Zit Seng's Superwall

I recently visited the NUS Bukit Timah Campus. I was there for a whole day meeting. As I walked around in between breaks, I saw the beautiful internal courtyard. This one in the photo is what they call the Upper Quadrangle. It was a picture like it was somewhere else other than in Singapore. Big open space, surrounded by oldish buildings, with absolutely nothing else visible on the skyline. There aren’t many tall buildings in that area, so that isn’t anything else to see in the distant from where I stood.

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I just attended a course on communication skills last week. I was hoping to pick up some tips on making conversation, in order to better network with other people. People networking is an important part of work, especially when you move up whichever corporate ladder it is that you’re climbing. This is one of those soft skills that one has to polish up in order to work effectively.

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In a report from WFTV, a man in Daytona Beach, Florida, hit the jackpot of about US$166 million, or so the slot machine says, but was told he will not get a single cent because the machine had probably malfunctioned. It’s such an anti-climax. I imagine the man will probably sue the casino for some money, even if not for the entire US$166 million.

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Here’s what a merchant did with his EZ-Link payment terminal: Shelved neatly inside a glass display. Nice to look at, but not to be used. I’m guessing this merchant doesn’t want to use it at all.

There are certainly some benefits of electronic payment systems, but clearly they are not for everyone. I imagine that this EZ-Link system was provided free-of-charge to this merchant, so there are no overheads and per-transaction costs involved, but yet he’s reluctant to use it.

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I’ve been joking about this beer garden in NUS for some time, even before construction actually started. After many months of waiting, this timber deck overlooking the valley behind Kent Ridge was finally ready. When it was officially completed… surprise, surprise, a variety of beer was served in its opening event.

It really has quite a nice view of the trees on the slope of Kent Ridge. But knowing the weather in Singapore, and the general dislike of the hot humid outdoors of most Singaporeans, it won’t be surprising that there will be little use of this beer garden. At least not in the day anyway.

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We had a treat today – a guest lecture by Jack Neo and Boris Boo. The guest lecture was for a course in Digital Media Production. The main star was Jack Neo, of course, and although I wasn’t expecting to hear anything relevant to my work, or even directly relevant to the course, it was nevertheless an opportunity to meet and hear from a local celebrity and producer/directory of several successful movie productions.

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If SingTel plays their cards right, I think they’re going to win lots of customers. Their win of the English Premier League broadcast rights in Singapore last week surprised many people. The immediate reaction of most people was one of worry of how much it would cost them to watch soccer in the coming years. It costs quite a lot to watch soccer with StarHub. Will they have to pay just as much with SingTel? Or perhaps more, considering that SingTel must have put in a very high bid to win the rights, and would thus naturally have to recoup their investments? Many people were concerned that the telco competition could spell trouble for consumers.

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It’s an interesting thought. What if one day, you select a university education by comparing prices, facilities, location, bundled freebies, guarantees, loan schemes, and reviews? What if one day, your university education is purchased just like you purchase other expensive consumer product or service? Like a car, or a 1 year body slimming package? Universities go out to advertise their courses and degrees, offering promotions and discounts, frequent flyer miles, free computers?

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I came across this sign on a toilet door recently: Disabled’s Toilet. I thought it sounded crude. Usually such toilet facilities are labeled as “Handicap Toilet”, or at least that is the case I most often see in Singapore. We have handicap parking lots, handicap access, etc. So I was a little surprised to see this sign. When I got back home, I Googled around on the topic of “Handicapped vs Disabled“, and I was surprised to learn many new things.

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You know how it is, the queue to get a queue number is itself quite long and slow moving. Buying a handphone, especially on a weekend, can take up quite a bit of time. I’ve waited like 2 hours to be served at M1 Shop the last time I bought a phone from them. I don’t know about StarHub, but it is sort or about the same with SingTel Shop. So I was pleasantly surprised that my shopping trip to M1 Shop today was over so quickly.

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