www.Go To The Mountain - Musings of a Potential Guru

Do you believe that in every bad situation there is some good aspect to it. So when you have to encourage somebody who is plagued by problems or have to overcome some difficulties in life and they could not see anyway forward that is positive, you could then say to them - "Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining". The origin to this saying was traced back a long way to a certain John Milton who coined the phrase in 1634. Quote I see ye visibly, and now believe That he, the Supreme Good, to whom all things ill Are but as slavish officers of vengeance, Would send a glistering guardian, if need were To keep my life and honour unassailed. Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud Turn forth her silver lining on the night? I did not err; there does a sable cloud Turn forth her silver lining on the night, And casts a gleam over this tufted grove. Unquote Clouds and silver linings in literature were often attributed to Milton. The English language was an uplifting lan...

A brief on the Suzuki Cup. Singapore lost to Indonesia in a match they could have won. Duric hit the stanchion with his header, Amri seemed to have been fouled in the penalty box but was given the yellow card for simulation instead although there was contact made. Why did Irwan Shah make that rash tackle to get a second yellow and promptly sent off when the Indonesian player was at the bye line with no imminent danger present.  Better than this was an article posted on the NST where the writer mentioned about "Singapore having a fast-aging population with many of the country's young shunning marriage and this apparently led to a rise in gay culture. Also that we are turning into an emotionless breed and yet Malaysia had to lose to Singapore in the soccer match." This prompted Mr. Brown to post on his website "Eh, your letter no link one leh". For some one to write that and for the other to publish it. Haiz.  Meanwhile, I was in better fo...

Singapore Needs A Mirror Not Just Conversation I applaud the Singapore Conversation and I hope the authorities are carefully listening because very often even in the business world, few leaders listen but more than a conversation we should have a Singapore Mirror where we can often look at ourselves. A mirror can be truly reflective but then again you see what you want to see. A tiny pimple on a pretty face and one can go berserk or conversely, some people could only see great things about themselves and those other people who would have you believe, like the Emperor's New Clothes.  http://gforce-guru.blogspot.sg/2010/03/emperors-new-clothes.html (highlight the link, right click and select "Go To") If you have been following my blog, you would surely know what I have so strongly felt about our world class education system that has been fraud with problems which we really took too long to realise and make the changes but better late than never. The people who wro...

Sometimes in life, the way forward could be gleaned from the past. I am not talking about using historical trends to teach the future which is most frequently the case. Very often it does not work that way. However, old stories when taught holds great truths for all regardless of where you are or who you are. Aesop, an ancient Greek philosopher was one such great teacher and story-teller. He simply use humble incidents to teach great truths. More than that, he added a moral to each story as profound advice for us. He spoke great truths in all of his stories which everyone knew that those stories were not true for they were all fables and mostly illustrated using animals. There have been suggestions that Aesop who was born around 620 BC was a black Ethiopian slave. However, nobody knew if Aesop ever existed but he was described as ugly - squint-eyed, pot-bellied, dwarfish, short-armed and the list goes on. Apparently, if he ever existed then maybe God is fair as the law of comp...

This was an interesting EPL weekend, probably the most intriguing since the season's kick off. It also coincided with my worst prediction to date. Now, it was not because I was bad but it was certainly all the teams are lacking consistency and not playing the way they should and caused such turbulence. I shall be bouncing back like I did for the Fantasy Premier League. I had two right and two rights do not make a wrong. The only way is up! And I told you that it was easier to predict who gets the sack first and Roberto Di Matteo of Chelsea became the first casualty. I have also noticed two newcomer countries visited this blog - Yemen and the Isles of Man that would make 118th countries so far. You know where is the Isles of Man? Sunderland v WBA - Sunderland having lost their previous two matches went to of all places Craven Cottage and won 3-1. Of course it was helped by the sending off of Fulham's captain Hangeland for his two footed lunge at Cattermole. Inspirational...

