Typical day of our house's pet cat

Yesh, we have got an unofficial pet cat! =) Guess it belongs to no one cos there is no collar.. And for no apparent reason, the cat turned up one blue day and decided to only loiter along our corridor... Seeing that the cat looks so cute and is skinny (errh, before we start feeding it, it was very skinny...), my mum and sis start to feed it and well... it sort of become our pet! hahaha

7.30AM : Waiting to greet me before i go to work? Yah right... it's waiting for me to open the door so that it can sneak into house. then for me to lure it out again (so that i can lock the door), i have to feed it... Ah, clever cat! A good way to get breakfast...


Morning - Walk up and down the corridor. Nap behind the flower pots. Steal lazy glances at people who come out of the lift. Highlight of the morning: Wait for my mum to return from market.

Afternoon - The cat gets to come in to my house only when my dad is not around... and treats itself as the owner of the house lor. =P It will stroll from the living room to the kitchen, from the kitchen to all the 3 bedrooms and then returns to the living room again. No idea as to what it is looking for though...

Highlight for the afternoon : Tea time!

Highlight after tea : Nap! The cat's fave resting places...

jump into the tv console and nap on top of the dvd player! or

nap on the sofa!

When my dad returns home, the cat has to return to the corridor. oops!


Evening, after 8PM - The cat will 'wait' at the lift lobby for me to return home, and promptly enter the house the moment the gate is opened. It can only laze around the house for a few hours and will be 'chased' out by 11PM... Quite poor thing really, having to sleep outdoor and the night is cold...

Still... what a good life for our pet cat right??!! hahaha... Well taken care of by my mum and sis... =)

Redundancy VS Retrenchment

Hmm., what's the difference between redundancy and retrenchment?? None actually. Seems like a cause and effect situation...

What is Redundancy?
Redundancy occurs when, through no fault of your own, you are no longer required to work in
the job you have been doing. This usually happens because your employer no longer requires your job to be done by anyone. It is the job that becomes redundant, not you.

Redundancy may occur for a number of reasons, for example:
- a downturn in production, sales, or the economy generally;
- the introduction of new technology;
- business relocation;
- the duties of your position are re-allocated to other employees;
- the business merges with another business, or is sold; or
- an internal company restructure occurs.

What is Retrenchment?
If you lose your employment as a result of a redundancy, that is called a retrenchment. At this point there is a termination of employment. An alternative to retrenchment might involve, for example, you being redeployed to a different position but still with the same employer.

Employment Law: Entitlement to Retrenchment Benefits
Where the contract of employment is governed by Singapore law:
- there is no legal entitlement to retrenchment benefits unless expressly provided for in the employment contract or in respect of employees who are members of a union that has a collective agreement with the company, in the collective agreement.
- requirement to pay retrenchment benefits cannot be implied into a contract of employment by past practice or policy of the company.

The Employment Act provides that an employee employed for less than three years is not entitled to any retrenchment benefit if his service is terminated on the ground of redundancy or by reason of any reorganisation of the employer's business. (Argh, bad news for me then!)

Redundancy payments may only be claimed if expressly stipulated in the employment contract or the employer has implicitly agreed to it, or if there is a legitimate expectation based on past practice in some cases. Beyond that, retrenchment benefits are often paid voluntarily in Singapore. One or up to two months pay for every year of service is not uncommon.


Haizz... This is a really good timing to break the news lor... exactly after chinese new year celebration! And if i read/understand the words correctly, this is just the first round *shocked eyes! Must start thinking of my backup plans now... Hmm...

It's museum time...!!!

Did you guys know that Singapore has a total of 42 museums and heritage galleries?? Yesh, 42 of them in the tiny island of ours! And gosh, I have only been inside... ahem... 5 of them?? **insert sheeplish smile** And though I passed by a handful of them [re: Chinese Heritage Centre which is situated in front of Yunan Garden (NTU) and I passed by it EVERYDAY! for the 3 years when I studied there], I didnt know that they are there... Ah!

Hmm, guess I have to think twice before making comments about how small and boring Singapore is and that there is no place interesting to spend the weekend... hahaha =) As part of my get-to-know-Singapore-better plan A, I should visit one new museum/ heritage gallery per month... So, this works out to 12 new places for the year, pretty cool! Should reveal my get-to-know-Singapore-better plan B shortly too... hahaha.

Tentatively, the 12 new places which I am keen to check out are numbered below...

And not forgeting my fave curatour on Fridays at SAM... Will definitely want to check out the Daimler Art Collection (exhibition till to 1 March 2009) next month. Anyone interested??

