..:: 679. Nat Day Dinner ::..

something got me jumping for joy last fri. i saved people's careers. cant go into details but my boss congratulated and gave us a pat on our backs for saving some careers as we reviewed their profiles.

must agree to what my boss said, hr is a thank-less job. when you do well, no one will praise u but if something "screws up", all will point fingers at u.

wasnt feeling well in the morning but after i got better, accompanied my fren to go look for cars. window shopping for cars is exciting! currently looking at honda fit/jazz, price at the showroom is insane! about 10K more than those from parallel import. on average, the cheaper rate would see myself paying about close to 700 per month.

national day dinner at marine parade was quite an experience. firstly, it was graced by senior PM Goh and first time i have attended a community dinner indoor. Mr Goh's speech lasted 28 mins and he posted 10 challenges we would face, some of which he mentioned are perils of success. like the education system that has grown and molded talents has seen many moving and staying in other countries - brain drain and also females concentrating on their careers - low birth rate.

was quite amazed at the speed his speech was being broadcasted. after the dinner, i got on to the car and heard the radio reporting about his speech. one of the MCs for the event was an ex news broadcaster.

it was funny to see senior people waving their flags and singing "stand up for singapore" at the volume that i last recalled hearing in primary school. my table had 2 senior doctors and you could get an overview of what is the latest in the medical field by just hearing them talk. across the table was another lady who was heading a few boards and president and ceo of Raffles International, yes you got it, ms jennie chua. for a matter of fact, if you have degree from cornell, you could strike a conversation much easier, seeing quite a few of them have such connection, if not raffles institution would suffice.

then i understand why mr goh didnt want to talk about the achievements of singapore for the past year. stating the challenges left the whole ballroom talking about the issues throughout the dinner. being the only young generation rep for the table, when they talk about getting married and have children, they look at me. talk about education and brain drain, they point at me. mention about dealing with the greying population, they look at me and ask how am i going to deal with people like them.

*gulps* and i thought i was just there for the food.