Anything with Edgar

DBS Bank, what had happened exactly?

2012-01-15T18:05:00.000+08:00

Dear DBS Bank,

I am writing with regard to the fraudulent ATM withdrawals as experienced by some 400 of your DBS/POSB accounts holders.

Between 4-5 Jan, there were postings circulating in Facebook telling us to go check our accounts as some people have found unauthorised withdrawals from their accounts. I usually dismissed such messages with much thought.

But on Jan 6, DBS Bank officially acknowledged the occurrence of such incidents and state that DBS Bank is prepared to make good any money illegally withdrawn from the accounts. The 400 affected customers who lost about $500,000 through unauthorised withdrawals were fully compensated within 24 hours of the incident. My sincere congratulations to this speedy decision and action that could have prevented a massive hysteria leading to a run on the bank. I guess when the decision was made to reimburse any losses suffered, the magnitude of damage may be seen to be limited.

On Jan 11, Piyush Gupta (DBS Bank's CEO) came forward to apologise officially for the inconvenience and anxiety caused. I will congratulate DBS Bank again for successfully managing the post-incident activities with aplomb. But I hope this apology from the top dog, does not signify the winding down and closure of an "unfortunate inconvenience".

I have a couple of concerns for your consideration.

Firstly, does DBS Bank's responsibility to compensate affected account holders limited at the amount illegally withdrawn? I heard, over the radio, of this nurse, in her early twenties, in a hysteria state, as she expressed her emotional stress experienced when she realised that her hard earned money could just disappeared from her account!! We all placed our hard earned money with one bank or another, in good faith. In good faith that a service provider/bank who acts as a custodian of our assets, has put in place sufficient and reasonable level of security measures to protect our assets. This thus lead me to ask the next question - Has DBS Bank put in place sufficient and reasonable level of security measures to prevent occurrence of such illegal withdrawals?

My third question - What has exactly happened?
On Jan 11, Piyush Gupta reassured us that there was no internal involvement in the incident. While you have confirmed no internal fooling around, I am still pretty hazy as to how a few individuals working from outside the bank applying a relatively low tech/little brain technique of copying data and duplicating cards in a hotel room in Geylang could outwit DBS Bank to the tune of $1million?

Thank you and awaiting your response.

"We have to do better" - not just for SMRT

2011-12-17T13:20:00.002+08:00

look to Heaven for answers?

Equipment breaking down and reviewing your maintenance programme is one angle of the whole incident.

But I am more concerned with what you did when an incident happened.
How to manage a crisis when a crisis occurs?

Whoever took charge of that incident and subsequently making those decisions on managing the post-occurrence activities may determine the outcome of an incident with no casualty or catastrophic impact.

Imagine you, in the body of New York Mayor Mr Rudy Giuliani during and after the terrorist attack on Sep 11. Or imagine you are Mr Tsunehisa Katsumata, chairman of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. handling the threat of Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown and contaminating half of Japan and its population.

What we had in Singapore recently was 4 trains trapped in the tunnel between Bishan and Marina and another other 100,000 people affected in and around the various stations. We are not in Jakarta managing the disaster in Aceh, thousands of miles away. We are in Singapore managing a situation in the middle of Singapore.

But why does it take more than one hour to get help to those people trapped in the trains? Why do the various stations continue to play only pre-recorded messages? Why are TVs and Radio Stations not helping to alleviate information gap PROMPTLY? Why are our DJs only programmed to entertain? Can our media switch from entertaining mode to crisis management mode? The lack and lag in communication is making nobody wiser but leaving thousands confused and stranded.

Did the station managers and train drivers "froze"? I read about a train commuter talking to the driver. The driver has been trained not to open the train doors with reasons. But is there a point in time at which that instruction should be replaced by another? Apparently no.

After the first 15 minutes of standard off-the-book announcements, do they know what else they can do or should do while waiting for instruction from chain of command? Remember the bus driver who got lost after making a detour and continued to be lost for an hour while being guided by its "Central Command" on the roads of Singapore. He wasn't allowed to take advice from passengers in the bus.

Remember the movie "The Hunt for Red October". The movie demonstrated the tussle to do what is right ie. to sink the Russian submarine which appeared to be threatening US as per Command Centre OR act to treat it as an attempt to defect as per "front liners" in the form of US CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) and US submarine captain.

I am curious as to the profile of the individual who broke the glass door with a fire extinguisher. Is he a product of Singapore's education system and yet display the guts to do what is right against all fears? Of the 4 trains, only one guy in one cabin took action to get fresh air. He is regarded as a hero now but he could be deemed to be reckless too. I can imagine he would turn green when the train starts to move just moment after he smashed the glass. The bus driver chose to continue to rely on his chain of command for direction for fear of losing his job!

Do we have a fail-safe arrangement? Do we have a Plan B? What if SMRT's command structure demonstrated paralysis/ineffectiveness in managing the situation? Remember the movie "Armageddon" where Bruce Willis led a group of blue-collar deep-core drillers sent by NASA to install and detonate nuclear bombs to stop a gigantic asteroid on a collision course with Earth. While NASA was working on getting the drillers onto the asteroid, the government worked on Plan B ie. the possibility that the bombs could be detonated directly and independently from Earth.

Who determines whether SMRT needs help? Do we have a national crisis management team for civilian/commercial (not military hor) situations? Who can SMRT go to to ask for help from other agencies? In Sep 11 post-crisis review, one of the main fault of not anticipating the crisis was inter-agency turf war.

Yes it is difficult. I have asked a lot of questions. My only simplistic answer - "We have to do better."

How to steal and get caught?

2011-11-21T14:42:00.001+08:00

Case 1

Plan - Two young men came up with the idea that they can walk into Corporate HQ, buy $500,000 worth of vouchers, pay for it with a cheque and use the vouchers to buy everything they want for a wonderful Christmas.

What are the things they did not think about?

Whose cheque should they use? Take one from your father's or my father's cheque book?
They will walk into Corporate HQ without any costume/disguise as nobody will remember their faces.
The maximum time window they have to use the $500,000 vouchers would be between 4pm today and 2pm on Wednesday assuming Corporate banks in the cheque on Tuesday and the Bank actually inform Corporate that their cheque has been dishonoured on Wed.
They do not have to plan on what are the things that are the most expensive and most portable to buy and carry to their car.
At $2,000 per laptop, they just need to buy 250 laptops from 10 supermarkets. At $100 per can of abalone, we just need to buy 5,000 cans. They don't care whether they have enough stock.
They also don't care about how to convert the merchandise in cash.
They don't have to worry about security cameras located at shopping malls filming their biggest crime of the month.
They will just wait at Hougang and Bukit Batok conveniently for the police to visit them.
They don't need to plan their escape by driving 250 laptops/5,000 cans across the Causeway or get a boat to ferry to them to don't know where.

Merry Christmas

Case 2

Plan - A serial shoplifter bought and collected two Hermes bags worth $67,500 from an online shop. She managed to convince the seller that she has banked in the money.

What are the things that the serial shoplifter did not consider?

The online shop could trace her from the basic information that she has given eg. email address or handphone number or location of delivery.
She could be traced to her IP address.
She just want to know how $67,500 Hermes bags feel like and did not know it is a crime.
Of course, she wasn't thinking about running anywhere.

Physical office is passe

2011-11-16T18:17:00.001+08:00

The new term is "collaborative centre". So say Mr Neil Jackson, the Senior Director for Education of Microsoft Asia Pacific. Many years ago, I remembered IBM used the term "hot desking".

Microsoft is busy nowadays reconfiguring its offices. There will be no room for its senior managers no more. The rooms, if any, are configured for 3 persons or 15 people etc to use working intensively on specific projects. When he was in Sydney for several days recently, he just sat on any available chair then and interacted with people around him. The next day, he sat on another chair and interacted with another group of neighbours of the day.

The dynamic of interaction and possibility of collaboration change every day.

Another change in his office life - Previously he spent 70% of his time having physical face-to-face meeting and 30% on video conferencing. Nowadays it is the other way around.

Steven Levitt of Freakonomics, I hear you

2011-10-22T21:07:00.005+08:00

$40 for 1.5 hours of Steven Levitt... definitely worth the money!

I will share a couple of stories he mentioned with such aplomb.

Firstly he discussed about a John Solagi, a tax officer with IRS many years ago. John is responsible for checking on tax relief claims. American taxpayers then only need to fill in the name of their children to get $300 relief for each child. John suggested to his supervisor to include the child's social security number (perhaps something like our I/C no.) when filing the tax return. His supervisor hesitated given the tedious bureaucratic process needed to amend the design of the form. After many years of hesitation, the idea was finally put in place. Almost overnight, 7 millions children somehow mysteriously disappeared from tax claims. Apparently, many American taxpayers have been cheating IRS with claims for non-existent children. At $300 per child, John's idea is valued at $2.1 billions a year!

Secondly, Steven said he idolises Alan Greenspan (the former Federal Reserve chairman) as every economist hopes to be a GREAT economist. An economist that is great is when their mistake would cause the financial crisis just like that of in 2007. (He is obviously taking a dig at Alan Greenspan.)

Thirdly, he was having a bit of fun about our casinos. He was told that Singapore citizens and PRs have to pay $100 to enter the casinos as part of Singapore govt's initiative to discourage gambling. He queried why the $100 when Singapore has been very effective in implementing capital punishments!! When he was told that the annual entry fee to casinos is $2,000/-, he remarked that it is certainly very strange for the govt to give a quantity discount for bulk purchase when the objective is to discourage gambling. He would be very interested to analyse the data on the people who actually put themselves on the "SELF EXCLUSION" scheme!!

Fourth story is on his two daughters playing "scissor, paper, stone". He observed that Amanda wins more than 66% of the duels with Anna. So as a curious economist seeking truth in an observed phenomenon, he went and asked Amanda on her formula for success. Amanda said she observed that Anna never repeat her "scissor/paper/stone". Steven then asked Anna for her side of story. Anna said she didn't know she can repeat.

Key remark - He has built his career as an economist and author of Freakonomics on the fundamental need for one to always think and to think differently. He urged all of us to give ourselves some time to think.

www.AccountingWithEdgar.com@2011

Shell says, "Force majeure". What is that?

2011-10-05T00:01:00.001+08:00

There was a Fire at Shell's refinery. Refinery damaged and shut down. Shell thus unable to deliver supplies to its customers as per contract. Shell declares, "Force majeure".

It means "greater power" in French where contracting parties seek to walk away from a contract without liabilities due to the occurrence of an event beyond control of both parties.

Can a party unilaterally declare "force majeure"? When is an event beyond control of both parties?

In this case, Shell's customers obviously could not have started the fire or part of the fire fighting team. Thus beyond the event is beyond Shell's customers control.

Shell, the supplier, is possibly claiming that the fire was started by the "greater power" in a multi-billion complex built by human with the greater power of machinery and equipment on a man-made island. Yes for many hours, the fire was beyond control of the fire fighting team.

In conclusion, the FIRE is thus an event beyond the control of both contracting parties and also everybody else on earth.

While I am at it.. can i continue my blabering.. Did the water used to fight the fire also drained uncontrollably into the ocean surrounding Sentosa Cove etc? Can you also seriously believe that the toxidity level of air remained unchanged? Why didn't BP hide behind the term "force majeure" when its underwater pump leaked in the middle of Gulf of Mexico for days? By declaring force majeure, Shell can't claim from its insurers too, right?

Do the numbers on Spore population figures

2011-09-29T10:55:00.001+08:00

Dear friends,

Here are the population numbers published today.

a) Overall population increased from 5.08 million in 2010 to 5.18 million in 2011 ie. about 100,000 more people.

we still got seats here

Ed - Can our infrastructures cope with an increase of 100,000 people every year? Yes, MRT increased capacity by removing seats and increase standing capacity? We rent out our HDB flat (some do it illegally) and bunk in with our in-laws.. Traffic jams on our roads.. making a business out of providing accommodation to foreign workers etc etc (Yes.. they are tongue-in-cheek comments.)

b) No. of citizens increased from 3.23 million to 3.26 million ie. about 30,000 new citizen.

Opening balance - 3.23 million
Add - New births ?
Add - New citizens 17,950
Less - Deaths ?
Less - Ex-citizens ?
-------------------------------------
Closing balance - 3.26 million
====================

Ed - Assuming new births at 37,000 added to new citizen number, it would account for 55,000 gross inflow. Using 2010's figures from Singstat, with no. of deaths is 17,610, are we saying ex-citizens account for 7,000 outflow? How to explain this?

