Vexations to the spirit.

Yesterday, my key fan supplier, Fiona from KDK, was sitting at my desk when I received a call from an irate customer. This customer had ordered a Samsung refrigerator from the recent Megatex trade show last weekend at the Singapore Expo. He was supposed to receive the fridge the day before but it didn't turn up. Failed delivery as our store terms it.

Within the next 30 minutes, which I promised to return a call to the customer, I had to retrieve a copy of the order from the computer which showed "Delivery not yet authorised ". Worst still, the fridge on the order showed a Panasonic not Samsung. ??? Calls to the head office to retrieve the original document indicated a Samsung display unit sold. That meant I had to get someone to physically walk to the warehouse to confirm that the display unit was still there 'cos the inventory on the computer showed zero. Once all these were done, I had to correct the order from the Panasonic to the Samsung fridge and set a new delivery date for the customer and return a call to him all within the half hour promised. Phew!

Fiona was watching all these happen and she remarked that I was really very patient and 'steady'. I only replied to her that I always refused to let all these get me down. These things are simply vexations to the spirit.

"Vexations to the spirit" is a phrase from the poem "Desiderata" by Max Erhmann. You probably know it from the 70's song "Child of the Universe" by Les Crane. The beauty of the poem is its rich morals and the guidance it inspires. Here it is in full.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

Max Erhmann, from Indiana USA, wrote this poem around 1926 and copyrighted it in 1927. Around 1959, the rector of St Paul's Church in Baltimore used this in a compilation of devotional material. It became widely circulated without attribution to Max Erhmman and thus a misconception came about that it was found in Old St Paul's Church and written in 1692, the year the church was built. The copyright was renewed in 1954.

The customer is always right? #1

Saturday, August 29, 2009

A few recent incidents in my profession on the front-line for my store sadly reminds me that there are still people in the world whose morality and ethics are, what I would say, still in the stone age.

An entire Indian family trooped down to my store and demanded to see the manager.
As their complaint was on an electrical product, it became my responsibility to attend to them.
In their hands they had an electric oven toaster which they bought the day before.
"My house almost burned down because of your stupid oven"
"How can you sell us a defective oven?"
"How are you going to compensate us for the damage?"
"Who is going pay for my medical treatment?"
They all screamed and shouted in a loud chorus of blame and threats at the same time.
Seeking out the most 'reasonable' person in the group, I asked if only one person please explain and she went on like this.

They had bought the oven toaster the previous evening and she used it for the first time to re-heat some curry puffs. The oven caught fire and she had to throw water at it which then shattered the glass door. Pointing to the burnt-out ruin, she said the oven almost burnt down her kitchen and she got burnt and cut by the flying shards of glass.

From my experience I knew that new electrical appliances won't catch fire that easily unless there were some mitigating factors. So I began to probe gently.
"You were heating your curry puffs?" "Did the curry puff catch fire or did the oven itself caught fire? Metal ovens don't usually catch fire unless something inside it is burning like your curry puffs"
"The curry puff was on fire and the oven started burning la!"

"So you were heating the curry puff and wasn't watching it when it caught fire? Miss, in order for food to burn it must be heated till it becomes like charcoal, then the carbon will burn with the oil vapours! How long did you set the timer on for?" "About 10 minutes", she said.

"That means it was your food that burnt the oven and not the oven itself caught fire. Did you know that unattended cooking is the #1 cause of household fires in Singapore? The glass shattered because you threw cold water on it , which you shouldn't have anyway because you are throwing water on a live electrical equipment!"

At this stage it was apparent to all around now that they had a lost cause.
Still out of courtesy as a store customer, I did an exchange of the burnt oven for a new one.

Though I believe the situation came out all right for all parties, I am really saddened at the attitude of some customers who simply refused to acknowledge their own faults and failings. sigh.

I'll write about a few more incidents in my next article. bye.

Alfred Russel Wallace

If someone asks who founded the Theory of Evolution, most people would say Charles Darwin. And rightly so. Ever since he published his "On the Origin of Species", the scientific world has never looked back. Today, nobody questions if man evolved from apes, even though scientists are still looking for that missing link.

Yet Charles Darwin credits himself only as a co-founder of the theory of evolution. And he readily admits that his conclusions were remarkably similar to that of his contemporary, the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace.

Independently, Alfred Wallace had, from his explorations and scientific studies, developed his own theory of natural selection. He spent 8 years exploring and studying the flora and fauna in the jungles, mountains and regions of the then Dutch East Indies. Today we know this region as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, New Guinea or collectively as the Malay Archipelago.

