Happy Polling Day, Fellow Singaporeans - 01 September 2023

It’s Polling Day for Singapore’s Presidential Election 2023.

The hopefuls? Mr. Ng Kok Song, Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and Mr. Tan Kin Lian.

I’m not aiming to discuss the political implications of this event, merely to memorialise it.

As with all elections, Presidential or General, there have been a great many incidents leading up to it, some heartwarming, others rather disturbing.

As a fairly regular Singaporean, I’m not particularly hoping for major changes to occur, no matter who wins the election.

At the end of the day, my belief remains that, if I want major changes in my life and for the lives of those around me, I have to effect those changes, not wait for somebody else to do it.

That said, I have voted for my preferred candidate - whom I believe will bring dignity and gravitas to the office.

Happy Polling Day, my fellow Singaporeans!

A Quick Work Update: August 2023

A quick work update:

Since end Feb 2022, I have joined a company that focuses on soft skills - primarily Leadership, Communication, Personality Profiling, Life Skills, and Team Building incorporating bonding games, VR, and drone technology.

This is, of course, quite a change from my previous experience in Science programmes.

Nevertheless, as Science programmes have shifted from biological and chemical sciences to something more closely resembling infotech, machine learning, and AI, as well as the problems caused by the pandemic, I had to make a move.

When I first joined, I had to learn the ropes quickly as it was in the middle of a busy period.

The advantage that I had was my prior experience in programme development and execution. This allowed me to gather the information that I needed and adapt my delivery to the company’s norms and expectations.

Over the course of the past year and a half or so, I have run programmes in many more institutes of learning, as well as for corporate and government groups.

I believe that I am providing excellent value to the company, and will continue to do so.

Time, however, is never on our side, so I will have to plan my next few years more carefully than I have prior to this.

A New Work Atmosphere After The Great Resignation?

When I first started work just over 15 years ago, I recall some well-meaning advice:

"Stay at least 2 years in a job before going on to a new one."

"Job-hopping is frowned upon and may affect your chances of getting employed in the future."

"Employers want to make sure that you are loyal. The longer you stay, the more loyalty you show."

True enough, there was still a fair bit of stigma against job-hopping then.

Over time, though, I found that it mattered less and less.

Today, what was considered job-hopping is seen as go-getting and it's becoming a desirable trait in many circles.

The employer's market is quickly diminishing and fewer and fewer people feel taken care of in their jobs.

Soon, holding a job for a long time will be seen as a testimony to how good a workplace is and how well its management looks after its employees, and not an arbitrary mark of an employee's loyalty.

Sometimes, the only way to make a workplace a better place is to leave.

Vaccines: Weapons of the Elite? Really?

If the elite want to reduce the population, why would they do it through a vaccine that's available to everyone for free?

That'll just kill all the compliant people.

Who will be their slaves, then?