May inflation stays unchanged at 7.5%

had a quiet a walk there

I wonder how is it mathematically possible to report a price increase of 7.5% on average for ALL Items when the top 5 price hikes are pretty much necessities.

Remember yesterday's ST Money Page with the same title.

Cooking oil - 47.6%
Rice and other cereals - 19%
Fuel and utilities - 18.7%
Dairy products and eggs - 13.6%
Accommodation - 12.6%

As I have said in my earlier posting and echoed by Selena Ling, OCBC Bank Economist, yesterday where she said, "Given the fuel price hikes in Malaysia, meat and vegetables from there are obviously going to get more expensive."

Good nite..

ask three "Why?'...

This is an IMAGINARY conversation.

A motorist - "Why are there congestion on the roads of Singapore?"
LTA - Because the number of vehicles on the roads have increased.

A motorist - "Why the increase in the number of vehicles?"
LTA - Because we have a formula that would allow a 3% increase in vehicle population every year.

A motorist - "Why did you have such a formula?"
LTA - Because it is to fulfill your aspiration to own a car.

The motorist - "Huh?"

So the finger ends up pointing at our ourselves.

Money Not Enough, as usual

"George Tan is married with two children (3 and 4 years old). He and his spouse earn $50,000 per annum in year 2007. They have $10,000 in their bank account and $30,000 in their Central Provident Fund.

The assignment requires course students to work out a 5-year Personal Financial Plan (PFP) for the Tan's family, assuming that their household earning remain unchanged for the next five years."

The above is a brief portion of an assignment that my students are supposed to work on in the last couple of weeks.

A student gave me this interesting comment in last week's class. He said, "The family of 4 would find it hard to survive with $50,000 annual income."

So I responded in my usual practical self, "Before you get married, you better ask how much is your the other half is earning."

And after today's headline of of less-than-30-somethings who are earning alot but saving nothing, you better check whether he/she is in debt...

My incident with a trishaw rider...

Incident
On the 7th Jun 2008 about 8.20pm, a group of 5 or 6 trishaws zoomed past my family on the pavement just outside Raffles Hotel. I told them they are not supposed to ride on the pavement. One of them challenged me to complain. I asked him for his name. He said he is "Ah XXXX" in Hokkien. They were wearing bright XXX t-shirts.

I duly wrote to STB.
Firstly, are they allowed to ride on the pavement? Secondly, are they supposed to wear any identification tag or display license to provide the trishaw service?

STB duly responded as follows:-
Open Quote - We read with concern your unpleasant experience with the group of trishaw riders on 7 Jun 08.

Based on your description, the trishaw riders involved are from one of the three licensed operators - XXX Pte Ltd. With regards to your enquiry, we wish to clarify that trishaw riders are not allowed to ride on the pavement. Trishaw riders are to cycle as close as possible to the side of the road in an orderly manner.

Secondly, trishaw riders are to wear a uniformed attire (which is the neon XXX t-shirt for X Company), carry an identification tag and place a license plate number issued by LTA on the trishaw.

We would like to assure you that we have informed X Company about this matter and they have reverted that they will take the necessary actions to remind their trishaw riders to adhere to the traffic rules.

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. Have a nice day!" End Quote.

Arab bloggers applaud Israel's actions

ion under construction

As we know, most of the Arab world have not been in agreement over Israel and its existence for decades. But the purpose of this blog piece is to highlight the fact that even enemies do recognise each other's good work.

Two incidents were highlighted by Mr Abraham Rabinovich in his article for The Straits Times in Jerusalem.

• The open probe of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert by Israeli police over allegations that he has received bribery in the form of "monies in envelopes". The Arab bloggers were lamenting that the lack of transparency in their own countries has allowed their own politicians to get away with the same crime. A tongue-in-cheek comment made by an Arab blogger said Mr Olmert should try to seek Arab citizenship.

• Israel commissioned an independent body to investigate the war in Lebanon about 2 years ago. The body concluded Israel has failed in the Lebanon war. Hizbollah's leader, who group is the arch enemy of Israel, actually praised Israel for its soul searching.

I am not here to applaud whose politics is right or wrong. But I am here to applaud the fact that even enemies will recognise a good deed done.

In our daily life, we should seek to recognise, respect and learn a good idea, effort of our friends and colleagues.

100 grams of bak kwa story

not sure what they are serving yet

A guy walked into a bak kwa shop and asked for 2 packets of 100 grams each.

The lady, behind the counter, proceeded to place some bak kwa on the electronic weight machine. The LCD panel said 406 grams for the 2 packets.

Thinking that she may have misunderstood his Mandarin, he repeated his order. Her response, "Yes.. about 100 grams each.."

He repeated the order again. Grudgingly, she began to remove some slices of the machine till 206 grams...

He, being irritated by her attempt to "up sell" or "over sell" to him, insisted for EXACTLY 200 grams of bak kwa.

Grudgingly, she removed one more slice and magically, the machine showed 200 grams exactly.

Moral of the story

If she is your employee, she is both a boon and bane for you. While she may have sold a few grams more to other customers, she has also helped you to spark a negative talking point about your business.

Stop this mess!

before i remove it

after i remove it
human mess
daringly placed for your convenience
it is placed there...

41% hike in petrol price in Malaysia

i was early for a wedding

5th May 2008 will go down in history and memories of millions of Malaysians and even Singaporeans, particularly those who got this habit of crossing the borders regularly to save a few bucks.

When Singapore raised its GST by 2% to 7% last year, I heard that 2%-tremor has only just been digested through the many layers of the Singapore economy.

So I wonder how long will a 41%-tremor take to go through Malaysia and Singapore? The tremor is already being felt in Singapore when express bus companies announced ticket price increases.

Singapore must not feel that we will be immuned from that shock! The 41% increase will not be just their problem.. it will be our BIG problem.

Trust me, the worst has yet to come... Sigh..........