When Charles Darwin received Alfred Wallace's scientific findings, he was amazed at the remarkable coincidence and similarity of both their conclusions. At the urging of the scientific community, Charles Darwin presented both their findings to the world. But because he did this, Charles Darwin somehow got the better recognition and became known as the 'father' of the evolution theory. However, this in no way diminished the importance of Alfred Wallace's contribution.

I first heard of Alfred Wallace in 1972, when my then parish priest, Fr Rene Challet, MEP (d.2003), told me that Alfred Wallace had stayed at St Joseph Church in 1854, right in the very building where we were having our conversation. From then on, my interest in Wallace grew and I started digging all the facts I could about this man who co-discovered the theory of evolution.

(picture of the 2nd St Joseph Church at Bukit Timah that was demolished in 1963)

From his seminal publication, The Malay Archipelgo, I learned that not only did Alfred Wallace stayed at St Joseph but that he did all his research within the vicinity of the church and that this area was the starting point for all his future research into the region that would ultimately lead up to his theory of evolution by natural selection. He mentioned in his work about the rich productive area within a square mile of the church.

Bukit Gombak, across the valley from St Joseph, where surely Wallace had explored.

Thus whenever, I am in the Upper Bukit Timah area, my thoughts always return to that of how Alfred Wallace had moved about looking for his insect specimens in the very same area where I used to run around in my younger days - today's Chestnut Drive, Gombak, Hillview, Bukit Timah & Bukit Panjang. And more importantly, the contribution this area of Bukit Timah made to the Theory of Evolution.

You might be interested to know that it was Alfred Wallace who gave the title "King of Fruits" to the durian, when he first described it in his scientific writings in 1858.

Alfred Russel Wallace has always been my hero. His life as an explorer scientist in the 19th century and his writings about all the places in the malay archipelago should qualify him as the pre-eminent travel writer of the 19th century! The earliest blogger perhaps? He deserves a place with the likes of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta, other great travel writers from the past.

I append below an extract from "The Malay Archipelago" which contains the pertinent description of the St Joseph Church area at Bukit Timah in 1854. If you would like to read the entire book, just click on the link above.


"In the interior of the island the Chinese cut down forest trees in the jungle, and saw them up into planks; they cultivate vegetables, which they bring to market; and they grow pepper and gambir, which form important articles of export. The French Jesuits have established missions among these inland Chinese, which seem very successful. I lived for several weeks at a time with the missionary at Bukit-tima, about the centre of the island, where a pretty church has been built and there are about 300 converts.

The island of Singapore consists of a multitude of small hills, three or four hundred feet high, the summits of many of which are still covered with virgin forest. The mission-house at Bukit-tima was surrounded by several of these wood-topped hills, which were much frequented by woodcutters and sawyers, and offered me an excellent collecting ground for insects.

In about two months I obtained no less than 700 species of beetles, a large proportion of which were quite new, and among them were 130 distinct kinds of the elegant Longicorns (Cerambycidae), so much esteemed by collectors. Almost all these were collected in one patch of jungle, not more than a square mile in extent, and in all my subsequent travels in the East I rarely if ever met with so productive a spot. This exceeding productiveness was due in part no doubt to some favourable conditions in the soil, climate, and vegetation, and to the season being very bright and sunny, with sufficient showers to keep everything fresh. In the same place, and during my walks in other directions, I obtained a fair collection of butterflies and of other orders of insects, so that on the whole I was quite satisfied with these—my first attempts to gain a knowledge of the Natural History of the Malay Archipelago."

Postscript
For his contributions to scientific studies, the Singapore NPark has set up a Wallace Education Centre at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve Visitor Centre. I believe it just opened in May 2009 but I have yet to visit this. I'll tell you more after my visit there.

Related links:
St Joseph Church Bukit Timah
The French Connection

Upper Bukit Timah

When I was younger, literally at a time when the policemen wore shorts, I lived in the Upper Bukit Timah area. From the mid-50s till late 60s, I lived at a small estate called Princess Elizabeth Estate and then later a a nearby development called Fuyong Estate. PE estate is now demolished and Fuyong Estate is better known as Rail Mall.

Growing up in those lean years meant activities were all self made. Our playground ranged from the hills of Bukit Gombak, Bukit Batok, Bukit Timah and all the way to Bukit Panjang. Exploring the area, hills and jungle was the main activity for us gangs of schoolboys since places like amusement parks, shopping centres were all but non-existent.


