Budding architect creates the next skyscraper to beat Taipei’s 101
Leaning Tower of LEGO
Childcare Leave
Took half day childcare MC this pm to help take care of my son Ethan, who is ill with high fever in the 38 to 39 deg C range. My maid is also ill with vomiting and shivering spells, which is why both my wife and I have to knuckle down to help out. This is the 3rd time in as many weeks where Ethan came down with fever. Hopefully, it wouldn’t stay for too long.
I noticed that Ethan has become a lot more eloquent recently, and am not sure if its a consequence of his illness. In fact, he is now able to articulate fairly complex sentences and thoughts. He is also able to maneuver the mouse on the PC and to double-click and open his favourite applications. I have noticed then whenever he was unwell, he tend to be more erudite in his speech.
When I spilled some sweet syrup in his room on Sunday, he retorted rather indignantly (despite the daze induced by the high temperature),”Why did you spill the syrup on my chair and floor? The ants will come and eat the chair you know.” After a pause, he added emphatically, “This is my room you know. Later very dirty and difficult to clean.”
Ethan has also been a lot more attentive recently when listening to his favourite story books. I have just read him about 8 books at one go – courtesy of the National Library Board’s excellent double loan holiday service! He has also learnt to self medicate and could “inject” the syringe full of paracetamol into his mouth to bring down the fever.
OK, I need to go already…. His fever has crept past 39.1 and his hands are freezing.
Drumming lion
Following our lion dancing shopping expedition, Ethan has started to play with the Chinese drums, with often hilarious effects.
Coming up next….Dancing in Costume…
Mystical and Magical Biennale
Went on a recent tour of 3 Singapore Biennale sites with a couple of board members – Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple, Sri Krishnan Temple and City Hall. It was quite inspirational and magical. Here are some highlights.
Our intrepid guide Yishan explaining Tsai Charwei’s work Lotus Mantra, which is inscribed on the lotus leaves.
Singapore Service – a Slippery Slope?
Are we losing out to Hong Kong?
The recent news about Singapore’s service standards further slipping to 26th position according to the World Economic Forum proved particularly sobering for me. What is especially ironic is that it comes just after we have practically pulled out all the stops to improve our customer service. Everybody would have heard of the national GEMS movement, as well as the ubiquitous four million smiles campaign, timed to coincide with the recent IMF-World Bank meetings.
Certainly, I don’t think that we have failed for lack of trying. We have an entire smorgasbord of service enhancing main courses on our national platter – Singapore Service Class, Excellent Service Award, Tourism Host Award, Model Workers of the Year etc. In fact, we now have a stunning 13,000 Excellent Service Award winners from nine industries, compared to a measley 377 from three sectors 11 years ago.
How Analogies and Metaphors Uplifts Your Content
An example of an advertising analogy and metaphor (source of image)
Have you wondered why certain speakers and writers can bring their ideas across so elegantly? How do they transform a complex (and sometimes obscure) concept into one which we can see in our heads with such clarity and definition?
The answer lies in their ability to to tell stories with rich and powerful analogies, allegories and metaphors.
Equipping the Lion Dancer
Took half day this afternoon to spend some time resting plus bonding with the family. Brought Ethan down to Hong Lim Complex (near one of my favourite turtle soup hawkers) and bought him a set of his favourite lion dance gear, namely a set of authentic Chinese drums made with pigskin and a real (well almost) lion dance costume, complete with eyes that blink.
Ethan was stunned at first, or perhaps awestruck would be the more appropriate word. He gazed with mouth open and eyes wide at the interesting array of toys initially, and simply nodded his head vigorously when we asked him to select his favourite dancing animal. Later, he warmed up to the act and strutted down the toy shop, selecting party hats, bags and other merchandise for his upcoming birthday celebrations on 27 November. That’s when Ethan will be 3 years in age.
He has certainly started working on his drumming skills – and this included inflicting his first “lion dance” induced injury on his little thumb. I just hope that he doesn’t tear the lion head apart before his birthday, which is about 3 weeks away!
Cutting through the cacophony
As a denizen of the multiple media domains, and a public commuter, I noticed increasingly that there is a greater amount of commercial chatter practically every which way you turn.
Walk along the streets and a bus billboard pops out at you. Hop onto a bus and TV mobile assails you with its often inane programmes (Diva on a dime anyone?). Flip open the papers and ads stare back at you (including the ubiquitous [email protected]). Switch on the goggle box and be overpowered by commercials so mindless that you wonder why they bother in the first place.
Think you are safe online? Think again. With the increasing need to show ROI, even 2.0 strongholds are no longer safe from ever pervasive merchandising messages. Google ads are now so universal that they have started appearing even in personal blogs. Including this one.
We are more similar than different
As a marketer, one of the basic tenets that I was taught to believe was that people can be categorised into groups. They can be segmented either by demographics (age, income, education, household size etc), psychographics (lifestyle behaviours, beliefs, likes), geography (neighbourhoods) and so on. By dividing your “target audiences” into various groups, you have a surer chance of “hitting” them and scoring with in specific campaigns.
Lately, however, I begin to feel otherwise. Instead of emphasising differences, why not look at how similar we are?
Think about it. Every one of us go through pretty much the same things in life. We wake up in the morning, brush our teeth, wash our face, have breakfast, change, get ready for work or school, and so on and so forth. Most of us live in some social group or other, we converse in a common language, and the things that we value and hold dear are often similar, regardless of our ethnicities, incomes, education levels, dwelling types or sexual orientation.
Tips on Tipping
While languishing in bed for two days last week, I managed to pick up the book “The Tipping Point” and finished reading it all in one go (almost). Malcolm Gladwell’s thought provoking tome isn’t exactly the newest trick of the trade, but some of its principles are useful to share.
In essence, it postulates that hits do not just happen by accident. There are various factors which lead to these “social epidemics” occurring, and they cause the phenomenon known as the tipping point, leading to quick and massive “infection” in the population. This idea has been much in favour recently, with many new media theoreticists claiming that web 2.0 and its inherent qualities make tipping much easier.
Before a virus, idea, shoe, movie, even disease and suicide rate “tip”, however, there are three pre-conditions and three sets of people needed to catalyse the process. Gladwell’s three rules for tipping are: