Last Friday, I had my first ever opportunity to be on the other side of the interview table. I was sitting in with my boss to interview this guy. He is a FT from the Myanmar and obtain his tertiary education in UK.
What strike me to write this entry was the mention of the word "Passion". His passion for networking technology and networking has driven him to get work all over the globe. (Well at least in Europe and Asia).
From this I know that he will be a good person to work with and I hope very much that he will join. Passion is a commodity in this line of work that is sorely lacking. It is infectious in a good way. It drive people to do better than what is required, to perform to excel and most importantly to learn.
I had no doubt about his ability. From his mentioned of the open source monitoring tools that he has used, he knows what he needs and where to fulfill his needs. I no doubt can learn from any knowledge sharing session we can have.
On the other hand, observing my boss interviewing another person other than myself, I inferred, that his skills as a interviewer is not really that good. What he asked is have you ever used this equipments, what brand, what version, what model. He will just quote some product and feel that using that product is a great thing. The product he quoted was CA UniCenter Enterprise Management Tool. Nothing too big deal about that product from what I know.
I think an interview should allow one to find out the experience the interviewee has and also to attempt to confirm that he has that knowledge. Of course as a fellow employee in the same team, it will also allow use to make a rough estimate of if he can be a good team player on the same team.
Team dynamics are a science in itself. It will allow 1+1 > 2. That is what I feel I want.
Ranger Office.
This is one of the reason why being a ranger is quite good. For some of the more obvious reasons are:
1) They have this nice office with Aircon.
2) They get to breath fresher air.
3) They get to be closer to nature.
HSBC Tree top Walk - Bridge
This is the one and the only tree top walking experience in Singapore. When you are on the bridge, you will see the Lower Pierce resevoir to the north. To the south you will see Mcritchite itself.
The canopy is yours to see on this bridge. Not that there is much in that span of a 200m or less.
PS: It is grill you will be stepping on. You will be able to see all the way down to the forest floor. If you are afraid of heights, don't look down.
Car Ownership and Road Availability
If you find that driving in the little red dot is getting more and more unbearable, you are not too far from the truth.
Using the data from @ http://www.lta.gov.sg/corp_info/doc/Stats%20In%20Brief%20(2006).pdf
We have this table.
So there are 27597 more vehicles on the road. (2 wheeled motorcycles included.) As compared only 105km of roads has been added (not necessary distance from point A to point B. )
For every kilometer of road, there are approx 228 in 2004 and then it increases to 233 in 2005. Well lets discount that most of the time cars are parked in the car park and not all are on the road. If 40% of them are on the road, then it will still be 91 cars on the road in 2004 and 93 cars on the road in 2005.
Using the data from @ http://www.lta.gov.sg/corp_info/doc/Stats%20In%20Brief%20(2006).pdf
We have this table.
| Year | All Vehicles | Motorcycles | Road Length | Lane Kilometers | Vehicle/KM | Vehicle/Lane KM |
| 2004 | 727395 | 137029 | 3188 | 8354 | 228.17 | 87.07 |
| 2005 | 754992 | 139434 | 3234 | 8459 | 233.45 | 89.25 |
| Delta | 27597 | 2405 | 46 | 105 | 599.93 | 268.83 |
For every kilometer of road, there are approx 228 in 2004 and then it increases to 233 in 2005. Well lets discount that most of the time cars are parked in the car park and not all are on the road. If 40% of them are on the road, then it will still be 91 cars on the road in 2004 and 93 cars on the road in 2005.
New Breed of Irritating Drivers
I was driving back to my Mother-in-Law place in Woodlands when I encountered the most irritating driver ever.
I was cruising along the right most lane at around 90++ km/h with 2-3 car length behind the car in front. A white Nissan Sunny came up and cut in behind my lane. I noticed that it had normal head lights while cutting in and suddenly it change to high beam.
The beam bounce of the rear view mirror and proof to be a pain in my eyes. What the fuck is he trying to do? Force me get out and give way to him?
So I turn the rear view mirror up and ignore him. Happily cruising home and keeping a safe distance from the car in front. The center lane open up and he quickly change and move. Given the situation, he changed but before he accelerate enough to over that the car in front of me, he came up to the traffic and had to slow down. Since he got out of my butt, I lowered the rear view mirror.
He change back to the right most lane with normal headlights. Within a second, he was shinning high beam again. I was damn pissed. Wanted to jab the brake and warn him off but I did not.
What does this tell you? Some drivers have simply no courtesy and no patience.
I was cruising along the right most lane at around 90++ km/h with 2-3 car length behind the car in front. A white Nissan Sunny came up and cut in behind my lane. I noticed that it had normal head lights while cutting in and suddenly it change to high beam.
The beam bounce of the rear view mirror and proof to be a pain in my eyes. What the fuck is he trying to do? Force me get out and give way to him?
So I turn the rear view mirror up and ignore him. Happily cruising home and keeping a safe distance from the car in front. The center lane open up and he quickly change and move. Given the situation, he changed but before he accelerate enough to over that the car in front of me, he came up to the traffic and had to slow down. Since he got out of my butt, I lowered the rear view mirror.
He change back to the right most lane with normal headlights. Within a second, he was shinning high beam again. I was damn pissed. Wanted to jab the brake and warn him off but I did not.
What does this tell you? Some drivers have simply no courtesy and no patience.
Stress. A Evolutionary Force.
When face with a certain kind of stress the person will more likely succumbed to the stress and change. The lack of money is a stress. It changes a person perspective of how life should be live.
Stress is a force. It is exerted in physical, mental, financially or even emotionally.
I eat stress for breakfast!! Stress come in, out as daydream.
Stress is a force. It is exerted in physical, mental, financially or even emotionally.
I eat stress for breakfast!! Stress come in, out as daydream.
Freedom and the Internet
Previously, internet was confine to the length of the CAT5 cable. But in recent years, that has change to the radius of your home WIFI router. So that I can now blog in the openness of the void deck facing the gardens.
Now is that call freedom or what!
Now that that has happen, I would wish some one should come up with a notebook screeen shield to block out the direct sunlight when using the laptop in the open. The screen look like an under powered pieces of glass. The back lighting is almost non existent.
The feeling is great.
Now is that call freedom or what!
Now that that has happen, I would wish some one should come up with a notebook screeen shield to block out the direct sunlight when using the laptop in the open. The screen look like an under powered pieces of glass. The back lighting is almost non existent.
The feeling is great.
NS and Reservist.
There was another topic about globalization and I failed to impress on my migrant friends (now turn Singaporean) what is the frustration a native Singaporean face.
I do agree with him that things in general are base on merit. However given the liabilities of reservist that Singaporean males are facing in the workforce, it will never be a fair playground. Although employers are not allow to make such discrimination, it is bound to happen. Let me give an example, suppose you went for an interview and you have an excellent profile but need your to start work on a short notice. However you are not able to do so as there is reservist coming up and you may not defer. The company has another candidate which is of similar caliber who is the next in line. Due to this constraint, the original candidate is not chosen.
These incidents are not uncommon but they are not documented. So who know how much missed opportunity a Singaporean has gone through.
Given the amount of emphasize that the government is giving to the reservist, it is sad to note that the treat money as more important than the time the Singaporean has committed. They are given only the expected renumeration as compensation. What happen to the OT? The missed sales commission? The promotion due to being pass over to lead a project? This are not recognize. The analogy of the country as a company cannot apply. One can switch a company as there are many around, however one cannot just change a citizenship. There are too many factors. One is family others are economics and emotional.
These are the frustrations. But I guess that is what a Singaporean convert may fail to understand. Yes. 1st generation Singapore does not have the liability. Perhaps when the global government is there we will not have such frustration. If we can do things without emotion contributing a factor, I guess it is time we can call ourselves robot.
Decision are made based on merit at that point in time. It has a temporal factor in it.
I do agree with him that things in general are base on merit. However given the liabilities of reservist that Singaporean males are facing in the workforce, it will never be a fair playground. Although employers are not allow to make such discrimination, it is bound to happen. Let me give an example, suppose you went for an interview and you have an excellent profile but need your to start work on a short notice. However you are not able to do so as there is reservist coming up and you may not defer. The company has another candidate which is of similar caliber who is the next in line. Due to this constraint, the original candidate is not chosen.
These incidents are not uncommon but they are not documented. So who know how much missed opportunity a Singaporean has gone through.
Given the amount of emphasize that the government is giving to the reservist, it is sad to note that the treat money as more important than the time the Singaporean has committed. They are given only the expected renumeration as compensation. What happen to the OT? The missed sales commission? The promotion due to being pass over to lead a project? This are not recognize. The analogy of the country as a company cannot apply. One can switch a company as there are many around, however one cannot just change a citizenship. There are too many factors. One is family others are economics and emotional.
These are the frustrations. But I guess that is what a Singaporean convert may fail to understand. Yes. 1st generation Singapore does not have the liability. Perhaps when the global government is there we will not have such frustration. If we can do things without emotion contributing a factor, I guess it is time we can call ourselves robot.
Decision are made based on merit at that point in time. It has a temporal factor in it.
Lunch topic - What is the norm?
A few days back we had this discussion between 3 of us. How much is too much?
It started with some innocent comment about communication and control. Is it too much to for a parent to know his/her children are safe? When does it becomes a form oppressive control? What happen to the kid freedom? Is asking them where they are a form of communication or is it a modified form of control feedback?
What I think?
I think that communication is very important. Communication in all it aspects help to foster bond between the parent and child. Asking where you are shows that you care. This may just be a starting point to another conversation that lead to a life changing experience.
It started with some innocent comment about communication and control. Is it too much to for a parent to know his/her children are safe? When does it becomes a form oppressive control? What happen to the kid freedom? Is asking them where they are a form of communication or is it a modified form of control feedback?
What I think?
I think that communication is very important. Communication in all it aspects help to foster bond between the parent and child. Asking where you are shows that you care. This may just be a starting point to another conversation that lead to a life changing experience.
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