View My Kampong area - Upper Bukit Timah in a larger map

From the old British radar station on Gombak to the quarries at Bukit Timah, the farms at Cheng Hwa and the dairy farms were the places we 'explored' in our free time. All these places were within a 2km radius from Hillview. And yes, there really were lots of cows at Dairy Farm, where now condominiums have replaced the farms.

Old pictures of the dairy farms at Upper Bukit Timah

I remember after Singapore gained independence and started its industrial development, the Hillview area was chosen for light industries. Factories like Union Carbide, Hume, Gammon, Malayan Guttas, Kiwi Shoe Polish, Lam Soon Oil, International Spinning Mills, Cycle and Carriage and Castrol all began to change the quiet rural area into a busy industrial hub.


But perhaps central and most important feature of this area was St Joseph Church. Being Catholic, this was my parish church and it played a big part in life. I was baptised there, had catechism lessons and later taught religious classes, was an organist there and eventually also got married at this church.


(Picture is of the current St Joseph Church, the 3rd rebuilding on the same site. It was re-built in 1963 under Fr Joachim Teng)

St Joseph Church BT c.1963

St Joseph itself has a long history that is very closely related to the development of the area which few people nowadays know. It was built in 1846 and is the 2nd oldest Catholic church in Singapore. In its 163 year history, it has seen the the history of Singapore literally passing with its own history.


But to me, the one event that makes the St Joseph and the whole Upper Bukit Timah area significant was a quiet event that took place in 1854. An event that was to have a big impact on the entire human history, and it all started here with a visit by a naturalist named Alfred Rusel Wallace.


Related links:
Alfred wallace and St Joseph Church

Nostalgic photo - Beauty World

I was doing a search for some information for a piece I intended to write about the Upper Bukit Timah area when I came across this picture that really hit me hard in the face!

Originally, my first thought was 'Hey, this picture would be nice for my previous blog on old bus stops' when it suddenly hit me that this was the bus stop at the old 7-1/2ms Upper Bukit Timah Road which I had used long ago when I was just a young boy during my school days!

This was the bus stop opposite the original Beauty World. The picture must have been taken in the 1960s. The buildings on the left are still in existence at the junction of Chun Tin Road and Cheong Chin Nam Road. On the right where a gully separates the road from the vegetation used to be an old kampong where now stands the Bukit Timah Shopping Centre and Beauty World Centre. In the far background is Bukit Timah Hill.

The bus approaching the bus stop is service no.1 from the Green Bus Company. This service ran from Queen Street to Johore Bahru. This service is still in operation today under SBS Transit no 170.

Showing the Flag

With National Day coming just round the corner, I thought it might be a good time for some patriotism. After all, I do love my country.

In 2007, I had the good fortune to get 2 tickets to the National Day Parade. That was the first time the parade was to be held on the floating platform on Marina Bay. It was also the first time that I attended a live National Day Parade as a spectator. I had actually taken part in a marching contingent way way way back in 1969 at the Padang!
Here is my video of the NDP 2007. Hope you like it.

Singapore Pledge

We, the citizens of Singapore

Pledge ourselves as one united people

Regardless of race, language or religion

To build a democratic society
Based on justice and equality

So as to achieve happiness, prosperity & progress for our nation

Old bus stops in Singapore

I used to live at a small housing estate called Princess Elizabeth Estate, located at Hillview Avenue in Upper Bukit Timah. Was reminiscing about it with my sisters when I decided to look for old photos of our childhood.

While looking for those, I came across an album consisting of photos of bus stops taken around 1989. These, being 20 years ago, I thought it might be interesting (boring?) for some to see these relics. In fact, some of these bus stop designs are still in used, although most today are being replaced by the new standard design.

This is the current standard bus stop design (c.2009). I believe that the bus stops now are designed, constructed and maintained, not by the government or bus companies, but by a media company (JC Decaux? correct me here). This is in exchange for all advertising rights at the bus stops.

Here are the photos from the past. Click on it for a larger image.

Finally, the coup de grace.....
This was the bus terminus at Princess Elizabeth Estate. First used by the Green Bus Co with service No 5. Later taken over by United Bus Co No 173 and finally by the SBS bus 173 and 193. The estate was demolished sometime in the 1990s and the terminus no longer exists, though SBS service 173 still runs through the area.


Postscript:
The following pictures were sent to me by reader Sue who found them after reading my blog. Thanks Sue.
If any of you have more pictures of old bus stops to contribute, I'll be happy to upload them here.

Comments by contributors.

Old car at old bus stop along old road in Changi









Bus stop that looks more like a bucket system toilet without the door in old Sembawang.

