爱情拥有各种形式的终点 遗憾却没有尽头

management 101

J is a mediocre middle-level manager who doesn't command the respect of her team. T is sort of a 2IC who commands the respect of his team.

T is known to point out colleagues' mistakes. one day, he and his colleagues didn't hesitate to point out J's mistake publicly.

given her position, if J had put her hands up, she would've scored some points within the team. after all, the reward that comes with humility at a higher position is always higher.

but given J's track record it was no surprise how she escalated it into a demonstration of what you should never do.

she not just doubled down, which was already a surefire way to lose points, true to form she attempted muddling and diverting the matter.

this only works if you can fool your audience.

worse, J scapegoated T, the last person she should have scapegoated.

the episode, one of many, ended with no clear resolution. but as J had no legs to stand on, everyone on the team saw through her act, and her reputation took a further hit. moreover, by villifying T the influencer, J lost more than she gained.

this is a classic example of winning one battle but losing the war.

"你穿西装 我去化妆"

"做兄弟 在心中 你感觉不到 我说一万句都是废话"

我几次起身要走 而终未走成
但我几次要将你拥抱 却也未拥抱得成

the difference between the Chinese and the Chinese

Straits Times' cover has a small spot for LCW; Zaobao's cover is a spread of LCW. As a political observer once remarked, LCW is not just Malaysia's -- he's often a symbol for the Chinese diaspora against China.

media bias

Most of what I'm seeing about Lochte, my man during the Phelps-Lochte rivalry, is how this has shamed organisers Brazil. No, people, this has shamed the US. Own up.

Killian documents controversy

"In many ways on many days, [reporters] have sort of adopted the attitude of 'go along, get along.' What many of us need is a spine transplant. Whether it's City Hall, the State House, or the White House, part of our job is to speak truth to power."

爱对了是爱情
爱错了是青春

i like motion pictures

the Mexican drug war makes crime everywhere look like schoolyard pranks. beautiful cinematography, gratifyingly taut, never self-conscious.

#Sicario

PRCs

at lunch, i gave the PRC cashier an SG50 note, and he immediately huddled with his PRC friend, fascinating over it. turned out they're collectors. three of us had a nice chat about it, before they returned it to me. at dinner, the ban mian stall owned by a couple of kind PRCs packed me a huge bowl of soup even though i dabao dry ban mian, a small but significant act. i love the Chinese lah. they get a bad rep.

Star for Tai Hwa

in my earlier review of Bib Gourmand, i took issue with them "ignoring the quintessential Singaporean dish". credit to them now for unveiling bachor mee like a finale. Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle is hands down among the most transcendent hawker food i've experienced. experienced not tasted because from queuing to witnessing Mr Tang the artist to eating it -- is a journey. elsewhere, as expected, many of the stars went to restaurants whose foreign chefs are starred. i'm particularly happy for Corner House, Candlenut and Forest.

Euro 2016 final

So a striker wins the tournament for the team that played without a natural striker. It was almost Gignac, then it was Eder -- two completely irrelevant strikers. Portugal succeeded cos Santos dared to undo his entire lineup. France failed cos... France didn't fail. Their fault was they played like favourites and let Portugal capitalise. Bad France turned up, so move on. We knew Griezmann and Payet can disappear. We knew Giroud isn't great. Pogba's performance falls on Deschamps -- if you want Pogba to sit deep, you'll get a very good Sissoko; if you use Kante instead, you'll get a world-class Pogba. Eat your words, those who'd written Ronaldo's obituary. Ronaldo is now officially more decorated than Messi and Eusebio.

风流不下流

never again

Out of the ashes of EU rises Farage. Brexit, according to some, again saw a prominent elite class defeated by a silent (sometimes ignorant) majority. Across the Atlantic, Trump writes a similar script. When world powers pursue isolationism, the world is less safe, and make no mistake, Britain is a world power and a glue within EU. This could embolden far-right politics across Europe and lead to EU unravelling. If you know your history, when society is scared, it moves right. Openness and capitalism are not perfect -- some win, some lose badly. But when countries shut their doors and become suspicious of each other, everyone loses. History goes in circles, guys.