Ed - Assuming every Citizen is in Singapore right now, 37% of residents are non-Singaporeans.

c) No. of PRs down from 541,000 to 532,000 by 9,000.
National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) attributed the fall due to tightened PR policies. Dr Leong of NPTD also attributed the drop to other reasons eg. re-location of corporates, cancellation of "non-residing" PRs etc etc.

d) No. of foreigners who who are working, studying or living here without PR status increased by a massive 7% from 1.31 million to 1.39 million (ie. increase by 80,000)

Ed - Actually the headline should read "7% increase in non-PR residents!!". But we should NOT be surprised by this given the quarterly MOM figures which constantly report significant no. of new jobs created (far in excess of new births/citizens available).

Why is this happening?

2011-09-25T13:09:00.000+08:00

super structures with declining human spirits?

Dear friends,

I am just catching up on my last few days' newspapers. I would like to share with you three stories, which in my opinion, share similar traits.

First story is about an incident between Ms Rachel Lim and a Caucasian man on a SBS bus. She made a phone call to her daughter. The Caucasian, who was seated across her, came over, tapped on her shoulder and told her to get lost for being noisy. Expletives are alleged to have been vocalised by Caucasian. She threatened to report to police and he encouraged her. On a double-decker bus, she went down to tell the driver. Driver, as per SBS's instruction, stopped the bus and kept the bus "locked" until police arrived. Caucasian was pissed that the bus has stopped (and perhaps getting anxious he could be in trouble) and started to prise open the door after pressing the bell repeatedly. Ms Lim, upon seeing that, put herself between him and the door, to prevent him from leaving. He SLAMMED his body into her. (I guess it would be like a rugby world cup.)

Second story. Mr Ong Thiam Kwee stopped his car without signalling to let his daughter off. Dr Ho King Peng sounded his horn in response to the sudden stop without warning. Mr Ong got out of his car, walked to Dr Ho, gesticulated vigorously and culminating to Mr Ong smashing Dr Ho's windscreen with his right fist.

Third story. Mr Stefan Masuhr, a high-ranking RBS executive in his Bentley, who was alleged to have smashed the windscreen of a Mercedes-Benz, driven by a Mdm Wang, who was alleged to have cut into his lane suddenly and causing him to brake suddenly. Consequently, his 3 1/2 year-old daughter (apparently not wearing seat belt) hit her head on the seat in front of her.

What are the common traits observed in all these incidents?

All incidents involved matured adults.
All are relatively educated and feisty in letting the other parties know what each party stands for. (Not sure about Mdm Wang. Not much info on her.)
The alleged violent parties have "lost it" at the spark of a moment.
They all happened in Singapore (obviously.. given my biased sampling.. haha!), a country now noted to be getting crowded and compressed on buses, MRTs and roads.
Each party in each incident has their respective concerns at the respective time of incidents.

The Caucasian man in the bus maybe really trying to tell an annoying woman to respect other people's right to some peace instead of asking other people to listen to her phone conversation. Rachel was running late and could be trying to tame her children over the phone.

Mr Ong may have stopped suddenly as he could have been too preoccupied with finding a safe place to let her daughter alight and thus did not signalled. Dr Ho was possibly trying to remind Mr Ong to signal first before stopping.

Stefan was just enraged when his children got hurt by the sudden cutting of lane without signalling. Again nothing much about Mdm Wang.

Last words on this

I am just wondering whether the bus driver should have opened the bus doors if he/she could sense the situation boiling over. I am hoping that these incidents do not represent a deeper underlying problem that is waiting to escalate. Let's calm down.

the power of modern women

2011-09-04T17:37:00.000+08:00

While queuing to recontract my mobile line, I overhead the conversation between an elderly couple and possibly their daughter. Old man and old were discussing as to which phone to buy as they joined the queue behind me.

Old man (to wife) - Sony phone not so good. We will consider Samsung or HTC. Anyway when you are not using, I can put in my SIM card and use.

Wife - But I have been using Sony.. I am thus comfortable using the functions on Sony phones

Old man - Sony not so good laa..

Wife - You are buying or I am buying? (pissed and walked away)

As the man of the household, he thought he won on the choice of the phone. A few moments later, the wife came back with their daughter (carrying her own child).

Daughter - Pa, if you put in and take out the SIM card to the phone too often, the phone will spoil la. (trying to be diplomatic by giving an excuse) Let Ma buy the phone that she wants and you buy your own phone.

Old man (trying to protest) - But Sony phone not so good...

Daughter (cutting him off) - It is ok, Pa. Mum is more comfortable with Sony. So let her choose.

Old man kept quiet after that.

I guess women in households of our previous generations are more subservient to men. To the extent that we do see women sticking faithfully to obviously lousy husbands for the sake of keeping the family together.

But the women of today are from a completely different orientation. The family dynamics have changed. Can we handle it?

P/S - I may not remember the exact words exchanged.

Tribute to Nurses

2011-07-30T13:35:00.000+08:00

I was visiting my mum at Serdang Hospital recently. There was this lady in the next bed who kept wailing and yelling for attention, particularly to anyone walking by her bed. I was told she had an accident. Both her legs were broken or fractured and were thus in cast. We were also told she wants some water but not allowed to as she is under observation for something.

We drew the curtain between my mum's and her bed. But she continued to create so much ruckus. A few moment later, the Malay lady, sitting opposite to my mum's bed, exclaimed to me to help the wailing lady. Nurses ran to her too. In the chaos, I noticed that half her body was off the bed. Apparently she was trying to get off the bed and stand on her casted legs. The Malay lady asked to help the nurses to move the wailing lady back into bed.

As I was standing at the bedside looking at the half naked woman in adult diaper with bandages here and there, I did not know what to do. I wanted to pull her left hand to drag her heavy frame back into bed but hesitated that I may aggravate her injuries.

After checking with the nurses, I pulled her twice but her heavy frame just won't budge. I gave up helping. Why? I find it so so uncomfortable touching someone who is injured, scantily clad and concerned that I may aggravate her injuries. I walked away and leaving the two nurses to fend for themselves.

A few minutes later, peace reigned as the two nurses walked away. The wailing lady was back in bed and sedated. The two nurses have done her job!

I am thankful that I am not doing their job. But I am more thankful that someone is actually doing the nursing job. We were so impressed with the nursing standard at the Malaysian government hospital that we actually gave them a gift to express our appreciation.

It has been more than 20 years since I was last in a Malaysian government hospital for the last few moments of my father. Thank you for the money well spent on Malaysian healthcare. More importantly, thank you for the human angels working in the hospitals.

Rest in peace, mum.

How to increase revenue?

2011-07-03T15:31:00.002+08:00

Here are my observations on how some clever people in the market are doing it.

1. Starhub - The crude and direct way - Just raise the price for each subscriber by a certain percentage and try to justify it by saying something like the costs of content have increased and btw, the last increase was back in 1965.. (just kidding la.. I can't remember the exact year)

2. Singtel - The so smooth way
Firstly, instead of apologising and cutting prices of its various broadband packages (ie. for not being to deliver upload/download speeds most of the time for the respective speed package we are paying for), they are now marketing "Priority Pass".
Secondly, a telemarketer from Singtel called and asked me to pay $1 more for SMS plus and "dun know wat name" services as I am already paying $5 CallerID.
Thirdly, when you sign for the broadband package, you have to sign up for the telephone line too.

3. SIA - Buy the biggest plane the market can provide and assign them to their busiest routes. The latest announced is SIN-LA routes.

4. Milo - add in "Fuze" and price the new thing higher and remove the old Milo.

5. Any other ways that you have observed or experienced?

Thai Teen vs SMRT for $3.4m

2011-06-19T11:22:00.000+08:00

let's sit back and await the outcome

Background
Nitcharee came to Singapore for a holiday and to study English (which is which?). She fell onto the MRT track at Ang Mo Kio (AMK) station. She lost both her legs.

SMRT has offered $5,000 as compensation but was rejected. Nitcharee's family has instead sued SMRT for $3.4m. The basis of arriving at that figure is 20 pairs of prosthetic legs @$150,000 per pair (est.)

Intention
I wish all of us to consider the following. Please note that we do not have access to the details pertaining to the case. The intention here is to encourage us to open our mind as we speculate to consider all possibilities.

Firstly, let's consider whether SMRT is liable for the compensation.

Did the train driver follow all operating procedures as it entered into AMK station?
At the correct speed?
Was the driver paying full attention to the track and passengers loitering along the platform as the train rolled into the station?
Did the driver has sufficient time to react when the Thai teen fell onto the track within reasonable man's assumption? Is there a camera on the driver in the driver's compartment?
Is there a "black box" installed on each train (similar to those installed on planes to record data from critical instruments of the plane)?
The details on the station's cameras would also be useful in determining causation.
Was the train's equipment and instruments working as per specification (especially the brake)?
What is the train driver's background, training records and performance reports to date?
Are there supposed to have doors installed in above-ground MRT stations as per Bishan MRT station?

Next, we consider the Thai teen's position.

So does the Thai teen has any right to make the claim from SMRT?
Did she faint and fell onto the MRT track as was initially reported?
If she had not fainted, who offered this "faint story" in the first place?
SMRT would ask for her complete medical history. Assuming that she has a pre-existing medical condition that might give her occasional fainting spells, should she be travelling and travelling alone?
If she did not faint and fell onto the track, then how and why is she on the track?
Was she accidentally bump onto the track by another passenger in a rush on a crowded platform?
Did she slip given the quality of her shoes?
Was she carrying anything heavy?
Did she trip on a crack on the platform?
Was she in an emotional stress before the incident? Did she wanted to hurt herself given her emotional state at that point in time?
Does she know how to use the MRT?
How long was she in Singapore before the incident happened?
Or perhaps, is it just an accident? And thus this is an attempt to look for someone who is a big corporate and can definitely afford to pay for some relief for the pain suffered and to allow the girl to lead as normal a life as possible with prosthetic legs?
Or is the legal suit an attempt by the teen's family to find out the truth? The suit would compel SMRT to release all pertinent information.

I could go on and on.. I hope I have demonstrated that one should NOT jump at any conclusion as to who is right or wrong. Let's all await for more information.

democracy

2011-05-07T13:39:00.001+08:00

I have answered many multiple choice questions as part of my profession in my life. There is one question that have eluded me so far ie. to put a "X" on a piece of paper at an election booth.

I went to visit one this morning. At least I can tell people that I have been to one election centre. Many were queueing up to vote. Even people in wheelchairs turned up for the 3-5 minute experience.

I have witnessed another election campaign. This election has definitely been different based on my living memory. The press has been more than fair in their coverage. Thanks goodness we don't see the scandals, rampant mud slingings, legal threats (for now, someone reminded me) and violence that usually accompany other democracies.

We got all kinds of people trying to convince you that they are worthy to represent you in the democratic process. Some are in their twenties without much significant achievement and experience accumulated yet. Probably trying to make a career in politics instead of trying a make it in the private sector. We heard Xia Xue commenting on her close encounter with a political figure. She gave me the impression that she has fallen head over heels over the political figure. Who said the ruling party cannot relate to Gen Y? But it would certainly take a lot of effort when you need to get a ministerial level political figure to sit down, to listen and to engage with 2 or 3 twenty somethings at a time. But as it shows that it worked with Xia Xue.. Perhaps Xia Xue would consider her candidacy in the next election..

My personal point - we as parents of Gen Z.. have to do the same to maintain a linkage to communicate.

I do so eager to be part of this 9-day of hurly burly with so many words said, so much tears flowed, so much emotions aroused, so much adrenalin generated.... but alas I am only a spectator awaiting for the final chapter to be unfold.

Reviewing my insurance portfolio

2011-02-05T00:15:00.001+08:00

reckless tricycling

Last month, I briefly reviewed my portfolio of insurance policies. I was looking for information as to why Great Eastern kept asking me to upgrade and I actually agreed to pay more and more for additional protection which I am not sure whether I need.

An old friend of mine went through his review of insurance portfolios and shared with us his parameters for his decisions. Should I take an active effort to review and align them to my current protection needs?

Without including my children's portfolios, my protection is with 3 insurance companies (luckily) with no specific insurance agent to work with. Coupled with fact that I filed all my scanned insurance documents in a folder by chronological order, to review is a breeze. I even scanned the "sales / promo documents" to cite as evidence in case of dispute in the future on who said what and when. I never really trusted insurance agents (and property agents too) as our respective interests are not in alignment.

I will try to define my protection into these areas ie. health/medical and accident. Investment and savings are not under the definition of insurance.

