the nclave

Barstool Economics

2009-02-09T12:54:00.001+08:00

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings)
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before And the first four continued to drink for free.

But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving,' declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'
'Yeah, that's right', exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved adollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!'
'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man.

'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact,they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University of Georgia

Enough is enough

2008-10-31T12:28:00.003+08:00

Spotted in today's ST:

"Risks listed in bold, but...

Investors went ahead despite clear warnings

By Lorna Tan

MUCH has been written about the sad plight of investors who have suffered hefty losses after buying doomed investment products linked to bankrupt US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

But little so far has been mentioned of the warnings of the risks involved which were printed clearly and unequivocally on key documents provided to investors.

Of course, it is devastating for an investor to be told his nest egg is now worth nothing, or close to nothing. After all, the main motivation behind making an investment decision is to make money.

At the height of a stock market bull run, it is easy to get caught up in the euphoria of snagging a seemingly sure bet - and just as easy to play down or even ignore potential risks. The rude reality sets in only when one realises, albeit too late, that the investment was not as it seemed.

One question being asked is whether warnings that came with products like DBS Bank's High Notes and Lehman's Minibond series were clear enough. And if they were, can financial institutions really rely on them to absolve themselves of blame?

On the first issue, a close look at the marketing material for these products shows investors could have claimed ignorance of the risks only if they had simply not read the literature.

Many consumers generally dislike reading the thick prospectuses or instruction manuals that come with most sales transactions.

But in the case of these failed investment products, there was no need to plough through pages or to scrutinise the fine print, to learn about the risks.

For instance, this was on the front cover and first page of the DBS High Notes 5 pricing statement: 'If a Credit Event or a Constellation Event occurs before the Maturity Date, investors may lose their entire investment and may not receive any principal amount on the Notes'.

In other words, the investment could become worthless under certain circumstances.

To attract the attention of investors, it was even printed in bold.

Also, on page four under the scenario analyses segment of the same document, this was stated for the worst scenario of a credit event occurring under their reference notes: 'If a credit event, for example, bankruptcy, occurs under the reference notes on the day...the Notes will terminate immediately and the investor will receive zero payout.'

This is part of the main text on a page by itself along with two other scenarios relating to early redemption and if the notes were held to maturity, respectively. There was a similar layout for the Chinese version of the product description.

A similar warning was printed on the cover of the pricing statement of Lehman Minibond Series 3: 'There will be no guarantee from any entity to you that you will recover any amount payable under the Notes and you could lose all or a substantial part of your investment in the Notes.'

And on page three of the same document, it said 'the Notes are not principal protected nor capital guaranteed'.

As we now know, the worst case scenario has happened - the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the triggering of credit events that have subsequently made these investments almost worthless.

To be fair, the risk and its consequences would have been plain to see for investors who took the trouble to read a few pages of the literature.

So why didn't they? Why did investors go ahead with these investments despite the warning labels?

The answer goes to the heart of the current debate about who or what is exactly to blame for the investors' predicament, and whether the presence of these clearly labelled risks alone absolves financial institutions of wrongdoing.

Here are some possible reasons:

· According to some investors, the product prospectus and pricing statement were given only after the point of sale when the customer was already convinced to buy.

· Investors have also said that they trusted their relationships managers so much that they simply went with whatever was recommended and did not bother to read the documentation.

· Others say the risk of the worst case scenario happening was played down by relationship managers who genuinely believed at the point of sale that the possibility of a credit event was close to zero.

· Finally, it is possible that investors were aware of the risks but decided to go ahead as they themselves believed that the possibility of a credit event or the product issuer collapsing is very low.

Whatever the reason and whoever is to blame, the lesson here is that investors need to take their investment decisions more seriously.

Investment advisers routinely offer these basic tips: Firstly, understand your own investment objectives and risk appetite and ask yourself if the product is for you.

Secondly, never put all your eggs in one basket.

Last but not least, find out what is the worst- case scenario and ask yourself honestly if you can stomach that risk.

And the answer to that is definitely worth a read." (emphasis added)

I am sick and tired of the whining. Quit whining. Seriously. Ok, you lost your money - boo hoo. But the fact of the matter is, unless you can prove that the pricing statement was not given to you before you purchased the product, or that you are illiterate (and not just poorly educated) and the relationship manager did not explain the risks to you, then you should not come crying over spilt milk.

I sympathise with you and I'm sorry to hear about your loss. Really. But that's all. Save in the two circumstances laid out above, there is no basis for people to now cry foul and demand for compensation from the banks or the government. Why should the banks or the taxpayers be subsidising your own unfortunate decision to buy a product with the risks clearly spelt out? You chose to take the risk, so be gracious and accept the loss.

There is always risk in investment. If you go to a casino and lose all your money, are you then in a position to demand that the casino or the government compensates you? Surely not. And the same applies to this situation. You lost the gamble. Sorry. If you are literate and didn't bother to read the pricing statements, then too bad for you. People slog to draft these things, and if you can't be bothered to read, then you can't expect anyone to bother with your whining when you lose.

Respond, respond! :)

2008-10-21T14:37:00.001+08:00

I want to know 36 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine...I want to know you better!

Comment with your answers.

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
02) What was your dream growing up?
03) What talent do you wish you had?
04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
05) Favorite vegetable?
06) What was the last book you read?
07) What zodiac sign are you?
08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
09) Worst Habit?
10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
11) What is your favorite sport?
12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
16) Do you have any pets?
17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
18) What was your first impression of me?
19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
22) What color eyes do you have?
23) Ever been arrested?
24) Bottle or can soda?
25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
27) What's your favorite place to hang out at?
28) Do you believe in ghosts?
29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
30) Do you swear a lot?
31) Biggest pet peeve?
32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
34) Favourite and least favourite food?
35) Do you believe in God?
36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

a loooong hiatus

2008-10-06T14:23:00.001+08:00

It's been some time, yes?

Somehow I get lazy with this blogging thing, and let it slip for a few months at a time. :(

Anyway, let's see if we can get it back on track for a bit....hmm....

why not?

2008-07-08T15:48:00.001+08:00

Stolen from the grace_vine:

"I came across this online – a theory a mathematician had about God:

"He [Pascal] asked: "God is, or he is not. Which way should we incline?"

Reason, Pascal thought, could never establish definitively whether God exists. For Pascal, believing in God could have two outcomes, depending on whether God exists. If God doesn't exist, nothing will happen to the believer. If God does exist, the believer will be blessed with eternal salvation. The nonbeliever also faces two possible outcomes. If God doesn't exist, he will suffer no consequences. If God does exist, the nonbeliever will face eternal damnation. The nonbeliever faces either no consequences or hell; the believer looks at no consequences or heaven. Faced with heaven or hell, Pascal reasoned, it makes sense to open oneself to faith.

Simply put, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by believing.

Fer sure, that isn't why I believe. I first believed cos I felt God's touch…and I continue to believe cos I have experienced God's goodness. But by Pascal's theory, why would anyone NOT believe?"

Well said. ;)

path to reconciliation

2008-05-14T14:49:00.001+08:00

Spotted in today's ST Online:

"Search for alien life does not negate belief in God: Vatican

VATICAN CITY - ALIENS could be out there, and believing that the universe may contain extraterrestrial life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published on Tuesday.

The vastness of the universe - with its hundred billion galaxies and trillions of stars - means there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones, the Rev Jose Gabriel Funes, a Jesuit who directs the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying.

'How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?'

Rev Funes said in the interview in Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, which was headlined: 'The extraterrestrial is my brother.'

'Just as there is a multitude of creatures on Earth, there could be other beings, even intelligent ones, created by God. This does not contradict our faith, because we cannot put limits on God's creative freedom,' he was quoted as saying.

'Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation.'

The full-page interview - printed in a question-and-answer format - ranged from discussions about the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and science, to the theological implications of the existence of alien life.

Rev Funes mused that aliens would not have been visited by Jesus, because his 'incarnation was a unique and unrepeatable event.'

However, 'I am sure that they too, in some way, would have the possibility to benefit from God's mercy,' he said.

Rev Funes said that science, especially astronomy, does not contradict religion, touching on a theme often dealt with by Pope Benedict XVI, who has made exploring the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy.

The Bible 'is not a science book' and looking for scientific facts on the universe and its origin doesn't cast doubt on God's role in its creation, Rev Funes was quoted as saying.

As an example, he said he believes the Big Bang theory is the most 'reasonable' explanation of the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.

And yet, 'I continue to believe that God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the result of chance,' the interview quoted Rev Funes as saying.

He urged the Church and the scientific community to leave behind divisions caused by the Galileo affair nearly 400 years ago, often cited as an instance of Church hostility toward science.

'This incident has caused wounds,' he said. 'The Church has somehow recognised its mistakes. Maybe it could have done it better, but now it's time to heal those wounds and this can be done through calm dialogue and collaboration.'