Old concrete bus stop at Ang Mo Kio 1980s

Bus stop in rural district c.1960s.

Orchard Road 2011. Lucky Plaza

Fossils at Woodlands

I have only a fleeting interest in paleontology. That started long long ago, long before the movie Jurassic Park. Somewhere in my boxes, there's a collection of real fossils. Ammonites, trilobites, amber insects and fossilized shark's teeth. Souvenirs of those growing up years which we somehow like to cling to.

Many years ago, while waiting for a friend at the Woodlands MRT station, I noticed that the station was covered with tiles made of rough sandstone. And the facade appeared to be badly stained with mouldy patches.

Anyone passing by probably wouldn't give a hoot about those dirty mouldy stains, but as I had nothing to do while waiting, I looked at it and lo, and behold! they were not stains. They looked like impressions of ferns and leaves. Fossils!

The facade of Woodlands MRT station is covered with sandstone tiles that were formed millions of years ago.

Since then, every time when I am at that station, I will just wonder along the walls and look at the fossilized impressions. Really, the patterns are wonderful to look at and they are all over the walls. You just have to look. Here are some pictures I took of the walls and the fossilised impressions.

Click on the photographs to view a larger image

Then today, while doing some reading, I came to know that the impressions found in the slate tiles were not fossils of ferns.
Oh, what a let-down! I was really dejected to learn of this.

They are what are known as pseudofossils. And they have fooled a lot of people in the past, just like finding iron pyrite which is also known as 'fools gold'. They do look exactly like fossilised ferns and are found in slate or sandstone rocks which are truly from the age of the dinosaurs.

However, the impressions are known as dendrites. These are actually manganese oxide or iron oxide that had seeped into the rock formation millions of years ago and left their fern-like impressions in the rock. These rocks are commonly found in India, Germany and Australia and are used for wall and floor tiles. However, these patterns are also collectibles. Kinokuniya Books sells these around $60 for a 3cm x 3cm piece.

Well, if ever they tear down the walls of the station, they can always re-cycle the tiles as fossil collectibles. Go have a look while it's still there. They are really pretty.

What happened to simple common courtesy nowadays?

I commute to work by public transport. I ride the MRT from my home at Bukit Batok to my workplace at Boon Lay at least 5 days a week.

For the past few years, the train operators have tried to make those seats nearest the exits available for those in real need of it, i.e. pregnant ladies, the elderly or physically disabled.
Beginning with the "Please give up this seat to people who need it" to the "Priority Seat" to the latest and more forceful "Reserved Seating".

Alas, I don't see that the latest concept by the train operators is any different from the previous, meaning its effectiveness is just as suspect. The problem from my personal perspective is that commuters (ugly singaporeans?) have not reached that level of graciousness to understand what Priority or Reserved means.

Most of the time you will notice the rush and the beeline straight for those seats, heck care the signs. The next thing they do is pretend to sleep, put on their MP3 or text on their mobiles till they get off, oblivious to all around them

Hey, when you go to restaurant and see a Reserved sign, you don't plonk yourself down but look for another table! So what's the difference here? In Japan, Korea or Canada, you will see able bodied passengers standing beside the empty seat, knowing that it is 'reserved' for the needy. Their train culture has reached a level of maturity that had been infused into their civic consciousness.

While I am all for the idea for giving up seats for those who need them, simply putting up 'another campaign' signage is ineffective in the absence of proper commuter education. When, or if ever, we can reach an acceptable level of graciousness, then even the concept of reserved seats become redundant. Every seat in the cabin will be offered up for any one who needs it! Sadly, that'll be the day, which probably will not be in my lifetime.

The passenger train culture here has a long long way to go to reach first world standard. Today we gripe about not giving way, not moving inside, eating on board, not being courteous, etc. Yet we are the ones who need to make the first move. Even shaming individuals on public forums like Stomp website will do little to improve the situation without effort from both the public and the operators. In our nanny state, I guess we are all waiting for someone else to set the rules and tell us how to behave even for such minor courtesies. Sigh.

Have a look at this latest attempt by the train operators, which I personalLy feel is real crass. Message is ok but the presentation sucks. Of all people, snot picking PCK as an example of graciousness. What a joke and you expect people to listen to his message?



I am getting old and grouchy. If one day you see me hobbling into the train, I hope there's a seat reserved for me.

Embarassing moments

Why does it always have to happen when I am out on those rare few occasions with the Missus??
It simply reinforces my wife's notions about hating to go out together because she thinks I ALWAYS embarrass her!

