No Jumping, Fine $5000

Boo!

I hope I didn't scare you on this Halloween's Night (ok half an hour left of it anyway). If you are at home and wondering why you never don that leather nurse outfit or Tarzan leopard-skin print draps to go clubbing tonight, I can probably tell you why. The reason is simple: You are tired. This is probably the same reason you would give yourself. Or perhaps you are lazy to go around loaning costumes and masks for a night of fun when lectures at 8am await you tomorrow morning. That is why I am writing. And after this, I shall rest, like a true-blue Dracula too caught up in his administrative work, in my coffin of bliss and comfort. That sounds like a good way to spend Halloween.

The point is, this is not the crux of this post. I am here to talk about the recent phenomenon, the lastest craze, to hit this country.

Jumping on MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) tracks.


This comes after another man, aged 51, was killed by an oncoming train, again, at Clementi MRT station at 7 plus in the evening on the 30th October 2006 (yes, yesterday). Witnesses (including a university undergraduate, no guess from which one) reported that the man flung his arms up like a bird when the train is approaching and hurled himself down to the tracks. What happens next fits exactly into the Halloween theme. He was ran over by the train and died, nonetheless in a less "messy" manner compared to the man who committed suicide in the same manner 2 weeks ago at Chinese Garden MRT Station. Well, in short, the body of the man who died at Clementi yesterday remained more or less intact. For details about the previous case, read the papers.

This also comes after reports regarding the family of the man who was killed 2 weeks ago came pouring into the media limelight, and how this lead to the collective donation of 50 grand from kind-hearted Singaporeans to the poor family.

I don't know if the man who jumped track at Clementi yesterday was thinking of the same kind of "insurance" for his family after his "glorified" death, but I had a gut feeling that they might be linked. This national phenomenon of track jumping had increased in severity over the last few years, with more and more people deciding to cross the yellow line over the platform and step into the line of death. The fact is, they probably hurl themselves onto the path of the trains as they are oncoming, so train drivers have absolutely no chance and reaction to brake. The other fact that a person can jump into a track and wait for a train to hit him straight in the face is scary; that is why they probably don't do it this way. Think of it as closing your eyes before you apply pressure on the trigger of the gun that is pointing at your own head. Yeah, you get the picture.

The reasons behind such jumps differ on a case-to-case basis, but they reflect a important social defect. A defect in which people tend to "take the easy way out" by simply committing suicide with the aid of public transport. The impact of their deaths will then no doubt be amplified by the media and will attract the attention of fellow Singaporeans, who may be cursing and swearing due to the train holdup, to their plights. It is a way of saying, "Come everybody, look at me. I am going to die in front of all of you."

To some people, this may evoke a sense of empathy towards the "jumpers" and their families; to others, they may be deemed as "selfish" and "inconsiderate" because the burden of their deaths lie in the hands of others then. I belong to the second group of people. For me, a person can always commit suicide in the comfort of his own home using a penknife or some poison pills, and not in the full view of the public. By dying in the full view of the public, they are actually demonstrating something. Something so intrinsic and wrong that I can't even point out what it is. It may be a "retaliative" behaviour on the part of Singaporeans, and it may be a symptom, though not serious now, that something is wrong with our social fabric. I'll leave that to the sociologists to figure out.

In the meantime, SMRT might consider building barriers or glass panels at blacklisted stations to prevent similar incidents from happening. Or they could station more guards or officers at the platforms. All these, however, are only cosmetic in nature, because you will never know when someone standing next to you will hurl himself into the path of another train.

Tell me how you feel then.

"24"

This is a really nice song that goes out to all my friends who are facing problems of their own. Remember, each day is a new 24 hours that you have in your hands. Use them wisely.

P.S.: I once wrote a story because of this song because I feel like the second man. Hell, I lost that story somehow.