In 1633, Galileo Galilei was tried as a heretic and forced to recant his theory that the Earth revolves around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.

Pope John Paul declared in 1992 that the ruling against Galileo was an error resulting from 'tragic mutual incomprehension.'

The Vatican Observatory has been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world's best.

The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has his summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson. – AP"

Cool. :)

Most aghast (Part 2)

2008-04-29T19:54:00.000+08:00

Yes, I am so aghast (see previous post below) that I have sent the email below to the Traffic Police. (No, I am not very free - it's just that I have finished my work and am waiting for counterparties/clients to revert.)

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

"Dear Sirs

I refer to the road traffic incident reported in The New Paper on 29 April 2008. A copy of the relevant article is attached for your reference.

It was reported in the article that the driver had been penalised with only a fine of S$200 and 9 demerit points. Based on the penalties described, I have inferred that he was charged with an offence under Section 65 of the Road Traffic Act (Cap. 276) ("RTA"), and that the offence had been compounded under Section 135 of the RTA, as permitted under Rule 2(a) of the Road Traffic (Composition of Offences) Rules (Cap. 276, Section 135(2)) ("Rule 2(a)").

I have witnessed on numerous occasions similar incidents where a motorist jams his brakes before an ERP gantry, presumably to insert his cashcard. On each occasion, the vehicles behind the errant driver have had to similarly jam their brakes, narrowly avoiding an accident in each case. In these cases, accidents were avoided not because the errant drivers' actions were not dangerous enough, but only by reason of the alertness of the drivers behind them.

Given the aggravating factors in the reported case, where an innocent woman had sustained serious injuries (as defined in Section 47D of the RTA) by reason of the dangerous manner in which Mr Lim had driven his vehicle, a penalty of S$200 fine and 9 demerit points is merely a slap on the wrist, which may have no lasting consequence on Mr Lim, or any impact at all.

For public policy reasons, such as the deterrence of such dangerous behaviour, it is important for the Traffic Police to send a strong signal to the public that stopping suddenly before an ERP gantry (or anywhere along an expressway for no good reason) cannot be tolerated on our roads. This is especially when the LTA had specially reduced the penalty for passing through an ERP gantry without a valid cashcard inserted to a mere S$10 administration fee (which is reduced further to S$8 if paid electronically).

While the prosecutorial discretion lies entirely in the hands of the Traffic Police and the AGC, it is my respectful opinion that an injustice has been done in this case, and that subsequent offenders who cause accidents by jamming their brakes before an ERP gantry should be dealt with more severely.

In particular, using Mr Lim as an example, he should have been charged under Section 64(1) of the RTA, for driving in a manner which is dangerous to the public, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the nature, condition and use of the road, and the amount of traffic which is actually at the time, or which might reasonably be expected to be, on the road. Not only does this carry a higher penalty than Section 65 of the RTA, it is also not compoundable under Section 135 of the RTA (see Rule 2(a)). In addition, the court would have had discretion to disqualify Mr Lim from driving, under Section 42(1) of the RTA. A mere 9 demerit points (for Section 65) is unlikely to have a big impact on Mr Lim, if at all.

At the very least, the charge under Section 65 should not have been compounded under Section 135 of the RTA (composition is discretionary, not mandatory).

With the light penalty imposed on Mr Lim and his obvious lack of remorse (which is also an aggravating factor), it is likely that he would not hesitate to repeat the offence if he happens to forget his cashcard again. The light penalty is also an unfortunate signal to Miss Tiong and her family that her injuries were not sufficient to constitute an aggravating factor.

I hope that in light of the above feedback, the Traffic Police may exercise its prosecutorial discretion to reflect the gravity of the consequences and other aggravating factors in subsequent cases.

Best regards"

Most aghast

2008-04-29T12:11:00.002+08:00

Spotted in yesterday's New Paper:

"'It's Not My Fault'

29 April 2008

HE stopped his car abruptly on the fast lane of a busy highway to insert his CashCard.

And it caused an accident that left a woman seriously injured.

But to Mr Lim Huang Khim, 45, it was the 'natural thing' to do. He does not think he did anything wrong.

This, despite being fined for his inconsiderate driving that caused a motorcyclist to slam into the car behind him - which had braked in time to avoid hitting Mr Lim's car.

This, despite a judge ruling in a civil suit that Mr Lim was 50 per cent liable for the accident.

The motorcyclist, Miss Tiong Zhen Cheng, 33, was flung more than 20m and landed beside Mr Lim's car.

The sales executive was warded in the intensive care unit and spent about a week in hospital. She still suffers pain and some memory loss.

Miss Tiong ended up being sued by the driver of the second car, Mr Lye Chiew Meng, for the damage to his Toyota.

His rear windscreen was shattered and the repair bill came to $7,000.

But her insurance company felt Mr Lim should also be liable and he was named as the third party in the civil suit.

SMILED MANY TIMES IN COURT

Earlier this month, Mr Lim, who works as a driver, insisted he was not to blame and smiled several times as he recounted the accident on the stand.

He was chided by District Judge Lim Wee Meng for his cavalier attitude.

Judge Lim said: 'I don't think it's funny. Someone was seriously injured and I don't think it's funny at all.'

The accident happened around 7.50pm on 29 Nov 2006 on the Central Expressway, just before the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantry near the Braddell exit.

Mr Lim was driving a rented silver Mitsubishi car and was travelling on the extreme right lane on his way home with his wife and four children.

When he saw that the gantry was activated, he switched on the car's hazard lights and stopped to slot in his CashCard.

Mr Lye, a finance manager, who was behind him, managed to stop in time. But Miss Tiong's 400cc Honda motorbike crashed into Mr Lye's car.

When cross-examined by Miss Tiong's lawyer, Mr Lim maintained that he was not at fault.

Her lawyer, Mr William Chai, asked: 'A car was damaged, a person was severely and mentally injured, are you saying you are not responsible? Not even 1 per cent?'

Mr Lim replied: 'I'm saying that I'm totally not to be blamed.'

He told the court that he had not inserted his CashCard into the in-vehicle unit (IU) earlier because he did not know that the ERP gantry was activated at that time.

When asked if seeing the activated gantry was a big surprise, Mr Lim said he had seen it from afar and was trying to insert the CashCard in time.

He also told the court that he did not see Miss Tiong's bike behind Mr Lye's car.

He admitted that following the accident, he had purposely left out in his police report the reason for stopping his car as he knew that it was an offence.

Mr Lim, who has been driving for 24 years, was fined $200 by the Traffic Police for inconsiderate driving and given nine demerit points.

But in his affidavit tendered to the court, he said: 'I decided to pay the $200 out of convenience even though I do not believe that I should be responsible for the accident.

'I did not want the trouble to engage a lawyer to contest the claim because this would be time-consuming and the legal fees would definitely exceed $200.'

In contrast, Mr Lye was apologetic about what happened to Miss Tiong. His lawyer, Miss Bonnie Kwok, told the court: 'My client would like to extend his sympathies to Miss Tiong.'

She also said that while Mr Lye could clearly see the traffic conditions in front of him, Miss Tiong could not.

Said Miss Kwok: 'It's not a situation whereby the vehicles were approaching a traffic light junction, so there's no reason for Miss Tiong to anticipate a sudden stopping.

'Mr Lim had created a dangerous situation. I found it rather distasteful that Mr Lim's demeanour in court showed that he couldn't be bothered that Miss Tiong had suffered severe injuries and trauma.'

Before giving his verdict, the judge pointed out that Mr Lim could have gone through the ERP gantry and paid an administrative fee of $10 for not having a CashCard.

LIABLE FOR DAMAGE

He ruled that Mr Lim and Miss Tiong were each 50 per cent liable for the damage caused to Mr Lye's car.

When contacted by The New Paper, Mr Lim insisted that he was not in the wrong.

He said in Mandarin: 'Are you a driver? Have you driven a car before?

'If you have, you should know that it's a driver's natural reaction (when you see an activated gantry).

'You can't say it's right or wrong because there's no right or wrong in such situations. I did switch on the hazard lights to warn the vehicles behind me.'

Mr Lim said that he felt sorry for the injured Miss Tiong, though he did not speak to her in court.

'She might think that I have an ulterior motive if I went up to her and apologised,' he said.

Just two days before the accident involving Miss Tiong, Mr Lim said he was involved in a similar accident along the East Coast Parkway.

Mr Lim told The New Paper that the car in front of his had slowed down suddenly.

'So I also braked and stopped my car to take a closer look at what the driver was up to and to take down his licence plate number,' he said.

'But the car behind me couldn't stop in time and ended up crashing into the rear of my car.'

Mr Lim said the first car then drove off. His car, a Honda Stream, ended up at the workshop for five days.

That was why he was driving a rented car, which did not have a CashCard in the IU.