Seriously Edgar, get your butt off the chair and review them urgently!!!

Tracking your networth

2011-02-04T12:58:00.000+08:00

anyhow stop

Do you have a balance sheet of your personal assets and liabilities? Did you prepare your income statement for the year just ended?

I am not referring to the returns that you prepare for Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. That generally reflect your gross income but not expenses. How many of us actually track your expenditures too? My dear friends, it is important and I am doing it albeit not in as much details as before.

I watched a documentary of a Malay divorcee talking about her greater awareness and therefore control over her finances as she starts to keep track of her income and expenses. That would be the first step.

Next, we need you to work towards a balance sheet. Lorna Tan, the senior correspondent of ST, talked about her neglect in tracking her gains and losses of $300,000 worth of stocks in her portfolio. I have a portfolio too but definitely not of that magnitude. As I have been tracking my own portfolio, I simplified my holdings based on my new investment strategy after more than 20 years mugging around my money.

My simple advice to you my dear friends, get to know your finances soon with your very own balance sheet and P&L!!!!! Share with me your experience once you have done them!!

US Embassy in Singapore

2011-01-10T00:34:00.000+08:00

On Oct 18, 2010, I parked at the Botanic Garden and walked to the Embassy. I was told there would be no parking space on location. As I had made an appointment for 8.30am for my VISA application, I was taking a nice morning walk towards the Embassy. To my amazement, appointed time is irrelevant. I was politely and firmly told to join the sitting queue behind 3 rows of people.

Of the 10 documents needed, the most intriguing was the updated bank book or last 3 months' bank statement. So if you can't show that you are sufficiently "loaded", they could turn you down. The application fees of USD150 must be paid in Cashier's Order.

The waiting time for an Embassy is within tolerable range but the waiting conditions that we, the applicants, were subject to were very far from ideal for a first world's embassy. Imagine sitting for more than an hour with fans and then standing in the morning sun for more than 30 mins. I was lucky to have some newspapers to cover my head.

I overheard the conversation between a few SQ trainees getting their VISAs for their maiden flight.

One SQ girl asking another who have just come out, "How come you took so long?"
The other SQ girl replied, "We were putting on our make up in the ladies.."

Ha.. these girls have been well instructed before their arrival today. As your make up would have melted under 30 degrees morning sun, it would be wise to manage the make up part after submission.

Before entering the fortress, we have to empty our pockets at the security. No mobile phone and no thumbdrive attached to the car keys allowed.

Once in the fortress, things moved pretty fast. The interview process was a breeze. I was expecting a tough session. The session ended with a serious note, "Mr Wong, we hereby approve and grant you a visa to enter the United States of America." Something as formal as that.

===============================================

Dear good people at the embassy,

Please treat us as customers and not as suspects. I was applying for a VISA to visit and definitely spend some money in your country. The money, although may not be a lot, would still be useful to the economy.

I generally enjoyed my visit to US recently and was glad the situation at the airports were much better than expected.

Till next time, best wishes to USA.

How do tour agencies make money nowadays?

2010-12-24T00:24:00.001+08:00

Dear friends,

Here are some ideas based on my observations in my recent tour.

By advertising the tour as "12 Days Exhilarating West America" when it is actually only 10 days. Check my photos to confirm that.
Provide one or two or no meal a day for tourists who usually consume 3 meals a days. Basically get the tourists to carry half the costs of meal or wait for SIA to feed them.
Insert one or two FREE days into "12-Day Exhilarating West America" on a very good punchline ie. "We give you a chance for you to pursue your specific interest. Shopping, rock climbing or perhaps just catch up on your sleep."
Ask tourists to pay for a particular programme that is too important not to do in the first place. "We give you the option to decide." was the punch line used. Example - We were ask to decide whether to pay USD$30 per person for a 3-hour night tour of "old" Las Vegas and major attractions of hotels along The Strip. We thought we are paying for someone else to do it. Guess what ... it is conducted by the same sweet Tour Manager! Another USD$120 out of my pocket.
Get the tourists to partially pay their outsourced contractors eg. tour guide/bus drivers. How? The tour agency actually put it down in their briefing notes the appropriate amount to "TIP" these contractors.

Here is the list given to me with the appropriate disclaimer:-

"The below listed are only guidelines and it varies by the season."

Coach driver USD$2 x 10 days = $20
Grand Canyon Shuttle USD$1 x 1 day = $1
Tour Manager (not tour guide hor) USD$3 x 11 days = $33

Total tips per tourist is USD$54. I paid USD$216 for my family as per GUIDELINE..

Good night.

6 nights with Holiday Inn in US

2010-12-22T15:38:00.001+08:00

I have a rather unpleasant experience during my holidays staying in Holiday Inn. Particularly I wish to focus my comments on two ie. Palm Springs, Nevada and Civic Centre, San Francisco.

Holiday Inn, Palm Springs Resort
Incident 1
The hotel is a 3-storey (I think) square building with swimming in the middle. Let us call the 4 corners, A, B, C and D. The main reception is a corner A but the lifts are only available at corner B and D.

So in order to facilitate tourists like ourselves travelling with a lot of luggages, our tour manager has arranged to let us alight at corner B (as instructed by the staff on duty) to be nearest to our rooms. Can you imagine the hassles of moving our luggages over 2 long corridors to reach our rooms instead of entering through the lift at corner D? Question - Was the staff on duty familiar with the floor plan of its hotel?

Incident 2
Upon reaching our room, I was not able to open the door with the electronic card in the picture. Remember that we just arrived at the hotel and obviously not familiar with the layout and trying to look for someone to help us. I almost have to walk the four corners before seeing the bright lights of front reception. The staff on duty said it is quite amazing that I managed to find the reception.

Holiday Inn, Civic Center, San Francisco
Our family of four was given adjoining rooms. We were pretty happy with the arrangement till we opened the doors to our respective rooms. Imagine our horrors.. one room is neat and tidy and the other room was still in a mess.

Already pretty pissed with the last experience at Palm Springs, I confronted the front desk.

How could the front desk release rooms that are still in a mess to guests checking in? Some how this chap in the picture was making some uncompromising comments instead of trying to mitigate the situation. So I ask for the feedback form and ask for his name. His name tag said "Mark".

I asked, "Mark what? What is your surname?" I repeated the question a few times.
Finally he said in a cheeky manner, "Mark SMITH".
And I told my name is "WONG".
And he said, "Yea right" in a sarcastic manner.

And when I want to take a picture of him, he blocked my camera with some papers.

During the exchange of words, he implied that we should be "thankful" that we are given the rooms early as the official check in time is 4pm.

Instead of backing down, he was taunting me to complaint. Towards the end of exchange, he even wished me a good day and that I will definitely get my apology letter in a sarcastic tone, of course.

About half an hour after the incident, I returned to the front office to retrieve the feedback form and close the matter. Mark was not around and the other staff on duty could not locate the form and suggested that Mark might have taken it.

This staff said to me that throughout more than 20 years in this line, he has not seen such thing before and offer to look after my needs as long as he is on duty.

I found out from my tour mates later that they too have had some incidents too. Another family too got a room that is not done yet. Another family with two rooms have to share one toilet. Another family could not lock their door. While waiting in the lobby, I overheard an Ang Moh guest requesting the front office to look into the heater in his room.

Is this the standard of Holiday Inn?

There is no power point at the writing table. There is no free outlet in the whole room except in the toilet. This is the first time in my life that I have to charge my laptop and handphone in the toilet. Come on, is Holiday Inn operating in stone age or did I pay too little for my tour package to get this type of crap hotels?

Is this the standard of Holiday Inn?

Day 1 16 hours later

2010-12-08T22:58:00.001+08:00

Dear friends,

I am using this channel to briefly note down the notables during our US West Coast trip. So bear with me :)

I went on any family trip with a lot of hesitation about safety and expected tiring travelling sessions of travelling. So I am obviously going to complain a little bit about the 16-hour flight from Singapore to LA through Narita. By the end of the flight, on board entertainment has been exhausted in a suffocatingly warm environment of SQ12. In the past, passengers would be "frozen" at 22 degrees but on this flight, I was actually fanning myself with a pillow.

I actually and finally learn how to play SUDOKU. I worked in a company for a few years where the CEO was pretty "mad" about the game but I never really tried the game till now. Get to watch movies I really don't have time for during my "normal" time. I sound like a "suaku" but I really don't have time to do the normal things like going to a movie during my normal hours in Singapore.

My first foot step in Japan is a sterile half an hour standing around transfer back on the plane. My first purchase in US is to buy a Starbuck's hot chocolate.

I would really love to fall into a deep sleep. Perhaps will get a drink later. :)

Can you choose not to exist online TOTALLY?

2010-11-26T01:06:00.000+08:00

before

I am very curious to know whether one could successfully choose not to exist at all in the online world of blogging, msn, websites, twitter, youtube, flicker, picassa etc etc.

I am talking about a person who is one at the prime of his or her life, economically, socially and sexually active. I am not referring to a hermit in the mountain/cave somewhere. If you are a person, alive, working in Singapore, has colleagues, friends, family and relatives, can you choose to remain non existence in the online world?

At your friend's wedding, if the camera man takes a picture of you and other guests at your table and subsequently uploaded and tagged it, can you tell your friend to remove that picture and untagged you ie. telling your friend not to share its joyous occasion?

I just think it is plain too difficult unless you have nothing much else to do everyday except to just diligently and earnestly googling/binging about yourself online and closing down all traces of you in the online world.

Or perhaps you are no longer among us. Sigh. Can you leave me a fingerprint?

Good night.

Create your own Moon Shots!!

2010-09-28T10:06:00.000+08:00

Dear friends,

Before my class started yesterday, I happened to come across this must read article by Thomas Friedman entitled "Their Moon Shot and ours" in Today page 19.

What is a "Moon Shot"?
Well it is not a tequila shot. It is big multi-billion dollar, 25-year horizon, game-changing investments.

Examples of moon shots by China:-

building a network of ultra modern airports;
a web of high speed trains connecting its cities
buying and using 128 DNA sequencers (one of the world largest collections of such equipment)

The author contrasted that with an example in US ie. a consultant trying to sell its firm's intellectual knowledge on tackling terrorism to US government. He said we should be in race with China and not with Al-Qaeda. I am sure it is not all doom and gloom in US but perhaps we can see our future by looking at US now. While Asia could still be in its economic prime for many years to come, it is not forever.

Singapore too has been quietly and surely building its own moon shots eg. reducing its reliance of imported water by investing in purification plants and network of sewage systems to recycle waste water.

While personally I am not in the league of multi-billion game changing moves for my own career, nonetheless it is important for each of us to invest in ourselves for our ST and LT future. We need to see beyond the horizon and make ourselves relevant to that horizon beyond this horizon.

Create your own moon shots!!!

Why Woman's Charter?

2010-09-19T10:28:00.001+08:00

The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) proposed a series of changes to the Women's Charter. The Charter was last revised in 1996. The profile of society has changed so much and the laws have to keep up.

A summary of the recommended changes are as follows:-

1. Maintenance / Alimony

MEN ie. divorcees, who are thinking of remarrying (Edgar - which I wonder why after the first horrifying marriage/divorce) will be required to declare their maintenance debts to their prospective spouses. [Edgar - For the prospective spouses, it would serve as a strong indicator of the type of man she is marrying.]

The court will be empowered to order a defaulter to post a banker's guarantee against future defaults. The guarantee will be valid for up to three years from the date of the order for up to three months of maintenance.

To enforce maintenance payments, the Family Court will be authorised to issue attachment of earnings orders more frequently, where direct deductions will be made from the defaulters' wages. [Edgar - I fully agree as this will really make the collection process efficient. Will your employer become aware of your tardiness/mess in your personal life as thus affect your career?]

The defaulters are also required to undergo financial counselling and serve a 40-hour community service order under certain conditions.

Claimants will also be allowed to report to credit bureaus unpaid maintenance arrears, which are monetary debts that can be reflected in a person's credit report for assessment of credit worthiness. [Edgar - Many may not realise such negative reports on their credit history have a long and expensive repercussions on their property loans, car loans, credit cards applications and even business loans. I often advise debtors to pay up especially for relatively small outstanding.]

Edgar - I do agree with the need for such measures. I have seen the ex-husband of my friend driving around a car in the 6-figure price range but has been very tardy in keeping up with the alimony to maintain wife and son. My friend had to take leave from work to attend Court trying to enforce collection while her ex-husband can't even be bothered to turn up.

Another suggestion - The alimony should also be pegged to some inflation indicators.

