Collin Ng's Blog

Today (Sunday) I planned to have it easy with my weekend routine, mopping & cleaning the house and ironing my laundry. While I was reading my Sunday Times, Hwee smsed saying blood bank is running low on blood supply due to World Cup fever and asked whether I wanted to donate my blood. I thought she said to donate on coming Wednesday but no, she was actually on the train to do her once-and-only weekend work-out at Novena and she changed her mind to donate blood instead. I agreed to join her and arranged to pick her up at Novena Square. We arrived at Blood Bank in Outram around 1030 hrs and there were already many people waiting to donate their blood. We did our registration, given the forms to fill up and waited to be called up by doctor. The registration staff said my last donation was way back in 1999 and the record still showed my old place at Hougang. She updated my record and gave a donor card for future visit. Gosh, it was that long that I last pledged my precious bloo...

It is disheartening to learn that still revered Dr Mahathir taking another swipe at Malay Singaporeans in his sinister attempt to rev up racial sentiments in his own country. Tun, what is so wrong for Singapore to adopt meritocracy for all races? By the same breadth, what is so right that his bumi-policies did benefit just one race at the expense of rest of the races in his own beloved Malaysia? Just because Chinese is the majority race in Singapore, the minority has to 'kow-tow' to the majority, so claimed by him. If he is admitting that the position of the Malays in Malaysia is in deep crisis and precarious, does he need to draw comparison to the Malays in Singapore to strike a salient point. For once, why can't he admit that his failed bumi-policies only benefit a privileged few; those who have initimate connections to the ruling party and thus, largely neglected the majority of the Malays in Malaysia? And just because Singapore does not have such lop-sided bumi-po...

It was my first participation in Adidas Sundown 21km Half Marathon 2010 on 29 May, Saturday. The race venue was at Changi Exhibition Hall running along the long stretch of Changi Coastal Road. I was more mentally and physically prepared than Chua, who was to replace Winnie in this event. Especially the last two weeks before the run, Chua had to shuttle between Singapore and his hometown, Muar to handle some family matters. It was indeed energy sapping for him this time around. Our race was scheduled at 2100 hrs and at 1900 hrs, Chua drove over to my place to pick me up. I had my early dinner at 1730 hrs and Chua had to drive back from Muar, only to arrive in the afternoon, missing some sleep and dinner to run this race with me. The only access to Changi Exhibition Hall was via Loyang Road as the road from ECP was closed for the race. The usually quiet Changi Point was jam-packed with vehicles heading to the direction of the start-off point. We arrived early, at about 2000 hrs. Took our...

I am simply blown away by the superb driving skill of these drivers in this video clip that even F1 drivers could not marshal that kind of maneuvering skill at sharp turn. Just wonder, has there been any fatal accident before? Simply unbelievable.

By sheer turnout, 'Run For Humaneity' does not match Stanchart or Adidas Sundown but its sole purpose quickly triggered me to sign-up when I chanced upon it. 'Run for Humaneity' is an initiative of Mark Philpott, President of Humaneity Group. This is a fund raising project to support a school for the under-privileged children in Cambodia where runners pledged S$100 each to the coffer. The 10km run was scheduled this morning at Incontro, Riverside Quay. Arrived at the venue around 0700hrs, met one of the organisers, Amy and Jonathan who also volunteered his service. I did not recognise Jonathan until after the race though he was at the registration counter calling out for me, paiseh! There were around 50 odd runners and as this was an ang moh initiated run, there were quite a few fit ang moh runners at one glance. The ladies were flagged-off first at 0800hrs and the guys, 5 or 10 minutes later. At 0800hrs, the weather was alright. The 10km run was to take us along...

To The Summit of Gunung Ledang - Southeast Asia

For sometime, my buddy George had been bugging me to organize a hiking trip to Mount Ophir, the English name for Gunung Ledang which borders between Muar and Malacca. Finally, a chance was presented when one member from my adventure group initiated a two nights hiking trip to Gunung Ledang. This expedition, organized by Joo Heng was confirmed on 2 April. It was a motley group of 23 of us and save for two friends, George and Alan whom I invited, I met the rest for the first time. Talking about gender inequality, there were 15 women and only 8 men in this trekking. This evidently shows the fairer gender’s quest for adventure stuff has far surpassed the male species. As this is not a stroll in the park, it requires one to be physically fit to reach the peak which stands at 4,187 ft or 1,276m high. For many of us in the group, it was our first climb up a mountain that high. Met the team leader, Joo Heng at the designated waiting point just outside Popular Bookstor...

This story was taken from a source, and I thought this is an inspirational story for us to learn more about lives. People often complain about what they don't have or wish they had more, looked better etc. PENG Shuilin is 78cms high. He was born in Hunan Province, China. In 1995, in Shenzhen, a freight truck sliced his body in half. Peng Shuilin, 37, spent nearly two years in hospital in Shenzhen, southern China,undergoing operations to re-route nearly every major organ or system inside his body. Peng kept exercising his arms, building up strength, washing his face and brushing his teeth. He survived against all odds. Now Peng Shulin has astounded doctors by learning to walk again after a decade. Considering Peng's plight, doctors at the China Rehabilitation Research Centre in Beijing devised an ingenious way to allow him to walk on his own, creating a sophisticated egg cup-like casing to hold his body, with two bionic legs attached. It took careful consideration, skilled me...