Twenty-four by Switchfoot

Twenty-four oceans
Twenty-four skies
Twenty-four failures
And twenty-four tries
Twenty-four finds me
In twenty-fourth place
With twenty-four drop outs
At the end of the day

Life is not what I thought it was
Twenty-four hours ago
Still I'm singing 'Spirit,
take me up in arms with You'
And I'm not who I thought I was
Twenty-four hours ago
Still I'm singing 'Spirit,
take me up in arms with You'

There's twenty-four reasons
To admit that I'm wrong
With all my excuses
Still twenty-four strong

See, I'm not copping out
Not copping out
Not copping out
When you're raising the dead in me

Oh, oh
I am the second man
Oh, oh
I am the second man now
Oh, I am the second man now
And you're raising these...

Twenty-four voices
With twenty-four hearts
All of my symphonies
In twenty-four parts
But I want to be one today
Centered and true
I'm singing 'Spirit take me up in arms with You'
You're raising the dead in me

Oh, oh
I am the second man
Oh, oh
I am the second man now
Oh
I am the second man now
And you're raising the dead in me
Yeah

I wanna see miracles
To see the world change
Wrestled the angel for more than a name
For more than a feeling
For more than a cause
I'm singing 'Spirit, take me up in arms with You'
And you're raising the dead in me

Twenty-four oceans
With twenty-four hearts
All of my symphonies
With twenty-four parts
Life is not what I thought it was
Twenty-four hours ago
Still I'm singing 'Spirit,
take me up in arms with You'
I'm not copping out
Not copping out

The Best things in Life are Free

You've probably heard of this before, and it may seem pretty cliche to you by now, but it is true: The Best Things in Life are Free.

No, I am not affected by "The Art of Happiness at Work" by His Holiness The Dalai Lama which I am reading now, but come to think of it, if you ignore happiness derived from material needs, most of your happiness actually comes from things or people that are "free" (i.e. comes with no strings attached, no cost or charges).

I have an easiler way of remembering them.

Remember the 4 'F's (sorry dudes, the F which you are thinking about is not inside, although you can always add it in if it brings you happiness in another sense).

1. Family

You can't buy family with money. Money can't buy you a better family as well. That being said, however, there is a certain percentage of families whose members' lives revolve around money. If you give money, they smile. If you don't, you are out of the family. That probably sounds wrong to you, but hey, this kind of situation exists in the real world that we live in (not the matrix, sorry). I was just listening to a case of one of my friends. She is a diligent worker despite her failing health, but yet her family expects more and more from her every time (in terms of money). It got to an extent so bad that she recently attempted suicide. Her family didn't even know of it. I was rather disgusted with the behaviour of her family but well, I had no say in anything. Only thing I can do is to advise her to leave the house, leave the family before it kills her. As quoted from the book The Art of Happiness at Work, "If there is injustice, then I think inaction is the wrong response." Here she is evidently subjected to injustice from her siblings ad parents. What she should do is to leave the family which is becoming a burden to her life, but that is often easiler said than done. To leave a family and to sever all ties and links with it is an extremely difficult and emotional chore. I wish her the best.

2. Friends

I don't have to say much about this, cause this is where most happiness is derived from. A simple chit chat session with your good friends gives you satisfaction on a level that is phenomenal. Sometimes, in our rush, we ignore such seemingly mundane chores, and we find ourselves stuck among the sharp exposed edges of harsh reality. Talk to a friend, any friend, and you will find that you are not so stuck after all. It's amazing to see what friends can do for you sometimes, but remember it's equally amazing what you can do for your friends on other times as well.

3. Fitness

You can't do no shit if you have no shitty health , if you know what I mean. Personal fitness is the basic foundation for a happy, fulfilling life. So work on it. I think I should.

4. Fulfilling Relationship

Yes, I am talking about BGR down here. If it doesn't apply to you now, don't worry, it probably will in the future. Girls often hush over a simple line of "I Love You"; Guys light up with smiles when their girls prepare breakfasts for them on idle Sunday mornings. It is as simple as that. Your bf/gf/husband/wife is probably the person that knows more about you than you yourself. And because of that, it is important to maintain a healthy, fulfilling relationship. I have seen people going from hero to zero when they broke off with their partners; I have seen the reverse as well. I ain't no love guru so I shall not try to be one. Remember to just cherish your loved ones and pamper them, not with materialistic things, but rather with hugs and kisses. They always work, trust me.

