdays only and chargeable at S$1. I said it is fine, we will pay S$1 to use the air pump but he said it is only for rental on weekdays only, period. I was amused, why weekdays and not weekends and further, h...

Chanced upon this article when it was circulated to me by a friend. At first, I didn't take much notice of it but when I read it a few days later I find it makes sense in this fast changing world. A good article but I have no inkling who was the author, bravo! Quote Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come. 1. The Post Office Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills. 2. The Cheque Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with cheque by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process cheques. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the cheque. This plays right into the death ...

This will be my only full marathon for this year, the Sundown Marathon 2011 which I first participated in the 21km event last year. Chua and I have been preparing for this marathon since last year, doing our twice-weekly run from HarbourFront to Keppel Bay Club and for me, I combined the training with cycling and trekking. All these activities did help immensely in our endurance run where it matters most. On the morning of 28 May, I even arranged to do leisure cycling with two friends covering 40km and after that, went to Paya Lebar Airport for an airshow. By the time I reached home, it was around 4pm and admittedly, I was 'dead' tired. The run was slotted at 10pm and my heart was pounding with excitement at every passing minute. At about 8pm, Chua arrived at my house to pick me up. At about the same time, Dora messaged me to update that she just clocked 1 hr 1 mins plus in her 10km, which was her first 10km. Wow, not bad a time and possibly, she could finish under 1 hour ...