Kiasu Tips # 9 : Magic Vest

It;s winter in Sydney now, and when you found your working shirts have creases and you ran out of time to iron them. Easy! Put on a vest on top of your shirt. Then don on a jacket over your shirt .. Ta Dah .. you look as neat as a cat. Bye bye to ironing .. phew!

The teacher story ...

Early of the year, I went up to Gold Coast to attend a friend's wedding. There I met a lovely couple who gave me a lift in their car to the wedding reception. The husband of this couple actually works as a teacher. Knowing the kids are so hard to handle these days I wonder how can he cope.

To my horror, I discovered some of the things he could not do especially in the high school especially when you are a male teacher. There are some rules he will follow strictly to avoid any complications. For example, going to a toilet, if he saw 2 female students around the area and if he is alone, he will not go to the toilet. He needs to bring a colleague along to be a witness. According to him, male teacher got trapped by the students who dislikes them by claiming the teacher has molested them!!! This is soooo ridiculous when I heard it.

Also, when a female student hold you arms or hand, he has to gently decline them by moving away from them. There are so many things he has to pay attention to before he became a prey. I could not believe what this world has became. I am not sure in other city, but this happened here in Sydney. When we are young we respect our teacher and we are well disciplined. Today, the students can be so spiteful and revengeful. I totally agree, becoming a teacher especially if you are male is so difficult!

Ringgit has a little penny now!

One of my reader Ringgit has became a proud father of a baby girl. I emailed Ringgit asking how he felt at this moment. He replied with his I-Phone, quoting, Worried, Excited, Tired!

Oh well Ringgit, Congratulations and hope you sleep well.

Driving in Sydney .. stress!

I was sitting on a cab. The street is narrow and cars are moving very fast. If you plan to turn to left or right into another lane, you got to do it fast, or else, the car behind will honk you like a mad dog! That's how stressful it is I find driving in Sydney.

I noticed the people here like to talk about their rights, from office to work! If its their road and if you are blocking them, some will even show you the finger sign. Worst still, there are also Mat Rempit here (The bikies). They have been many groups of mat rempit but usually formed by the same cultural background. Sydney is a multi racial cities, however, it has many problem of it owns. The gang from different cultures and background seems to be making headlines on the news!

I just hope when I drive one day on the road, they will just leave me alone. Probably the P plate is a good thing to put up! At least they know you will be slow and will avoid you rather than competing with you!

Favortism .. how blind you can be!

I was looking through my emails and I noticed some of the names which I had dealt or communicated before in the past. These people has gone up really far up at the corporate ladders. However, as far as my memory goes, these people has the tendency to look down at those staffs that work below them. They are very good in managing up, sucking up, slurping up or making the people above and beyond very happy. When it comes to work, he will passed all the dirty job to the people below him.

At one point, I was very impressed, that how blind the people on top can be. All we have is a person who can really talk and his operation is a postman! Collect and post! His knowledge is at surface but he could talk like he knows everything. BS!

Those people who is his favorite will survive and those he couldn't be bothered, will be moved out. Really sometimes, it's not about how hardworking or how capable you are in your job. The nett of it is how can you click with your boss! Mo Money? Plenty! Integrity? Who cares for these people, for all you know they don't need it.

The 70s and 80s kids

I had a conversation with an ex school mate last night. She is a finance controller for a well respected company. We just catch up to talk about our work and our former school mates.

She also told me her problem with the people she has hired, especially the 80s kids. Most of the kids before 80s were bruised. They had gone through tough time and their parents usually come from medium and below kind of family. The parents may not provide all the things he or she could afford to their kids. The kids grew up pretty independent and learn to survive.

When it comes to 80's and beyond, these newly survived and successful parents, do not wish their children to have the similar sufferings they went through in the past. Hence they gave them the best from education down to food. What is get in the end is usually an end product of a very demanding kid.

I think there are truth to what she is saying. At work I can tell the level of mentality the younger generation. They have different expectations and they always want to have the best lifestyle. Anyway, I am not sure if this is a good things. Is this a better life?

Swine flu grips the world

The swine flu has wiped out at least 81 people in Mexico and spreading fast like a wild fire. Some countries already have possible infections such as US and New Zealand. This is really scary, but at the same time, this put every human at test again. They have to let go of their attentions on greed and their ego, but focus to stop this flu from spreading anymore further!

When this news was announced, it reminded me of the movie 'Watchmen'. When the world is trying to destroy each other with money and power, a very powerful force diverted all their attentions and there will be sacrifices! But of course, I hope this world will be a better place for human with less ego, but I don't hope there are sacrifices in this case.

Personally I had experienced SARS and it's very awful. There are no trust between human and human or even among your families. Nobody knows who is the carrier, and a single cough could trigger a panic! I hope this will not happen or else it will add to our stress to this current financial crisis. Let's 'sembahyang', pray, 'nim gen'g or 'pai san' together for good health.