2. Preventive Measures
To mitigate the divorce problem in Singapore particularly among couples who are minors and those who had been divorced previously, the government will require these couples to attend marriage preparation courses before issuing a marriage licence or a special marriage licence.

Edgar - I recently read in the paper about this newly-wed couple sleeping in separate rooms for reason that one can't sleep with air-con and the other can only sleep without air-con/fan. Of course, during the lovey-dovey period of courtship, you may try to live with the idiosyncrocies of partner. And as marriage is a long term contract, small irritants, gnawing at you daily, could eventually be the sparks for divorce.

3. Children

Children, being the most innocent party of any divorces, compulsory counselling and mediation to address child-related questions are also required for all divorces involving children below 21 years, in order to safeguard children's interests. [Edgar - I strongly agree.]

4. Inter-national marriages
With rising globalisation and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, new measures are proposed to facilitate marriages of overseas Singaporeans and Singapore PR couples ie. waiving a 15-day residence requirement for these couples who wish to marry in Singapore. But that requirement will continue to apply to couples where at least one party isn't a Singaporean or Singapore PR.

Concluding remark - In this modern age where women ask to be treated equally and that modern women have actually achieved a matching standing with men, should there be a set of laws to protect a particular sex?

There is also an increasing phenomenon of men being house-husbands. These group of men actually accept the idea that the best person should do the respective job of either of being a bread-winner or home-minder. So if a man is good at minding the home and children while the woman excels in her career, shouldn't the law protects these men too.

It should not just be called Woman's Charter but Human's Charter!!

Teo Nie Ching

2010-08-29T23:55:00.001+08:00

In today's ST, I read about this Malaysian non-Muslim MP who spoke in mosque with her head uncovered.

My gut feel is that it is a case of misunderstanding as something similar happened to me recently.

I was recently invited to a Sikh temple to attend to an assignment. My contact, a Sikh, was showing me and my colleague around the temple. When we were in the prayer hall, a few of devotees were pointing to their head. Sensing that we may have done something wrong or that we may not be allowed to be in there, we swiftly made our exit.

A few minutes later, the priest brought some headscarves for us. Apparently all ie. male and female, who enter a Sikh temple must cover their head. My contact missed that.

We apologised immediately of course. I learned something new that day. Moral of story - We really need to get to know other races.

Albert Wong, Senior Marketing Director, ERA Realty Network

2010-08-08T13:48:00.000+08:00

our home

Dear Mr Albert Wong,

I wish to respond to your letter in the Forum, Straits Times dated Aug 7, 2010 (Sat) on Ms Nadia Abdul Muttalib's concerns with junk mails ie. litter being strewn and asked that those businesses be targetted for action.

My basic position is that any business should be allowed to exercise their marketing creativity in promoting their products and services as long as it does not impede into personal space and property without permission.

You said you got no choice but to deliver to our doorsteps as you have been shut out of our mailboxes. And that we should pity you for making you and your fellow "Professionals" to incur higher marketing expenses as a result. You said we should not hit your livelihoods (and others in related industries of producing/delivering those "litter") as you need to publicise the products that you are selling.

Excuse me, if every business think like you and assuming it is justified to do so, we would have mayhem in every part of Singapore when businesses promote their respective products and services in any which way possible.

To mitigate the problem of fliers being strewn all over, you suggested that home owners like us, attached a tray or box to our gates to collect these fliers. But should you not be asking us whether we want those "litter" in the first place. You are asking us to incur costs to facilitate your marketing practices. Perhaps you would want those who do not want any fliers, to place a big signboard at our doors. You have made our fault for not thinking of ways to make it convenient for you to do your business.

You have implicitly warned those staying near MRT stations and good schools that this "problem" will continue unabated (and possibly intensify) as demand is there and that those units command higher value (ie. more commission for him and his "professionals").

You said you have been using fliers all these years and (defiantly, in my opinion) stated that you will continue to do so with a bit of consolation to us ie. you will tell your contractors to place those fliers carefully at the gate or under the door where possible.

You have signed off the letter to the Forum as Senior Marketing Director of ERA Realty Network ie. this is the position of one of the largest property agency in Singapore.

I am really disappointed by you and your organisation position on this matter.

P/S - Please have a word with your corporate lawyer on whether you and your company have violated any law.

F1 sham?

2010-08-01T17:20:00.001+08:00

When Felipe Massa let his Ferrari team mate, Fernando Alonso passed and subsequently win the German Grand Prix, do you still want to classify F1 racing as a sport or a travelling circus?

A travelling circus where drivers, team managers, sponsors etc are all putting up a multi-billion dollars show which create entertainment where millions of fan pay money to watch.

I saw the title of an article a moment ago.. "How real is the reality show?" Actually whoever gets to stay or whoever get booted at the end of show depends on the rating each participant receives during the show? As ratings mean advertising dollars, the person who ultimately wins the $1million prize monies is actually being rewarded for keeping the show watchable by millions.

Wouldn't you wonder why an Idol would always end to be someone good looking who can somehow sing? Or the idealists would really think the best person did actually win the race?

UOB PRVI - 10X the rewards - Is it real?

2010-07-25T01:40:00.001+08:00

Dear friends,

My UOB credit card statements for the respective months are as follow:-

May 2010 - I have spent $3,237.27. I "earned" 1,082 UNI$ and was credited with 3,426 UNI$.
June 2010 - I have spent $1,550.12. I "earned" 504 UNI$ and was credited with 3,824 UNI$ and deducted 2,344 UNI$.
July 2010 - I have spent $1,550.12. I "earned" 777 UNI$ and was credited with 2,313 UNI$.

When I saw the deduction in June's statement, I immediately called for a written and detailed explanation for the deduction. About two weeks after my call, a general letter to all affected cardmembers to apologise for the deduction was received. [Can a bank deduct someone's account before informing the account holder first?]

As that was not the letter I had been waiting for, I called its call centre again. On 16 July 2010, I finally received the letter with detailed computation of UNI$ transaction by transaction.

Here are my confusions:-
a) What is the formula to compute the UNI$ I earned against the amount spent? Based on the letter dated 16 July, it is very apparent that my various transactions earned different UNI$. Example - $930 expenditure earned 372 UNI$ whereas a $174 expenditure earned 68 UNI$.
b) Why the number of UNI$ credited is about 3 times the UNI$ you said I earned based on the 3 statements above? Why is the amount earned and amount credited be different?
c) UOB said (in small print) in its promotional material that only FIRST 5 transactions totalling $1,250 would earned 10X rewards of 2,500 UNI$. So if my first 5 transactions is less than $1,250, then what do I earn?

UNI$ or loyalty points are treated like liabilities and governed by respective Financial Reporting Standards. As a cardmember here, I am having trouble understanding UOB Credit Card's UNI$ rewards system. I wonder whether its auditors and Monetary Authority of Singapore are able to make sense out of all these.

The above is presented as factually as possible for the respective authorities to review and also for fellow credit cardmembers to be more vigilant and aware of issues I am facing.

Paul is talking to Credit Sussie?

2010-07-14T22:40:00.005+08:00

July 9 (Bloombirg) -- Top investment bank Credit Sussie is said to be offering US$4m per year for the oracle octopus Paul to head its proprietary trading operations. Credit Sussie says its will convert part of its trading floor into a fish tank for Paul and put boxes of different markets, stocks, indices, equities and bonds for Paul to chose from. They expect this will translate into a more profitable business for them. Paul will also work closely with Head of Global Strategy and formulate recommendations on asset allocation and strategy.

However, rumours are circulating that rival Merrell Lunch is also bidding to sign Paul on in order to replace its entire research team. Paul's agent states "Paul is considering his options carefully" and will allegedly decide after making a call on the general direction of the US Dollar (See attached photo). The decision involving clam filled boxes labeled Credit Sussie and Merrell Lunch will be broadcast live from the NYSE trading floor later today.

P/S - This is written by someone else. I copied and pasted.

Public Transport Woes

2010-07-04T21:36:00.005+08:00

if only taking public transport is as peaceful as this...

In the recent days, a lot of monies were spent telling us that we are moving into distance-based fares. There were advertisements in various newspapers, radio and tv; on site promotions and thousands of posters.

So what is distance-based fare? Who actually benefit from this change?

The message from the media seems to be telling me that commuters will benefit given the change. But the opposite side of the coin also tells me that millions of commuters have been paying the non-distance-based fares for years.

Two persons shared their experience about their bus fares today. Both told me that they seem to be paying more. A student told me that her fares to school and back have gone up by about 15cents. 15cents is not peanut money hor!

Another transport woe that has been well documented in recent days arose from a careless comment made by its CEO about MRT rides. Should we be thankful that the company's response to overcrowded trains is to remove seats from the MRT cabins so as to accommodate more commuters. We can now pack more commuters into the same cabin. Wonderful?

More commuters paying the same fares would translate to more profit for company?

I am always hesitant to say I know how you feel. Most often we don't. So please don't make comment that you know how it feels to ride in public transport during peak hours.

Don't do it for one day in a year for show. You go take public transport everyday!!!

NTUC Income taking a punt on Orchard Road flood

2010-06-18T23:55:00.003+08:00

On page A11 of Straits Times on June 17, 2010, NTUC Income took out a full page advertisement with this punch line above a picture of a few stranded vehicles trapped by flooded Orchard Road ...
"YOU CAN BE SURE OF ONE THING WITH US - SOMEONE WILL PAY FOR THIS."

Who will pay for those damages I wonder? As you read further, "That's why we've always got you covered..." would means NTUC Income will pay for the damages? A very comforting and reassuring thing indeed for the owners of S350, Lamboghini and 30 other vehicles to hear.

But if NTUC Income pay, who will be ultimately foot the bills? Just a day before the advert, my friend made this remark "Given the flood, we the motorists die la.."

I was puzzled by his remark. He duly explained, " insurance costs go up, insurance premium will go up lor"

A double edge sword played by NTUC Income. A few vehicle owners assured while thousands wonder.

Regeneration/Culling in Singtel?

2010-06-16T19:24:00.003+08:00

June 16, Singtel announced that the chief executive of NCS, a subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications, will retire. Lim Eng, who is 54 and has worked in Singtel for 30 years, will be replaced by Chief Operating Officer NCS Chia Wee Boon.

June 10, Singtel announced that its CEO for international operations Lim Chuan Poh is also set to retire at the end of this year. He has been with Singtel for 12 years. I don't know his age but he should over 50 too.

Or is Singtel doing a a-la-Chelsea recently when Chelsea released three players (over 30s) including a current German international, Michael Ballack under the pretext of making way for youth?

What possible learning points can we get from Singtel's?
1. Don't fret. They are just 2 personnels out of thousands of people working in Singtel. It is just coincidental that they are senior personnels.

2. Anyone over 50 for corporates should look left and right as the axe is coming.

3. Loyalty has very little weightage.

4. Or having a new man with new perspective/new pair of eyes, critical to the respective business?

5. Or is it purely a corporate governance exercise of rotating OUT its key personnels?

6. Any other unmentionables?

Bali Airport at Denpasar

2010-06-15T13:11:00.005+08:00

Dear friends,

Firstly, I wish to share with you something I have never done before in my life.

I slept on 2 chairs placed in a row at the Bali airport between 1230am and 2am. I placed on head on a bottle of water and my legs on the stained table.

What happened? Jetstar/Valuejet flight was inadvertently delayed with an unknown reason since 945pm schedule. We were efficiently notified by sms at about 5pm in the evening. My well travelled friend assured me that since Jetstar can notified us so early, he was pretty sure they should be able to fly another plane to Bali from Singapore to pick us up.

We were first promised that we can board the plane at 1230am. Imagine the cursings, swearing and sighings from tired fellow passengers after one whole of fun and laughter at the beaches when we were handed water and some finger food while being told that the flight will be delayed by another hour to 2am.

Second observation - The airport is really crowded for incoming and outgoing. Is Bali benefitting from Thailand's misfortune? See picture above. Very very little air conditioning with so many bodies from Japan, Korea and Australia. Please go to airport EARLY if you are planning your departure.

Thirdly, the immigration officer actually ask me for a "tip" openly when I arrived. It was so loud that his fellow officer was stunned by his request. When we were checking out, we saw a woman trying to pay... Sadly.. this type of thing is still going on..

Competition Commission of Singapore CCS is working hard!

2010-06-07T12:38:00.002+08:00

First high profile case as per my memory was CCS who went after the pest control entities rigging the tender process.

Then CCS went after the long distance bus operators operating out Beach Road.