Mr Lim added: 'If I was driving my car, this wouldn't have happened because I always have the CashCard inside the IU.'”

I am MOST aghast. If I weren’t bound by laws and morality, I would seek out Mr Lim and beat the daylights out of him. And then do it again. Especially given that he appears to have no sense of morality whatsoever.

What is up with stopping on the extreme right lane of the expressway just to insert a cashcard?? It is dangerous, inconsiderate and very illegal. In fact, I am shocked he got away with a 200-dollar fine and 9 demerit points. It doesn’t even result in a suspension, which means he can continue terrorising other motorists with his cavalier attitude towards safety! Shall go do some research and lodged a complaint with the Traffic Police if there are grounds for a more severe penalty.

phew!!

2008-04-17T11:22:00.003+08:00

Spotted in ST Online today:

"Nasa says German student got it wrong

WASHINGTON - IT WAS an incredible tale of a German schoolboy spotting a miscalculation by the US space agency, proving the chances of an asteroid hitting the Earth were higher than initially believed.

But the amazing story of the whizzkid versus the space bureaucracy turned out to be wrong, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) said on Wednesday.

The agency, sounding a bit like a weary math teacher, said its figures are correct when it comes to the asteroid Apophis, not the boy's.

'We stand by our numbers,' said Nasa spokesman Dwayne Brown.

The agency that oversees space shuttle missions and unmanned space probes issued a statement after the German newspaper Potsdamer Neuerster Nachrichten reported on Tuesday that student Nico Marquardt had calculated there was a 1 in 450 chance that the Apophis asteroid will collide with Earth.

He argued in his project for a regional science competition that scientists at Nasa had got it wrong when they estimated the chances of a collision at only 1 in 45,000.

But experts at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California had no doubts about their calculations, Mr Brown said.

The Near-Earth Object Program Office 'has not changed its current estimates for the very low probability (1 in 45,000) of an Earth impact by the asteroid Apophis in 2036', Mr Brown said in a statement.

And the newspaper's account was also inaccurate when it described Nasa telling the European Space Agency that the German student's calculations were correct, Mr Brown said.

'Contrary to recent press reports, Nasa offices involved in near-Earth object research were not contacted and have had no correspondence with a young German student, who claims the Apophis impact probability is far higher than the current estimate,' the statement said.

The student's estimates were reportedly based on the asteroid hitting a satellite in 2029.

'However, the asteroid will not pass near the main belt of geosynchronous satellites in 2029, and the chance of a collision with a satellite is exceedingly remote,' it said.
While the German newspaper article had spread across the Internet, NASA said the probability of Apophis colliding with Earth remained at 1 in 45,000. - AFP"

Am most relieved. Would be shitting bricks if the chances were really 1 in 450!! (but then again, conspiracy theorists would say that NASA is just trying to cover up...hmmm.....)

i am endangered

2008-04-09T12:10:00.001+08:00

Spotted in Today, 7 April 2008:

"Lawyers In S'pore: Time for Market Forces to Decide

Conrad Raj
Editor-at-large
conrad@mediacorp.com.sg

It is not that difficult to put a finger on why Singapore has suddenly found itself in a situation where lawyers have become an endangered species.

It goes back to decisions made some 20 years ago when the Government took three controversial decisions: Reducing the National University of Singapore's intake of law students, disallowing lawyers with third-class honours from being admitted to the Bar and restricting entry only to those who graduated with good grades from some overseas universities.

This decision to arbitrarily turn off the tap was grounded in some sound reasons, such as the desire to maintain the quality of the profession.

But it did not anticipate a new world where financial services and telecommunications becoming sunrise industries with lawyers having a big role to play to make them economic winners.

A Government-appointed committee admitted as much in a report several years ago, which stated: "For Singapore to become a premier financial centre and a regional telecommunications hub, there is a need to increase the pool of lawyers to provide the necessary legal support services."

It said Singapore needs another 250 lawyers a year up until 2010, compared to the 150 or so now called to the bar annually. The aim is to have between 99 and 115 lawyers per 100,000 people. This means a target of between 4,837 and 5,658 lawyers by 2010, against the present total of about 3,500 practising lawyers.

Another unfortunate and unexpected event struck. A tough and no-nonsense approach by the courts to upgrade the profession led some to retire early and many to look for jobs in non-law firms where lawyers' skills were urgently needed.

The Government reacted by relaxing the rules somewhat to admit graduates from certain universities in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, and raise the limit on foreign law degree-holders from 50 to 70 a year.

But only the top 30 per cent from the scheduled universities in Australia, New Zealand and the US were recognised for admission to the Singapore Bar.

Just last month, the rules were further eased so that Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents now need to show that they have spent two years doing relevant legal work or were solicitors in England, Wales or Hong Kong to practise law here. The previous relevant legal work requirement was three years.

This is in addition to the other requirements that all those intending to be called to the Singapore Bar have to meet — like passing the Diploma in Singapore Law Course, Postgraduate Law Course and serving pupillage at a local law firm.

This amended rule is for those who have a second-class lower honours from a scheduled British university, or have been ranked in the top 70 per cent in terms of academic performance of the total number of graduates in his or her batch from a recognised university in Australia, New Zealand or the US.

Even these reactive measures are still grounded in a mindset of a "softly-softly" approach which raises some questions: Why do we need to impose time limits on foreign graduates when they are already being creamed from only scheduled universities?

Why are those with third-class honours still being barred from practising when the bench has had prominent judges and the Bar has seen some prominent lawyers with such degrees?

Haven't we also got competent practising lawyers here who obtained their degrees from less-recognised foreign universities?

What the profession needs is a maverick approach by the Government to solving its problems. And that approach can only come when law firms are allowed to decide the competence of the lawyers they hire, provided they meet the necessary qualifications of all scheduled universities, be they from Singapore or overseas.

The market is often the most efficient arbiter of needs, and should there be an oversupply, people will stop studying law or any other discipline where there are no jobs available and switch to areas where there is a shortage and need.

Let market forces decide the supply of and demand for lawyers, or for that matter any job."

The writer seems to have a strange inclination towards the school of thought that the quality of lawyers does not matter.

"This decision to arbitrarily turn off the tap was grounded in some sound reasons, such as the desire to maintain the quality of the profession. But it did not anticipate a new world where financial services and telecommunications becoming sunrise industries with lawyers having a big role to play to make them economic winners." -- erm, so financial services and telecommunications do not require quality lawyers?

"Another unfortunate and unexpected event struck. A tough and no-nonsense approach by the courts to upgrade the profession led some to retire early and many to look for jobs in non-law firms where lawyers' skills were urgently needed." -- why is it unfortunate for the profession to be upgraded? Would he rather have incompetent lawyers in court, hindering rather than facilitating the course of justice?

"Why are those with third-class honours still being barred from practising when the bench has had prominent judges and the Bar has seen some prominent lawyers with such degrees? Haven't we also got competent practising lawyers here who obtained their degrees from less-recognised foreign universities?" -- I'm not saying he is wrong, but without substantiation or examples, this is but a bare assertion.

I certainly agree that we are facing a shortage of lawyers, but the solution is not to relax the standards. Why compromise on the quality of lawyers? The writer has probably never experienced the pain of dealing with incompetent lawyers. No, the key solution is to reduce the attrition rate. While I fully agree that measures should be taken to increase the new blood coming into the profession (while maintaining the high standards of qualification), any amount of new lawyers we attract is useless if the existing lawyers are dropping like flies.

But I'm too lazy to go into a discourse on curbing the attrition rate now, so that will have to be another argument for another time...

O-M-G

2008-04-08T15:20:00.001+08:00

Just learnt some information which is most exciting. It is thrilling, risky and uncertain, but damn it sounds like fun. My only regret is that my current position does not allow me to participate in this, for now. But it sure does open up a whole new possibility for the future, and I can only hope that it might happen one day. Till then, I'm just looking on with envy....

does it work?

2008-04-08T12:08:00.001+08:00

Well, if you are reading this post, then it does work! Decided to try out the "posting by email" function, so I can get past the excuse of being unable to access blogger from my office.

Anyway, turns out that they've found someone to take over my biggest file, so I might contemplate moving to my new team wef 21 April instead of 28 April...let's see how it goes...

credit and security??!?!

2008-04-08T00:45:00.002+08:00

It somehow seems ironic that one day the mumblings of Prof P. Ellinger might possibly come in useful in my career, given that I was usually unable to decipher the ongoings of the Credit & Security module taken in my 4th (?) year in NUS...

But nonetheless, the deed is done, and I will officially be leaving the convoluted world of capital markets into the (hopefully) brighter sunshine of banking. No, not joining a bank, but rather the banking team in FSD. Am presently trying to ensure that everything is handed over smoothly to fellow associates who have the luck of the draw to be taking over my current files, and should be doing so for the next couple of weeks before I take on the new challenges of facility agreements and security documents.

