Daily Lesson from Life 29 January 2009

I am happy to report that the 3kg gained from binging during the Lunar Chinese New Year is successfully reduced this morning! I am back to 75kg from 78kg!! Hurrah!! This is done through eating light throughout the day and rounded off with a 12km jog in the evening!! This shows again my theory that:

Closing Weight = Opening Weight + What We Consumed - What We Burned Up!!

It shows that taking immediate action and persisting is the most effective and least painful! It would take a much bigger effort to reduce the weight back to the expected 75kg had I dilly dally around!!


"Channel News Asia - Thursday, January 29

SINGAPORE: The government’s two dating agencies for graduates and non—graduates have become one. It is hoped that the merged entity will help more singles find their match, regardless of academic qualifications.


The merged unit is presently known as SDU—SDS (Social Development Unit—Social Development Service), but a branding exercise will be carried out soon to seek members’ opinions.

According to a survey, lack of time and lack of opportunities to meet partners due to work commitments are the main reasons for singlehood. SDU—SDS hopes to change that by doubling the number of opportunities for singles to socialise.


Jennifer Wee, head, SDU—SDS, Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports, said: "With the merger, we will enhance our offering of services to our singles. There will be more options, not only in terms of numbers... but more importantly, in the variety of activities and services." The new unit added that it could also serve singles who want to meet others with similar qualifications if there is a demand.

Some private dating professionals whom Channel News Asia spoke to have welcomed the move, saying the increased pool of members provides more incentive for private practitioners to partner the new entity. But others have their doubts as the merger comes after SDU’s announcement in November 2006 that it was semi—retiring from the dating services scene."

A very interesting experiment that the Singapore government has tried over the last 1 or 2 decades without too much success - the art of match making for eligible Singaporeans to get married and reproduced as the population is not replacing itself!!

Lessons for me are:

1. love is blind and cannot be mandated! Government intervention in love and match making cannot replace the natural process of life partner selection by the opposition sex!;

2. however it must be recognized that lack of time is an excuse while the lack of opportunity to meet up with opposite sex is a valid reason. So, SDU-SDS creating the opportunities for the eligible ladies and men to meet up and mingle and get to know each other is a great fist step! Nurture intervene and then nature takes over! It shows that human being needs to work harmoniously! If you don't try, you won't know!;

3. while it is important to promote marriage and procreation, we must also respect the individual right and space to remain single if they so decided! Social engineering can only go that far. The final choice is still up to the individual.

Personally, I find life incomplete without love, marriage, and children. Love is what bring the two human beings together to become man and wife. After that commitment and continuously learning and appreciating and understanding each other in the life journey is what keeps the married couple together. Finally with children you get to experience what being a parent is all about. It is not something you read about or observe but actually going through the joy, the pain, the frustration and the growing up in you and your spouse and the children that you cannot get anywhere else!!

May all the single who wants to be married find their life partners soon!!