"The Guillotine Times"

Sounds like the title of some horror novel? Far from it... But it's disturbing enough to me that it's some official term associated with the ongoing Budget Debate... Not sure why I never came across this term till an email cascaded down from MND was circulated early this morning. Basically, as I understand it, each Ministry is allocated some time to discuss its expenditure during these "Committee of Supply" sessions (that's another senseless term that I cannot figure out, but at least it does not conjure any negative/fear-inducing image) and so during this "guillotine" time, each Ministry's "head" is literally on the chopping board huh... Concurrently, key officers under each Ministry are supposed to standby just in case their inputs are needed to answer questions. Then some say that must really physically be in workstations all the time..?! I mean, understand we need to provide support/inputs in event queries cascade down... but cannot help but wonder why there's need to induce "can lose your head anytime" kinda fear leh...

Dun like the idea that way to get ppl to do things seriously is to instil fear in them, be it via deviously crafted phrases (though I wonder if like COS it's actually some antiquated term passed down from eons ago) or severe punishments for mistakes... So unhealthy if whole system is governed by fear, rather than genuine commitment towards serving the public well.

I think I'm having yusheng overdose-- after lao1-ing with diff grps of ppl some 4 times over the past 6 days or so... Nonetheless, I never get sick of the tiny squarish keropoks... :P On top of yusheng, have also been 'rampantly' indulging in new year cookies and other sinful stuff... Coupled with my highly irregular gym-going the past month... it's pretty understandable why I am feeling really guilty now :P Add to that my pretty lousy performance at the weekly tennis sessions (I think sometimes coach exercises more than me hehe) it's time to cut-back on high-calorie items in diet... Alas, I know I will almost certainly fail if I attempt dieting, just cos willpower to resist food/snacks is too weak hehe... After all, why torture myself...? :P