Straits Times Life Section, 6 Jan 2009
BG(NS) Tan Yong Soon, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment & Water Resources, wrote a two-page long article about bringing his whole family of 4 to Paris to learning cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, a famous and expensive culinary school there. The lesson alone cost about S$15,500 per person. Let me quote an extract from this article which really sum up my strong feeling that all these farking overpaid senior civil servants are just a financial liability to taxpayers. Furthermore why so bloody insensitive bragging about his expensive holiday cum cooking trip while thousands in Singapore are losing their jobs and suffers from financial hardship. If his son wants to spend his spare time meaningfully, why don't he encourages him to do social work? But what really takes the cake is his farking comment that it is so easy to take five weeks leave or even more in the civil service.
Extract:
" I decided to attend the culinary course in June last year. My 20-year-old son Yanqiang had discussed with my wife Cher Ling, a senior investment counsellor at bank, what he wanted to do between early November, when he would finished National Service, and August this year, when he would begin his studies at Brown University in the United States. He wanted to spend the time meaningfully.
Cooking was always one of the activities he considered. He had been interested in patisserie, mostly in eating, but also baking occasionally.
We found out that Le Cordon Bleu Paris runs intensive course in culinary and patisserie from mid-November to December. These are the regular three-month classes the run but compressed into five weeks with no loss in content.
To my surprise and their, I told them I would sign up for the course with them. (Taking five weeks' leave from work is not as difficult as one thinks. Most times, when you are at the top, you think you are indispensable. But if you are a good leader who has built up a good team, it is possible to go away fro five weeks or even longer.)
It would be quality family time for the three of us. My daughter Yanying 23, would join us in Paris in our last week, since she could not take such long leave because she had just started working.
PS: I have type the above from ST print. For those who subscribed to ST online, can you pls post the full article here. Thanks.
BG(NS) Tan Yong Soon, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment & Water Resources, wrote a two-page long article about bringing his whole family of 4 to Paris to learning cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, a famous and expensive culinary school there. The lesson alone cost about S$15,500 per person. Let me quote an extract from this article which really sum up my strong feeling that all these farking overpaid senior civil servants are just a financial liability to taxpayers. Furthermore why so bloody insensitive bragging about his expensive holiday cum cooking trip while thousands in Singapore are losing their jobs and suffers from financial hardship. If his son wants to spend his spare time meaningfully, why don't he encourages him to do social work? But what really takes the cake is his farking comment that it is so easy to take five weeks leave or even more in the civil service.
Extract:
" I decided to attend the culinary course in June last year. My 20-year-old son Yanqiang had discussed with my wife Cher Ling, a senior investment counsellor at bank, what he wanted to do between early November, when he would finished National Service, and August this year, when he would begin his studies at Brown University in the United States. He wanted to spend the time meaningfully.
Cooking was always one of the activities he considered. He had been interested in patisserie, mostly in eating, but also baking occasionally.
We found out that Le Cordon Bleu Paris runs intensive course in culinary and patisserie from mid-November to December. These are the regular three-month classes the run but compressed into five weeks with no loss in content.
To my surprise and their, I told them I would sign up for the course with them. (Taking five weeks' leave from work is not as difficult as one thinks. Most times, when you are at the top, you think you are indispensable. But if you are a good leader who has built up a good team, it is possible to go away fro five weeks or even longer.)
It would be quality family time for the three of us. My daughter Yanying 23, would join us in Paris in our last week, since she could not take such long leave because she had just started working.
PS: I have type the above from ST print. For those who subscribed to ST online, can you pls post the full article here. Thanks.
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