Public service and integrity

Recently there were 2 pieces of news which are grabbing headlines. Both are very different yet similar. One is about cleaning hawker centres and another about a grisly double murder. Both involve public servants.

One of the most important requirement for being a public servant is the ability to be a cut above others in terms of honesty and integrity. Your ability determines how far you can go but honesty and integrity, in my humblest opinion, determines whether you should be there in the first place. Yes, we are humans after all and humans are imperfect. I don't think anyone expects politicians or public servants to be perfect. The expectation, I guess, is for them to carry out their duties while holding their heads up high.

Does this mean that public servants will no longer be allowed to have their own private lives? To a certain degree, yes. You can maintain privacy but you must bear in mind that your life may be subject to scrutiny at any time. This is especially so in today's technologically advanced world. Access to information on the internet is very easy and whatever you do can be captured on a camera and uploaded for one and all to see. This cannot be taken for granted and must be on everyone's mind, politician or commoner alike.

That being said, do we maintain our integrity and honesty only to avoid being caught on camera? I think the motivation for good behaviour should stem from the heart and desire to be good instead of the need to avoid being caught misbehaving. That makes all the difference. If you have the right motivation, you will not fear being caught in the first place. If you force yourself to behave in a certain manner in order to conform, you will get caught out eventually. 纸包不住火，真金不怕火。

The most important guiding principle for everyone is to be true to yourself and choose to do something which you genuinely believe in for the right reason.

Swimming lessons and nasi lemak

The boys started swimming lessons at Yishun Swimming Complex last Sunday. They had their second this morning. I have not been to a public swimming pool in many years, more than 20 in fact. I'm not being atas....I just don't have a reason to go to a pool unless we were staying at a hotel.

 

The boys have group training with a certain Mr Yeow who is a coach with the Singapore Swimming Academy. $90 a month for each. They get a pair of goggles and a swimming cap. Not too bad. There's a play pool with slides. The boys go to that pool after lesson for about 15minutes. I think they secretly enjoy the play time after swimming lesson more than the lesson itself!!

 

 

We went a bit earlier today and the boys messed around in the pool before lessons started. 

 

 

They have been learning how to kick and get accustomed to being in the water. Xavier can swim by himself with the aid of a board. He is learning how to swim without the board. Keane and Ryan are still learning how to kick the proper way.

 

Swimming is a survival skill which every person should have......

After swimming we went to Sembawang Shopping Center for lunch. There is a new restaurant which sells nasi lemak called My Nasi. It's the second attempt by the Paradise group at the same location. It was previously a Kungfu Paradise restaurant. The food was not nice and much lesser value for money than what is available at the food court or even at Aston's. I can see the nasi lemak heading in the same direction unless they make some changes. The first thing they should do is to train the staff to serve the food faster. There was a long queue although the restaurant was not full because the staff took a long time to serve the food. Secondly the otah should not be served in the tiny leaf it comes in. The otah is not big but it is a relatively decent size. However it is served in a leaf that is not much bigger than the otah itself. This gives the impression that the otah is very small. Better to serve the otah without the leaf or with the traditional sized leaf. Thirdly the chili needs to be improved. It's neither very hot nor very sweet. In other words, it lacks character. The oil from the chili was seeping out to the bottom of the plate, snaking beneath the rice.

The only thing that makes me think that the restaurant has a hope of surviving is that I see someone looking vaguely like Eldwin Chua, the CEO of Paradise Group which owns this restaurant and the Kungfu Paradise, in the restaurant, helping out to clear tables. It is probably someone who looks very much like him but at least it appears to be someone from higher management. The people who own the business must have a hand in the business to make it viable. The good thing is the change in concept without much change in the décor or set up gives the restaurant owners a second chance of getting out of a lose making lease commitment. I wish them the best of luck!