Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Points to ponder...

There are a couple of issues to address in this particular entry, so without further ado we shall plunge into the very first one which involves the tearful and all together emotional (I thought I'd add a bit of drama to bring the mood up/down a notch) departure of M to the land of Ice hockey and atlantic lobsters (I hope I got that right). You will be missed regardless of your failure to uphold your end of the bargain with regards to more coffee sessions and gaming sessions prior to your departure. Despite a hundred percent improvement over your last visit back, two sessions at Starbucks barely qualifies as remarkable in mine or anyone else's opinion. Nevertheless, have an enjoyable time over there and should circumstances permit, we'll fly up to join you come the season of giving and taking. 

The wound is healing very well indeed according to the man who sliced me up, and given proper care and constant cleansing, I should be up and running in no time. It has been a week since the procedure and with the exception of the periodical discharge and occasional discomfort, I am more or less almost fully functional. During today's follow-up with the doctor, I reviewed the final report with him and got a chance to view the pictures of the sectioned (removed) piece of meat. Call me sick and all but I noticed a slight resemblance between it and a piece of pig's intestine from the Kway Chap store. We shall conclude the update on my medical condition here, and you may take a 5 min breather to refresh yourself in the washroom :)

Soon after the follow up, I headed to the NTUC fairprice supermarket to do a bit of grocery shopping with my mom. The trip was rather uneventful as expected but one incident did get me thinking. I am not sure if you recall the hype over the over usage of plastic bags in supermarkets, bakeries and other outlets a while back. For those who were not around or simply could not be bothered by the whole saga, the background is as follow; 

- The people of Singapore, who's interest are represented by tedious associations with fancy plans (No ill intent there...), decided that the community as a whole should give back to Gaia and Mother Nature hence marking the start of the mini green revolution

- Part of the "Go Green" campaign includes the reduction in the usage of plastic bags across the board, and one of the means of incorporating this objective into the revolution includes charging individuals for the use and distribution of plastic bags

- Soon after came the usual backlash on the forums and in the supermarkets against the poor aunties who had no idea why the heck they were being screamed at by the angry customers who refused to pay for the bags. 

- And with every other uproar we have, the whole thing died a natural death about 72 hours later.

With the rather high level overview out of the way, we shall draw our attention back to my grocery outing with my mother. The whole irony of the plastic bag saga lies in the fact that the despite the restrictions put in place by the various committees the transparent plastic bags within the stores were still free for all to use. So what you had eventually were; aunties lugging out large amounts of groceries in those "green bags" in which all the fruits and frozen meat were individually wrapped in the small tiny transparent bags, as they didn't want to risk dirtying the reusable bags. This, in my opinion, negates the whole purpose in even initiating this exercise. Its just like spending a dollar to save 45 cents. It simply doesn't serve the purpose. 

I believe that following in the examples set out by grocers in the US and other western countries (as observed in CSI, Desperate housewives and other western serials), which is to use recycled paper bags instead for the individual wraps; OR the associations could propose that the producers better shrink wrap their products hence removing the use for small plastic bags altogether. (I just downed some really strong medicine so I ain't in the best of state to come out with the best counter proposals now :P ) 

Well my two cent's worth on the issue anyway. I have been tasked with picking up my sister later from school so its best I catch some rest before I head out. Till the next entry then.

"It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations." 

- Sir Winston Churchill 

"I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized (as) wiser than oneself" 

- Marlene Dietrich

In my humble opinion, the above two quotations best explain why I do what I do at the end of every entry. Like a cobra flashing its hood or a peacock erecting its tail in a fan-shaped manner, I brutally attempt to showcase whatever intelligence I may contain after three years of sever neglect through the quotation of quotes by others, in hope of ascending to ranks of these noble intellects in time to come. I hope that answers your question :)

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