Then CCS has been reported to be dressing down a very big boy in SISTIC.

Then CCS went after a group of electricians who again rigged the tender process. The one company who came forward and "betrayed" the whole group was specifically mentioned.

To encourage more entities ie. including individuals, to come forward to "whistle blow", should CCS consider some anonymity protection for that entity?

Keep up the good work!

Congrats to ladies in table tennis

2010-06-03T08:53:00.004+08:00

Whoever you are, wherever you are from, whatever your nationality may be and if you can beat the Chinese National Team, you deserved my applause too.

Well done indeed. This only proved the point that we are only human / everyone and everything has its day off and with a bit of luck (the sun,, moon and all the other planets are in alignment), an undefeated champion can be defeated. 100% consistency in performance is for machines at its best. As machines too are known to fail ie. my car has to be towed to Mitsubishi Centre recently for a leaking radiator. $400 later, problem solved. Pain.

The Jap PM announced its resignation recently. A political suicide/political bravado? from day one when he announced and possibly without checking the facts and the political terrain first, he promised to move a foreign military base. Goodbye to u anyway.

Studio M @ Nanson Road

2010-04-24T10:40:00.002+08:00

As we wonder why we are not able to get cab when we need to, they are all queuing up at Studio M for a FREE goody bag filled 2 bottles of water and a packet of peanuts.

Now I know how else it takes to get a cab in Singapore (instead of calling its hotline) - Dangle some peanuts!

Poly Carpark Fee - Ms Glenda Koh

2010-04-24T10:27:00.003+08:00

from where I stand yesterday

She is a third year student of Ngee Ann Polytechnic complaining in an open letter in Straits Times page A39 today that she cannot afford to pay $160 a YEAR to park her CAR within the campus.

She pinned the blame on the lecturers whom she SUSPECTS were grouching over the lack of car park space.

One hour journey to school with 2 bus changes each way is too much for her.

As she is in the third year now, the society is ready to WELCOME her into the harsh working with open arms.

Sigh..

What I heard yesterday...

2010-02-06T20:04:00.003+08:00

helen in town

Remember the book "In Search of Excellence". The authors profiled 32 companies. And the rest of the world is supposed to learn from these elite 32. Today, 16 of 32 have already disappeared for various reasons.

Illusion of control - is the point of yesterday's lunch. In simple English, we think we know and that we are in control. The truth is that we don't know what we don't know.

The speaker cited another example. The increase in life expectancy of many developed countries is not due to improvement in medication, science nor annual medical check up. The fact is that the improvement is due to simple improvement in hygiene.

Keep it simple is the solution.

20-litre cap on fuel sales

2009-12-30T11:50:00.003+08:00

mobile broadband the Malaysian way

The Malaysian rules say;
The cap is applicable to foreign-registered vehicles within a radius of 50km of Malaysian's borders effective December 28, 2009. But vehicles from Singapore are exempted. Shell V Power is excluded from the above rule as it is not a subsidised product.

After so many years of working experience, human should have learned that too many rules and regulations, things are open for abuse.

An article in Malaysia tabloid suggested various ways to beat the system:-

pump 20 litres first, drive around the petrol station and pump again;
pay with credit card for first 20 litres and pay cash for the remaining;
pump at Shell and then go to Petronas (vice versa or etc etc)
any other brilliant idea?

Even Malaysians are asking the Authority to think through before implementing anything...

Who can enter Singapore casinos?

2009-12-17T20:47:00.004+08:00

a casino taking shape

THE National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) yesterday announced the launch of Third-Party Casino Exclusion Act.

The Act bars undischarged bankrupts as well as members of households that are receiving public assistance from entering casinos.

According to NCPG, it will bar 28,661 persons covered by the Act automatically from the casinos.

Taking away people who are underaged, people who will never gamble, perhaps civil servants, bank officers, teachers, accountants, doctors.. perhaps we won't have many Singaporeans or Singapore permanent residents left who can enter the casinos here.

Renewing Malaysian passport in Singapore

2009-12-17T18:32:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, I spent half and hour recceing the place. Well the Malaysian Embassy is still at Jervois Road. There seems to be some changes. Noted that the notice that December is a busy month with a limit of 160 passports to be issued per day. Hmm.. I guess I go to be early to queue up... 6am? Sigh

The next day, ie. today, raining heavily, in slippers and bermuda, I arrived at 7.45am.. At the Security Counter, I exchanged my expired driving licence for a security pass to enter the premises. Got scanned by a metal detector before proceeding earnestly to the hall. Where to get the forms? A lady told me that I have to get it from the security counter.

@%$#%@ as I walked into the rain again to collect a form from the same security counter. After completing the form, photocopied my expiring passport and identity card (@30cts per page), I joined the queue to get a queue number to submit the application. I was expecting to pay an exorbitant amount for photocoping. 30cts is definitely acceptable. I joined the queue at 8.35am and reached the counter at 10.15am. The officer rejected my two photos on the ground that it is the same as per existing passport issued 5 years ago. I said I still look the same. Officer said no again and issue queue number "1067". I trooped over the photo taking machine and got another queue number. Paid $6 (still acceptable) for 4 instant photographs.

"1067" flashed at 10.45am. I trooped over and handed over the docs. The lady at the counter asked for my Singapore I/C. I said I didn't bring. I am wondering why Malaysian Embassy wants to see another country's document. Perhaps Malaysian government now want to know how many Malaysians and who are actually working in Singapore. Paid $124 for a 32-page passport. By 11am, the submission process completed with minimum hassles. Malaysia has really improved since I was here 5 years ago!!! I was ready for a good lunch given the hard work I put in in the morning!!

At 3pm in the same afternoon, I was back at the Embassy. Got to security counter to do the exchange thingy again. Before entering the Hall, the notice board said the Security Pass number would be the queue number. My number was 123 and currently serving 90. Half an hour later, I got my new passport!! Kudos again to the Malaysian government.

Here are the pertinent details:-
Opening hours - 8am to 11.30am and 2.30pm to 4.15pm on Monday to Friday.
$128 (adjusted to $124 as SGD appreciates) for 32-page - Adult.
$64 for children below 12 years old
130 queue numbers are issued everyday.

Documents needed:-
1. The form (download at www.imi.gov.my / security counter)
2. Two recent photographs with blue background (3.5cm by 5cm)
3. Malaysian I/C (original and photocopy x 1)
4. Expiring passport (original and photocopy x 1)
5. Singapore status documents
6. You must personally be there.

A big task done. Phew....

MCYS foster father

2009-12-05T13:05:00.003+08:00

Question - Should MCYS apologise publicly to the 15-year old girl?

Here are the reasons for the apology:-

a) MCYS is essentially responsible for the appointment of the foster parents.
b) Four years after the incident, the girl is still traumatised and dogged by nightmares of the incident.

Here are the reasons against the apology:-
a) The quilty foster father has gone through training.
b) The foster family has been appointed since March 2003. The reported crime happened in 2005.
c) There is a due process by an independent assessment panel to approve the appointment.
d) He committed non-violence crimes (theft/attempted house breaking) more than 20 years ago.
e) The other five children cared for by the same family are unharmed. (Someone please go check with them.)
e) He is seen to be part of a healthy family of wife and 2 children.
f) In 2006, there was another similar case by another foster parent.
g) These are isolated incidents.

The current Prime Minister of Australia apologised publicly for the crimes committed against children in foster care in the last decade. While the situation may not be so prevalent in Singapore, it is a matter of basic human courtesy for someone in MCYS to take some responsibility to and for the girl.

Which country has the lowest birthrate in the world and in history?

2009-11-25T18:14:00.003+08:00

Selamat Hari Ray Haji

Answer - Taiwan with a birth rate of 1.05 children per woman (7.04 in 1951).

It is so frightening obvious to a teacher in a middle school (I guess, secondary level).

Five years ago, she was teaching a class of 28 students. Now she is teaching a class of only 20.

The declining birth rate has caused some teachers to leave their job.

Moral of the story - Teaching profession is also no longer an iron rice bowl. Hmm.. Edgar now see a threat to his alternative profession of being an educator.

Source - Business Times, Nov 4, 2009

Dr Martin Huang

2009-10-18T00:56:00.004+08:00

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

2009-10-11T18:08:00.003+08:00

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?

2009-10-04T01:34:00.004+08:00

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!

2009-09-29T14:05:00.002+08:00

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

2009-09-27T01:06:00.002+08:00

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?

2009-09-22T01:30:00.002+08:00

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?

2009-09-20T01:01:00.004+08:00

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?

2009-09-06T19:44:00.002+08:00

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

2009-09-05T19:29:00.005+08:00

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... "

2009-08-31T09:24:00.006+08:00

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!

KPIs for Town Councils

2009-08-22T12:22:00.008+08:00

a lift for 2-storey building?

Tentatively, Town Councils will be assessed on five indicators in total on cleanliness, maintenance and financial management.

It is about time that some sort of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are put in place. The KPIs suggested are from both financial and non-financial oriented.

In any performance measurement exercise, the subjects being measured and users of the final information would be very interested to know how are they measured.

If cleanliness is measured by the number of litters seen in 3 sample blocks, examples of things we would want to know would be:-

how are the blocks selected,
who is conducting the inspection and;
how regular will the inspection be done.

Other courses there are many possible performance measures. My view would be response time to lift emergencies and maintenance schedule of lifts would have an immediate life threatening feature as compared to 3 pieces of litters not collected for 3 days.

As I am a number person, I would be very interested in the use of public fund in managing the estate. May I refer you to the picture above. We are looking at the construction of a lift to a 2-storey building by the Town Council serving about 10-15 families. I am very interested in how they arrive at the decision to do just that.

Make all kind of prejudices disappear

2009-08-22T12:04:00.006+08:00

In today's Today, Ooi Kee Beng wrote a piece entitled "Can Najib (the Malaysian PM) drop 'Malays' from UMNO. The Malaysian PM is trying to get his government to drop the need to specify one's race in official documents.

Singapore has actually gone through the similar exercise of reviewing the need for job applicants to fill up information about sex, marital status, religion, race, weight and height in the application forms or even advertisers specifying the criteria of their potential hires.

For advertising matters, there are editors to ensure compliance but how about employers? Are they still using forms from the third world?

What is your experience on the above? Just wondering whether the above is actually being practiced in the real world. Share your view at AnythingWithEdgar.

Two killed on rail track!

2009-08-09T13:56:00.002+08:00

another type of accident

Two Republic Polytechnic students (a boy, age 19 and a girl, age 20) were knocked down and killed by a train bound for Johor Bahru at about 5am on 8 Aug 2009.

It is very rare and difficult for a fatal accident to occur with a railway train in Singapore.

On that fateful morning, two young persons died on the railway track.

There are so many whys:-
a) Was the train moving too fast?
b) Did the young people even tried to move?
c) Were they sleeping on the track?
d) Were they too drunk to move?
e) Why were they still out at such unholy hours?
f) Were they drinking nearby?
g) Did anyone notice the couple?

Chai Chee and Bedok Town Secondary Schools

2009-08-09T13:26:00.002+08:00

It was announced recently that the two secondary schools will merge at the start of academic year 2011.

Subsequently it was reported that an online "war of words" broke out.. of course with students (past and present) from the respective schools coming forth with their pros and cons...

If that online war is true,then the management of both schools should be commended for having done their job of building their respective identity well among their students over the "short" years of existence.

If there were no passion, there will be just plain acceptance of the merger. It is so sad that that sense of belonging to an alma mater would disappear with the merger.

Perhaps the Authority should place a wee bit more importance before deciding to wipe a school out of existence or merge two schools in a new entity. Perhaps the Authority has no choice but to merge... Why no choice?

Consequence of not enough babies!!!

Are there many Jennie Chuas in Singapore?

2009-08-02T17:03:00.004+08:00

Who is Jennie Chua? I had a brief encounter with her a few years ago. She came across as a very friendly and no-air person. Her biodata and achievements to date as follows.

Chairman, Singapore International Chamber of Commerce
Chief corporate officer, CapitaLand
Chairman, Raffles Hotel
# 1945 Born in Singapore
# 1971 BA, Cornell University, School of Hotel Management

Partial list of other positions:-
# Chairman, Community Chest
# Deputy chairman, Workforce Development Agency
# Board member, Sentosa Development Corporation
# Chairman, Singapore Film Commission
# Chairman, International Advisory Council for Tourism, Singapore Tourism Board
# Member, Pro-Enterprise Panel
# Holds 21 company directorships

Why am I showing you all of the above? To show you that she is a very successful and capable lady. But...