The two persons who worked hard for this bbq gathering with my TMIS course mates were Afni and Sai, I am happy playing the supporting cast. Days before completion of our course in Feb this year, it was Afni who initiated the bbq gathering for us all. The original venue was supposed to be at Downtown East but the chalets were fully booked. With Alan's help, we managed to confirm a chalet at Changi on 20 March. All 24 of us chipped in S$30 each except for one party spoiler and the consolidated sum should give us a sumptuous bbq makanan. In our planning, we (Afni, Sai & I) decided that everyone of us should 'win an award' for best in their category which will then be announced on the day of the gathering. Who are the judges then? Ahem, the three of us lor...and we started to crack our heads to identify the category best fit to each individual. What would be the award? Again, budget was a constraint as the food and accommodation took a big chunk from there. We fin...

Article Written By Adam Khoo I have a prediction. My prediction is that in a couple of years, the expatriates (from China, India, US etc...) will rule Singapore. They will increasingly take on more leadership roles of CEOs, directors, heads of organizations, award winners etc... If you observe closely, it is already happening now. Last year's top PSLE (Primary School Leaving Exam) student is a China national. Most of the deans list students and first class honours students in the local universities are foreigners and more and more CEOs, even that of go vernment link corporations are expats. The top players in our national teams are expats. As a Singaporean, I am not complaining. I think that in a meritocratic society like Singapore, it is only fair that the very best get rewarded, no matter their race, religion or nationality. Like Lee Kwan Yew said, I rather have these talented and driven people be on our team contributing to our nation than against us from their home country. Th...

This morning NE run in Pasir Ris was my third run for the year after Jan's Urbanathlon run and Feb's Zoo run. Got up this morning at 5.45am, left the house by 6am and by my reckoning, I should make it before the flag-off at 6.45am but my 'guesstimation' went off-mark somewhat. Looking for parking space proved to be a challenge, given those who were driving came about the same time too and finally found one in a nearby housing estate. By the time I reached the start line, 16km runners were flagged off and quickly, I did some warming up before joining the rest. When I glanced up, I saw I was more than 2 minutes away from gun-time. This run was to start-off & finish at Pasir Ris Park and the entire duration of 16km covering some part of Tampines town and into Temasek Polytechnic compound being the 8km turnaround mark. The challenging part was not the run, never mind the 16km distance but overcoming the overhead bridges. There were 3 or maybe 4 ov...

The court proceeding against Silviu Ionescu, former Romanian envoy to Singapore is still ongoing and while our legal system does not pre-judge a person as guilty until final judgment is made but I can't help sentencing him 'guilty & very guilty a zillion times over'. The behaviour of this Romanian diplomat in the fatal car accident late last year who was supposed to carry the good name of his country in his discharge of his diplomatic duty in Singapore has dealt a big blow to his country international image. Shame on you, Silviu Ionescu...you will live a life of regret forever. More than 50 witnesses have been lined up to give their own account in court, all fired up by this arrogant diplomat's blatant denial that he was the person behind the wheel on that fateful morning who, instead accused the Singapore government for setting him up. In his desperate attempt, he was trying to inject some political sentiments to his advantage but only fools & traitors like G...

Friends, be they old friends or just-got-to-know friends I used to know plenty but only a handful of true friends I do appreciate and treasure much nowadays. Suffice to say, friendship is not measured based on one's wealth or social status. In my opinion, this kind of friendship is best classified as 'drink & feast friends' (酒肉朋友) who will swarm around you like bees when you have plenty cash to flush but nowhere to be seen when you are down on your luck. True friends stand behind distressed friends who need help of sorts and help needs not have to be in the form of financial help, a listening ear from a concerned friend is all that matters most. I know this special old friend of mine has been saddled with personal problems for a long while and I dearly wish to offer my help in whatever way, a listening ear even though I may not be able to help much in resolving her personal issues. I feel sad that I cannot be there for her when she is really feeling down of late and ...

This is not written by me, emailed from a friend and I find it good for laugh (to de-stress for some including me), thus posted on my blog. Probably, some women might take offence and my apology in advance, if at all. Quote When I was 14, I hoped that one day I would have a girlfriend. When I was 16 I got a girlfriend, but there was no passion, so I decided I needed a passionate girl with a zest for life. In college I dated a passionate girl, but she was too emotional. Everything was an emergency; she was a drama queen, cried all the time and threatened suicide. So I decided I needed a girl with stability. When I was 25 I found a very stable girl but she was boring. She was totally predictable and never got excited about anything. Life became so dull that I decided that I needed a girl with some excitement. When I was 28 I found an exciting girl, but I couldn't keep up with her. She rushed from one thing to another, never settling on anything. She did mad impetuous things and...

