Japan trip Oct 2012

We took a short break in Oct 2012 to visit the in-laws in Japan, including a trip with the wife's parents and her sister's family up to Lake Yamanaka and Mount Fuji. It was nice visiting Japan just as autumn starts, with the changing of the colours of the leaves.

We visited this radar dome, no longer in use, which used to be at the top of Mount Fuji. It was used to track typhoons, and after being in service for 35 years, it was retired and shifted to a nearby town at the foot of Mount Fuji.

We also visited this place near the foot of Mount Fuji, which has spring water from Mount Fuji. Look at how clear the spring water is.

No wonder people would want to use the spring water to make soba noodles. This waterwheel is used to pound soba into flour.

The kids decided to help the locals, trying to cart around a full cartload of corn.

There were quite some swans swimming around on Lake Yamanaka, and the kids tried to feed them.

We also went to this place called Kidsland (こどもの国) where the kids enjoyed themselves, feeding the animals, riding horses and even a chance to walk a goat.

And with Halloween so near the corner, there are pumpkins everywhere!

Here's the kid trying to lift up a pumpkin that is probably heavier than him.

Views of Mount Fuji in autumn

Recently, we went to Japan, and took a short trip to Lake Yamanaka (山中湖, which literally means "lake in the mountains") and even a short drive up to the fifth stage of Mount Fuji. Here are some photos of Mount Fuji in her autumn colours.

Here is Mount Fuji with Lake Yamanaka in the foreground.

There were quite some swans swimming around on Lake Yamanaka.

As we were driving around the foothills, we came to this nice plain. It is actually a military exercise ground.

Here is Mount Fuji, peeking out from the trees as seen from the second stage.

Here is how Mount Fuji looks when you are at the fifth stage, about halfway up the mountain.

A nice view of Mount Fuji surrounded by colourful autumn leaves.

After the Rain 雨あがる

I watched this film while on a red-eye flight, and didn't regret any minute of it. It is about a wandering samurai (known as ronin) who is actually a master swordsman, but at the same time a very good-natured person. Thus, he can't seem to stay long at a job, since extreme good nature and extreme expertise don't really mix very well. As mentioned by someone in the movie, when someone asks with concern if you are alright after defeating you, it seems like he is playing with you. People take insult when none was meant, simply by his overly good nature.

But does that mean we should change ourselves just so others can accept us? When the masterless samurai was denied employment for an enfringement in code of conduct, his wife puts it best by saying, it is not about what he has done, but why he did it, that really matters. A lord that cannot see beyond what he has done to try and understand why he has done it, is not worthy of his service.

It is a reminder to myself, that even as I improve myself, I must not lose sight of what I am aiming for, and what I am myself.

The aim of education

So what is the aim of education?

According to Dictionary.com, education is "the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life."

Education in Singapore seems to be focused on preparing people for life in Singapore, providing them with a foundation that they can use to find a job and work to feed themselves. It is geared towards producing workers, people who can leave the education system and straightaway contribute to society as part of the workforce.

However, is that all that education should be? Should it not be more? Should not education be about providing our people with the foundation for them to be able to make their own choices in life? Education that provides society with a ready workforce may enjoy a certain peak performance in the short run, but an education that teaches people to make choices broadens the learning-experience base, allowing that society to achieve a higher performance peak in the long run. So should we be looking at short-term gains, or do we aim for sustainable success in the long run?

Online etiquette

Recently, we have seen a lot of buzz about ethical posting on the Internet. We even have ministers coming in to give comments and there is talk about setting up agencies to police online postings, which is very much against the value of freedom that we usually enjoy on the Internet.

It set me thinking... why do we have such irresponsible behaviour on the Internet? Maybe it is just a lack of experience and knowledge. I mean, I come from a time in which the Internet was not widespread, and what we had back then were bulletin board systems (BBS). But it was enough for us to learn online etiquette. For those of us who had seen how flames wars can develop, or even unfortunate enough to be in a flame war, you will know what to avoid posting.

While it may not be realistic to make everyone learn from such painful experiences, maybe we can start with schools and at home, when kids are young. After all, kids nowadays go online at a very early age, and that is really the best time to start teaching them responsible online behaviour. Not about how to think or what to post, but rather, what is responsible posting. This may be a better option compared to policing the Internet, or having people tell us what to and what not to think/post.

Measures to cool housing market

Singapore takes new steps to cool housing market

Will this really cool the housing market? What do we really mean when we say "cool the housing market"? Is it to arrest the rise in prices? Is it to reduce the number of transactions? Or is it to bring down the prices of housing?

The new measures are likely to achieve all these. By restricting the entry of buyers into the market (because the barrier to entry is now much higher), demand is being driven back. With a fixed short run supply, this means a drop in housing prices in the short run as well as less transactions. Simple demand-supply theory.

Let's see how this turns out.