Teochew Thunder: Year Six (Part 2/2)

As with all other blogging years, there were some standouts. Some were outright astonishing.

The undisputed winner was my accounting of the GovTech recruitment process. While it wasn't exactly a literary masterpiece, it got shared, and re-shared among actual GovTech employees, which contributed to a high view rate. Unfortunately, it was the only blogpost to hit those heights.

Another often-viewed post was a piece I wrote during the Singapore General Elections. It was meant to remind voters to keep an open mind, and not be slave to their biases. And true to form, I used JavaScript to illustrate my point... though I don't think I did it extremely well. In fact, I happen to think this piece I wrote about silly rumor-mongering during the Singapore General Elections was more worthy of attention; alas, it garnered a miserable amount of views.

A sharp spike.

Coming a close third was my rumination on whether or not the Singapore General Elections should continue to be held during a COVID-19 outbreak. This was a topic on which few citizens can truly remain neutral, and it was reflected in a spike in viewership. I blogged about this because the situation strongly reminded me of the perennial tech headache of having to strike a balance between system security and user convenience.

These topics were close to my heart, and the language I used might have been a little strong. I don't regret that; not in the least. Sometimes language needs to be strong.

Finally, there was a short piece on how I mounted the learning curve on automated DevOps. I didn't think it was all that interesting, but it appears the statistics disagree with me.

Slipping back into bad habits, the profanity I have used in the past year, especially in the tail end, has been somewhat gratuitous. As was the case for Five Stupid Things Tech Bosses Say, which seems popular only because it's so expletive-ridden. Also probably somewhat relatable, considering the subject matter.

In conclusion

Blogging remains one of my life priorities. Not because my blog is so damn popular, because it isn't. But because this is my industry and as such there is absolutely no good excuse not to have a blog, or at least a demo site. I try to keep content varied, and for the most part, that endeavor is manageable.

Any chump can cobble together a few words and put them online. I'm not even that great a developer. If I can't do even that, then what good am I?

A calming effect.

Blogging helps to center me. It's a side-project where I can focus my thoughts and condense them into a sharp blade. Six years from the day I committed to this endeavor, I'm still at it. Have I mentioned that it's a labor of love? Well, it is. Very much so.

And for all those who've stuck with me thus far, thanks so much.

Thundering on ahead,
T___T