My second run for this year was the Safari Zoo Run '10 on 6 February, Saturday which was held in memory of the zoo's icon, Ah Meng. Not a long course, just 6.2km distance in the Singapore Zoo but the start-time was scheduled in the afternoon at 1600 hrs. This time, I managed to convince 'Happy Happy' (H2) to register in this event who has a personal goal to complete a 10km run before the end of the year. This will be a prelude to the gradual completion of longer distance for her, slowly but surely. Prior to the event and despite her busy work schedule, H2 did some running on own. This showed her committment to do her best in her first run and am sure she will do well. As arranged, I picked her up at about 1500 hrs on 6 Feb at her place and we arrived at the zoo well ahead of time. While at the carpark, we were pinning up our number tags and surprise, surprise, we realised her running number (2720) was just one before me (2721). Shhhh...she did confess to me she bo...

When I read the abrupt closure of Barang Barang stores in paper today, I must admit I can't helping feeling somewhat satisfied. Okay, I know it is not ethical to poke at some one else's misery but some 4 years ago, the discriminatory treatment I received from them cannot simply ease away. That year was 2005, I was down & out and was desperate to land a job, just any job to tie-over the difficult period then. I was already in my early 40s, saw the advert placed by Barang Barang for in-door sales personnel and decided to try my luck. I called to fix up an appointment and a lady was put on the line. I stressed to her that I was in my 40s, "do I get a chance?". She re-assured me that age was not an issue, even told me they had just employed an uncle in his 50s. After hearing it, I went to their Plaza Singapura store. I saw quite a few applicants either filling up the application forms or waiting to be called for interview. When I told the staff that I was here for a...

My first run for the year 2010 was the 12.5km Urbanathlon on 31 Jan which was also Singapore's first. I was among 1,500 male only runners to participate in this event. This event started in New York in 2006 followed by London and Singapore was the third stop. Special about this event was not the run but the 8 obstacles to overcome along the 12.5km run. This male testosterone in me fired me up to sign up but it was not cheap though...S$128 to be exact. What the heck, a male has to do what a male has to do lor! Flagged-off at the Marine Promenade by MP Teo Ser Luck at about 0730 hrs but not at one go to prevent chock-a-block at the obstacle stations. Each wave of 50 runners were flagged off at one minute interval and I, among the early birds (or kiasu) was in the third wave. After about 2 km running, the first obstacle to leap over the 5 1-metre high road barricades. Easy, no sweat...I cleared, leaping over like a leopard (I think). We continued running along Clarke Quay area and we...

Born in the year of the ferocious tiger I am but it does not mean I am immuned from the 'Claws of the Tiger', so says the subject heading. The 'Tiger' I am referring is the financial institutions, the banks that will resort to anything to make sure their borrowers make good their loan payments. Granted, they have to make sure every step taken is as legal as possible but the immense pressure lashed on borrowers who have inevitably fallen on bad time & struggled to meet payment schedule makes no difference to a typical Ah Long's modus operandi. The only distant difference is banks won't throw paint & write graffiti on wall unlike Ah Long. However, their (the banks) soft approach is equally, if not more deadly. This will inevitably drive desperate one to do the unthinkable, sigh! Naive enough to trust a friend of mine, I agreed to stand as his guarantor for a S$40,000 loan taken with a co-operative in 1999. This friend used to work for a catering ...

The still highly regarded former PM of Malaysia, Tun M by some quarters in Malaysia is insinuating something in this latest posting of his, titled 'Sand For Singapore' or rightly put, pointing his arrow at Singapore (sadly...again). During his long tenure as the PM of Malaysia, he was the one who decreed ban on selling sand to Singapore and I strongly believe (coming from a layman's perspective), the decision was based on his personal dislike of Singapore than any valid reasons. I now wonder aloud...how wrong can it be for one country selling sand to another country solely based on commercial transaction, even for the sole purpose of land reclaimation by the 'land-scarce' country? Isn't it free economy supposed to work this way? Will the so called security from that 'selling country' be compromised or threatened as a result of losing some sand from the abundant supply? If jet engines can be sold by this sand selling country to another count...

The article below was written by a Malaysian writer, Azly Rahman who is a Muslim but whose pragmatic views on the current situation in Malaysia have earned my praise and of course & deservingly, a posting on my blog too. Read on... By Azly Rahman Quote There is a Buddhist lesson in how we ought to perceive Malaysia’s emerging style of terrorism. When one is bleeding after being shot by an arrow, the first step is not to look for the culprit that shot the arrow and pondering why was it shot but to pull out the arrow from the victim’s body and to quickly put a stop to the bleeding. This is what Siddharta Gautama would teach as crisis intervention. Malaysians might never know who carried out the series of church bombings, nor what organisations are behind them, and if there is a higher order involved in the long-term planning of terror. Postmodern debates will be a tedious exercise on whether this or that name of a Universal God can be copyrighted or whether a pastor or an archbishop...