I have not come across a song so catchy since Kylie Minogue’s Spinning Around, Mary J Blige’s Family Affair, and Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me A River. And now before 2008 end, I have discovered another super track that gets me all hooked up. It’s Rihanna’s Rehab. Rihanna has always been very good at singing songs with strong beats. She didn’t disappoint with this one. In fact, I am very interested to find out whoever wrote this song must have written similar ones for Justin because there are similarities. Nevertheless, Rihanna’s distinctive voice stands out from the pool of female singers in the 21st century. And I’m always a fanatic to songs that loop - in fact, you can put it on repeat mode without realising that it has started or ended. So it’s a no-brainer that i fall for this one.
baby baby
when we first met i never felt something so strong
you were like my lover and my best friend
all wrapped in one with a ribbon on it
and all of a sudden you went and left
i didn’t know how to follow
it’s like a shock that spun me around
and now my heart’s dead
i feel so empty and hollow
and i’ll never give myself to another the way i gave it to you
you don’t even recognize the ways you hurt me, do you?
it’s gonna take a miracle to bring me back
and you’re the one to blame
and now i feel like….oh!
you’re the reason why i’m thinking
i don’t wanna smoke on these cigarettes no more
i guess that’s what i get for wishful thinking
should’ve never let you enter my door
next time you wanna go on and leave
i should just let you go on and do it
’cause now i’m using like i bleed
it’s like i checked into rehab
and baby, you’re my disease
it’s like i checked into rehab
and baby, you’re my disease
i gotta check into rehab
’cause baby you’re my disease
i gotta check into rehab
’cause baby you’re my disease
damn, ain’t it crazy when you’re love slams
you’d do anything for the one you love
’cause anytime that you needed me i’d be there
it’s like you were my favorite drug
the only problem is that you was using me
in a different way than i was using you
but now that i know it’s not meant to be
i gotta go, i gotta wean myself off of you
and i’ll never give myself to another the way i gave it to you
you don’t even recognize the ways you hurt me, do you?
it’s gonna take a miracle to bring me back
and you’re the one to blame
’cause now i feel like….oh!
you’re the reason why i’m thinking
i don’t wanna smoke on these cigarettes no more
i guess that’s what i get for wishful thinking
should’ve never let you enter my door
next time you wanna go on and leave
i should just let you go on and do it
’cause now i’m using like i bleed
it’s like i checked into rehab
and baby, you’re my disease
it’s like i checked into rehab
and baby, you’re my disease
i gotta check into rehab
’cause baby you’re my disease
i gotta check into rehab
’cause baby you’re my disease
oh! you’re the reason why i’m thinking
i don’t wanna smoke on these cigarettes no more
i guess that’s what i get for wishful thinking
should’ve never let you enter my door
next time you wanna go on and leave
i should just let you go on and do it
’cause now i’m using like i bleed
it’s like i checked into rehab
and baby, you’re my disease
it’s like i checked into rehab
and baby, you’re my disease
This is absolutely weird. Why are we receiving news about reported lost in investments by Singapore’s town councils after a few weeks? There must be more transparency in full disclosure of all the investments these town councils have committed themselves to the public. After all, these investments use public funds - taxpayers’ money! For goodness sake, this is really ridiculous. When I saw the figure of $16 mil lost from Straits Times report yesterday, I nearly puke! Look $16 mil of public funds invested without full disclosure is a real shocking matter. Can I say this is corruption? I can’t because this group of town councils run by People’s Action Party (PAP) are backed by Ministers of Parliament (MPs) said, and I quote Chua Mui Hoong’s article on Straits Times, 19 Nov 2008, “they wanted to explore ways to get economies of scale, pool funds for investments, and better returns of ‘just 3 per cent’ at that time”.
