Dr Martin Huang

It was reported in Saturday's ST that a doctor by the name of Dr Martin Huang, who runs The Cosmetic Surgery Centre at Paragon, has been censured and fined for injecting sheep foetal cells into three of his patients.

For what? The sheep foetal cells is supposed to slow down ageing and to rejuvenate. The process is called cell therapy. He has also done the procedure on himself.

Perhaps a few years later, we could be reading another news article on an interview with Dr Huang and one of his patients.

Journalist - Both of you certainly look very youthful and radiant. But I notice you have a long streak of beautiful white fur like hair from your chin while Mary has some black hairs on her hands. How come?

Doctor - I feel great. I injected myself with the best foetal cells from New Zealand sheeps. As to Mary, she wanted cheap and good... so I gave her the Malaysian goat foetal cells instead..

After the interview, the doctor and Mary were heard to be arguing in the next room.
Click here to listen to their conversation .

Pump prices not affected by one factor

Loh Pin Chuan, Public Affairs Manager of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific attempted to reply to Mr Ryan Tung's query on the less than perfect correlation between pump prices and crude oil.

Loh Pin Chuan listed and explained the following factors affecting pump prices:-
a) internationally traded wholesale prices;
b) operating and capital costs;
c) taxes and duties;
d) currency exchange rates; and
e) market competition.

Essentially Pin Chuan's reply confirmed my usual understanding that there are many cost items affecting final retail price of their products or services.

But this explanation led me to the next question ie. do Shell, ExxonMobil, Caltex and SPC all have the same exact cost structures?

Apparently they do as they generally and largely (until recently) adjust their pump prices at about the same time and by the same amount.

Pin Chuan explained the "same-price" phenomenon - "Competition is keen in geographically small Singapore, and motorists are extremely price-sensitive ... no company will allow the others a price advantage at the retail pumps."

There is pro and con in this situation. Motorists are also at the mercy that at least one of the 4 operators make the first move to adjust prices down. If all 4 operators are "lazy" in adjusting down, who is to tell them to adjust?

Banks try to siam left right and centre?

the beginning of "bridge"

Weeks ago, there were outburst about banks, quietly removing the liability cap from the terms and conditions and the way they handle fraudulent transactions done with stolen/lost cards. Some banks (I think they are Citibank and MayBank) have since chosen to take "honourable road" by re-instating the liability cap.

Today I read about the Law Society president questioning banks' practice of excluding themselves from liability (yes again) for losses suffered by accountholders for forged cheques.

Under the Bills of Exchange Act, your bank is supposed to honour your cheque ie. pay in accordance to written instruction with legitimate approval. The law does not protect the banks from liability from errorneously debiting customer's account without legitimate approval.

Until this unilaterally created confusion is cleared up, you better hang on tighter to your cheque books.

Good bye Singnet from home!

Today is 29th September 2009 ie. 29092009.

My home Singnet broadband account has finally been terminated after more than 10 years. vpacific@singnet.com.sg has been my email address since day one when internet was first introduced.

I remembered the day when Singnet asked for a "name". I didn't know what it was referring to then and I had suggested "apple". Of course I got turned down.

My next step is to terminate my home line and moving to Starhub for my free unlimited digital line. I would save me another $50 per quarter!

Thank you and good bye, Singnet.

My first Singapore F1 experience

10 metres from the roaring engines

Shenton Way from where we sat

IR in the background

people watching with me

A law for over-queuing?

I do believe that we need a law to prevent too many taxis from queuing at a particular stand. Why? Because the long queue of taxis actually caused traffic jams and hazard to other drivers.

What say you?

F1 is a joke?

F1 in trouble?

I can't believe it when Renault actually admited that the crash by one team mate in Singapore last year was actually staged to allow his team mate to win the chamionship.

The team's top two persons resigned to take responsibility. The team may have to pay a fine in excess of USD$100mio. I am wondering whether last year's results in Singapore F1 circuit is allowed to stand.

I am also wondering why is it wrong for one team mate to do something to help another team mate to win a race. Team mate is allowed to use his car to block other cars passing his team mate's. But you are not allowed to crash your car to help your team? Then why do the F1 ruling body allow each team to field two cars in the first place?

Are you not asking for trouble?

What do you want to be?

In Beijing, a six-year old was asked on what she wants to be when she grow up on her first day in school.

"When I grow up I want to be an (government) official," said the girl.

"What kind of official?" the interviewer asked.

"A corrupt official because corrupt officials have a lot of things," she replied.

$100 Liability Cap for Lost Credit Cards

a lop-sided world

Basically, in my humble opinion, the Banks who HAD placed unlimited liabilities for lost credit cards on credit cardmembers, were just taking the easy way out on the weak individual.

When I first started work in the Bank many years ago, there was the $100 liability cap.

I wasn't even aware the Banks had removed that limit cap and instead placed unlimited liability on individual credit cardmembers. The banks quietly amended the terms and conditions.

From Nov 1, 2009, the limit cap of $100 will be back in place.

Between merchants who are contributing to the Banks' bottomline and thousands of individual cardmembers, the Banks had chosen not to pick their fight with the merchants.

The cashiers of these merchants should and could have verified the identity and signature of the person using the cards. But on many occassions, these cashiers hardly pay attention to what you are scribbling on the vouchers. The Banks had chosen NOT to fault the merchants in fraudulent transactions but instead placed the blame on you for not reporting early enough. You, like Ms Tan Shock Ling must be responsible for the full amount charged until proven otherwise. In her case, $17,000 bill!!!!!

Luckily for all honest credit cardmembers, some good people in Association of Banks or MAS may have the guts to change!! Bravo to you!!!!

"I walk faster... "

a new world in the making

"I find myself walking faster upon my return from Hong Kong," so says a friend who has just return home from holidays.

I thought that was an interesting description. While I have been to Hong Kong for both work and pleasure on many occassions, I would often just give the boring line "Hong Kong's pace of life is faster... you can feel the energy there... people there are always on a lookout for opportunity to make money... "

In a two-hour conversation I had with an ex-Mainland Chinese who has taken up Singapore citizenship, I notice a significant level of energy and positivism in her. Despite the fact that she is holding a more than credible job now, she does not hesitate to talk about opportunities as a stockbroker, property agent etc etc. She illustrated to me that she is very meticulous and focus in moving up. Her feeling of being discriminated as a Mainland Chinese made her work harder and smarter.

When I tried to lighten her enthusiasm for property agency with news on recent lull in transactions just 6-9 months ago, she said she is very confident she would have some deals to work on and one must stay positive.

My 3rd story along this theme was about my colleague, a girl in mid twenties. We were on assignment in KL. She said this to me, "I don't know how to cross the road without the traffic light."

Final words - The above stories reinforce my belief that young people in their early career path should seek job opportunities that would allow them to travel or work in a foreign environment. The world outside Singapore is very different. For better or for worse.

Get out of our shell and experience that to get the best out of you!