Massive Black Out 29th June 2004 2200hrs ~ 0000hrs
It's a strange feeling of having the rug pulled from your feet in less time it takes to utter wtf.
At first, I thought it was some electrical trip, happened once a month or so back. Amidst the cries of surprise from family members, I silently berated myself for procrastinating in not replacing my multiple-socket-outlet-thingy-watchacallit to a surge-trip-proof model. Basically, it's something from the 1990s and doesn't reflect confidence and reliability in its crummy looks.
Shit, this time's my fault lah... Then came the brief relief "Hey, there ain't any lights across the street either."
Newsflash: Some serious shit has happened to Singaporeans. Well, to me actually, 'cos I've never been personally in a civilian crisis before. Military snafus aren't worth mentioning, heh.
Rummage in the dark for my laughable mini-torch, then went downstairs to help mum search for candles. Lit a few, and my sis comes down with her big-ass emergency fluorescent lamp which would beat any yellow-beamed torch into submission. My family then proceeded to have a laugh over how we can show off our LIGHT by placing the lamp at our front door instead. Grinz, what a lovely dig~
By this time we were hanging out downstairs instead of in our individual rooms. Mom & Sis was complaining of the heat, no electricity to run the fans mah. Dad was fanning himself with Singtel's annual report, me? "Xin Jin Zi Ran Liang", which would translate to "peace mind natural cool" ...should be lah. Later the household pitched in to liberate Sis's pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia from melting a horrible death in the fridge. =P
So it was in many a household in the country, children spend rare family time with their parents only in hours of such. The computer-dependent generation are suddenly left without a spark, wandering room to room staring dumbly at silent 42" boxes. (Me included.)
At my house, Dad recounted ghost stories from his kampong days; in turn I recalled my brownie war in Tekong, when Sis mentioned that the 'IN' thing in aroma candles was not of lavender or peppermint but of pineapple tarts and of brownies... Augh~. (I'm so utterly out of fashion.)
2 hours in candlelight and little to no natural breeze can be a long wait. But I feel 2 hours for power to be restored fully is no small task. It happening at 2200 meant only the night shift was around. The night manager probably had a frantic 5-15mins of phone-calling while his best night shift engineers try to revive the turbines. Probably have higher tier managers & chief engineers streaming in from all over. Notice they might have had to pass through blackout-ed areas along the way, remember that the traffic lights are affected too. So they have to be extra careful. Some districts had power restored by 45mins, to an hour, and finally 2 hours for mine. 2 hrs is reasonable, in fact, quite well done.
So to hear Singaporeans moaning and groaning away was... Wah, you people are too spoilt lah. (Actually, the elderly manage better than most. With their experience in during WWII & the Japanese Occupation, blackouts are nothing.) I was already quite relieved to hear it wasn't a terrorist strike or something equally serious. It being a pipeline problem, shouldn't people be more relieved instead? Even American city(s) has power shortages, dun recall how many hours affected though. You wanna compare?
We can hold the expectation that Singapore is no 3rd world country and the government has planned for everything if not most. But when the shit hits the fan and the first thing you utter is "I can't believe this!", that to me is you speaking from your arse. Some people with better education and wider exposure can certainly provide better feedback to the media rather than some irresponsible remark.
Are you for the republic or behind the republic? I'm not pro-PAP, I'm just realistic. They made it here, and they are making it for the future. If you're not going to back them when things happen, then why don't you just run off to another country now and be a 2nd class citizen there?
At first, I thought it was some electrical trip, happened once a month or so back. Amidst the cries of surprise from family members, I silently berated myself for procrastinating in not replacing my multiple-socket-outlet-thingy-watchacallit to a surge-trip-proof model. Basically, it's something from the 1990s and doesn't reflect confidence and reliability in its crummy looks.
Shit, this time's my fault lah... Then came the brief relief "Hey, there ain't any lights across the street either."
Newsflash: Some serious shit has happened to Singaporeans. Well, to me actually, 'cos I've never been personally in a civilian crisis before. Military snafus aren't worth mentioning, heh.
Rummage in the dark for my laughable mini-torch, then went downstairs to help mum search for candles. Lit a few, and my sis comes down with her big-ass emergency fluorescent lamp which would beat any yellow-beamed torch into submission. My family then proceeded to have a laugh over how we can show off our LIGHT by placing the lamp at our front door instead. Grinz, what a lovely dig~
By this time we were hanging out downstairs instead of in our individual rooms. Mom & Sis was complaining of the heat, no electricity to run the fans mah. Dad was fanning himself with Singtel's annual report, me? "Xin Jin Zi Ran Liang", which would translate to "peace mind natural cool" ...should be lah. Later the household pitched in to liberate Sis's pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia from melting a horrible death in the fridge. =P
So it was in many a household in the country, children spend rare family time with their parents only in hours of such. The computer-dependent generation are suddenly left without a spark, wandering room to room staring dumbly at silent 42" boxes. (Me included.)
At my house, Dad recounted ghost stories from his kampong days; in turn I recalled my brownie war in Tekong, when Sis mentioned that the 'IN' thing in aroma candles was not of lavender or peppermint but of pineapple tarts and of brownies... Augh~. (I'm so utterly out of fashion.)
2 hours in candlelight and little to no natural breeze can be a long wait. But I feel 2 hours for power to be restored fully is no small task. It happening at 2200 meant only the night shift was around. The night manager probably had a frantic 5-15mins of phone-calling while his best night shift engineers try to revive the turbines. Probably have higher tier managers & chief engineers streaming in from all over. Notice they might have had to pass through blackout-ed areas along the way, remember that the traffic lights are affected too. So they have to be extra careful. Some districts had power restored by 45mins, to an hour, and finally 2 hours for mine. 2 hrs is reasonable, in fact, quite well done.
So to hear Singaporeans moaning and groaning away was... Wah, you people are too spoilt lah. (Actually, the elderly manage better than most. With their experience in during WWII & the Japanese Occupation, blackouts are nothing.) I was already quite relieved to hear it wasn't a terrorist strike or something equally serious. It being a pipeline problem, shouldn't people be more relieved instead? Even American city(s) has power shortages, dun recall how many hours affected though. You wanna compare?
We can hold the expectation that Singapore is no 3rd world country and the government has planned for everything if not most. But when the shit hits the fan and the first thing you utter is "I can't believe this!", that to me is you speaking from your arse. Some people with better education and wider exposure can certainly provide better feedback to the media rather than some irresponsible remark.
Are you for the republic or behind the republic? I'm not pro-PAP, I'm just realistic. They made it here, and they are making it for the future. If you're not going to back them when things happen, then why don't you just run off to another country now and be a 2nd class citizen there?
posted by foxtwo at 5:08 pm
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