Where is the porridge shop?

Where did the Simon Road Teochew porridge shop go?

It used to be at Simon Road, then it shifted to Block 529 at Ang Mo Kio Street 52 for a while, before shifting to a coffeeshop at the corner of Upper Serangoon Road and Jalan Rengkam. But after a year of absence, when I return to that coffeeshop, the porridge shop is no longer there.

So sad... I grew up eating at that porridge shop. The owner is an acquaintance of my father too. And now, I don't know where it has gone.

I will miss the food...

Don't make it a chore

Sometimes, when we have lots to do, we end up demanding less. We are happy just to finish the tasks, we no longer push ourselves to do each task to the best of our abilities. This is understandable; it is human nature. Yet, it deprives each task of its meaning, its purpose. We do each task for a purpose, yet when we do each task just to complete it, it then becomes a chore. Something that just needs to be done.

When our tasks become chores, people lose their sense of purpose, they do not see meaning in the tasks they do. The tasks they do may have great purpose and meaning, but the people doing them no longer see these. The end (being able to complete the chores) becomes the aim.

Thus, when we are busy because we have our hands full, all the more we need to demand that the work we do is of high standards, all the more we must demand of ourselves to deliver the best that we can. A compromise does not lessen the workload; it only lessens the purpose and meaning.

Learning from the best

The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, our train/subway system in Singapore, has been experiencing delays every once in a while due to technical faults. While it is easy to convince ourselves that MRT has been putting a significant amount of money into preventive maintenance to reduce the occurrences of technical faults, the fact remains that technical faults still happen, and result in delays.

Yes, the MRT is a complex train/subway system that move lots of people each day. Like all systems, it is not perfect and there is always the possibility of technical faults. But if we compare the MRT with the train/subway system in Japan, especially Tokyo, the MRT can no longer claim to be complex. And the Tokyo train/subway system moves much more people each day too. Yet it is rare that one hears the Tokyo train/subway system being delayed due to technical faults. Why?

What is it that the Japanese are doing that we are not already doing? In Tokyo, they have obviously mastered the system for an efficient train/subway system. No other city can compare with them in scale, complexity or punctuality (MRT is never punctual... it does not have a timetable, just an estimated interval between trains). What can we learn from them to better our system, especially as ours grow in complexity with the introduction of more lines in the future?

Or have we grown complacent enough to think that we have achieved world class? Has our cup become so full that we cannot pour any more into it?

* Tokyo trains do get delayed, but that is usually due to acts of God (like the need to check the system after each earthquake to make sure that it is safe) or accidents (such as people falling onto the tracks, or vehicles on the tracks), or the morning rush hour (people taking more time to get on/off trains). But the system always tries its best to get back on schedule.

Imperial overstretch?

China seems to be taking actions that make the US more deeply rooted in Asia.We have seen how the US has already committed to deploying 1 to 2 Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) to the region. This is in spite of growing pressure at home to cut defence spending. US fiscal situation is also dependent on foreign borrowing, with a large percentage of US bonds being bought by China and Japan.

Now, China is not stupid; she did not survive thousands of years being stupid. Maybe her recent actions are aimed at pushing the US towards imperial overstretch? By forcing the US to spend more on defence when the US can barely afford to. And if the US pushes Japan to take up a bigger share of the balancing, China can accuse Japan of growing remilitarism. And Japan can barely afford to increase defence spending, given her stagnant economy and the need to commit rebuilding efforts after the tsunami and earthquake.

By pushing the US and Japan to overspend, China is pushing them towards imperial overstretch, while making them more dependent on the Chinese economy to fund their economies. After all, China is Japan's largest trading partner too. In the end, China may win the hegemonic war without a fight; after all, Sun-tzu advocates that the greatest way to win a war is without fighting, and China just might have found the strategy to do so.

Losing touch with nature

One of my thoughts after reading this book, which I really agree with. As hunter-gatherers, our ancestors lived as part of nature, taking from it just enough, living in rhythm with nature. But once we started a sedentary lifestyle, once we start agriculture, we are living against the natural order of things. We started playing god. We grow plants where there used to be none, we clear forests, we breed and raise animals, all out of the natural order of things. We have lost touch of living together with nature.

Is what we gained worth what we have lost?

China's rise and Japan's remilitarisation

Two books that I recently read for a broad understanding about the rise of China and Japan's remilitarisation. Both are good introductions to their central themes.

Trapped Giant: China's Troubled Military Rise (Adelphi series)
This is about the recent rise of China, both economically and militarily, and the implications it holds for the Asia-Pacific region. It talks about US relations with China, and how other countries in the region, particularly India, Japan, Russia and Vietnam, are building up their military as a counterbalance to China's military build-up.

Japan's Remilitarisation (Adelphi series)
The last two decades have seen Japan sending her military beyond her borders, and she is now more proactive in her military deployments. This book talks about the changes in Japan's defence policy, especially given the nuclear and missile threat from North Korea, as well as the military rise of China. It also uses opinion polls to show that the Japanese people are growing less anti-militaristic.

Use the black pen, not the red pen

I was told by someone that a good boss is someone who uses the black pen, not the red pen. When you use the red pen, you are correcting someone else's ideas. When you use the black pen, you are coming up with your own ideas. Bosses with good ideas provide vision; bosses who correct ideas dampen motivation. It is something that I will keep in my mind as I try to be a good supervisor to the people working for me.