6.5 millions residents and lunch time Snooze

Not too sure how Singapore would be like with 6.5mio residents. I feel very suffocating as it is now with all the jams and difficulty in finding a quiet place to seek solitude.

Yes, how nice if we can all sleep like that without a care for the world... The people in the pic knew all along that a short sleep is good during work. Can someone pls tell my HR or CEO?

By product of En-bloc Sales

In my current series of costing lectures, we discussed about by products being an output from production of the main product.

Using the analogy of en-bloc sales and subsequent property development and consequent sales of these new units (being the main product of the developer, what can we do with the debris and steel (being the by product)from knocking down of these old buildings?

Answer - For land reclaimation ie. extending Singapore's land area.

Can you ponder on this point for a moment?
So if you were the owner of a granite quarry in the neighbouring country and supplying to Singapore, how would you feel when you see other people "wastefully" tearing down more than decent buildings, dumping the debris into the sea and consequently collecting billions from reclaimed land sales?

These reclaimed land could house more IRs, Suntec Cities etc etc etc...

Moral of the story
Be sensitive to your feelings... ha!

Pay increase for many soon!!!

Govt will announce the pay increase package for the office bearers and the Civil Service in early April.

Received an email petitioning recipients to go sign an online petition to object to the pay increase package and GST increase.

Increase GST to pay salaries? Of course not in my opinion. This is part and parcel of re-defining Singapore for the future.

We need the right people to implement and execute the plans. And we have to pay what is a fair wage. For otherwise, the strategies and plans will remain on paper and collecting dusts while Singapore rots away.

There is a price to pay for everything.

Bob Woolmer - Who is that?

I guess for many of you out there (including myself), we would have no clue as to who this ang moh is.

He WAS the Pakistan's national cricket coach. Pakistan was knocked out of the Super 8 of the World Cup as a result of the upset loss to Ireland, a cricket minnow. But he wasn't fired from the job. Instead he was murdered!!!!!

He was found dead in his hotel room on Sunday morning.

"Strangled" as per Jamaican police late Thursday night.

Football is a life and death matter. So now we know people actually got murdered for losing a match in the cricket world too!!! What are the possible motives? Pure emotional outburst for the loss by strangling the coach? Or did someone lose a pile of money? Or did he find out someone in the team has thrown away the match?

So for those not into football or cricket, please now appreciate that we are actually in a serious tribal warfare every weekend infront of the TVs.

Rest in peace, Mr Bob Woolmer. Amen.

teppanyaki at hilltop

My dining experience at the hilltop has changed but not for the better.

There are so many teppanyakis nowadays... in food courts, hawker centres etc.

But where are the Japanese chefs? Have they been replaced by mainland chinese and Malaysian chinese? Or were the Japanese chefs all on leave?

The cooking style has become very "cher charish" at teppanyaki price!!

Sigh.......... Don't think I will go to the hilltop again...

Lifetime Warranty

P/S - Can someone read the books and summarise for me?

I was unpleasantly challenged in my simple understanding of the phrase "lifetime warranty".

I bought a router from an IT show about 1 year ago. At the point of sale, the salesperson highlighted to me the special warranty feature.

I attempted to rely on the warranty today when I called the service centre to service my dead router. After reading the model number to the service person over the phone, he told me the product has been phased out and thus the warranty has expired. I was then advised to buy a new one.

Like a true Edgar, I am not going to take this lying down. So I said, please email to me the terms and conditions which define "lifetime warranty".

A few minutes later, he called and informed that they will honour the warranty as understood by me ie. make good a failed product as long as the consumer wants to use that product.

Moral of the story
Ask for the definition of "lifetime warranty" if ever you were offered such a deal. Whose lifetime? The product's life? Your life?

Or the poor ant's life :)

P/S - I am withholding the name of company out of respect that it has honoured the warranty.

Do you know what is your real wage?

P/S - I want to read the book.

In simple terms, real wage is what your salary can buy given current prices of goods and services.

Example
If your monthly salary is $1,000 and the current price of a loaf of bread is $1, then your real wage is 1,000 loaves of bread.

If the price of bread is increased by 25% from $1 to $1.25, then your real wage would have declined to 800 loaves.

Of course, we don't buy bread only with our monthly income but it highlights the point that when consumer price level goes up, your real wage goes down, assuming your paper salary of $1,000 remains unchanged.

What is reality for the period between 1997 and 2006?
If your average monthly income is $1,180, real average annual change is a positive 1.7% only!!!!
Whereas, if your average monthly income is $3,190, it is growing at 4.3% per annum on average.

What is the moral of the story?
You have got to work much smarter or harder if you want to retire early and very rich.

Committed to Singnet today!

