Conversations.....

So am chatting with a friend and this is the following line of conversation ensues. Background: my friend N is from Hong Kong and the kiwi definition of root can be found here.

N: actually will be going to HK next year for the actual family trip...should be awesome
z: nice! get in touch with your roots
N: indeed that's what is exciting me
z: indeed
N: I'm kinda like them but 2 sizes largerI fortunately do not have the anorexic HK male look
z: ah
N: haha
z: you'll be surprised at how large they can be
(this line of conversation is soooo bad)

Salaries

So i noticed that starting salaries of graduates have been published. For simplicity, i will reproduce the relevant parts (sans photos) below:

Accountancy: $2,400; ($2,500 for 4 year programme)
Applied Science: $,2,500; ($2,600 for 4 year programme with Honours)
Arts: $2,500; ($2,700-$2,900 for 4 year programme with Honours)
Business Administration: $2,600; ($2,900 for 4 year programme with Honours)
Communication Studies: $2,600 (4 year programme with Honours)
Computing: $2,800; ($2,900 for 4 year programme with Honours)
Dental Surgery: $3,000 (4 year programme with Honours)
Education: $3,000 (4 year programme)
Engineering: $3,000 (4 year programme in Aerospace, Chemical & Biomolecular, or Industrial & Systems )
Engineering: $2,800-$2,900 (4 year programme in Bioengineering, Mechanical, Materials, Computer, Electrical and Electronics)
Engineering: $2,600 to $2,700 (4 year programme in Civil, Environmental)
Fine Arts: $2,300 (4 year programme in Art, Design and Media)
Science: $2,500; ($2,600 for 4 year programme in Maritime Studies, Real Estate or Nursing)
Science: $2,750-$2,950 (4 year programme in Biological, Mathematics, Chemistry & Biological Chemistry or Information Systems Management)
Economics: $3,000 (4 year programme)

NB: all three year programmes unless specified.

So for the extra one year of your life and extra tuition fees, you get $100-300 a month. Fair deal? Many times, employers stress on the need for job experience, and would happily neglect the extra education a candidate has. Excuses that i have heard range from: irrelevant field, too high level to be practical, too academically minded (whatever that means). But at the same time, they fail to recognise that the extra education has also provided more maturity of thought and (sometimes) an ability to provide out-of-the-box solutions. To trade off, I suggest that employers treat the time spent on extra education as job experience and pay their people as such.

Also, i noticed that the starting pay for the legal profession is not listed, which is a pity because i would have like to see how much lawyers get when they first begin. Anyways, my own self-interest would be in salaries of people mid career. =)

In the same breath, i also read about this couple who own two cars but take public transport on the weekends. As civil servants, they earn $9k each? Wow. They work in Serangoon and Ang Mo Kio, but

To avoid having to ferry each other to their individual workplaces and risk
reaching work late, the couple decided to get a second car.

Which is really a waste of money to me since Serangoon and AMK aren't far apart to me, but then again, i don't earn $9k a month. =)

Earthquake in Christchurch

When i was staying Christchurch some years back, i was always told that Christchurch was overdue for a big earthquake. Because of that, i had always prepared an earthquake kit, one that had plenty of stuff like canned food, a radio, torchlight, candles, matches, and lots and lots of water. The additional water was added after a neighbour had scoffed at my box of stuff, saying that thing will be alright, and if they needed water, they'd know who to look for *facepalm*. =)

Now the big one has really hit and it measured 7.4 on the Richter scale, originating from Darfield, a small town south of Christchurch, where i used to travel out to tutor a kid there. I am hoping and praying for everyone back there, but a selfish part of me is just thankful that i moved from there, especially when i read about pets going missing. Not really sure how would Jeanie react to an earthquake, although we did experience a couple when i was in Wellington. Once, i ran out of the house panicking (not the smartest thing) and found her lying in her doghouse in her usual pose of having her head lean out, giving me a "wassup" look (kinda like this).

new beginnings

Started at a new job recently which is based some distance away (requires 9.1% of my of day) and it has been interesting so far (as it would be), especially meeting new people. Personally, i like meeting new people, 'cos everyone's my friend, as long as they're friendly. =)

During the course of my conversation with people, i realised that i had been back in Singapore for 6 years now. Wow. Time flies. In 6 years, i have:

• bought a car;
• married wibblewamble;
• toured Northen Italy;
• stayed in New York;
• got our flat;
• had a baby girl with ww;
• and now, changed jobs twice. =)