crisis economics

i notice i lack patience these days. i gave up on the this time is different book. found most of the content beyond me and decided not to waste my time trying to decipher the code.

onto the next book, crisis economics, which i thought had contents alot like this time is different. this book is alot more palatable and written more for layman like me.

talk about difference

i got to the half way mark of the tiger's wife and i gave up. i cannot stand the haphazard way of writing; maybe it's beyond my mediocre literary standard. if japanese writers are dancing freestyle, this lady must be in a brownian motion macarena. trying to make something out of it is exhausting, so i moved on to my next book, this time is different. a quick flip through the 400 pages shows tables after table of statistics. not the kind of book i am particularly drawn to but i think maybe it'll be a good test to whether i'll be cut out to do some postgrad economics!

i've got 2 more books on my workstation which look far more interesting but i think i'll bite the bitter pill and start with the one which is most unappealing.

i am pretty happy i've got most of my mummy's corporate stuff done - annual filing, check. tax, check. final thing on my list is to catch up with 3 months of accounts and setting up a proper system to capture information for gst.

frustrated i didn't get to run last evening AND this morning due to rain. i MUST run tonight!!

friday high and books as usual

i found the lky book really good; it's my first lky book though i bought one of his earlier books which i never got around reading it.

my view on lky still stands, if not more rooted now; he is definitely a man with foresight and boldness during the singapore's tumultuous formation years. he was like a doctor feeding the nation with the bitter pill of bilingualism. i can almost imagine how the deep rooted chinese must have dispelled his drive to make english first language for all school going students. i can vaguely remember the redifussion days, i was borned in the years when the government pushed for more use of chinese and lesser of dialects (remembered the speak chinese campaigns).

i think singapore has come a long way though we are not even close to half a century old. the development we have made is commendable, yet would not have been possible without the sacrifices made by those who were caught in the transition.

in contrast to today, i think we have somewhat come to a plateau with the people becoming fairly complacent. i read and hear more complaints than real efforts made to adapt and change. these are the days when children are no longer disciplined by the cane and must be "reformed" by tender loving care. i grew up being caned for being mischievous, which i personally think it did me more good than harm. i laugh to the past when my bro and i used to hide the canes and wrapped ourselves in blankets so that it didn't hurt as much when my parents caned us.

back to the lky book, it gave me glimpses of the many challenges of running a country. for all those who incessantly pass repulsive remarks on the government, please step forward and try it for yourself. even as employees, we will feel discouraged if our colleagues snide at our work, why are you doing it to our country's leaders? it is always easy to point fingers and blame, but few dare to step forward and lead.

my next book is the tiger's wife. it was an unexpected find as i was in np's library passing time and decided to see if i can find this book on its shelves. to my surprise, it was there waiting for me. i've read about 30 pages of it and i am a little "lost" with the writing. i am not really getting how come people gave reviews which raved about it. maybe i am not up to that kind of literary level yet. nevertheless, i will try to finish it before i conclude.

i was at np to support dearie's runners' relay event. it was just a fantastic way to end the work week, with ECE coming in FIRST for the staff event. i thought all the runners in his team were dressed all unassumingly - white FBT singlets with loosely fitted shorts, yet proved it's about the legs not the outfit. i am super proud of how dearie came in way ahead of all the staff runners, he was about 100m ahead of the next runner when he came back. i could see he was pushing hard as he ran up that last hill and sprinted down the track. he's my superboy! zoom zoom!

it was a fabulous team effort and it proves that hard work does pay off. all the weeks of training helped some get into better running form to take on this run. winning was just the pinnacle of it all. i'm glad i can be a part of it and running with the ladies was fun! i was thinking why haven't i got more colleagues who can run like them!

dearie told me about the trekking trip his colleagues are discussing to organise. to me it's like WOW.. trekking for a department event.. this will NEVER happen in my department. i'm just going to be the usual thick skinned tricia and tag along dearie's department. hoho!
 

post war gore

the 2 nanking books i have read presented views from 2 ends of a line. while the 2nd one started introducing itself as trying to find a neutral grounds between extremes, i tend to find the views presented somewhat skewed. i am mildly irritated by the way the author tried to brush the atrocities off as acts that are prevalent during war.

in the first place, the war was started at will. No one pushed Japan to wage a war with its neighbours.

The author felt some of the verdicts passed at the trial post-war was unfair. He tried to reason that some officers did slaughter some Chinese, but the numbers they were convicted of were inaccurate. I thought it sounded like a child stealing half a bowl of rice off the table. When disciplined by the parent on the theft of a bowl of rice, argued how it's just half a bowl and not a full bowl. Theft is still theft.

Anyway, that's history now and it's a lesson that we all should learn from - war never pays. Everyone lose in a war.

I have started on the LKY book this morning. I guess it'll be a good change after all the war gore.

nanking 2

i am onto my 2nd book on the history of nanking. i found iris chang's book exceptionally insightful.

this nanking book is written by a japanese. in the introduction of the book, he states that iris chang comes from a traditionalist point of view (while trying to make a point that he has read from both extreme perspectives and he felt he has come to a point of neutrality?) anyway, before i start sounding that i have drawn a conclusion on this book i better stop here; i am barely a tenth done with it.

i should be done with this book by next week and perhaps be in a better position to say if i agree with its contents.

3 more books in line.. not forgetting 2 e-books too. i seem to be still drawn to the nanking history. let me see if i can get my hands on another book from np library. which perhaps will need to be last on this queue!

feeling alive and what matters

i have been running consecutively for 3 days. nothing to be boastful of because all 3 were just 8-9km runs. my legs are aching now but i'm not complaining. running makes me feel alive. i scroll through photos of people running the gold coast marathon which took place this morning. i'm sure all of them felt as alive as i did. i think it's a gift to be able to run, with no pain of course. i want to be able to keep running and not have to count the miles (because there's too little to begin with). am i bend on getting faster? maybe lesser of that these days. i think i just want to move my legs, perspire, pant and ache.

i thought about my bikes collecting that thick layer of dust on the rack. i ought to do something about it. bring them out for a ride. i reminisced the former days when i would go out for 4 hours bike ride. riding alone down neo tiew in the morning. and of those days when i joined the riding group and how we did the crazy rides from yishun to changi and back. wow, those feel like distant past. will i do that again? i'm not sure. but i won't mind a leisure ride out some days.

there seems like a million things we want to do everyday. so many books to read. so many scores i want to try out on the piano. runs i want to do. work i want to improve (too!). we make those choices of how we want to spend our time. on what matters more to us.