Yes I signed up for the 10Mbps Unlimited Plan (30-month contract) @ $83/mth and will get a FREE Lenovo ThinkPad R60 Notebook to exchange for my intended target of ThinkPad X60 Ultraportable for $608.

Complicated? Not yet. Wait till you hear how they intend to do the deal.

After 15 mins, we set the appointment date for installation of wireless modem on 22 March.

They will deliver the R60 model to my home on that appointed date. I will then bring the R60 to Adelphi to exchange for my X60 model. I must call them first to ensure availability of supply.

I asked the sales person, " Tell me frankly, does it sound stupid to you?"

The sales person said they are aware of the hassle and they are still trying to work out the process flow.

I entered the deal for 30 mths x $83 = $2,490 with much trepidation!!

Who else will be drinking toilet water?

If I am not wrong, we are the first and only people in the world where we are drinking water that has been mixed with treated toilet water.

Queensland, the sunshine state of Australia, has decided to use recycle water for drinking water in 2009 or something.

The state government was supposed to hold a Referendum for its citizens to decide whether to drink or not to drink such water.

The Referendum was cancelled as Democracy was thrown out of the window. Why?

It is now an either-life-or-death decision.

Guys, we are straining our life-supporting resources!!!

Opt in or Opt out?

Recently, I called to cancel a service that I was automatically opted in by Singtel a few months ago. The act took about 10mins of my time. It was cordially attended to without fuss.

Well the "auto opt in" was applied on an inconsequential service by a big company on a group of subscriber. No big deal, right? Not unless the same model is applied on your vital organs!!!

Well recently again, there was a person in coma. Its family members have to go to war with a group of doctors and medical personnels over the right to harvest the vital organs of that person who was in coma and has been medically certified brain dead.

The family members were clinging on to hope that the person would come out of coma. The medical team was trying to ensure quality of those organs and thus a better chance of usability to the recipients.

The right has been granted by law where you are deemed to have consented to donating your vital organs UNLESS you have acted to opt OUT.

Two "auto opt in" situations with very differing gravity.

Blame China!!!

I had the opportunity to talk to a journalist from WanBao about the recent stock market situation.

He spoke with anger that the world blamed China for initiating the stock market collapse last week. He added that no one complimented China when every bourse in the world was on an uptrend.

I later read somewhere that total value of Chinese bourses is only about 5% of the American exchanges.

So if the world want to blame China for the worldwide collapse, I would have taken it as a compliment.

So now when China sneezes, the rest of the world will catch a cold :)

M1 to drop 'unlimited' from plans

Instead, it will put in 5 GB a mth free download cap from April 1.

More than 10,000 customers currently on its M1 Broadband service.

Customers who exceed the 5 GB limit will have to pay $4 per GB for an additional 5 GB of downloads.

After which 'they will be advised by M1 to keep within the limit as they may otherwise face suspension of service'.

M1 said that 98 per cent of customers do not need or use more than 5 GB of data.

I signed up for the service last month. The service has exceeded my expectation. I don't need to look for "hotspots" to get connected.

P/S - M1 did not pay me to say all these but I am hoping they do send me a cheque. Haha :)

The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.

Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.

It doesn't matter whether you are the lion or the gazelle.
When the sun comes up, you better start running.

So my friends, start running on the first business day of the Golden Piggy Year...

Cheers to good health and fortune!

Pets are not allowed !!!!!

Dear friends,

I am sorry I can't stand the sight of pet dogs sitting on chairs in coffee shops or near where food is being served and consumed.

In sunday's ST, there is a response from S. Satish Appoo, Director, Environmental Health Agency on "Pets not allowed in food outlets".

What does the law say?

It is an offence for pets to be brought into public food outlets and hawker centres, including its outdoor refreshment areas.

Both the operator and the pet owner are liable for any violation.

Any exemptions?
- Unless the outlets are licensed as "pet cafe".
- Unless you are blind and you are walking around with the help of a guide dog. The dog must be properly behaved and well harnessed. Operators of outlets reserve the right to accept the presence of such dogs.

Who do you call for violation?
24-hour Hotline 1800-CALL NEA or 1800-225-5632.

My suggestion
Since NEA (or whoever is that authority) has inspectors checking on smoking outside designated areas, why don't we inspect on the overall operations of food outlets?

Will you pay $5000 for BULGARI ring?

P/S - "BULGARI" - purposely spelt wrongly.

My story seeks to question the need for an expensive artificial thing to be placed on a part of our body.

Yes, it is a very expensive ring on a finger of a possibly very beautiful lady, bought by a well-bonused husband in the banking industry, during the fateful Valentine Day. This act was related to me by my wife, perhaps with a reason :).

