Man of Malaysia

I have just finishing reading the book "Man of Malaysia"(MoM) by Tan Kok Seng, a Singaporean. When I was a Secondary School boy in the 80s, his book "Son of Singapore" was my literature book. So the author was not unfamiliar to me.

The author described his life from 1959 to 1968 in Malaya. During that era, he was married, continued to work as a chauffeur for his boss and friend, lost his job and was almost broke before becoming a egg seller in a market in redhill (after moving back to Singapore). It is an easy and interesting read showing the life back in 60s in Malaya. In the early 60s, Singapore was part of Malaya and residence could travel between the 2 states without much imigration restriction. Life was not easy as jobs were not readily available. A daily earnings of $4 to $6 (monthy of about $150) was already substantiate. He tried to be self employed by being a provision shop owner but suffered lost as his customers did not pay him while on loan for purchases. He was almost robbed and killed by police imposter who visited him at night but he was fortunate not to open his door. He tried to be a driver again but was treated badly by his engineering supervisor in a tin mine. In the end, the family had to return back to Singapore which was a wise decision. It was in Singapore where he found success as a egg/chicken seller. His wife gave birth to a son and a daughter in the 60s and they managed to purchase a flat from the government.

I could understand some of the places where he described in MoM; Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh, Taiping and Kuching Sarawak. It also reminded me of a tin dredging machine which I had visited many year ago near Taiping. He also described his experience seeing some important VIPs of that era, Chief Minister of Singapore (Mr Lee), Foreign Minister of Thailand, etc.

In "Son of Singapore", I could remember he worked as a coolie as a teenager. It was not really fun to read as literature means I had to remember the facts.

It was a good read for those interested to find out the life in the 60s and also his attitude and determination in life. The book is available in Singapore library under code 920.

Fish Soup

Some years ago before Blk 22 Hawker Centre at Toa Payoh Lor 7 undergone upgrading, I had patronised this fish soup stall named "Da Xi" (Literally means Big Slim). Even though I visited this Hawker Centre often, today is the first time after many years (probably 8 to 10 years) that I eat at the same stall.

The fish soup with bee hoon costs $3.50 today.  Even though the soup base was not as tasty as many other fish soups, the fish serving was considerably large in considerating the cost. It was still served by the same owner after all these years. A proof that hawker centres create long lasting job and they allow food to be afordable. An air-con coffee shop would have the same dish at $4.50 perhaps with a lesser serving.

The stall owner still could remember me and gave me two cubes of azar pineapple.

V22 Osprey Vectoring

V22 Osprey Tilting Rotors

A close look at the rotors show that they are not fully horizontal or vertical. They show an angle to the wings. A process of vectoring the thrust from the twin engine to 2 directions. Vertically to create lift and horizontally to create forward motion. Wonder whether the V22 can fly backwards? A conventional helicopter can do that although slowly.

When the rotors are tilted fully horiztonal, it should fly faster than a conventional helicopter.

RSAF Black Knights F16

Black Knights F16

F18 Hornet

Republic of Singapore Air Force Black Knghts F16 in Airshow 2014. Uniquely coloured red and white with the State Flag painted above.

The sonic boom of 5 F16s flying just above was fantastic.

Other planes involved in the Flying Display include Indonesia KT-1B Woong Bee, F18, V22 Osprey vertical takeoff plane. The display could be seen from Changi Beach Park.

Astronomy - Telescope & Time

I attended a talk on astronomy at Toa Payoh Library on Saturday 8 Feb 14 conducted by Gary Chee from Astro Sg. The talk gave a brief amatuer guide to buying and using a telescope. Generally telescope is classified into 3 types (1) Refractor - using lens to bring object closer (2) Reflector - using mirrors to concentrate the light and hence bring object closer (3) Schmidt Cassegrain - which is a hybrid mirror and lens telescope.

While there are various types of telescope, there are certain advantages and limitations to each type which buyers have to consider including portability, magnification, cost etc. Also, there are other factors which can influence the quality of image and they are light pollution, cloudy sky, earth atmosphere etc. I have this feeling that unless a high capital cost is spent on purchasing quality telescope, there will be insignificant impact on the image for amatuer grade telescopes.

I also watched a document (on youtube) on the concept of time and was given a brief understanding of the meaning enthropy. It is shown that the definition of event occuring "now" will be impacted by motion and gravity. Motion refers to whether the object is moving towards you or away from you. If the object is moving towards you, the impact of that event may be felt in the future. Even though both the object and you are feeling the same "now". It was also mentioned that since there was no evidence of future being coming into the current time, it could be inferred that time travelling, especially travelling back in time may be difficult practically. I was thinking that with the relationship between mass, gravity and speed (which has a component of time), it would be insurmountable for time travel as it would either involve mass to be infinetly big or that such attempt would require breaking down a living organism into particles that would not have a desirable outcome when those particles are put back together.

Nonethelesss, science is evolutionary. It is less than 500 years old that men are still proclaiming that earth is in the centre of universe (before Galileo discovery). However, science has always changed current theory and concept. There could be more game changing discovery that deviates from our current beliefs.