I have fond memories of living in HDB estates. I remember that some neighbourhood Malay children would carry a basket of food and walk along the corridors shouting "epok epok". Epok epok kentang is the best!  When I was even younger, there was an old man who would carry two pots hung on both ends of a stick slung across his broad shoulders. The pots were placed in wooden casings on top of charcoal stoves,  one with hot water to cook the yellow noodles and bean sprout and the other heated gravy. His mee rebus was one of the best. There was another push cart stall at Jalan Besar. My friends and I would patronise after band practice. There was not just mee rebus but very good satay too. Near where I stayed in my youth, there were many hawkers and not all were legalised. One put their mee siam in a plastic bag and all placed in a basket and she had bottles containing the mee siam gravy. So when you wanted one, she would pour some gravy into that plastic bag. There are st...

The Hainanese are people from Hainan who originated from Hainan Island - the smallest province of China at the Southern most tip. They were originally fishermen from Fujian and Guandong and later settled over there. The Hainanese, part of the Chinese dispora migrated to different South East Asian countries including late comers to Singapore worked in ships as sailors, opened their own coffee shops or restaurants, bakeries or bars and worked as cooks and chefs and others at local hotels.  Hainanese in Singapore made up 7% of the Chinese population. The Hainanese came to Singapore much later than the Hokkiens and Teochews who are already well entrenched in trade and commerce. Originally they also have problems communicating with other dialect groups as their language seems unintelligible to the others but they began to carve out a name for themselves working for wealthy Europeans including as canteen operators for military bases.  Hainanese are especially with food and ...

My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary. - Martin Luther. Have you known anyone who hated music? Songs? Regardless of where you are from, music resonates in the human heart, in your culture, in your life. Music pervades all areas and facets of life. It is found in your home, at the cinemas, in pubs, restaurants, on your devices, TV, radio, in sports etc. You play music or listen to songs when you are happy or sad. Music can change your mood, inspires, sets your adrenalin flowing or just simply lets you appreciate. Gets you excited, makes you calm or when you fall in love or...lust. Music is an universal language. It transcends borders and across cultures. It has history, heritage, influences. It is also borrowed and mixed into other cultures. The genres of music and songs are endless. Music is artistic by nature and genres can quite easily overlap...

Know your ABCs. When I was in primary school, many still do not know their ABCs. Today's parents read to their unborn child and play classical music so that they can have an early start because some experts say it is good for them but nothing can make them learn not to touch that hot kettle of water until they get burned. Why must people only learn from the hard way? In golf, when you are having a bad day, some wish the rain would come so that the game is declared null and void or ABC - All Bets Cancelled. The courses here are usually infested with reptiles, not just monitor lizards (well I usually hear "iguana'' but they really are monitor lizards, we don't have iguanas here). It is the only place in this world where the ABC of crocodiles are domiciled in one place. They are the Alligators, Buayas and Crocodiles. There you go - ABC! In the old days, well before they have keyless entries to your cars, you actually carried a car key in yo...

We all love food. From Western to Eastern. Northern or Southern. Even if it were cuisines from the same country, North and South can be different not just for food but for the people. Only in Singapore, everywhere is the same. If all the world is a stage as William Shakespeare suggested then Singapore is a world stage of food. We are so spoilt for choices and variety, you should all really thank God to be here. Add superb convenience to that. We headed for Vivo City (please note Vivo City is not a football club from the EPL) and we did the Jiang Nan style. Colourful  Xiao Long Bao representing the different flavours. Lovely. If there are better XLB, I haven't found them. Wonderful appetisers - pork, silver fish (it is a fish not that insect that eats your books and you wish you have many so they eat away your books and you won't need to study) and shoots. I didn't know that shoots can taste this good! Pandas are smart animals. A panda walked into a Bar a...

This is open season. The top teams are finding a bit of difficulty to win, no longer a stroll in the park and things are getting less predictable and this is a good thing so much so that I only got 4 right guesses in WxDxL and only one correct score prediction. It is not that I am not that good any more but it was just that the soccer teams are not consistent and playing to form. At this juncture, perhaps it is easier to predict which manager will get the sack. Those under mounting pressure are Man City's Roberto Mancini, Tottenham's AVB and QPR's Mark Hughes for example. Others like Arsenal's Arsene Wenger and Southampton's Nigel Adkins are frustrated too though Wenger is safe we can't tell about Adkins. Now for the weekend action..... Arsenal v Tottenham - In their last 5 outings Arsenal has lost twice (2-3 and 1-2) and won twice (4-1 and 5-2) the other being a draw (3-3). Do you see a trend here? Factor in their recent form and it is anything goes. To...