Anyway, boring stuff aside, I was asked to join the banking team lunch today, and I gladly accepted. Since I'm probably gonna be seeking plenty of precedents from my future teammates, I might as well get started on building relationships! But seriously though, they seem to be a pretty nice bunch of people - light-hearted and ready for humour, which many of you will know is an important trait that I value.

Lunch was supposed to be at L'Angelus at Club Street, but due to the heavy rain, we were compelled to switch venue to the Rang Mahal at Pan Pacific. I thought I'd never been there before, until I arrived and realised I did do lunch there before, though I can't remember exactly who was there. Probably some random monthly lunch back at my old firm. Food was not bad, company was great, so am looking forward to embarking on the new journey ahead.

Watch this space for updates! (yea, yea...i know that's what i said in my last post yonks ago too...)

settling in

2008-03-09T17:35:00.002+08:00

So it's been almost 2 months since the wedding, and just over 1 month since we've moved into The Nclave...

We've pretty much settled in, but of course there are some outstanding household errands which I just need to get round to doing, like fixing up the sound system, wiring, etc... but all in due course...

Hoping to get back in the swing of more frequent updates, so watch this space! :)

i will be here

2008-02-10T23:33:00.000+08:00

Here's the montage I prepared as a dedication to Ad at the wedding dinner.

more than meets the ears

2008-01-07T23:10:00.000+08:00

the score from the transformers movie arranged in piano....fantastic!

songbird

2007-10-18T00:50:00.000+08:00

Now THIS is what I call a really great voice....

i'm still alive!

2007-09-24T00:04:00.000+08:00

Yea, it's really been quite a while since I last posted anything. Been simply too caught up with work and making the most of the times when I'm not working!

Anyway, since my last post, I have travelled twice more for work - once to Jiangsu in China through Shanghai, and once to Korea. Doesn't seem like a lot, but considering that my roommate hasn't travelled anywhere since joining the firm almost 3 years ago, 3 times in 5 months is a lot!

Shall not bother to give detailed updates since May, but suffice to say that I have apparently lost 4kg since switching firms, and that was measured about a month ago, so I might have lost more! Will try, however, to resume more regular updates here. Right now I'm just shooting off with whatever comes to mind.

Work is interesting, but very tiring. It just seems inconceivable that the bosses managed to survive through so many years of this crap, and I wondering how long I can do it. But for future's sake, I just gotta grit my teeth and get through this trial by fire.

Wedding prep is moving along. We've taken our photos, and selected them for the albums! Ad thinks it's mad that we forked out an additional 2,300 buckaroos on top of our package price to have 2 albums instead of 1. Yea the pinch is sorely felt, but well, it's once in a lifetime! And I'd rather spend a bit now, than for us to look back year from now and wish we had chosen more photos. Next step: settling the guest list and the invites.

On the housing front, things aren't as brilliant - we received a letter in May saying that TOP is expected to be in August, but it's already late September and there's no news yet. I got an email from SQ who found me though this blog, and he shared that the developer had told him the TOP is delayed and likely to be in October instead. Very annoying. I might write to bug the developer too by early October.

Ok, gotta go do some work. Let's see if I can keep to my promise to update more regularly. ;)

ching chong business

2007-05-09T00:07:00.000+08:00

Details of my trip have been more or less finalised as per the itinerary on the right. Flying off on the morning of 14 May, and returning to Singapore at dawn on 17 May. Will be spending about 5 hours in transit in Beijing back and forth, so any ideas of what to do for 5 hours in the Beijing airport would be most welcome...

Quite exciting to be flying business class for the first time! (yes, I know I'm most suaku)

Will be staying at Golden Gulf Hotel, which is apparently one of the best hotels in Yantai. Click here to read more about it.

a smashing afternoon...

2007-05-07T20:06:00.000+08:00

Thanks to the generosity of HEP, Ad and I got a couple of passes to the corporate box for the Aviva Open 2007.

Had a similarly good time as last year, enjoying the exciting matches and the food, drinks and comfort of the VIP lounge. And as with last year, I managed to get some good deals for Yonex apparel and shoes.

Am most inspired now to go play badminton. Looking forward to Wednesday's session! :)

For more details and results, click here.

scratch, scratch...ouch!

2007-05-07T19:37:00.000+08:00

So the eczema was itchy, but it can't really beat the pain of forking out another 231 buckaroos for the 2nd appointment at the dermatologist's on Saturday....ouch.... :(

It's the cost of the medication that kills, so it had better work wonders!

humour of the day

2007-05-04T19:21:00.000+08:00

Lost on a rainy night, a nun stumbled across a monastery and requests shelter there.

Fortunately, she's just in time for dinner and was treated to the best fish and chips she had ever tasted.

After dinner, she went into the kitchen to thank the chefs. She was met by two of the Brothers.

The first one says, "Hello, I am brother Michael, and this is Brother Charles."

"I'm very pleased to meet you," replies the nun. "I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful dinner. The fish and chips were the best I've ever had. Out of curiosity, who cooked what?"

Brother Charles replied, "Well, I'm the fish friar."

She turned to the other Brother and says "then you must be...?"

"Yes, I'm afraid I'm the chip monk."

Glee!

2007-05-03T23:30:00.000+08:00

Just received written notice that the TOP for The Nclave is estimated to be granted in about 3 months' time. Most exciting! :)

On the other hand, that means it's time to fork out the second 10%, plus stamp duty. Which involves liaising with CPF, UOB, lawyers, and not to mention having to top up any cash difference and start paying off the mortgage, which translates to further destitution. Such party poopers.

Itchy Business

2007-05-03T22:39:00.000+08:00

I apparently have eczema.

Started during Exercise Voyager, and it's been a long-drawn battle since then.

At its peak, I was in Macau with my hands covered with blisters. Went to see Dr Ang Por of Dermatology Associates at Paragon Medical Centre when I returned from Macau, and was given a steroid injection, a 2-week course of oral steroids, and topical steroid cream.

The skin responded very well to treatment, and the blisters went away in a few days. The dead skin is currently peeling off with a vengeance.

However, upon finishing the oral steroids on Sunday, the itch came back on Monday, and by Tuesday, it was apparent that the damned eczema has not surrendered. Tried to make an appointment to see Dr Ang yesterday, but she's on leave and will only be back on Friday, and so I guess I'll have to stick with my appointment on Saturday.

In the meantime, the itch is back, the rashes are back (more numerously so on the torso), and the blisters are starting to return. God help me..... :(

A step closer to home...

2007-05-03T22:17:00.000+08:00

Things have also been moving on the housing front.

We met with Sean on 19 April 2007 to view the computer graphics for our interior design. It was most exciting to have a visual reference as to what our home will eventually look like. Spent a couple of hours tweaking the design, and instructing on the changes to be made, and we’re scheduled to see the revised drawings on 2 June 2007. :)

We have decided to scrap the idea of a revolving TV panel though, since Roxy Homes is not cooperating. On that note, let it be placed on record that the customer service for Roxy Homes Pte Ltd is sorely wanting, and they do not even have the courtesy to respond to our emails. While we acknowledge they are not under any legal obligation to accommodate our variation requests, it is just plain rudeness to dismiss the requests with a curt email, and thereafter ignore our further emails. I would thus warn all friends to beware and avoid buying a property from Roxy Homes (which is under the Grand Mercure group) if you do not wish to encounter bad customer service. Sean has also shared that he is encountering massive problems with Grand Mercure in another project where they have delayed maintenance and rectification works for prolonged periods. Well, I’m not prepared to take any further nonsense from them. If the rectification works exceed the deadline by even one day, my letter of demand is going out to them.

Having said that, construction progress appears to be moving along fine. In fact, it looks simply great! :)

For the entire collection of photos from barren ground to its present state, click here. Can’t wait for the keys to be handed to us. :)

A step closer to the aisle...

2007-05-03T21:52:00.000+08:00

Went to meet with Willy of LiveStudios last Friday. Their office is situated at the end of some remote lane near Novena MRT. Upon viewing his portfolio and pricing schemes, we’ve duly engaged them to be our actual day photographers. Now all we need is an affordable videographer. :)

On the same night, we went down to town for late-night shopping, and upon reaching Goldheart Jewelry at Centrepoint, we saw the perfect pair of wedding bands - half-eternity design for Ad, and a matt-chrome combination for me - and we promptly bought it! The brand new rings should arrive from Switzerland by late July, just in time to be used for the photoshoot on 17 August.

So 27 April 2007 marks a day of massive spending, but it’s money well spent! :)

Goodbye....and hello!

2007-05-03T21:18:00.000+08:00

11 April 2007 was my last day of work at WTL. By sheer coincidence, I had spent exactly 10 months in WTL, and I am grateful for the learning opportunity which it had proved to be. Much as I feel bad about “abandoning” the firm which very obviously needs its associates, I guess I simply had to do it for the greater long-term good of my career path. I will certainly miss the great work-life balance though.