I want to discuss the reasons for and against such an act.

"It is worth it if it is for daily use." She is using the depreciation principle to justify the purchase of a $5,000 ring ie. $5,000 over 5 years is only $2.70 a day. "Really value for money." Ok the numbers are there but what values will you derive from using it?

• You feel good and confident about yourself. And thus perform better in your business and career.
• Your business partners / colleagues will see you in a different light.
• Bosses will therefore not ask you to do silly things and assign you to the more classier stuff.
• It is a store of wealth (especially when the wealth was gifted from husband). - ie. when you need money, you can sell it albeit possibly at a significant loss. But still money right?
• You get a bit of upper class treatment at restaurants and musicals. That is assuming we, your fellow colleagues, waiters, .... all know a BVLGARI ring when we see it. Well maybe you do, but I can't tell the difference.

You wouldn't mind the extra weight that your body has to bear.. only a few carats more, nor the higher crime risk performable against you.

So there you have it. There are justifications to having an expensive jewellery on your body. I will now wear my finger-thicked gold chain on my neck.

Are you middle-aged?

P/s - This girl offered me a muay chi.

Dear friends,

I have 2 conversations which I want to share with you.

First Conversation
The first is a dialogue I heard over national radio where people were calling in to express their views on the budget.

Caller - "Hi, I am middle-aged and single. I notice that there is nothing much in the budget for people like."
DJ - "Well if you own a car, then you will get the 8% reduction in road tax."
Caller - "Well for the others, particular those with families, they get conservancy charges rebate, maid levy discount, ..."
DJ - "BTW, how old are you?"
Caller - "29"
DJ - "29?????? .... You are still very young. You should focus on raising a family of your own."

Second Conversation
I was talking to a man who has just sold his business for a pot of gold. He is lamenting that he still has to sustain his level of commitment to the business he sold while being paid a more than modest DAILY rate. He wishes for more time to smell the roses. "How old are you?," I asked. "58," he said.

My comment
Why does a person in his late twenties feel middle-age? Do many in their twenties feel the same? Have you guys done everything and know so much already to feel middle age? Has the pace of current lifestyle accelerate the depreciation of our youth?

On the other side of the coin, should a 58-year-old stop completely and smell the roses? Well Gorbachev was a "young" man in his fifties when he became President of USSR after being endorsed by a Politburo with people in their 60s and 70s.

Hmm... I am very confused.. Am I young, middle age or very old? More importantly, how do you feel about yourself?

My day in brief.

No car for me today. Blur blur and took a cab 5 mins before end of 9.30am peak hour. Paid $2 more lor.

During noon, I was staring straight at this magnificient piece of colours.

Took me 2 hours to go from Ikea (after a hotdog stopover) to Shenton Way and back home. Stuck in jam after jam after jam. Clicked a picture of this lady standing there with a big bouquet of flowers while waiting for her date to turn up. Late.

Vista is the last of the Dynasty?

P/S Things you can find in a lift!

I want to share this piece of article I read from Wharton on Microsoft's Vista. It echoes the same theme as the return of Michael Dell back to Dell.

What is the theme?
A company cannot continue to do the same thing year after year. The business landscape will change. If you are not careful, you will find yourself in the middle of nowhere while others have moved on.

Here is the story on Vista
Vista OS should give the company a revenue stream that will run for years. But experts at Wharton say the end January's launch of the consumer versions of Microsoft's flagship software may be among the last of its kind.

What kind?
A product sold for a flat fee in a shrink-wrapped box.

What are competitors doing?

• The "oldest" competitors to shrink-wrapped would be pay per direct download.
• Or they offer open source stuff as per Linux.
• Or they ask consumers to accept advertising-supported softwares.
• The latest competitors say "You pay only when you use of the software." These softwares are not loaded on your PCs.

Reference - http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1651.cfm

My makeover pictures to share with you

P/S - Things you can do when you are bored during the CNY :)

Pics - courtesy of a friend R.

Friends,


Gongxi!! Gongxi!!


Thank you for your friendship and support in so many ways.


Wish you the best of health and a prosperous piggy year.


edgar

My Valentine!

I gave my heart away to this little girl many years ago.

She would grab and bite my left hand when I try to pacifiy her while I drive her home to bed.

At this one time when I tried to feed her some durian. Some of the durian landed on her nose. The durian came back to my face very quickly too.

I will always cherish those sweet words, "I want a hug." with that melting-heart look. I held her as tightly as I could as I whispered into her ears, "I will always be here for you."

I knew the day will come when she will outgrow the need to have me around. I know not where and how she is now. But I will cherish every moment I had with her.

I can only pray she will be happy and painless/healthy ...

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A passage from an article in a local magazine.

Good nite ...