Singapore's museums and heritage galleries

ART
8Q sam
Art Retreat incorporating Wu Guanzhong Gallery (01)
Nei Xue Tang - A Buddhist Art Museum
NUS Museum
Singapore Art Museum
Tan Swie Hian Museum

CULTURE
Asian Civilisations Museum
Chinatown Heritage Centre (02)
Chinese Heritage Centre
Hua Song Museum
Kong Hiap Memorial Museum
Malay Heritage Centre (03)
Ngee Ann Cultural Centre
The Peranakan Museum (04)

DEFENCE & COMMUNITY
Army Museum of Singapore
Civil Defence Heritage Gallery
Grassroots Heritage Centre
Police Heritage Centre
Republic of Singapore Air Force Museum
Republic of Singapore Navy Museum
Singapore Discovery Centre

HEALTHCARE
HealthZone
NHG Polyclinics' Gallery of Memories (05)
Woodbridge Museum
Tan Tock Seng Hospital Heritage Museum
The SGH Museum

HISTORY
Fort Siloso
Fuk Tak Chi Museum
Images of Singapore
IRAS Gallery - The Singapore Tax Story
Memories at Old Ford Factory (06)
National Library Singapore
National Museum of Singapore
Reflections at Bukit Chandu
Singapore Philatelic Museum (07)
Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall
The Battle Box
The Changi Museum (08)

LIFESTYLE
Mint Museum of Toys (09)
Museum of Shanghai Toys
red dot design museum
Sports Museum
TigerLIVE

SCIENCE & INNOVATION
BCA Gallery
Land Transport Gallery
Marina Barrage (10)
NEWater Visitor Centre
Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (11)
Singapore City Gallery (12)
Singapore Science Centre


**Above information taken from http://www.museums.com.sg/mr_members.asp
Check out the website for more information on the respective venue...

Fond memories -- 2nd half Y2008

Presenting to you the sweet memories for second half of Year 2008...

(ps: refer to the collage for first half of Year 2008 here)

Looking back, i realised i went for a few holz in 2008! Bangkok, Adelaide, Ho Chi Minh, Mekong Delta and Phnom Penh. Very cool! Should we do Shanghai, Hong Kong, Macau, Bali, Phuket, Langkawi, Kota Kinabalu, Malacca, Sydney, Canberra, Cairn, Siem Reap or Hanoi this year, 2009?? =)

Mr Goh left for Dublin at the beginning of year and when he returned at end of year, Mr Zhou left for Shanghai... =S Wondering whether Mr Zhou is missing all of us here?? hahaha. I seriously dont think he's checking out our blog...

Enjoy reminiscing the happy times then! Do not refuse to take photos when i flash out my camera for every lunch/dinner/outing... I need all the photos for the bi-annual collage you know, =P

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year one and all!!!

Before I embark on a tedious mission to sort and backup all my emails and files, I'd like to share with you my resolutions for 2009. But really, thank goodness the world didn't decide to unleash a virus on 010109 0001hr because I'd be tearing my hair out today.

Many write-ups and studies have shown that new year's resolutions must be kept to a small number and must be shared with all and sundry. The first being that you have to prioritize and focus. Having a small number of items ensures that we are not only able to do it but also do it well. The second being that now you have announced it, you have to not only do it but also achieve the goals, or risk losing face. So here goes....

Resolution 1: To lose 4kg
Not counting today's lunch of 3 slices of pizza, I'd like to embark on a healthier lifestyle. I might or might not lose 4kg but at least i get to do more regular exercises. So I'll be exercising on my elliptical trainer (which I have named Ethan) 3 times a week for 30 mins each. Need to select the days and stick to them.

Resolution 2: To save oodles of money
Not counting the taxi ride I took this morning, on top of the other 3 I took this week (note that there were only 4 working days this week), I'd like to save a lot of cash to cover 3 months of expenditure (emergency), tuition fees, cost of quitting if I were to convert to full-time. Thus, I need to sit down with my calculator, saving books and do some major planning and cost-cutting. Girls, today is my last shopping spree... not!

Resolution 3: To be more disciplined with my time
Not counting all the time wasted on improving my bowling buddies/word challenge/ who has the biggest brain games in Facebook, I'd like to be able to juggle work, studies and rest efficiently. Need to come up with a better scheduling tool and make my room more conducive for studying. A PDA-ish phone would be a useful tool here but somehow it doesn’t sit very well with Resolution 2.

So here goes my death wishes, I mean, New Year’s resolutions. No idea why I am so enthusiastic in making them this year. =/

Have you made yours yet?