It is not a matter of whether it is a good time to lose money or not too, as mentioned by Mui Hoong. She wrote, “in good times, maybe people would shrug off the $16 million that now stands to be lost. But these are bad times, with pay cuts and job losses on the horizon…” For goodness sake, the nation is NOT informed until Straits Times reported in yesterday. So it came really as a shock to know that the Town Councils spent it without full disclosure and informing the public. The issue only surface after a deliberate delay in announcing the losses, and only when it is disclosed in Parliament. (When was that???)
Mui Hong did rightfully pointed out that “the issue about town councils’ money management is… not about their investment choices and if they lost money. Rather, the pertinent issue to [her] is if they can do better in terms of disclosure and transparency to residents who pay for monthly Service and Conservancy (S&C) charges.” She added, “Town councils have to respond more proactively to demands for more transparency, to assure residents how their funds are put to good use.” She suggested, “This could take the form of an annual town hall meeting where the town council chairman and committee answer questions on the year’s account.”
So, please gather your socks Town Councils and explain to residents and the publics quickly and not wait for it to snowball and become a CRISIS of confidence! The elected government’s transparency is at stake now. Please respond quickly and through the mass media (this includes online speculations)!
My lecturer taught me about the “trust bank” - one has to build trust and in times of crisis, give away some trust in the bank to salvage a situation. Not in the case of DBS! It has just depleted all the trust with two poorly handled cases within a short span of one month. Labour Chief Lim Swee Say rapped DBS for mishandling the retrenchment case and not consulting DBS staff union on cost-cutting options, Leong Wee Keat from TODAY reported on November 15 2008.
Thank you, Wee Keat for breaking the news. One thing is clear, DBS has not acted graciously after its High Notes Saga and now retrenching staff whose morales are already rock bottom. It makes me wonder how the other staff will react. Will we see more reluctant staff and the quality of service drops even further? Looks like that will be the case until DBS address to its stakeholders properly and show more concern to its staff and investors.
Father of crisis, Mr Gerard Ee, now an independent external consultant to DBS fiasco reveals that no gold taps are found in the office of T.T. Durai when he took the helm after the NKF scandal. This was extracted from the Straits Times on November 14 2008, Page A24. For those not in the know, the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) scandal happened in 2005 amidst Durai, the ex-chairman of NKF, suing a reporter for wrong reporting of him having golden taps installed in the chairman’s 12th storey office. However, Durai leaked out his salary which was literally worth $600,000 of “peanut” butter. Haha. Anyway, what followed after that was public outroar because why would a charitable organisation give his chairman so much money and fly first class to private study trips? Oh by the way, Durai is a good boy and has left prison.
However, I must add that the DBS fiasco and the latest retrenchment is handled extremely badly - I consider withdrawing all my money from DBS and putting it into UOB. In fact, I will just do it because I have lost faith in DBS.
Below is an excerpt taken from bschool.nus.edu.sg.
NKF Draws Attention To Governance Of Charity Organisations
(SINGAPORE) The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has been in the limelight recently after its chief executive
officer T.T. Durai disclosed that he was paid a monthly salary of $25,000 and in addition, he had collected a 10-
month bonus in 2002 and a 12-month bonus in both 2003 and 2004, thus bringing his total pay to $1.8 million in
the past three years. The details of his pay were revealed during a court case where Mr. Durai had sued Singapore
Press Holdings and senior writer Susan Leong for libel on an April 23, 2004 article which claimed that a gold tap,
glass-panelled shower and expensive German lavatory had been installed in his office. However, the case
backfired for Mr. Durai as he later admitted to installing the tap and details of his pay were revealed, which led to
public outrage and the withdrawal of donations. Mr. Durai also confirmed that he had flown first-class traveling for
the charity and that the organisation had paid for the maintenance of his Mercedes. He also confirmed that
contrary to NKF’s assertion that its funds could run out in three years, the organisation has sufficient funds to last
for 30 years.