After returning from Macau, it was a week of rest for me, but it flew past in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it, I had started work at A&G on 23 April 2007.

It is only now that I realise why my first employers cannot compete in the big league yet. This place is truly huge, and has brilliantly solid infrastructure to facilitate the management and day-to-day operations. Evident of this is that fact that I had a proper orientation programme planned for me on my first day, taking up ¾ of the day with personal briefings from the various departments - HR, Admin, Finance, IS, etc. I am duly impressed with my new employers.

And frankly speaking, they do take care of their lawyers pretty well. Save for the workload, which I have yet to properly experience, I think this place might well be worth staying for some time. Plus the fact that God has blessed me with seemingly nice bosses, and I haven’t heard anything to the contrary yet. :)

My first week was really quite boring, as there was no work for me. I toyed with the idea of going to ask for work, but was advised by various parties that it might prove to be suicidal, and that I should just enjoy this slack period while I can. Finally attended a kick-off meeting for a new IPO this Monday, and the work should start building up soon. Am currently slated to head off to China from 14 to 19 May for due diligence, and while it sounds somewhat exciting, I’m not sure whether I should be looking forward to it at all. After all, due diligence is NEVER fun! And it doesn’t help that we’ll be dealing with Chinese clients, which means a lot of drinking. The bosses have asked me to brush up on my drinking ability, but that’s a really really tall order.

Been bugging the IS Dept to give me a blackberry, as I keep harbouring an irrational fear that I could be missing some urgent email from the bosses after office hours. Much as I don’t want it, I hate to admit that a blackberry is essential for the job. :( They appear to be currently out of stock, so I’d better enjoy this period of freedom from emails while it lasts.

I am also pleased to find out that A&G has a pretty active badminton thing going on as well. Have signed up for the legal vs. business services challenge in late May, and have been playing with the legal team for the past 2 Wednesday evenings. Coupled with my existing sessions on Saturday mornings, it should help to maintain a bit of fitness. Should throw in some jogging as well though. Sigh.

So that’s that. A new milestone, a new journey. May God direct my path. :)

The Unbeatables...

2007-05-03T20:26:00.000+08:00

12 - 14 April 2007 - Macau/HK trip

Had a taste of what it would be like to be in The Amazing Race, when our original destination of Bangkok was abruptly changed to Macau just one day before departure. This last-minute change can be credited to the darned fool in Bangkok who decided to set off a minuscule bomb in a phone booth, sending Ad’s parents into a frenzied panic.

So anyway, it turned out all good. Managed to change our Tiger Airways flight, and also cancel our Novotel Bangkok booking (forfeited 1 night’s charges), and secured a last minute booking at Grandview Hotel in Macau for a fraction of the usual price.

The flight took about 3.5 hours, but it was a lot more pleasant than my previous flight to Macau when I had to sit next to my boss. Upon arrival, we managed to figure out the public bus to take, and got to our hotel in mere minutes. Got bumped up to an Executive room, dumped our stuff in the room, and promptly headed off to catch the free hotel shuttle to the Macau Ferry Terminal.

A word about the shuttle - It’s amazing that almost every hotel has a shuttle bus service to the ferry terminal, which runs every 15 minutes or thereabouts. This meant that we could get around to practically everywhere for free, with the ferry terminal as the central “interchange”. Most cool.

So anyway, we explore Fisherman’s Wharf, had a pork cutlet sandwich, and strolled around the very expensive shops. Came across a nice shop selling all things casino, and bought a card dealer for Irwin & Gigi.

It was off to Sands after that, and made a few hundred HK bucks at blackjack. Then went to New Yaohan, where we bought some cool stuff for The Nclave. Essentially some mahjong cushions and a huge lightbulb! Back to the hotel, and ordered room service for dinner. Good stuff, but a tad oily.

We had bought our ferry tickets before heading back to the hotel, and the next morning, arose bright and early to grab breakfast at the lobby lounge, and then on to the ferry to HK at 9.30am.
The journey took about an hour, but the seat was so comfortable I simply slept through it all. Upon reaching HK, we hopped onto a cab to Ocean Park, which we figured is an economically sounder choice than Disneyland. Unfortunately, Ad had a migraine attack just as we approached the entrance, and we thus ended up not taking any of the rides at all. Wasted a lot of time on the escalators, but managed to catch a short little show about dog training.

Hopped onto a public bus again to the nearest MTR station, and took a train to Mongkok station. Ad had a second migraine attack, but managed to weather through it bravely. Emerged at Mongkok, and asked a stranger for recommendations for dim sum. The food was pretty good, though I’m sure we could have found an even better place if we had time to do more research prior to the trip.

Went to the Ladies’ Market for shopping, and bought plenty of stuff for everybody back home. Didn’t really get anything or myself though. The market was loooooong, and it was almost dark by the time we reached the end. Chanced upon a Krispy Kremes outlet, and just HAD TO stop for a donut. Thereafter it was a long walk down Nathan Road to Tsim Tsa Tsui, to catch the ferry back to Macau. Very tiring, but generally a good day in HK. :)

Back in Macau, we got on the shuttle for Wynn casino, and won another few hundred HK bucks at blackjack. Ate at a restaurant in the casino, where the noodles were pretty good and affordable. By the time we emerged from Wynn, the shuttles had stopped operating, and we had to walk to the main road to grab a cab back to the hotel. Zzzzz….

On Day 3, we slept in and missed breakfast. Woke up, checked out, left our luggage at the concierge, and went to explore Taipa Village. Ate at a supposedly very good Portuguese restaurant, but the food was only reasonably good. Strolled around a bit, then hailed a cab to the ruins of St. Paul’s Church. Explored a bit, took some photos, bought some local goodies for the folks, then strolled through the heart of Macau. It was a small place, and we covered it in no time. Had a nice sundae on the 2nd storey balcony of a Haagen Daaz outlet, and just sat there watching the world go by below us. Lovely.

We then walked down to the Grand Lisboa for some final punting, and promptly lost all the earlier winnings plus some additional monies. Oh well, gotta do our part for the economy right?

Then it was back to Fisherman’s Wharf for dinner and a nice American outlet styled like Billy Bombers. We had a FEAST, and the food was really quite good too. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel and grab our bags for departure. Ad got hit with another migraine attack just as we reached the hotel, and we thus rested for a while at the lobby lounge with an iced milo, before heading out to the airport by cab. Home sweet home!

Thank God for making the trip happen despite all the hiccups and last minute bookings, and for keeping us safe and sound throughout! For more pictures, click here.

Children of God

2007-04-20T18:10:00.000+08:00

Confirmation 1 Camp - 30 March 2007 to 1 April 2007

Headed off for an overnight camp at the CAYC with all the Sec 1 kids. We had to gather early in the morning at OLPS, and after registration, 3 coaches brought us to the campsite.

It was a time of good fun and sharing, though the kids were quite a handful at times. I had 2 of the most hyperactive boys of my class in my group, which incidentally decided on the name Servant Messengers of God (or SMOG), but thank God that I managed to handle them alright, and by the end of the camp, I felt there had been a closer bond forged with the teens in my group.

So briefly, we had 6 main activities:

1. Milestones
2. Lifeline
3. Games
4. Night prayer
5. Child of God
6. Bible quiz

The general consensus was that the night prayer was the best session of the camp. Glad that the teens enjoy injecting praise and worship into their prayer life.

All in all it went very well, and I think this batch has great potential in becoming true disciples of Christ. Praise God. :)

For more photos, click here.

blogging diarrhoea

2007-04-20T17:28:00.000+08:00

Ok, my bad. I've been neglecting to update the blog for some time, so events have piled themselves up inextricably, hence here's a quick summary. :)

Roadtrip to KL - 23-24 March 2007

Went up to KL with my Raffles Hall buddies on 23 March to attend SH's wedding on 24 March in KL.

Had a good trip, albeit a bit short, since I could not afford to take any leave on Monday 25 March, and so I only stayed one night while the others stayed 2 nights.

The bus ride was pretty good. Much more comfortable than I last recalled it to be, and there were even movies being screened on personal LCD monitors like a commercial flight!

Arrived at KL's Hotel Istana, and promptly went off for a lunch of tandoori chicken, followed by shopping! Managed to zoom in on the local brands, and bought a whopping 5 shirts from Seed and Padini. Should be enough to last me for the rest of the year on my new job.

Had a leisurely coffee before strolling back to the hotel. While the rest of them went for spa treatments or booze, I settled in for a nice hot bubble bath with my novel. Heavenly.

Went out for supper when everyone had gathered back from their respective activities, and the next day, it was breakfast followed by a short cab ride to the wedding.

Lovely venue under an outdoor marquee-type place. SH looked fabulous, and so did Eric. The food was pretty good too, and I think we all had a good time of food and drink and general celebrations.