I have attached a quote from an interview published in this Saturday's BT Raffles Conversation.

When the interviewer asked how she manages her time, Jennie said,
'And I do have time. I'm divorced, so don't have a husband and don't need to spend time mollycoddling him; I have a companion, but he mollycoddles me! I don't play golf, which can take up two afternoons a week. My children are grown, and as for grandchildren, well, you play with them, and when you're tired you say, now please go home.'

'On the whole, I have to say I've had a wonderful life.'

My interpretation of that quote is that she sees having a husband as a chore, having a companion as good, children as no longer an issue and grandchildren as fun as long as she is not tired.

Perhaps the quote has been taken out of context by me. Not doing justice to her.

But the issue here is not on Jennie per se. I just wish to ask whether this is the price of having a successful career to a man or a woman. There is always a price!

Another Singtel mindgame?

2009-07-17T00:39:00.003+08:00

Its $30 voucher to buy a phone OR $8 rebate per month for 24 months' contract.

If you choose to buy a new phone in the middle of the 24 months, rebate stops.
But if you terminate / downgrade / temporary suspend your contract, you will have to pay:-
$8 x no. of months with rebate plus $50 adminstrative fee.

What is Singtel trying to achieve?
Try to buy your loyalty (AGAIN, as in 2nd attempt) for 24 months with this kind of crap deal in my humble opinion. My loyalty is worth more. Perhaps Singtel should more loyalty to your customers with a sincere deal.

What do you think?

Election in Indonesia

2009-07-08T21:40:00.004+08:00

the security I experience in a hotel in Jakarta BEFORE the recent bomb blast

far away from the lobby

No news is good news as one commentator said of the peaceful election in Indonesia.

I was in Jakarta last week. My client (supposed to be well informed) was not aware of the election date when I briefly enquired about the election. In my two hours' ride to and fro the airport, there was hardly any messy signs that the country is currently in election mode.

The election process in Singapore (just shown on TV5 news) for Indonesia surprised me. Any Indonesian citizens who walk in with a valid passport will be entitled to exercise their constitution right. Bravo to that!!

I hope Malaysia will that step in the next election.

Ponzi scheme here in Singapore?

2009-07-05T01:45:00.004+08:00

ion continues to take shape

On Madoff's billions dollars Ponzi Scheme, the Judge asked Madoff before he sentenced him to maximum 150 years in prison, "Where did you learn the scheme from?"

Madoff clamly responded, "The Social Security Scheme."

Couple of months ago, I said US government could actually be doing a Ponzi-scheme too with its government bonds and Treasury bills. Upon maturity of $1 billion worth 5-year bills, the government would borrow $1.05 billion to repay the principal and interest of the maturing bills.

In Singapore, CPF collects contributions from current generation of working adults and paying out to the retiring group. Take for example - Every month, CPF collects $10 from thousands of employers and pays out $2 to people reaching 55 years or to estates of people who have passed away.

Madoff had been comfortable with a $8 positive margin to finance his lifestyle and massive marketing machinery for so many years. He only started to feel the heat when more and more people withdraw their monies.

The only difference is that our money with CPF are being invested in productive assets and thus generating income to pay interest. What if we reach the stage that we are unable to generate decent returns, the possibility of huge investment losses and a definite scenario of increasing no. of baby boomers withdrawing their lifelong savings?

Could we degenerate into another Ponzi scheme? Never says never. But we certainly must not let that happen.

Climb Mt. Everest for what?

2009-06-26T12:43:00.003+08:00

Excuse me, why 6 beautiful ladies spent so many years of their lives and so much of don't know whose money, preparing and finally successfully scaling the Mt. Everest?

Can someone explain to me from their point of view?

Economic Strategies Committee

2009-06-26T12:36:00.002+08:00

The Ministry of Finance yesterday unveiled the members of the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) and spelt out its mission to develop strategies to keep the economy growing - and spread the gains to Singaporeans.

I thought I heard from the various senior government representatives recently that there is no need for the Economic Review Committee (ERC) to be reconstituted as Singapore is structurally sound this time round. The problem of collapse of external demand is beyond Singapore's ability to singularly remedy.

No need for ERC but we need ESC.

Harlem Globetrotters in Singapore - passe?

2009-05-17T23:21:00.004+08:00

What came out well?
We were early.. way too early and thus no rush at all.
We were moved to better seats as the stadium was half full or half empty.

What came out badly?
The tickets said 6.30pm but SISTIC's website said 7.30pm. We sat there for more than an hour. Why?
Perhaps to get us there early without dinner. Is that a ploy for us to spend more money on the expensive food and drinks in the stadium. Or is to get people there on time?

The performance of the Globetrotters - slow, dull, unslick, not much basketball, too much clowning around, poor sound, probably the third or fourth Globetrotters reserve team came to Singapore.

Verdict - Don't waste time. Go do something else.

AWARE beware? Or be aware of AWARE?

2009-05-07T09:28:00.005+08:00

Finally, it is official!!! MOE has suspended AWARE's sex education programme being run in our schools. Noted its programmes have both plus and minus points.

I was forwarded a copy of the materials used from a reliable source. After reading of it, I was thoroughly flabbergasted that such "things" are allowed officially in schools. I just hope not too much damages have been done to a generation of children.

1st Issue
I am not here to question what AWARE stands for. But the members of AWARE should be concerned as to whether the original intention of AWARE has mutated by adding a word here and there to their original manifesto by subsequent management committees.

2nd Issue
One of the first bit of info I was looking for in the initial many days of many full pages of newspapers dedicated to the "quibblings" at AWARE - How many members' interest were affected? Now we know... 300 members... until the fracas started...

Question for the Old Guards - Why were the membership only at 300? Has the membership been increasing or decreasing over the years? This is a good indicator as to whether AWARE has been doing delivering values to its members.

In business, no point telling our bosses that we have been working hard throughout the year. Bosses always ask, what are the measurable outcomes against targets?

3rd issue - "Membership increased from 300 to 3000" in a matter of weeks.
Apparently AWARE's constitution allows ladies to sign up minutes before a General Meeting and yet be allowed to vote on issues a few minutes after.

The Old Guards were voted out by the New Guards using this rule. The New Guards were subsequently voted out when many phantom supporters suddenly turned up at Suntec City by the thousands to sign up as members.

Suggestion - For the stability of leadership and operation of its various programmes, perhaps the Clause should be amended to require new members 3 months' "warming period".

One good thing that comes out of all these AWARE episodes - Singapore's society continues to mature as we openly discuss issues responsibly (said a friend of mine).

Open letter to SMRT (or the actual landlord), DBS

2009-04-17T11:15:00.005+08:00

at unholy hours ...

Dear management of SMRT and DBS Bank,

Reference to the ATMs located in the basement of City Hall MRT walkway towards SCB and UOB exits.

On numerous occassions that the ATMs above were heavily assessed by users, forming long queues which cut across the common walkway. These queues caused congestion in an already crowded environment, particularly during peak period.

Questions

Is this appropriate from various safety aspects?
Should the DBS Bank's ATM users impede on the benefits of other users of the public facilities there?

Please review.

Stop throwing rubbish at my place

2009-04-17T10:09:00.001+08:00

Do you have the right to do this to me?

Gelylang Serai Market - What NEA has been saying

2009-04-10T14:25:00.003+08:00

it has changed so much since last...

Background info - About 150 people were treated for diarrhoea and stomach pains with 2 elderly dead and an abortion after consuming Indian rojak contaminated seafood materials from a hawker in Geylang Serai temporary market.

What has National Environmental Agency (NEA) been saying so far? Here are the various quotes and my associated comments:-

1. NEA said that it was not directly responsible for hygience at temporary markets, but only at permanent ones owned by Ministry of Environment and Water Resources. "... is job of its management committee" (ST April 9, 2009)

Question - If the management committee of the temporary market is not doing their job in ensuring cleanliness, whose responsibility is it to ensure that these committees effect their responsibility?

2. The alleged stall has been re-rated from "B" to "C" since last December 2008.
But till the day of the incident ie. about 3-4 months after re-rating, the stall is observed to be displating the old notice of "B". (ST April 9, 2009)

Question - Whose responsibility is it to ensure that the stall owners change the displayed sign when applicable?

Guide on fairness but what about the law?

2009-04-09T09:11:00.004+08:00

Mr Tan Kin Lian asked the above in his letter to the Forum published in ST on April 7, 2009.

Essentially, I think he said the following:-
a) He is asking for the outcome of MAS/AG's investigation on the petition signed by 983 people affected by the Minibond/Hi-Note saga.
b) You do not act by issuing more guidelines for the industry.
c) Has the law been violated or even activated to address the problem?

My views.
The financial industry is an important component of Singapore's economy. So important that the various of organs of government have to tread carefully in handling the matter. It is not just a matter of addressing the problems of a few thousands individuals and a few prestigious financial institutions.

The guidelines are useful to prevent (hopefully) the recurrence in the interim.

But the state of our financial sector is also so important to other countries that Singapore made it to the "Grey List" of nations with practices that other countries are concerned about. (I think this is an appropriate way to put it.)

The question is whether a crime has been committed. Let me attempt to give you a parallel analogy.

Let's say that a man sold you a stone that was supposed to heal a thousand ailment but it did not. What would you do? You would report to the police and the man would be prosecuted after due investigation.

Similarly (in my humble opinion), if a financial adviser sold you a product that is said to be "capital guaranteed" and "better than fixed deposit" but actually not so. Then what would you do?

So the question again - Has a crime been committed? We await the outcome.

En bloc then, En blocked now

2009-04-06T09:08:00.004+08:00

In the Sunday Times last weekend, it ran a story of Horizon Tower 2.5-year-saga coming to another temporary end with the Court of Appeal ruling in favour of stopping the $500mio en -bloc sale to a group of buyers led by HPL's Mr Ong Beng Seng.

Who are the parties involved and what have they won and lost?

The 4 sets of homeowners who objected to the sale
- get to keep their home
- but collectively may have to pay $1 million in legal fees

The 173 sets of homeowners who were for the sale
- total legal costs at about $2-3 millions but "luckily" to be shared by 173 homeowners
- more painful for those who have jumped the gun by going into the property market then and bought a replacement property in anticipation of the sale going through - now these people got to service the loan of an expensively purchased property.

The buyers - HPL and its partners led by Mr Ong Beng Seng
- may have to work out the cost sharing of legal fees of trying to conclude the sale

The lawyers for the buyers, majority sellers and minority homeowners
- We are still awaiting the Court to determine costs but the costs estimated to date could be in the range of $5-6 millions.

The Small Title Board, the various Courts ie. the System - they have been asked to participate in history making.

But one important party not specifically mentioned in the newspaper review is the Government and its officers who have designed and approved the en bloc scheme for use by the market at that point in time. We have to ask the question as to whether en bloc scheme introduced at that point in time, has any contributory effect to the saga.

There should be review of the process and procedures to test on the robustness of any scheme to be implemented. We are dealing with people's home (some with a lot of emotional attachment), to others, one's biggest and most significance asset and to the rest, assets worth millions of dollars.

I got a feeling that the saga is not at its complete end for the moment.

P/S - I have benefited from the en bloc scheme applied to Bedok Reservoir's HUDC but with much fanfare too. I will spare you my views on that exercise for now.

HDB's Lease Buy Back scheme - A cynical view

2009-03-30T22:14:00.004+08:00

to be ready soon?

While having lunch in a coffee shop in an old neighbourhood about 2 weeks' ago, I heard this man telling his friend about the Lease Buy Back scheme.

What is Lease Buy Back (LBS) Scheme?
For a 3-room flat with a remaining lease of 65 years, the lessee can sell the tail end of the lease back to HDB ie. 35 years for:-
a) you still get to stay in your current flat for the next 30 years;
b) $5,000 lump sum payable upfront to you
c) the rest of the payout goes towards an annuity which will pay out a fixed sum of money every month.

Depending on the age and expected mortality rate of lessee, the payout could range up to $800 per month.

I thought this is great as it allows asset-rich-cash-poor people to encash part of their assets.

Guess what the man said about the monthly payout. "In 10 years' time, we may not even get a single cent of the money as the monthly payout will first go towards paying the utilities' bill !!!"

Amazing alternative view :) I must admit I didn't see that coming at that moment.

Good night.

Another cynical story for u

2009-03-30T22:04:00.003+08:00

As I was thinking about the Anonymous reader's comment that my made-up hypothesis of Jerry Ee's decision to turn himself was being cynical.

