Wonder of Nature

The glowing firefly squid of Toyama, Japan. The squid (scientific name: Watasenia scintillans) is a member of the cephalopod family and gets its name from the flashing lights that resemble those of a firefly. This squid is famous for the incredible light show that occurs each year off the coast of Japan as millions of these tiny animals gather to spawn.

The Japanese Spirit

Just back from Tokyo and my god what a great city! It is a huge city with a population of 12 million people! What intrigued me was not the size of the city but the culture of its people. With so many people living closely in this mega city, Tokyo somehow is an amazingly clean place! People always say that Singapore is clean which I never deny that, but one has to think about the size of Singapore which is way smaller than Tokyo and easier to be maintained. Furthermore Singapore managed to achieve its cleanliness today by way of heavy handed enforcement on the part of the government. We were told by our tour guide that the police in Japan are quite lenient and courteous to the offenders. The city's cleanliness is completely attributed to the Japanese culture and education.

Speaking about culture, one can't help but respect the Japanese spirit when it comes to the level of commitment they put onto their work. Everyone from waitress to driver to hotel staff, all were so absorbed into their work and maintained the positive attitude and cheerfulness the entire time they serve you. When we disembarked from our bullet train at the Shin Yokohama Station, I saw 3 Japanese cleaners diligently wiping the surface of the stainless steel compartments along the boarding platform. You can feel that kind of energy and seriousness they possess even doing such task which most of us would think as trivial. With this kind of working attitude, no wonder Japan is a country destined for greatness.

Mahathir was right when he adopted the Look East Policy when he was PM of Malaysia and encouraged all of us to learn from the Japanese. However, when I compare the working attitude of the Japanese with the Malaysian, I hate to say that we still have a very long way before we can catch up, that is IF we can ever catch up at all!

Tokyo Here I Come!

On my way to Tokyo in about 1 hour's time. Now happily blogging using the free internet service available inside Changi Airport. Malaysia airports should seriously have this service, after all what's the point of bragging about the Multimedia Super Corridor when people can't even surf the net while waiting for their next flight!

Anyway very excited about the trip. Will snap lots of pictures of interesting places and buildings and share with everyone here!