On the second day of the hearing, Mr. Durai withdrew his case and agreed to pay the legal costs for both SPH and
NKF. Subsequently, Mr. Durai and the NKF board resigned. A new board has been appointed by the newly-
appointed NKF Chairman Mr. Gerard Ee and Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan. The most recent addition to the NKF
board is former head of the National Skin Centre (NSC), Professor Goh Chee Leok, who has been appointed as the
organisation’s interim chief executive.
Adapted from “Veil on NKF chief’s pay shows lack of transparency: counsel”,
Business Times Singapore, 12 July 2005; “TT Durai to pay legal costs after withdrawing defamation suits”, www.
channelnewsasia.com, 15 July 2005; “Gold tap scandal tarnishes charity”, www.telegraph.co.uk, 17 July 2005; “New NKF board
named; Members have proven worth in broad range of fields: Ee”, Today (Singapore), 21 July 2005; “Former Skin Centre head
is NKF chief exec”, Straits Times Singapore, 26 July 2005
Adding audio and video to emails, why didn’t anyone think of that? It takes some brainstorming by the Google folks to, well, put some “life” to the “lifeless” email. Now, why didn’t anyone think of that? I am used to the usual complain about why emails can mislead because it doesn’t carry any emotions and emoticons aren’t doing their job. With the new vid-mail, we are solving this problem. It may not be a good thing to hear or see your boss screaming at you when a silent mail is a blessing in disguise. On the other hand, a sexy invitation by your wife (or girlfriend) may be visually appealing. I wonder what push mails on those blackberrys will do next. Hmmm
It doesn’t work this way, does it? When you are nearing the age of thirty, suddenly you become less desirable and more detestable. The wrinkles on your face are showing and perhaps you look more frail and uncle-like. You get affirmation from coffeeshop drink stall aunties, who instead of addressing you by a light and flirty tone of “Ah-boy, ah”, you get a dead flat monotonous tone of reluctance to serve and a sacarstic “uncle, what you want?” question from a woman twice your age. Hello?
Not that I mind, really. I have gotten used to that since secondary four. My ex form teacher in secondary one and two used to tell my mum when she met her during the annual meet-the-parents session. “Eh, your son looks mature.” My mum being a very, erm, undefensive person, simply smiled and said to me, “that is a compliment, son.” Of course, I have to believe her but growing up with more wrinkles on my forehead than ripples in the ocean I have my reservations.
I miss my youth but now that I am nearly thirty, I have better move on and be real. Otherwise, I may develop premature mid-life crisis. Now, wouldn’t that be worse?
One thing that catches my eye is “FREE” and Rednano’s mobile directory service sounds novel to me. So I tried.
First, I have to type in my preferred keywords.
I type… “Degree in Food”… just to test market and see how smart is rednano, really
then I send to 33333… it’s five 3s… not exactly the simpliest to remember… wahahaha
so i waited for 10 sec and wolah… i got a reply. it reads, “No searches found, please try company or brand name. E.g. Ya Kun”
now, that is brand endorsement! I wonder how much Ya Kun paid rednano to do that.
and worse of all, i cannot believe how stupid rednano is.
Fyi, i forgot to read the “claimer” well… that’s what it says…. claimer! it reads, ” Use Rednano mobile as a local guide to get information about shops, restaurants or businesses in Singapore while on the go. Simply SMS 33333 to access the information. This service is FREE for now!”
You mean I have to pay NEXT TIME?
Well, forget it! Why should i pay for some search engine that is so specific that I must know exactly what I want? The point is shouldn’t it search what I want to find out?
I will definitely not use rednano… no matter how FREE it is.
Oh and I must agree on its tagline “Where your search ends”… sure, my intent to use Rednano as a search engine… has just ended!
You know there is a fine line why comedians are comedians and politicians should never try their hands in that area. If you do want to appear on spoofs just because you think you can do a better job than the imposer, then at least learn how to demand better lines for youself. Otherwise, you end up looking like a loser and fail terribly.
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