I wish to try to up the ante with this view that I heard from a friend.

On Sunday's Straits Times, the story also mentioned about another old man, who had stayed in a village in Thailand for many years, too decided to turn himself in.

Why? I wonder after all these years.

He is said to be sickly. Thus a logical hypothesis would be for him to come home to Singapore and let the world best health care system take care of him at taxpayers' expense.

Jerry Ee surrenders? How come?

2009-03-21T22:09:00.004+08:00

Can you imagine what could happen to someone walking around in Thailand with $8-9 millions worth of watches in his suitcases? The Thai underground network could be abuzz with news of someone trying to sell very expensive and unique watches.

He couldn't sell them off fast enough nor at the right price. He is not sure whether he could leave Thailand.

So probably the best idea would be for him to turn himself in at the Singapore embassy with those watches that are more difficult to sell. Then go to prison for a couple of years. In due time, he could re-unite with those watches that he has kept (estimated cost $3.3mio) or the cash from watches sold (maybe a $1m after discount given).

Jerry, is this your plan?

Background
Jerry Ee, a former Cortina Holdings employee, went missing with $8m worth of luxury watches in December last year. Recently he turned himself at the Singapore embassy in Bangkok.

SCB and OCBC are now on 2

2009-03-07T16:50:00.003+08:00

SCB have betted heavily and successfully on the two legs on 50,000 individuals (I think) recently and over the years to run in marathons organised by them.

The light blue Adidas tops seen on many Shenton Wayites during their daily jogs are now worn with pride as a testimony that that the individual wearing that top has earned it through his/her participation in a marathon.

The light blue top now signifies a fitness level sufficient for a marathan (albeit half marathon for some). It is like getting a proficiency badge for a scout or girl guide.

The above demonstrated the use of a sporting event by a corporate entity to promote brand awareness and other objectives very successfully.

In recent time, another bank in the form of OCBC has followed with launch of their sponsorship to promote cycling on 2 wheels, of course. Thousands too turned up.

2-leg vs 2-wheel? Well at this moment, 2-leg is way ahead of the game.

Taxi ridership falls year on year

2009-02-28T23:59:00.002+08:00

On Feb 21, the daily average taxi ridership data was published on ST.

It confirmed the fact that fewer people are taking taxis. I guess the incessant increase in taxi fares and ERP charges are actually discouraging taxi riderships for other forms of public transportation.

But the number of taxis on the roads have increased tremendously. This increase in taxis has led to reported poaching of taxi drivers. Many went to secure a taxi driver licence as an insurance against being jobless.

So if the actual taxi riderships have gone done, is there a need for more taxis to be on the roads? As more taxis ==> contributing to jams ==> higher ERP ==> discourage further demand for taxi... So is this what the taxi drivers want?

But they can't try to compensate for their lower income by pressuring the taxi companies to raise fares. This is not the solution either.

The problem is the demand. If the demand is declining due to competing alternatives available to passengers and the trend seems irreversible, a taxi driver should be thinking of re-training and joining another profession soon!

think twice before forwarding that SMS

2009-02-28T23:23:00.004+08:00

suppose to be ready by end 2009?

Last Saturday, a well intentioned friend forwarded a SMS to me about some terrorist and police activities at Bugis Junction. I replied with a caution that I hope she has checked the info before forwarding. Otherwise you could be called up for disseminating harmful rumours.

Instead of thanking me for the caution, she responded, "Then you don't forward."

Puzzled by lack of care attitude. Sigh we need to know the consequences of our action.

The very next day, it was reported in the newspaper that a 19-year young man has been arrested in connection with the SMS.

Well I hope she has read the paper. I doubt she reads. :(

True Spa and 16 unhappy customers

2009-02-14T18:17:00.003+08:00

I have had a bad experience with the said entity too.

My focus here is the method adopted by the 29-year-old assistant marketing manager, Ms Tan Siang Mei, who bought a $4,000/- spa package in 2006, to seek remedy from True Spa.

After repeated attempts to consume the package but failed, she went online to seek out people with similar experiences with True Spa. She placed her name and contact details at the many online forums.

80 responded with 15 agreeing to join her in filing a collective law suit.

Power to consumerism. Businesses beware.

Ms Shonia Ng and her dead dog

2009-02-14T18:08:00.003+08:00

It was reported recently that Ms Shonia Ng's dog died from a CONTAGIOUS canine disease because the pet farm she bought it from, did not give it proper vaccinations.

Questions

Can the disease be transmitted from animal to human now?
Could it mutate and consequently enter human chain through constant hugs and kisses between the dog lovers and dogs?
How many other such dogs without vaccinations roaming the streets of Singapore now?
What is the Authority doing about this issue?

ERA or just a few bad apples?

2009-02-14T17:34:00.003+08:00

Sellers- Mr and Mrs Yuen Chow Hin

ERA Property Agent - Mr Jeremy Ong

Buyers - Mdm Natassha Sadiq
Wife of Mr Jeremy Ong's boss, Mr Mike Parikh, ERA senior group division.

The Yuens sold their property to Mdm Sadiq at $688,000 to a Mdm Sadiq as recommended by Mr Ong. Mr Ong conveniently "forgotten" to tell the Yuens that the buyer is his boss's wife.

The property was subsequently resold at $945,000.

The Yuens did not smell any rat until they were queried by CPF for selling at such a low price.

Court ordered ERA (not the property agents) to return $257,000 to the Yuens. ERA said they should not be responsible as the property agents carrying their banner are "independent contractors".
My view
Whether the agents or the shell that represent the humans, the Yuens should get their monies back. I am waiting to see what will happen to Mr Ong, Mr Parikh and Mdm Sadiq. I wonder whether there is other victims... Sigh

I do not have a good impression of the property agents that I have interacted with over the years.

The first one only have to turn up for the meeting to earn her fees while we, as a young married couple then, bargained feverishly with the owners. Immediately after we got the option, the agent said she could to flip it for $30,000 profit. Huh?

The second one was a rookie entering the industry. These untrained ones should not have been let loose unattended.

My third encounter was on a tenancy matter. He tried to collect monies from both sides ie. the landlord and the tenants.

My fourth encounter was for the purchase of the current home we are staying in. Seller, a widower, was my mum-in-law' neighbour for many years. I was dealing with her all the time. Her son has the thickest cheek to approach me for money after the deal has been agreed with his mother even though I hardly see throughout the process over a few weeks. I duly tell him to back off.

Bottomline - For many years we have let the situation to persist ie. the poor state of property agency in my opinion. It is a jungle out there. Be careful.

Can buy Johor?

2009-02-11T00:09:00.005+08:00

Kiribati, an island between Hawaii and Australia, is the second island-nation after the Maldives that has floated the idea of buying land should their islands be swamped by rising seas and more powerful storms.

The sea level around Kiribati has been rising 5.1 millimetres a year since 1991, Australia's National Tidal Centre reported.

The immediate consequence effects - Higher tides in Kiribati's 33-island archipelago are making potable water for its 100,000 residents too salty to drink.

Now switch that thought to Singapore, an island nation too. We have created reservoirs from the sea. Most recently, the Marina reservoir. Could these reservoirs be one day claimed back by salty seawater? Do we have a contingency plan for rising sea level? Build dykes around Singapore? Maybe.

Or perhaps offer a price to Johor Sultan / Malaysia to buy over Johor state as insurance against rising tide? Or should we build a Noah's Ark instead?

Semua Boleh - A country of U-turns

2009-02-05T09:38:00.004+08:00

atms-induced traffic jam at raffles place

A neighbouring country has been observed to have so many u-turns but not on the roads though; but in major political and investment decisions.

Examples of such u-turns:-

to sell the national cancer centre to a private company, then reversed
to build a s-shaped bridge, then stopped
to build one of the largest dam in this region, then stopped
to build an airport for budget flights, then reversed
politicians going independent yesterday and back to their incumbent party today
another gentleman said he will have enough support to take over the government on such such a day - the day came and gone
to charge higher petrol prices on foreign cars going into the country and then nothing

Do you know of other example?

Huh? Like this also can meh? Selamat pagi :)

20cts more for a cup of coffee?

2009-01-27T15:08:00.003+08:00

oops.. no CNY picture

Is it the same as $4 surcharge for a usual $6 haircut applicable two weeks before and after the Chinese New Year?

Or is it the same to pay $48 per kg of Lim Chee Guan's bak kwa after queuing from 4am when perhaps you pay half the price with no queue during normal days?

Are the above 3 situations the same?
To me, they are different and I would behave differently towards each.

Firstly, I am willing to pay 20cts more for the coffee. Why? The coffee was served by a Chinese. I am not being racist here. To be more precise, the Chineses who made and served the coffee have sacrificed their holidays and time with family to provide a service to me.

Second situation - No surcharge would be payable by me here. Why? She is the same hairdresser who cut my hair. The haircut is not done during the immediate holidays.

Third situation - Plain and simple no.
But some may rebuke me by saying what is Chinese New Year without bak kwa.
Then I would reply, "Without bak kwa or without Lim Chee Guan's bak kwa?"
Perhaps another would say, "What would Valentine Day be without flowers?"
Then I would reply, "For every day that we are together, .. blah .. blah blah"

The basic criteria - Is there an opportunity cost suffered by the provider of the product or service? If yes, I will compensate you. Do you agree?

Happy NIU Year, my dear friends.

The Lessons of Capt Sullenburger

2009-01-26T10:07:00.003+08:00

What lessons can we draw from Capt Sullenburger's heroics? Remember he was the pilot who calmly steered the plane to land on Hudson River with little or no engine power after the engines were damaged by a big flock of big birds. He saved more than 150 lives including his.

In critical moments of our lives, we need to remain calm and stay focus on getting the job done.

Are training, practice and experience the key ingredients to that incident? Is it coincidental that the plane has such a pilot with all the necessary characteristics at that moment?

To the 150 plus people on board, they must be glad that he was at the cockpit.

Luckily he was not one of those people who is victim of many cost-minimising exercises in Corporate America where the older people, deemed more expensive, are being replaced by the cheaper younger pilots.

My concluding remark - Whether you are a young or more "matured" person, we must all strive to possess those characteristics. Let's all view each other as being useful one way or another.

Inspired by Edgar?

2009-01-23T13:10:00.003+08:00

I regularly sent out emails to my ex-students enquiring about them.

I received a response from a Mr Tan K.T. sharing with me the changes in his life. The most important bit that really amused me was when he told me that he is now married and the couple has a new addition to the family, a boy. Great? Not yet.

The greatest thing is that they have unofficially (not in I/C) named the boy "EDGAR" !!!!!!!!!!!!

Inspired by Edgar indeed.

So Edgar Tan, welcome to this World but be careful of Edgar Wong :)

No news in ST Money?

2009-01-19T10:11:00.003+08:00

I have noticed that there isn't much business news in ST Money particularly on Mondays.

Check today's ST ... there is so little news that the editorial team has to slot in book reviews "Overhyped Books".

Are all the business news in Business Times? Or are there really nothing happening in business?

To the extent that no news is actually good news? Smile...

Who is really learning? Teacher or student?

2009-01-18T10:41:00.003+08:00

I have just this article trying to define what is learning. The authors', Ackoff and Greenberg, basic proposition is that you learn more when you are teaching. This is against the popular understanding that you can only learn from being taught.

I want to share with you the following series of exchanges between a professor and a student cited from the article which drive home the point into my deep skull.

(quote) After lecturing to undergraduates at a major university, I was accosted by a student who had attended the lecture. After some complimentary remarks, he asked, "How long ago did you teach your first class?"

I responded, "In September of 1941."

"Wow!" The student said. "You mean to say you have been teaching for more than 60 years?"

"Yes."

"When did you last teach a course in a subject that existed when you were a student?"

This difficult question required some thought. After a pause, I said, "September of 1951."

"Wow! You mean to say that everything you have taught in more than 50 years was not taught to you; you had to learn on your own?"

"Right."

"You must be a pretty good learner."

I modestly agreed. (unquote)

In conclusion - Oscar Wilde remindered us that "nothing that is worth learning can be taught". We have got to want to learn it.

Source - Knowledge @ Wharton

A stupid offer!

2009-01-17T11:22:00.004+08:00

In the midst of my day, a call came in from Singtel's marketing agent.

She duly informed me of Singtel's latest "promotion". What is the Offer?

"Commit to a 2-year contract in return for longer "free" talk time and increase in "free" sms from 500 to 1,000"

Initially I could not understand the offer and asked her to repeat again. It then dawned upon me that Singtel is trying to buy my 2-year loyalty for NOTHING!!!!!!

