WeeKee Today

technology and board games lover

Election 2011 GRC Percentage Breakdown

Grc_percentage_breakdown

Ang Mo Kio turns out to be the best performing GRC in this election. I am not sure if it is due to the weaker opposition team or perhaps the last minute apologies work. 6 out of the 13 contested GRCs that were won by the PAP have below 60% of votes.

It is also interesting to note that Marine Parade GRC perform worse than Tampines and Bishan Toa Payoh.

*Apologies if there are any error in the data. It is a honest mistake.

Nation Building

I think the opposition has done a fantastic job this election. They presented a team of diversify and qualified candidates. Even leaders like Low Thia Kiang and Chiam See Tong have stepped out of their comfort zone to fight for their conviction. No one knows for sure if the opposition would do a better or a worse job or whether they have solutions to the challenges we face. In fact, most of them might not even win the election due to apathy or fear of change.

 

But because of them, most Singaporeans have the opportunity to reflect on what it meant to be a Singaporean, the values that they believe in and expect from their leaders and the future they want to build for themselves and the next generation. This is their contribution to nation building and no one can take this away from them.

 

Visit to Jurong Fishery Port

The visit to the fishery port is pretty fun. The place is bustling with activities. Loads of fishes and various seafood are traded. We spotted some nice jumbo prawns but before we could lay our hands on it, they were sold off. Nevertheless we got some nice crayfishes for our BBQ. 

If you are keen to visit, do plan to wake up early. The place opens only from 2am to 6am. 

Screwed up medical screening

I never imagined that a medical screening can be so screwed up.

I was called up for a medical appointment early this morning. The assigned place was super out of the way and it took me 40 minutes to reach there by driving. The staff was not aware of the appointment and end up having to call and check to find the medical officer around. Typical cockup but still acceptable.

Next, there was an ECG screening. One inexperience medic was leading another clueless medic as they fumbled to hook up the ECG equipment on me. The wires were color coded and the medic was figuring out how to match the position of the different color nodes to my chest based on a diagram on the wall. 

I am sure it is the case of a blind leading another blind. The nodes are placed mainly on how they are relative position to each other in the diagram (e.g the red node is beside the green node) instead of basing it on the actual position on the physical anatomy. 

It is like they had just read the Wikipedia article on ECG and now ready to hook me up to the machine. Actually no, if they read Wikipedia, I suspect they might have done a better job. After much fumbling, they managed to complete the ECG.

Next was the extraction of the blood for a blood test. The medic has problem locating the median cubital vein for the venipuncture. Bad sign. In the first attempt, the medic manage to draw some blood before accidentally pushing the needle too deep that it poke through the veins. The area starts to swell and the drawing of the blood has to stop.

"It is common to locate the wrong veins", said the medic. Bullshit but nice try. 

Since the blood drawn was not adequate, he attempted again. This time on my left hand. He poke the syringe into the skin and tries to draw. Nothing much air filled the syringe. He poke it further. Still nothing and he tried to go a bit deeper. I suspect that he must be thinking that if he poke the needle deep enough, definitely there will be blood somehow. 

I shouted to him to stop and requested for a proper certified MO to draw the blood instead. I went for a medical screening, not as a guinea pig! Finally the MO came over and did the venipuncture instead. Thank god he managed to do it properly and get it done with. I can't imagine getting poke 4 time for some stupid blood test.

Next he proceed with the ECG diagnosis. The printout looks abnormal. Why am I not surprised? He ordered for the ECG test to be done again, this time with him supervising the placement of various electrical nodes. Finally a proper printout was generated so that I can get the hell out of the place.

The whole experience is crappy. Can't they provide a proper and more professional health screening at a polyclinic and have the results send to them? In the end, this screening is a waste of time and the result is just a piece of paper that can be used to cover someone backside in case some day I passed out or died while doing my IPPT. 

After the screening, I wasted another 50 minutes to get back home.

And that is how I waste this morning and that is also why God makes one of the index finger longer than the rest of them.

Best Places to Work

Based on Glassdoor 2011 employees' choices, Facebook is the best place to work. It is fast becoming like the next Google. Google surprisingly has drop from a position of 7 in 2009 to the 30 place in 2011 while Apple remained pretty constant at the 19th-20th position.

What is interesting is that there are a few companies such as Southwest Airlines, Bain & Company and Boston Consulting that constantly remain at the top of the list for the past 3 years. What is their secret? What makes an organization the best place to work? 

For me, the most important factors are the opportunity to work with passionate and smart people, great team culture and strong leadership.

How about yours? 

Deciding to have a kid

How do you make a decision if you want to have kids? It is a big commitment and you have no idea how things are going to turn out. It is like high risk but questionable return.

I suspect this is what happen to most couples. The husband and wife get older, put on more weight and get fatter. It reaches a point of no return where neither exercise or diet seems to be a possible solution.The husband continues with his Friday beer session while at the same time complaining about the ever growing beer belly. The wife on the other hand decides it is time to get pregnant.

I believe 50% of the my decision is due to the above. What about the other 50%? The thing that I find difficult is not making the decision to have a kid but rather making a decision not to have one. I can't say for certain that life will be much more with a child and it is a must have but neither do I want to say that I do not want a kid and regret later. That is like having Laksa but mai hum. It still taste very good but it is like something missing. 

If I can't decide no, I guess the next best alternative is to just do it. With 2 more months before go-live, I just hope everything will turn out well.

So what makes you decide to have a kid? Share your thoughts.

Porridge and Raw Fish

One of the things that I enjoy on a holiday morning is to head to Redhill market for a hot bowl of pork porridge with an additional plate of yummy raw fish. I like this stall at Redhill and it is really hard to enjoy it on most days. It is closed on Saturday and Sunday and they only operate from 6am to 9.30am on weekdays. Most of the stuff are not available by around 9am!

It is nice to start the day early with a good leisure breakfast before enjoying the day ahead. Happy Hari Raya Haji to all!