Merry Christmas People :)

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Its kinda sad that one of my milestone posts (400th) came as a complaint. Its Christmas eve, and you return to the office to find a graveyard. Not a single officer around. You send an email. The auto replies come back "I'm on leave till xxx. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year". Indeed, happy for you. A glance at the calendar tells me that deadlines are loaming, and unless I intervene, work is not going to get done.

Makes you really wonder what you do is really appreciated by your colleagues..

Its December, and its supposed to be a jolly festive month, but so much had happened that it does not feel like it is a holiday season.

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It didn't come as a surprise to me that a company offered to buy my friend's bond, but frankly, it did stun me that he accepted the offer, albeit with a great deal of deliberation. It reminded me of my own dilemma when I was in year 2, when KPMG asked if I was interested in joining them (as an intern first, then if I did well during the intern, they would consider absorbing my LD). It didn't take me long to make up my mind - to stay as a civil servant - and forgo the chance to extend my stay in London after it expires in a couple of years time (then).

My decision to stay was primarily due to the heated stayer - quitter discussion at that point of time. I'm not a scholar. In SAF, the most I could be is to be a 'wrangler'. Even as a Scheme C officer, there would definitely be a delineation in the kind of opportunities available. But my decision to stay was simple - SAF offered me a chance to study overseas, and it was through their offer that a company like KPMG noticed me even when I was still an undergrad. Would it be fair for SAF to sponsor me to be subsequently headhunted by another company (not even a local Singapore company) even before I repaid them for their trust in me? I chose to stay with full knowledge that my development opportunies had been made lesser by my choice.

I am happy with my choice. I am happy with how the organisation had been treating me so far. All my bosses had been overworking me, but they all took the effort to ensure that I learn and mature under their charges. Thank you Sirs. And I am happy that after I made the choice to stay, I met Hui Min. I think life has its own unique way of rewarding you as long as your choices in life are in sync with your personal values and principals.

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I'd finally managed to squeeze out a two day break from work. It was really a squeeze, as I had to return to work on Thursday morning before I went to pick up Hui Min and her mum. We went down to Sengkang to take a look at the nearly completed flats, and in our minds, shortlisted a few. That's assuming HDB approves to waive us for purchasing HDB flats.

The next 2 days were spent in Sentosa. It was really a good recharge, with a couple of days to simply just relax. Cycle, frisbee (I haven't played that since leaving school), sun, zzz in the room, watch TV, go Vivocity.

And Saturday afternoon was spent at Junchern's place (housewarming - wreaking - site survey). And he was rattling off advises on how to do up the house etc.. now I know who to look for for lobangs when I need to do my own house.

Then there was a Xmas 'party' organised by Hui Min's classmates. It had been a long while since I sang Xmas carols.. but it was the first time I've done it in Singapore. We played a game call Cranium. Basically, its a race by teams of 2 (or more) to reach the end point. However, rather than rolling a numbered dice, we roll colored dice. Then depending on the color you rolled, you have to do 'roadblocks', such as spelling bee, humming a song for your teammate to guess the title, sculpting a 'thing' with plasticine for your teammate to guess etc. It was a game that offers a good laugh, but because it was set with a US context, it is not as easy as it sounds! Should try it if you spot it at Settlers'. Oh, tere's a Singapore Edition by the way ;)

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Justin: 4 room. The available 5 rooms are mainly resales, and we want brand new ones haha..

One more month and counting

Blogging once a month wasn't something I wanted to do. It is however due to the lack of leisure (or you might want to call it poor time management) that I ended up clearing the cobwebs so often here.

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Life's really different as a "grown up", if I might use that word. I went down to HDB hub last Saturday as the first step towards the next stage of life. Hui Min and mine combined income burst the income cap, so we already knew we need a waiver to buy HDB flats (we could still get Executive Condos, but we would prefer something cheaper. Also, ECs are usually at those ulu places where you can't get about without a car). So we went to HDB hub, and talked to this Indian lady.

We: "... need a waiver ... first time buying ... so how do we go about doing it?"
She: "Oh that's simple, write an email to this email address (gestures) and request for the waiver."

Ok, so that's what we did. I sent the email, and waited. 2 days later, I got this reply.

Email: ".. you will be considered for the waiver, so go to HDB hub, submit your application for flats and we will subsequently consider you for the waiver.."
Me: -_-"

Right, so why do we need to go to HDB to find out that we need to send an email to know that we might be considered for a waiver if we go to HDB to apply for flats? <-- Bingrong, please answer this haha..

So yup, we're now waiting for the Feb launch and see what we could do about this..

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ASIAN Convocation @ NUS Cultural Centre

I think the oldies who graduated before this year were initially not considered, but as the places were not fully filled, we were offered the opportunity to get ourselves convocated by the Rector.

I was happy, (of course I was happy. I missed my chance!) and drove Hui Min and mum down after work to NUS Cultural Centre. Took me quite a long while to get my convo gown and such, and the procedure for convocation wasn't complex. File to your right, and as your name is called, walk onto the stage towards the rector, shake his hand, answer a few questions (no scrolls, we've gotten ours via mail already), and walk off. So that's what I did.

Announcer: "From the department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Diploma and Masters of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mr Joseph Peh."

And I confidently strode on stage, shook the rector's hand firmly, smiled, and waited for the question.

Rector: "So, what did you study".
Me: (Totally confused), "HUH??"
Rector (smiled): "I said, what did you study".
Me: "Oh erm... Electrical and Electronic Engineering???"
Rector: "Ahh.."
Me: -_-"

That aside, the aftermath of the ceremony was photos and photos.. and I am sure my mum was very proud of me :) And I was glad that my dear got the chance to speak to my mum more, because I myself don't see her often haha...

Here are some photos:

With Hui Min :)

Meixin, Changyong, Me & Hui Min

Hui Min, Me & Mum

The surviving gang who took this final group shot: Vivian, Yiken, Yuxiang, Peichuan, Eewen, Kaileng, Changyong & Me!