Time just flew, and it was soon time for me to head back to the hotel to catch the return coach for the long ride home alone. Comfortable again, and did not seem as long as it actually is. Shall definitely travel by luxury coach again the next time I head to KL (unless someone pays for my flight, of course).

Ok I shall continue each event in a separate post, so as not to make this one too long. For more photos, click here.

Congrats to Eric and Siow Hooi, and best wishes! :)

Pong again!

2007-04-08T12:10:00.000+08:00

Spotted in today's Sunday Times:

"Mind over mahjong
The game of mahjong stimulates the brain and can help ward off dementia among the elderly

By Boon Chan

MADAM Tong Mok Lam was on a mini-roll last Sunday.

The 83-year-old won her first few games at the 2nd National University of Singapore Society (NUSS) Mahjong Challenge, though she did not go on to make the final four.

The bi-monthly event, held at Kent Ridge Guild Hall and open to NUSS members and guests, drew 48 participants.

Madam Tong, who has been playing mahjong for decades, takes to the tiles with her friends about twice a week. No money changes hands, but fans of this evergreen game stand a chance of netting a high health payoff.

Dr Philip Yap, consultant at Alexandra Hospital's department of geriatric medicine, points to a recent research paper from Hong Kong which shows that mahjong has cognitive - referring to mental processes of perception, memory, judgment and reasoning - benefits in people with mild to moderate dementia.

Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, a group of conditions that all gradually destroy brain cells and lead to progressive decline in mental function.

Madam Tong points out that mahjong is a game that challenges one to think so that 'one won't become an idiot sitting at home'.

In trying to win, she has to keep track of all the tiles discarded by other players, and figure out which tiles they have.

Her friend, Madam Lai Foon May, 83, notes that 'you can exercise the hands as well'.

Ms Clara Lee, chief executive officer of NUSS, says her mother, Madam Lai, is 'very alert and her mind's really active. She's better informed of what's happening than me'.

One of the reasons is mahjong, she feels. 'It's a thinking game and not just pung, pung, pung. She's always explaining to me that it's strategic - you need to think about the player to the left and right of you and prevent them from winning,' she says.

Pung is the exclaimation players make when they pick up a tile to complete a set of three identical ones.

Professor Kua Ee Heok, senior consultant at the National University Hospital's department of psychological medicine, says 'anything that stimulates the brain is good', including bridge and Chinese chess.

It used to be believed that the brain stops growing after the age of 45. This has since been disproved and researchers say it is possible for new connections to be formed between brain cells which play a crucial role in managing information like memories and thoughts.

Apart from cognitive stimulation, Dr Yap points out two more factors that are important in keeping dementia at bay.

One is exercise, such as jogging, swimming and playing racket games, which reduces the chances of suffering from hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol, which predispose one to dementia.

The second is maintaining good social networks and healthy relationships. Dr Yap says: 'In fact, it is often difficult to know for sure if a cognitive game such as mahjong is helpful because of its cognitive benefits or because of the socialisation it promotes.'

Socialisation is precisely why Madam Chan Keng Toh, 79, who has mild dementia, plays mahjong every day.

'I'll be very bored if I don't play. I play with the same friends, we chat and joke, and it makes me happy.'

But Prof Kua cautions that if the genetic predisposition is very strong, or there are other existing conditions such as hypertension or high cholesterol, the odds of getting dementia can still be high.

Even in such cases, however, it is 'possible to prolong the quality of life' through stimulation of the brain.

Dr Ng Li-ling, vice-president of the Alzheimer's Disease Association (ADA) of Singapore and senior consultant at Changi General Hospital's division of psychological medicine, says the group was formed in 1990 because of concern over dementia and the fact that Singapore was ageing.

The voluntary welfare organisation is made up of caregivers, professionals and those interested in dementia.

According to a study commissioned by the Asia-Pacific members of Alzheimer's Disease International, the number of people with dementia in Singapore is projected to rise from 22,000 in 2005 to 187,000 by the year 2050.

In the Asia-Pacific region, the number of people with dementia is projected to increase from 13.7 million currently to nearly 65 million by 2050, due to ageing.

The ADA provides support through its three day-care centres and training for care-givers, many of whom are maids.

Dr Ng says mahjong, one of the activities at the centres, makes the patients much more interactive.

'Dementia to many people is a hopeless disease but there are things you can do to help the patient and care-giver. We've to change the mindset to one in which we can do things.'"

I rest my case. :)

useful information

2007-04-03T20:47:00.000+08:00

Found a cool website when I googled "The Nclave" for fun. This site by PageNation carries a location map of The Nclave, and sets out the exact longitude and latitude, as well as distances from various nearby landmarks. Am pleased to note that many well-established schools are within 1 km. :)

Click here to view map
The Nclave

I can see clearly now...

2007-04-02T20:27:00.000+08:00

...because I have gone for LASIK surgery!

Date of deed: 27 March 2007.
Time: 1500 hours.
Venue: The Lasik Surgery Clinic ("LSC"), Paragon Medical Centre.

Been living with specs since Primary 2, and now I've finally gone and done something to get rid of them for good.

The procedure I underwent was Wavefront Lasik, which involves a customised "wavefront map" of the eye being made so that the laser pulses can sort out even the higher aberrations in the cornea. That's the price of having relatively high astigmatism.

Here's how Lasik works:

And here's a sample picture of the eye with the corneal flap cut and peeled back to make way for the laser. No, this is NOT my eye, though I'm sure I did look something like that during surgery.

Anyway, I'm most impressed with LSC for the short time taken from start to end. Went for my Lasik Suitability Screening on 16 March 2007, had a Pre-Lasik Evaluation on 22 March 2007, and surgery promptly on 27 March 2007. The clinic premises were comfortable and generally pleasant, and the prices are very reasonable, made even more so by the special price for NUSS members.

I must admit the actual procedure was rather unnerving, as the whole thing took place so fast, that in a blink of an eye (no pun intended), the anaesthetic drops have been administered, the eye lashes have been pasted down, the eyelid has been retracted, the suction ring applied, the cornea flap cut and dried, the laser administered, and the flap returned to place. Less than 5 minutes per eye. Contrary to popular information, I did not smell any burning while the laser was being administered.

The whole procedure was generally painless, except for some discomfort when the suction ring was applied. And the eyes felt fine after surgery, until the anaesthetic drops wore off, and I started tearing from the irritation and very mild stinging. But I wouldn't describe it as outright pain. Went home, took a sleeping pill, had a nap, and woke up feeling no pain or discomfort at all.

Vision improved over the next few days, and though I can see pretty clearly, I must say I'm not entirely pleased with my right eye's vision for now though. Am hoping it will improve further as assured by the doctor.

So thank God everything went well. Just look at the eye (again not mine):

You can't tell me that it wasn't created by God. It's simply a miracle on its own. :)

The Fitness Guru

2007-03-23T20:34:00.000+08:00

Yes, that's me:

SIT-UP(rep) - 33
STANDINGBROAD JUMP(cm) - 239
CHIN-UP (rep) - 5
4X10MSHUTTLE RUN (sec) - 9.9
2.4KMRUN(min:sec) - 12:28

OverallResult - Incentive

So, after a grand total of 6 RT sessions, I've managed to pass my IPPT during the 7th session, and thus do not need to attend any further sessions! (Although I nearly died while sprinting the last lap in order to pass.)

What's even better, my next deadline for passing IPPT again is 23 December 2008! Woohoo! :)

But will need to keep exercising I guess. I'll really suffer if I wait till November 2008 to start training. Sigh.

humour of the day

2007-03-23T20:26:00.000+08:00

The following list of phrases and their definitions might help you understand the mysterious language of science and medicine. These special phrases are also applicable to anyone reading a Ph.D. dissertation or academic paper:

"IT HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN"...
I didn't look up the original reference.

"A DEFINITE TREND IS EVIDENT"...
These data are practically meaningless.

"WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DEFINITE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS"...
An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published.

"THREE OF THE SAMPLES WERE CHOSEN FOR DETAILED STUDY"...
The other results didn't make any sense.

"TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN"...
This is the prettiest graph.

"IN MY EXPERIENCE"...
Once

"IN CASE AFTER CASE"...
Twice

"IN A SERIES OF CASES"...
Thrice

"IT IS BELIEVED THAT"...
I think.

"IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT"...
A couple of others think so, too.

"CORRECT WITHIN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE"...
Wrong.

"ACCORDING TO STATISTICAL ANALYSIS"...
Rumor has it.

"A STATISTICALLY-ORIENTED PROJECTION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE FINDINGS"...
A wild guess.

"A CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF OBTAINABLE DATA"...
Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of soda.

"IT IS CLEAR THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL WORK WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS PHENOMENON OCCURS"...
I don't understand it.

"AFTER ADDITIONAL STUDY BY MY COLLEAGUES"...
They don't understand it either.

