Sumiko Tan, editor of the ST Life papers, usually whipped up an article for her (in)famous weekly column in 15 minutes.

I spent no less than 20 minutes for each of my blog entry.

I wondered how much time others spent on their web logs, as the fad of having your name attached to one grew like an oversized bubble. In many cases, I found it struggling to read when typos and bad grammar were spewed all over in the entries. A previous boss used to tell me that a person's command of the English language was often apparent in a piece of written work. If that was the case many entries that were written were more than evidence of the poor grasp of the English language of the Singaporeans. In fact, many were bland to read, most significantly without much of a mind of his (writer's) own as he wrote about situations or experiences. Often, I thought that a typical Singaporean mind remained stagnant once he graduated from school where he was no longer 'forced' to do creative/critical thinking about anything.

Like how our political leaders moaned about the lack of interest of any (young) minds in the politics, I despaired at the demise of active minds on anything outside of simple gossip. Ashamedly, I found myself including my name in the berth.