Singtel must have analysed their customers' data on talk time/sms utilisation. Perhaps a smart alec came up with the idea that why don't Singtel give these customers something they don't really need in return for tying them down for 2 years....

Please treat your customers with respect too.

My pain with NTUC Income Motor Insurance

2008-12-31T17:37:00.003+08:00

car and you

I have recently renewed my motor insurance with a 41% increase in premium.

For 2008, I paid $613.
And for the coming year, I have paid $864.86.
I have made no claim all these years and the above is after 50% No Claim Discount.
So I wrote to NTUC Income for an explanation.
The following is their response.

"Dear Mr Wong,

Thank you for your email.

We wish to take this opportunity to explain that we have recently revised our Motor Insurance rates with effect from 15 October 2007. The increase is not confined to your goodself but the revision affects all our Private Car policyholders. The revision is due to escalating claim costs among private cars and was necessary so as to keep our plans sustainable.

The increase in premium for our policyholder vary depending on the risk factors such as vehicle model, vehicle capacity, age, driving experience, occupation and claim experience etc. While it is not possible to increase the premium only on policyholders who make claims, policyholders who were involved in accidents and directly contributed to the losses have their premium increased much more.

The premium quoted is the best premium that we can offer. We apologise if we cannot meet up to your expectations and seek your kind understanding on the matter. If we may be of further assistance, please contact us by email to csquery@income.com.sg or phone us at 67881122."

So is the increase and quantum of increase fair? What is your experience?

The Singapore Flyer

2008-12-27T11:42:00.005+08:00

Yes, it is a good wake up call that unexpected things can and do happen.

But more importantly - When things do happen, what do we do?

I am talking about the Singapore Flyer. I was lying on the sofa reading BBC on my cell phone at 2am. "Singapore Flyer" made headline on BBC??? Luckily nobody gets hurt.

Yes questions need to be asked and answered to avoid recurrence of this incident. But can we ask and answer them faster without compromising on the quality of the investigation. Why faster?

Singapore cannot disappoint the many tourists (albeit much less coming to Singapore) who have travelled thousands of miles to be here just for the ride. Not good for Singapore reputation.

Businesses there are so badly affected. Rent and salary still need to be paid. It is painful. So let us not give a chance for the business owners to cut heads to save costs. And contribute further to unemployment situation.

When the wheel stops, part of Singapore stop too.

This is not the financial crisis of any significant scale. So can a few good men and women in Singapore come together and help to put Singapore Flyer back together again, QUICKLY for Singapore sake.

P/S - I am not a stakeholder of the Flyer in anyway. Btw, can take care of the rat running around I saw while I was there?

Court 48

2008-12-19T18:21:00.005+08:00

I was in Court 48. Why am I there? Not important la.

But what did I observe?
It was a busy afternoon with many people accused of offences under URA, HDB and ACRA.

There was this guy who is accused of 20 counts of illegal hawking. So he owes HDB/URA for fines outstanding.

A court officer explained the charges to him. The lady judge then proceeded to explain to him his options. The judge said she could grant an extension for him to plead and pay HDB/URA subject to someone bailing him out.

The man said he wanted to plead guilty. The judge patiently explained to him that by pleading guilty to the charges, it does not void the need to pay the fines.

He insisted that he wanted to plead guilty and he couldn't find anyone to bail him out. The judge subsequently delivered the sentence. After a few moment of punching her calculator, the man is liable to pay the Court $500 per count of illegal hawking or go to jail. This is in addition to the owings to HDB/URA.

I am puzzled by the man's strategy. Perhaps he is the fall guy who is ready to go bankrupt after jail term to avoid paying the outstanding fines.

Sad. He will be in prison while the rest of us celebrate Christmas.

P/S - Some info garbled to protect the identities.

Chew Tai Lu

2008-12-18T20:30:00.004+08:00

the van literally parked in the bus bay with no care for the world

He is 56 and vice president of product innovation at SIA.

He was involved in a car accident which caused injury to 3 pedestrains and another car. From what I read in the paper today, he seems to have acted responsibly by staying around to help the injured, visited them at hospital, offered compensation etc.

He was fined $2,000 for causing accident.

So far nothing fantastic. But towards the end of the article, it reported that Mr Chew could lose his job and about $250,000 worth of share options given the conviction.

Is it true, SIA?

Don't cry..

2008-12-09T19:30:00.006+08:00

If your boss come to you today and tell you there is no year end bonus, no increment but got pay cut and force to take compulsory annual leave, don't cry.

But instead we should pray that those guys in power, better get it right QUICKLY.

In the mean time, the many millions of Chinese workers will pray that the factory they are working for would still be around and re-open for business after the Chinese New Year break.

For us here in Singapore, let us hope that the tourists will find some monies under their bed and come and spend them in Singapore, people will continue to buy our electronic chips, pharmaceuticals, financial services (these represents the biggest contributors to Singapore economy).

For those in contruction business, let us hope you will still have something to build (big buildings to even long drains) and more importantly, get paid by the main contractors and developers.

But don't forget to pray for the environment and the mother Earth.
Keep them healthy for our future.

One year Anniversary

2008-12-02T22:43:00.004+08:00

a drink

It has been slightly more than a year since I embark on my second entrepreneur stint.

In my first stint ie. towards the end of 1998 financial crisis, I took on a service business that the market here was not familiar. That stint was effectively ended by the dotcom bust. My expatriate customer base was being "reassigned" home. Coincidentally I was offered a deal to walk away financially unscathed and I took it.

My business model was weak and Edgar didn't know that many people in Singapore then. I was pretty much flying around the region. Singapore was not a familiar terrain.

This time round I feel I am much better equipped after my experience of working in a large local GLC and took the opportunity of "reinventing" myself from a general degree holder to a qualified professional.

Do I regret leaving a regular paycheck job? No. In fact, I enjoy the freedom, thrills and tribulations of making a living.

It is not easy but it has been fun... but I miss "you".

To friends and staff who have given me your support, I sincerely thank you.

My best wishes to you as 2008 draws to an end. Cheers

Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-26T21:06:00.002+08:00

odd but happy couple

I want to thank you for everything and everyone that I have.

Over prata on Monday night, in between my friend's son quibbling about a cheese prata with "free" egg, it reminded me of a friend I have not met for a while now, who yearns for cheese prata occassionally.

Anyway the point tonight is that everyone of us has a lot to be thankful for. Appreciate the positives in our life.

"We are still here and having a simple meal," my old friend said.

The financial crisis will pass. This is man-made and man can certainly correct this.

Just sit tight, pray and give strength to those who need it more for the moment.

Dear cheese prata friend, I still speak to u.

Taksins to divorce

2008-11-18T09:45:00.003+08:00

Dear, I wish to discuss with you something.

Yes dear?

I just got off the phone with the lawyers. Thr Brits are cancelling our visas next week. And we will be given 24 hours to leave the country. Tentatively we go Beijing for a couple of weeks.

All right.. I go tell the children. And do some packing..

Dear... hang on..

Yes dear?

This situation cannot continue. I cannot put you and the children through this again and again. Jeff, our lawyer, has actually come with the idea that we should be officially unrelated ie. through a divorce. After which, he could seek the Brits to issue visa to you and the children on sympathetic grounds. Some of the money and assets be distributed to you and the children.

Then how about you, dear?

Don't worry about me for now.. Maybe I will hang around Bermuda or Christmas Island till we can formalise something... So is it ok that I ask the lawyers to do the paperwork?

If you think it is for the best ...

All right then. We will swing by to visit Arat at our Hong Kong consulate to formalise the divorce...

The above is purely fictional.

Mr Lim is angry

2008-11-18T00:37:00.001+08:00

Why? Apparently the union was not involved to the prior the announcement of retrenchment of 900.

How come? Why the haste?
Or has someone conveniently forgotten the due process / protocol in managing a retrenchment exercise in this national and multi national company?

The 900 includes people who had approved the distribution of those ill fated financial products?

The adjectives of "a PR disaster" were being used on national radio this morning.

Dr Ng Shwu Yong

2008-11-15T11:45:00.003+08:00

the Flyer

When I was reading the article entitled "Obstetrician suspended for tax offences" in ST today, I was thinking of drawing some learning points on tax for my tax blog.

I changed my mind as there was not much tax issue except for the well summarised conclusion on Dr Ng issued by Singapore Medical Association (SMA).

SMA has decided to suspend Dr Ng, of Esther Ng Clinic and Surgery, from practice given her multiple IRAS violations and convictions. They implied a "defect in character which made her unfit for the medical profession".

In 2001 and 2004, she was convicted for repeatedly failing to produce accounts for her clinic, failing to show up in court and ignoring warrant of arrest.

In another incident reflecting her obstinate streak - She left her PORSCHE at the workshop for 5 years after a dispute!!!

Well she has obviously made her money. She may probably be a good doctor too. But she is stubborn.

In positive light, one could refer to her as a principled person. Negatively, she could just be foolish. Perhaps one should know when to fold.

900 jobs for the price of Hi 5 Notes?

2008-11-08T17:54:00.002+08:00

Somebody got to pay for it... but who?

So are the same relationtion managers, who cried when they broke the bad news to their clients, are "crying" now for losing their jobs with one month for every year of service?

"Sing to the dawn"

2008-11-02T19:54:00.004+08:00

who will then sit on the same chair after that dog?
the two human beings dare not look at me when i took the picture

After the leap year thingy, now we are being bombarded with singing to the dawn.

Can you remember a movie being talked over news over 2 different days over 2 different weeks?

Well this is the one...

My children have long since been convinced not to pay $10 per ticket to watch cartoon. Ha!!

Banks and FIs, pls do the right thing.. How?

2008-10-20T00:19:00.004+08:00

many would be happy with 50% refund

Singapore Way
MAS said, "If the investors had been mis-sold the product or where the product was clearly inappropriate to their circumstances, MAS expects the FIs to take full responsibility... fair settlement .. to be assessed on case by case basis"

How to assess?
The current definition of "vulnerable" customers are uninformed elderly, retirees with limited savings and those not English-proficient to understand the product literature.

If you open one door to an old illiterate lady, hundred of others would claim to be illiterate too. If FI pay to the old lady as "mis-sold", will it open the doors for others to take legal action on this basis?

Hong Kong Way
From what I understand, the government is asking the respective banks and FIs to partially refund the monies to all.. perhaps 30%?

Which is the better way?

Mr Tan Kin Lian to run for President?

2008-10-19T15:31:00.005+08:00

You mean the man is doing all those things at Hong Lim Park and dealing with the pain of more 600 people when he has not got a single cent at stake in Minibonds or Hi-notes, as a pre-cursor to his bid for presidency?

I saw the headline for the Chinese paper. But as I can't read Chinese, I know no more than it is. I declare that I have worked with him in my years with NTUC Income.

Can someone please ask him this question directly? Or has he been asked and his answer is already reported in the paper? Then can someone please tell me his answer. I am really curious.

Why 21% increase in electricity tariff?

2008-10-05T10:37:00.003+08:00

a vacant land for now

In yesterday's ST, Ms Jenny Teo, Director of Corporate Communications of Energy Market Authority (EMA) tried to explain the massive increase in tariff for Oct/Nov/Dec quarter.

Allow me to summarise her response first.

The tariff is set quarterly in advance against the prevailing fuel oil price.

Why pegged against fuel oil price when 80% of electricity produced is generated using natural gas? Answer - While the gas supply has been secured with long term contracts but its price floats with fuel oil price as per market practice. [Given the massive tariff fluctuation, should EMA consider alternative arrangements? Or the whole Singapore should continue to subject itself to these shocks?]

She said oil price went up sharply in July. [I am sure it did. But what I am not sure is the magnitude of how that affect the tariff by SO MUCH.]

Ms Teo said it has nothing to do with F1 on its electricity consumption.

Ms Teo also said the increase in tariff is also not linked to the privatisation of the electricity industry. She said the privatisation process should be in consumers' interest.

My views
Firsly, as an accountant, I will be convinced when I see the costing figures. Of course, Ms Teo will not share that info with the whole Singapore.

An investor must justify the billions of dollars paid for the power plant investments with an appropriate yield. So how did the seller justify the yield to prospective investors?

Secondly, I am still not convinced with the existing public-listed public transport companies being regulated by Public Transport Council (or something like that). For so many years, the management of these companies have to play between profit maximisation and fulfilling their respective public role.

We have now created another situation of selling our power generation companies to private companies and the existence of Energy Market Authority.