"THANKS ARE DUE TO JOE BLOTZ FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THE EXPERIMENT AND TO CINDY ADAMS FOR VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS"...
Mr. Blotz did the work and Ms. Adams explained to me what it meant.

"A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT AREA FOR EXPLORATORY STUDY"...
A totally useless topic selected by my committee.

"IT IS HOPED THAT THIS STUDY WILL STIMULATE FURTHER INVESTIGATION IN THIS FIELD"...
I quit.

interesting concept...

2007-03-20T20:06:00.000+08:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

a full circle...

2007-03-14T20:32:00.000+08:00

After more than 6 months of relaxed attempts at seeking out alternative interior designers, we have finally returned to Sean of Ciseern. For a glimpse of Ciseern's portfolio, click here.

Ad and I met him at the Ciseern showroom after dinner yesterday, and after more than 2 hours of discussions, we finally signed on the dotted line for our interior design and renovation package, which would include everything except for stuff like lighting, curtains, mattress, etc.

We managed to seize the opportunity of the ongoing Modern Homes exhibition to secure the promotion of 10% + 5% rebate off the basic package, and also a free gift of either an L-shaped sofa or a dining table set. Will be popping by the Expo on Sunday to view the samples and decide which free gift to choose. Should be a fun trip, since there'll also be the Metro warehouse sale, Popular Bookstore warehouse sale and Mega Carnival (whatever that is) going on at the same time.

Shall not reveal the cost here, since there's some vague confidentiality clause in the agreement, but suffice to say that I felt it was a reasonable price, even though it exceeded our original budget by a couple of thousands. The effects of inflation and rising costs were certainly felt though, since the quote was a whole thousand more than our original quote just one year ago! Better to secure this price before the new GST kicks in on 1 July 2007.

I'm glad to have Sean as our ID, he seems personable and sincere, but let's hope all that will not change now that we have committed ourselves to Ciseern.

Well, that's another item settled then. We're left with booking a photographer and videographer for the wedding day, and that should be it! (save for all other minor details of course...)

Most exciting. :)

And the winner is.....

2007-03-12T20:22:00.000+08:00

Yep, the O2 XDA Atom Exec. I am most pleased with it on the whole. Full details of my new toy can be found by clicking here.

In the meantime, here are more views of this nifty gadget:

The package also came with an infra-red keyboard as shown below, but I don't really like the idea of carrying a bulky (albeit leather-bound) package around with me, so I doubt the keyboard and leather pouch will be of much use. Maybe only at times of desperation when I'm at home and the Macbook is down and so is every other computer.

Oh, and I have to thank Ad for forbidding me to buy anything at the IT Show on Friday, coz when we went back on Saturday to get it, the package had mysteriously grown to include a 2GB mini-SD card, street directory software, screen protector and bluetooth earpiece! Would have been most upset if I had bought it on Friday and realised later that all the goodies only came out during the weekend.

Haven't really explored the phone fully yet, but so far it just seems to be a faster and smaller version of my HP iPaq which I used several years ago. Managed to download some useful tips and software off the net, and am looking forward to maximising the capabilities of this tiny wonder.

Ok, shall stop before I puke over the geekiness of this post. :)

joke of the day...

2007-03-12T15:55:00.000+08:00

A man was stopped by a game warden recently with two ice chests full of live fish in water, leaving a river well known for its fishing.

The game warden asked the man, "Do you have a license to catch those fish?"

"Naw, my friend, I ain't got no license. These here are my pet fish."

"Pet fish?"

"Yep. Every night I take these fish down to the river and let 'em swim' round for a while. Then I whistle and they jump right back into this ice chest and I take 'em home."

"That's a bunch of BS! Fish can't do that!"

The man looked at the game warden for a moment and then said, "It's the truth. I'll show you. It really works."

"Okay, I've GOT to see this!"

The man poured the fish into the river and stood and waited. After several minutes, the game warden turned to him and said, "Well?"

"Well, what?" said the man.

"When are you going to call them back?"

"Call who back?"

"The FISH!"

"What fish?"

The Toy Shop - IT Show 2007!

2007-03-09T22:28:00.000+08:00

Shall it be this?

Or this?

Or this?

Hmmm.... I favour the 1st option at present.

Before I get accusations of being extravagant, let me add a quick disclaimer that the new toy is a most pleasant welcome gift from my new employers. Might as well, right? ;)

The Mystery of the Cheaper Milk Powder

2007-03-09T21:10:00.000+08:00

Spotted in today's Straits Times:

"Milk powder sold at Cold Storage in Sengkang cheaper than that sold at Centrepoint outlet

Recently I bought a can of 1.8kg of milk powder, Enfakid A+, at Cold Storage, Centrepoint, for $40.05. The same can of milk powder was sold at $38.90 at Sengkang branch.

Neither branch was having any promotion for the milk powder.

When I enquired about the price difference of $1.15, both the duty manager and deputy/store manager of the Sengkang branch replied that the company practises two different pricing strategies for different branches.

Those branches which are at the heartland malls have a lower pricing whereas those in towns and where expatriates live have a higher pricing. They even advised me not to purchase in towns.

I believe there are more items sold at Cold Storage with different prices at different outlets. Is this allowed?

Jenny Law Yan Chee (Mdm)"

If I were in a nastier mood, I would have sent a response to the ST Forum as follows: "I refer to the letter (blah blah blah). I believe the letter is retarded and a waste of ink. Is this allowed???"

This is a classic example of the numerous letters in the ST Forum that elicit a huge groan and smack of the forehead. Doh!

geek analysis

2007-03-06T21:53:00.000+08:00

Following the earthquake, I was dogged by a persistent dizziness for most of the afternoon, and I think I have found the answer here: http://www.borderlands.com/newstuff/research/infra.htm

An extract from the link above:
"Earthquake infrasound manifests only at intermittent intervals, producing drastic and sustained negative modifications of consciousness. The human organism continues to reel under intermittent infrasonic assault for numerous reasons. After less than a five minute exposure to low intensity infrasound of 10 cycles per second, dizziness will last for hours. Infrasound of 12 cycles per second produces severe and long lasting nausea after a brief low intensity exposure." (emphasis added)

Most interesting phenomenon, albeit highly uncomfortable.

lunchtime excitement

2007-03-06T21:18:00.000+08:00

I was merrily doing my work late this morning, when the whole office started shaking. I thought it was some renovation work or something, but soon realised that the whole building was shaking.

The secretaries flew into a mini-panic, grabbed their bags, and fled the office. The lawyers stood around discussing what to do, until the funniest initial announcement was made by the building management over the P.A. system:

"Attention please. We have unconfirmed reports that an earthquake is striking Singapore. If you feel uncomfortable, please evacuate the building."

That brought some laughter to break the tension, but for safety, we soon left the building via the stairs. Headed off to meet Ad, since RP was also evacuated, and we bumped into Nav & ET, and decided to lunch at Coffee Club Express.

All went well, till I got back to my building, only to find that everyone was downstairs. Apparently there had been a second quake and the building had been evacuated again. Sat at Lau Pa Sat for a while, and eventually went up when we got the all clear.

Thank God everything is ok. I must admit that, this being the first time I have felt an earthquake, I was quite shaken (no pun intended) by the first tremor, and had a bit of an internal panic as to what to do if the building was going to collapse. A prayer shot up to God instantly, and well, the prayer was answered! :)

Oh, just FYI, here's an "official" report of the quake: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007zpah.php#details

Pong!

2007-03-06T00:13:00.000+08:00

Here's a recent extract from The New Paper:

"Mr Kelvin Lim, who lives in Punggol, is worried that the more mahjong is seen as socially acceptable, the more damage it may bring to our society.

Said Mr Lim, 40, salesman: 'The community club may be seen as endorsing social gambling. Will Singapore become like Hong Kong one day? What if underground mahjong clubs start popping up in the heartlands?

'Although mahjong keeps the mind active and is said to help prevent dementia, I feel that in this case, the ill effects outweigh the benefits.'

Another Yishun resident, Madam Dulcie Lim, feels that the mahjong tournament is a good way to get more Singaporeans to participate in a charity event.

Said Madam Lim, 60: 'Many Singaporeans enjoy playing mahjong. It is more a recreational game than gambling."

You know how Singapore is always seen as being too uptight and excessively restrictive on her citizens? It's because of people like Mr Lim.

Following his line of argument, let's scrap cars. Why? Because Singapore may be seen to be endorsing global warming. Will Singapore become like Bangkok one day? What if traffic jams become a daily feature of life? What if smog covers the city? What if more people die of car accidents? What if our children become too pampered and spoilt to walk anywhere? Although cars move people from point A to point B, and is said to help reduce travelling time, but nooooo, the ill effects "outweigh" the benefits.