Okay, so these are the 4 'F's that I have came up with on this idle Tuesday afternoon (when I should doing me webcasting) and I hope readers out there can stop in their tracks as well, and contemplate a little about the source of their real happiness. Remembering the four 'F's is non-essential, however, they should occur to you as often as possible every corner you turn. If you are practising the 4 'F's but is still not happy, truth is that you're probably not contented. Be contented. That's when your happiness will manifest from the sources as mentioned above.

Anyway, sidetracking, I did a few flyers for my club regarding some PSI announcements on air. This is my favourite. Not bad huh?

Happy Deepavali!

Since its Deepavali today, I shall make everyone laugh on this festive occasion.

Actually, it's quite simple. Just watch the video (no offences to sexy Indian guys with moustaches).

A Wedding and A Whole lot of Work

Amidst munching M&Ms and working on my assignment, I found the desire to blog. Yah, anyway it has been some time since I last wrote as well (the last blog was just cut and copy from the papers). For the past 2 weeks, I feel as if I am working OT everyday. No life, no TV, no games, no movies, just plain ole' assignments ranging from essays to laboratory reports. Jeez. Not to forget the mid terms that just passed. I hoped I had done enough to scrap through. Well, there's nothing much you can do to a paper after you put down your pen so please dun whine too much if you lose 1 percent of your marks due to carelessness or what not. If you really want to, whine to a wall. Maybe it will whine back.

I went to a wedding at Shangri-la Rasa Sentosa last Saturday, on the 14th October 2006. Lo and behold, my ex-PC (platoon commander), Eric, is finally getting married! And to top it off, he met his wife during NDP 2 years back. She was one of the many Polytechnic ushers attached to our company (we were in charge of ushering and security at that time). We had quite a bit of fun then, busy mingling and exchanging contacts with the girls (Imagine deprived soldiers and Poly-students working together) as if they were endangered species worthy of preservation. But a lot of good friends were made as well and I am glad for that. For Eric, he earned his bride. Mr. Black congratulates the both of them and may the pitter-patter of small feet ring soon.

Oh and I haven't really been helping with the Radio Pulze "On Air 2007" team in planning and preparing for the concert next year. Guess I have been AWOL (Away without official leave) from the studio for a couple of weeks now due to my hectic schedule and academic assignments, but I'll be back soon after I settled my stuff. This I promise, alright?

Happy holidays to everyone, thanks to Deepavali and Hari Raya Puasa. Do enjoy your feasts but drink more water as well. Don't let the haze fog you up.

To Pipette or not to Pipette

This was an interesting piece of article found in the Monday's (October 9) copy of Today papers. Read it and you will no doubt be amused, I promise.

After the hype, grads now realise that there's no place for them in the industry

by Loh Chee Kong
cheekong@mediacorp.com.sg

IN 2002, when Singapore universities had barely begun producing their own life sciences graduates, Mr Philip Yeo, chairman of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), famously rattled those undergraduates when he said that they would only be qualified to wash test tubes.

But four years on, armed with their Bachelor's degree, some of these graduates are learning the truth of his words the hard way. Many from the first cohort have ended up in junior research positions or manufacturing and sales jobs in the industry — positions that do not require a life sciences degree. Others find themselves completely out of the field.

Said Edmund Lim, 27, who graduated two years ago, and now works as a property agent: "One of my classmates is working illegally in Australia, peddling psychotropic drugs to clubbers. Many of my classmates have gone into teaching. Others are in pharmaceutical or equipment sales."

Another life sciences graduate, who declined to be named, found a job recently at a tuition centre, after failing to land research-related positions for over a year despite numerous job applications.

Already an established base for pharmaceutical manufacturing, Singapore has been trying, in the past five years, to move beyond manufacturing to more high-end research that is "value-added".

