Meaningful Living

In a recent group chat with a few ex students, the topic of money came up again.  The question was, Does Money give us happiness?  The obvious answer is yes, but we went on to discuss deeper. Why does money give us happiness? 1.  Spending money can boost our mood.  Researches have shown that buying experiences and gadgets increases the dopamine level and hence gives us happiness.  However, this dopamine level increases only when we are buying it, but quickly lowers after the purchase. So the happiness from the purchase may not last long , especially if we regret the purchase. 2.  At one National Day Rally, either Mr Goh Chok Tong or Mr Lee Hsien Loong (can't remember which PM as it was quite some time back) said something like this:  "... we work hard, so that we can have more options in life ." When we have more money, we can choose between hawker centre, expensive restaurants, or home delivery for our meals.  This gives us the satisfaction and ...

Do we need to use proper English? To me, it depends on the situation.  When we are with our friends or relatives, sure, use Singlish by all means, because everyone talks like that.  But we need to learn to switch over to using proper English when the occasion calls for it, like talking to superiors, with clients, when being interviewed for TV programs, when teaching the younger ones, etc. To me, the use of lah lor leh etc in Singlish is fine when used in Singapore, unless we are speaking to foreign visitors, where these words may confuse them.  However, some words just don't sound pleasant, in my opinion. Some common examples: 1.  "Actually".   There is too much use of the word 'actually'. Heard on a TV interview: "Because of this pandemic, most of our workers actually work from home.  We actually send some of them for training since this is the best opportunity for us.  Our sales actually dropped by 40%, and we actually hope to turn this around by the...

A new TV program started on channel 8 recently (财不怕退休), to give information/advice to young people on how to plan for financial stability when old. This is a summary of some key points from the program, as well as some of my views. 1.  We should plan for retirement as early as we can . In Singapore, even though we have the CPF scheme, it is likely only enough to meet our basic needs.  We plan early, so that we can continue to live the way we want to live, after retiring. 2.  General guideline for a young working adult:  Save 20% of the salary, use 50% for daily expenses, and invest the remaining.  For me, I would advise going for longer term, lower risk investments, because the objective is to plan for retirement, not to hit the jackpot. Some people don't save at all because they feel that they have CPF.  As explained above, CPF may give us just enough for basic needs.   On the other hand, there are people who are very prudent and save a huge prop...

It was reported that in Singapore, 16 new kidney failure patients are diagnosed each day currently.  This is a scary number.  Here are some notes on kidney failure. 1.   Common Causes : Diabetes : This is the most common cause of kidney failure.  When blood sugar binds to proteins, it causes the kidney filters to lose its function to filter toxins effectively Glomerulonephritis : This is the second most common cause of kidney failure due to kidney inflammation.  This is not treatable or preventable, but can be controlled with medicines High Blood Pressure : HBP can damage the blood vessels in the kidney, thus reducing the kidney's filtration functioning Exposure to pollutants , including cigarette smoke Injury to the kidney due to sports etc  Severe dehydration Certain medications (like some blood pressure medicine) (doctors will switch medications or stop the medicine temporarily for monitoring)     2.  Through blood test (or u...

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, more and more people are getting used to working from home (WFH).  It has been noted that there are more job seekers requesting for WFH. Some will deny this, but these are the reasons (not exhaustive) I feel many people prefer to work from home: 1.   Can wake up later; 2.   No need to travel to work place, hence saving some money on transportation; 3.   Can steal time at home to do personal stuffs; 4.   Not being watched by the boss and colleagues; 5.   Can spend time with family/send children to school etc. I am not against the idea of WFH, because it depends on the nature of the work, and it depends on the boss.  The purpose of this blog is to give awareness of another group of people with a different thinking regarding WFH. Some people prefer to work in the office, due to the nature of their work.  But there are also people who prefers to work in the office because of FOMO, the Fear of ...

Abilene Paradox, a social phenomenon where a group of people decide together on a certain action plan, but actually many or some of the them did not like the idea. The story goes like this, according to Wikipedia.   On a hot afternoon in  Coleman , Texas , a family was comfortably playing  dominoes  on a porch, until the father suggested that they take a [50-mile (80-km)] trip to  Abilene  for dinner. The daughter said, "Sounds like a great idea." Her husband, despite having reservations because the drive is long and hot, thought that his preferences must be out-of-step with the group and said, "Sounds good to me. I just hope your mother wants to go." The mother then said, "Of course I want to go. I haven't been to Abilene in a long time." The drive  was  hot, dusty, and long. When they arrived at the cafeteria, the food was as bad as the drive. They arrived back home four hours later, exhausted. One of them dishonestly said, "It was a great ...

36 Chinese Stratagems  (三十六计) is a set of 6 x 6 techniques, a collection of ancient Chinese military and civil interaction tactics.  It was based on fighting the enemies and dealing with people, hence a lot to learn from and to apply in our daily life. What I like most is the last strategy 走为上策, literally, Leaving (running away) . Like the Chinese say, it is the best strategy. Practical applications: - to avoid confrontations, arguments - to escape from embarrassing situations - to run away from aggressive sales pitch - to prevent further losses - to get out of likely being played in a mind-game Many people cannot just leave it, due to pride and the need to win.  It doesn't mean we will become a loser because we avoided confrontations.  My general rule is, things we cannot control (other peoples' actions), we avoid . Some examples: 1.   Many years ago I was in a taxi where the driver kept on rambling on his dissatisfaction with the government.  I liste...

These are some of the questions I ask myself now and then or in the past, many of which have no answers. 1.  How did the Universe start?  If it was the big bang, what caused the big bang?  Where did all the materials come from? 2.  What created the first living cell in the universe?  I mean, besides the theory of God.  How did the first living cell(s) know what to do? 3.  Why is it that insects, fish and animals can evolve features for self-defense or to gain advantage, but human beings didn't/can't do these? Examples: Stick Insects mimicking tree branches to avoid detection. Octopuses' ability to change colour to blend in with the surrounding. Zebras having black and white stripes.  My question for the zebra is not so much about the why, but the how.  How on earth did the zebras know how to divide their hair lines in such neat rows?  Cobra.  How do poisonous snakes know how to evolve poison in their body?    4.  Is g...

I mentioned Purine and Gout in one of my previous posts.  Recently, I learned that boiling meat/bones for many hours in water can significantly increase the amount of purine in the soup too.  Without going into details, the advice from doctors are: Do not boil meat/bones in the soup/broth for more than an hour . Here's a Chicken soup recipe I tried last week, which tasted very good. My proof to my mum that we do not need to boil the chicken for many hours in order to get the taste. Chicken Coconut Soup (for 2 pax): 1.  Get ready half a chicken, chopped into smaller pieces, wash clean.  If your pot is big enough, you can choose not to cut it into smaller pieces. No marination is needed. 2.  Get ready one young coconut.  Pour the juice into a bowl for later use.  Scrape off the coconut flesh if they are tender enough. Otherwise, do without the coconut flesh. 3.  Put the chicken into a pot with about four bowls of water.  Turn on high heat....

Collated these information on collagen from documentaries (Talking Point on Channel 5 and a few other sources): 1.   There are three types of collagen in our body.  Types 1 and 3 are those under our skin.  Type 2 are those found in our knee joints, shoulder joints etc. 2.    Collagen broth and collagen supplements don't work , because collagen molecules are too big to be absorbed by our body.  Even if they are broken down and absorbed by the body, our body will send them to higher priority areas like the muscles, not to the skin.  Hence when taken, there will not likely be any beauty effect on the skin. 3.   Frequent smoking, alcohol consumption and exposure to UV light deplete the natural collagen in our body.  Many people who smoke and drink a lot, have rough and wrinkled faces, as well as those who work under the sun all the time. 4.   A more effective method for improving our skin texture is by applying creams with Vi...