Just last Wednesday, on my day off, I was to accompany her to buy some groceries.
Only a short walk to the Mall across the road and what happens?
I just had to put my tee-shirt on inside-out!
"Can't stand you! You're really getting senile!" blurted the Missus.
And of course, this led to more recollections to berate me in public over this . Bla bla bla....

And the one that she will never never ever let me forget is The Classic tale of public embarrassing moments.

It happened about a year ago, we were shopping at Takashimaya.
Despite my phobia about using public toilets, the call of nature was too strong to hold back.

I always feel queasy about using the public loos, so I went about with the ritual of wiping and then making a seat cover out of the toilet roll. Don't you all do that? Hmm, I wonder.

Anyway, business done, flushed, and had my pants back on. Relived and back to shopping, walking round the stores. Then, horrors of horrors, about 10 minutes later my wife shrieked out that I had grown a white tail.

A length of toilet roll tissue was trailing out from my pants. This must have had caught my belt while I was putting on my pants. Thus I was walking around with a tail which I had not noticed! Safe to say that put an abrupt end to the shopping. And it just had to be with the wife again!

Tonight, I will be again taking my son and wife out. My son is flying off to Cambridge for further studies. Just hope nothing embarrassing happens while at the airport. Come back again, I'll let you know.

The Press got it wrong

Last Sunday, one of my co-workers caught a shoplifter at the store where I work. We detained the shoplifter in our store office pending the arrival of the police.

During his short detention, he pleaded with us for release. Claimed he was going to make payment but couldn't find the cashier, etc, etc. In desperation, he took out a cutter and threatened to slash his wrist if we didn't release him or let him make payment. Sensing imminent danger, my store manager agreed to let him make payment at the cashier. This was a ruse to buy time while we called for the Mall security.

As luck would have it, there was a long queue at the cashier point at that moment and the alleged shoplifter obediently joined the queue! Just as he reached the front of the queue, mall security personnel arrived and he was yet again detained once more.

His mother suddenly appeared on the scene and started pleading with us to release her son. To the extent of kneeling, crying and begging, all right in front of customers waiting at the cashier point. Thus, I asked the security person to escort the couple to the office.

On the way to the office, the mother became highly emotional. Wailing and pleading and even feigning an epileptic seizure and started to shiver and shudder. But we could all see it was very obvious 'drama' on her part. To convince us of her act, she even pretended to faint and sprawl flat on her back.

It was at this very moment that an unknown customer in the store took a photograph of the scene.
The photo was submitted to the Chinese tabloids and we became instant celebrities the following day! Loosely translated, the blurb in the tabloid said.... "a woman was caught shoplifting...she became very agitated and fainted...and was helped by a customer onto the sofa to recover.."
In reality the 'customer helping her' was the son, the real culprit.

The woman's dramatics came to an abrupt stop the moment the police turned up, ha ha.
The shoplifter was questioned by the police and they found that he had lifted more items from other shops in the mall earlier. These included Levi's, shirts, belts and accessories, all stashed in his haversack.

To me, I would think that the mother and son worked as a team, with the mother being the lookout.

A week earlier, the same vigilant staff, Kerk, had caught another shoplifter trying to steal a hard disk drive. He also pleaded for mercy and Kerk relented and made the shoplifter pay for the item.

Unbelievably, this shoplifter had the audacity to return about 2 hours later to claim a refund for the purchase! Of cos, not knowing about the shoplifting attempt, the cashiers gave him a full refund according to the company's policy.

The lesson we learned from the incident was that we had to be firm with all adult shoplifters caught. No mercy will be shown.

Something to say

Saturday, June 20th 2009.

I have another blog at http://fujiwara-kankoo.blogspot.com. That started from the prompting of my ex-colleague Dawn, who is now happily an SIA girl. On her urging I started to blog.."it's very easy" she said... and that was exactly 2 years ago in July 2007.

Initially, I really didn't know what to write. But finally decided to blog about my previous travels or anything to do with traveling which I love. I named it after my Japanese friend Aki Fujiwara, who also has a mania for travel.


Aki Fujiwara


Over the past 2 years, I penned about 50 anecdotes on that site. Along the way, there were many times when I wanted to say something that had nothing to do with travel. But I felt that it was inappropriate to put it into that site, for example, that incident with the burger at the mall (May 2009).

Then this morning, I said to myself, why not just do another blog?
So thus, Quispiam Loquor was born.

This blog site will contain my personal thoughts and opinions.
I'd be most happy for you to join me in my blog by adding in your comments.
I hope you will return here once in a while to read my ramblings. Enjoy.

best regards
James Tann