According to the industry's annual reviews compiled by A*Star and the Economic Development Board's Biomedical Sciences Group (EDB BMSG), an average of a thousand new jobs were created annually for the past five years. Last year, there were 10,200 manufacturing jobs in the industry, almost doubling the 5,700 jobs created in the then-fledgling sector in 2001. By 2015, EDB targets the number of such jobs to hit 15,000.

But the booming figures mask a Catch-22 situation: The current shortage of PhD holders in the biomedical sciences cluster is hampering Singapore's bid to attract multinational companies to move their high-end research projects here. Without a PhD, most of Singapore's life sciences graduates are only qualified to work as research assistants.

And both graduates and diploma holders vie for these positions that could pay less than $2,000 a month. In the industry's manufacturing sector, life sciences graduates compete against their peers from other general sciences and engineering disciplines. They face even stiffer competition in the sales sector, where paper qualifications take on less significance.

A*Star's Biomedical Research Council oversees and coordinates public sector biomedical research and development activities. On the surplus of life sciences graduates, its executive director Dr Beh Swan Gin told Today: "It is not a situation that can be easily communicated, as there are many factors involved. Simply put, a PhD is essential for progress as a researcher. And there are still not enough Singaporeans pursuing PhD studies."

Adding that the local universities should not pander to the students' demand for the subject, Dr Beh said: "The job market of today and tomorrow, is the market the universities should focus on. The manufacturing and commercial jobs have always been there, albeit there are more of these now. NUS (National University of Singapore) and NTU (Nanyang Technological University) should get better data on the demand for life science graduates at the Bachelor's degree level."

In 2001, NUS' Science Faculty rolled out an integrated life sciences curriculum and NTU started its School of Biological Sciences (SBS) a year later. Meanwhile, the polytechnics also introduced more life sciences courses. Thousands of students jumped on the bandwagon, with demand outstripping the supply of places in these courses.

Professor Tan Eng Chye, NUS' Dean of Science — who believes that it could take another five years for the industry to establish itself — acknowledged that his school's intake of life sciences undergraduates was "a bit too high".

"When we started offering a major in life sciences in 2001, 550 students took up the programme. For the subsequent intakes, the number stabilised at about 450. But we would be more comfortable with about a hundred less," said Prof Tan, who added that many students were "unrealistic" about their job prospects.

Said Prof Tan: "A lot of students were probably all hyped up to look for R&D jobs. And when they can't get such jobs, they could be disappointed. If they want to do research, they should further their studies."

Nonetheless, some headhunters, like Kelly Services' Lita Nithiyanandan, predict that it is "only a matter of time" before these "highly valued" graduates find willing employers. Said Ms Nithiyanandan: "As most of these multinational life sciences companies have recently set up or moved their R&D centres to Singapore, they require senior and experienced research professionals at this stage to streamline operations and get compounds approved fast for clinical trials. Once these centres are more established they will definitely need fresh graduates for researching new compounds."

She added: "Overall, Singapore's biomedical scene is evolving as a mature hub for Asia Pacific. This would create opportunities across the board for skill sets through the value chain from fresh graduates to mid-level research and analysts to high-end PhD professionals.

Okay, here goes. Face the music kids, a degree (with or without honors) is of no use if you wish to pursue your career in this field. My advice to all life sciences students will be to go out, get more exposure, know more people and open up your mind. If you are not going for a PhD, I would suggest you let go of your pipette and find something else to hold on to.

Or yah, in any case, I am a reigning life sciences student as well. Cheers!

Haze-Busters
Picture courtesy of Channelnewsasia.com. Guess what station is this? I guess it's Bedok.

It is official. Haze is back, bigger and better than before. Get ready to hit the masks in the coming days as Singapore's Pollutants Standards Index (PSI) level continues to climb (anyway it climaxes at 80 on Friday, the highest for this year). And while you are sinking your teeth into that sinful double-egg-yolked lotus mooncake these few days, breath deep and hard and think of our lovely Sumatran neighbours burning their plots of land to make way for their new crops. It's a wonderful cycle actually: slash and burn, slash and burn. For one, it can create the illusion of being in Genting (minus the casinos, err I mean Integrated Resorts).

Drivers take note, speed matters now. You wouldn't want to be contributing to this wonderful haze which is keeping all of us nice and warm and humid. So step up, but make sure you can see the bumper of the car in front of you. Oops, bad advice.

Do you realize that there are less people smoking nowadays? All thanks to Haze, fellow smokers are finding it hard to resist the smoke and ash that is available (and free) in the air. So go on, enjoy to your fill, keep your packs for another rainy day.

Ok, that's all the good news we have today. Go on, spit your phelgm and dust your hair. Because you are worth it.

(**The author of this post was hiding in an air-conditioned room while typing this post, refusing to open the windows. He was singing the chorus of a song and it goes, "... burn motherfxxxker, burn, yo yo...")

Buffet Buffet "Bu Fei Cai Kuai" ("Not fat then strange" in direct Mandarin translation)

So I had another buffet dinner just now, this time Asian cuisine at the Orchard Cafe at level 1 of Orchard Hotel. Why did I say "another"? 'Cause its like the second buffet spread I've been to in the last 2 weeks, the last one been international (feat. Mexican "Ariba Ariba") cuisine at Cafe Brio at Grand Copthorne Waterfront. (I shall not pass comments on how good the food is since I am not paid to do so, but well, the food's pretty good for both.)

Orchard Cafe at Orchard Hotel. Picture didn't show the chocolate fondue and durian dessert huh?

If it sounds vaguely familiarly to you, let me make it clearer. It is the hotel that doesn't allow Zoukkers to pee in their toilets even though they are situated next to the grandma of all clubbing outlets in Singapore. Got it? When we boarded the taxi and I told him, "Uncle, Copthorne Hotel Waterfront," the uncle replied me with a look that could only reverbervate "Huh?". Then Dear told him, "Next to the Zouk one, uncle." Then he brightened up, maybe with fond memories of die-hard Zouk fans puking in his cab after a night of mambo-ing, and repeated, "Zouk there ah? Zouk ah?" Evidently, Dear's sense of direction works.

Dining beside the river. Pretty cool minus the construction site on the other bank.

I have been eating buffets since Dear got her hands on the much fabled "Women's Weekly" once-in-a-year, one-for-one dining booklet of vouchers from various restaurants in Singapore. Not to say that I am complaining. Buffets are great; they make you look stupid holding a warmed plate in your hand, not knowing what to eat and where to start 'cause you are in the middle of a jungle of food.

I recommend salads and soups as starters, but I usually start with sashimi and oysters. (Thanks to Dear who taught me how to eat oysters as aphrodisiac.) The art of buffet dining is an experience one gathers down the years. Unwritten rules like "You don't eat rice, for god's sake, in a buffet", "What's rare is good, What's raw is even better", "Fill your plate to only 1/6 of its area, food in bite-size portions seems more appealing" get stuck to your brain with every buffet spread you eat. Just remember, try not to eat like a true-blue Singaporean local armed with "kiasuism". You don't look good holding a plate filled with heaps of chicken, beef, rice, vegetables, topped with salmon sashimi graced with wasabi.

You will look like an idiot, trust me.

I like buffets because I can eat.

Try not to be so calculating while you eat, if not it will be a tedious meal. For example, don't think of things like:

"If each oyster costs $5, and the buffet costs $40+++, how many oysters MUST I eat to get my money's worth of food?"

Answer: As much as you want. Just as long as you clean your toilet after you pass your brains out.

Alright, enjoy your buffet. Burp. What's next?

Mr Black is a current undergraduate who resides in Singapore. This blog is a non-whimsical reflection of his life and the society in which he lives in at large.

- Confidental -

Music, Love and Freedom

May the One who Reins the World keep his fingers out of the bowels and holes. Okay, World Peace.

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