Don't be daft, Mr Lim. Mahjong is a recreational game for young and old alike. It makes for good social interaction, and the money involved is merely to add a bit more fun and excitement to the game, and the stakes are deliberately kept very low (at least for recreational players) such that the reason for playing the game will never be for the money. You can probably make more money spending your time picking rubbish to sell to the karang guni man!

Look, if people really want to gamble, they don't need mahjong. True-blooded, hardcore gamblers can do it with anything. They can play Monopoly with real money (yes, there is an element of chance involved - you throw dice), they can play scissors paper stone with stakes involved, heck, they can even bet on the number of cars to pass by in one minute! (assuming we haven't banned cars due to the social evils)

Mahjong is a great game to help develop quick thinking and analysis, and to top it off, it's fun and great for social bonding. So please, Mr Lim, chill out a bit yea?

(yes, ang mohs play mahjong too...)

rather accurate... :)

2007-02-15T08:20:00.000+08:00

My Personality


Neuroticism	23
Extraversion	57
Openness To Experience	48
Agreeableness	49
Conscientiousness	61

You are neither a subdued loner nor a jovial chatterbox. You enjoy time with others but also time alone. You are generally calm and composed, reacting moderately well to situations that most people would describe as stressful. A desire for tradition does not prevent you from trying new things. Your thinking is neither simple nor complex. To others you appear to be a well-educated person but not an intellectual. You have some concern with others' needs, and are generally pleasant, sympathetic, and cooperative. You are reasonably reliable, organized, and self-controlled.

Test Yourself Compare Yourself View Full Report

Little Thought Apparently

2007-02-15T07:12:00.000+08:00

The LTA recently announced that they were considering scrapping bus bays, thus allowing buses to simply stop in the left-most lane at bus-stops, holding up the entire chain of vehicles behind it.

I find the responses in the Straits Times today rather amusing and of point:

"I READ with amusement about the proposed closing of bus bays by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in a bid to cut travelling time ('Bus bays may be axed to help cut travel time'; ST, Feb 13).

The LTA has taken aggressive steps to improve bus services without consideration for other vehicles on the road.

First, it closed off one-third of the road for the exclusive use of buses, affecting taxis and other vehicles. Now, it plans to axe bus bays which will affect vehicles travelling in the left-most lane.

Closing the bus bays will deter other vehicles from taking the left-most lane. Once stopped behind a stationary bus, other vehicles will try to filter into an outer lane, which could result in accidents, near misses and slowing of traffic in other lanes.

Eventually, all vehicles will tend to avoid the left-most lane, which will increase congestion on roads where there are bus stops.

No amount of statistics can justify why a major road that takes only 66 per cent of its designated load is always congested.

I am a daily bus commuter and a weekend driver. Allow me to pinpoint the root problems experienced by many commuters.

First, unrealistically extended bus routes contribute to a one-hour ride from point A to point B when 30 minutes is possible.

Second, the low frequency of buses results in overcrowding and difficulty in boarding the bus. Therefore, the bus needs to stop longer at the bus stop.

One often sees the bus driver urging passengers to move to the rear of the bus. This is reinforced by announcements on the bus PA system. We are also having premium bus services for those who wish to avoid taking overcrowded buses.

Lastly, I would like to ask the LTA to slash road tax by 30 per cent - since we will no longer use one-third of the road.

Edward Ngui Yong Siang"

Here's another one:

"AFTER the recent announcement of the implementation of full-day bus lanes on certain roads within the city area, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has now decided to do away with bus bays on a trial basis so as to further increase average bus speed.

It was reported that this initiative is based on an internal survey by a bus company which indicated that 9 per cent of travelling time is spent waiting to get out of the bus bay.

I believe closing bus bays will only cause traffic to pile up behind buses and create other kinds of problems, including congestion and accidents resulting from impatient driving.

If extra space is not created on the road, managing traffic is actually a zero sum game as any extra benefit accorded to one group of motorists has to be at the expense of other groups of motorists.

Can the LTA explain why it is implementing various initiatives so as to increase the speed of buses - which are known and have been accepted as a slower form of transport?

In addition, buses carry far fewer passengers per trip compared to trains.

The LTA should try to increase the speed of trains instead, as this will not be at the expense of anyone.

Tan Wee Ko"

To avoid sounding repetitive, suffice to say that I agree wholeheartedly with the learned authors of the above letters to the ST Forum. The whole notion of abolishing bus bays is just ridiculous and a clear indication of the narrow-minded focus of probably some "task force" in the LTA set up to look into reducing bus transport time. What happened to the "task force" to look into reducing traffic congestion for the rest of the motorists, who incidentally pay hundreds in road tax, as compared to 80 cents for a bus ride?

To put is bluntly, I have been less than impressed with the LTA in recent times. Frequent and arbitrary increases in the ERP charges with only a few days' notice each time, massive road works (using taxpayers' money) to replace a barrier with an almost identical barrier (ie. Benjamin Sheares Bridge), and now crazy suggestions to cause greater congestion all around the island. I suppose when traffic gets clogged up due to the absence of bus bays, they'd use it as an excuse to set up ERP gantries along these bus bay-less roads?

Disappointing.

the end of an era...

2007-02-13T00:45:00.000+08:00

Ok, the title's a bit of an exaggeration, but nonetheless, I am in fact about to move on to a new phase in my career.

The wait I had described a couple of posts back was for the outcome of an interview with my future employers. Notwithstanding that I had told them at the interview that I would be leaving for ICT the following week, they were unable to get back to me before then, and it was only during my day off-in-lieu on 2 Feb that I got the long-awaited phone call offering the job. :)

So I'll be joining the Equity Capital Markets team in the Frantic Slogging Department of a very large local firm. For the finer details, click here.

The benefits of the move are clear to me, as the experience gained will place me in a much much better position for future career moves and options in the event that I choose not to stay (or am compelled by fatigue to move). The downside is of course that I am voluntarily giving up the most excellent hours which I am enjoying at my current firm.

Weighing the pros and cons, I suppose it's a necessary sacrifice (and investment) to slog a bit harder now while I am still young, and reap the benefits in time to come. Every person is granted with certain gifts from God, and for me, I suppose the parable of the talents come into play here. I should not be sitting comfy where I am, and allowing the gift from God to stagnate. As my ex-pastor used to say all the time, if you're comfortable, you're not growing.

Of course the most difficult aspect of the move would be having less time with Ad, but I truly hope we can both look at this shift with the right perspective, and support each other through these (still) formative years of my career. There will come a point of time some years down the road when I will have to choose between family and career, and because I will be choosing family, hence it is all the more important to establish the career aspect firmly for now.

Dealt with another difficult issue yesterday - the tendering of my resignation. It was very hard to break the news to my boss, and even harder to look him in the eye when discussing the matter thereafter. I'm sincerely grateful to my current firm for helping me transit to corporate law, and I apologise for the disappointment caused by my departure. May God prosper the firm always.

So this shift is accompanied by mixed feelings, but with trust in the Lord, I need not fear, for He shall direct my paths. (Back to the key Bible verses of my life - Proverbs 3:5-6)

Last day of work at my current place on 11 April 2007, whereupon I'll be scooting off to Bangkok from 12 to 14 April. Starting work tentatively on 23 April. FYI. :)

Strike With Synergy

2007-02-13T00:44:00.000+08:00

That's the tag-line for my current NS unit. Not exactly the words you would associate with a bunch of guys from all walks of life gathering together once or twice a year to play with guns and such, but we did surprisingly well nonetheless.

Just returned from 2 weeks of In-Camp Training, and it was whole new experience for me, since I was but a clerk during my active NS days. We took part in Exercise Voyager, which entailed being out in the field for 7 days and 6 nights. For fear of being hauled up by Mindef for security breaches, I shall not provide much details, but suffice to say that our motley crew managed to prevail against fresh and vigorous 18/19 year-olds in a reputable active infantry unit. The sleepless nights and heavy tasks were a torture, but on hindsight, it was truly a refereshing experience and I'm a tad proud of myself for surviving my first full military exercise as part of a unit which was recently the best combat unit in its division.

But the bane of my existence in the army? Here it is:

For some reason, they have chosen to bestow me with the squad automatic weapon instead of just the usual rifle, and I thus have to lug this heavy crap all around with me. Not only that, the blanks used do not generate enough "kick" for the weapon to function optimally, so I have to spend more time fixing it than shooting it. Sigh.

I also ended up bringing too much food for the exercise. Only when the exercise started did I realise that I should minimise my eating so as to minimise the call of nature. Trust me, it's not pleasant to squat among tall grass and a battalion of mosquitoes to do the deed. Am most pleased to have limited myself to 3 "releases" during the 7 days, but it came about as a result of eating just enough not to be hungry. Plenty of wasted rations.

Soldier talk aside, I did have a good time with my platoon mates from all walks of life. From a chef, to a pilot, to luxury watch sales, it's nice to be able to interact with people other than legal eagles and the like. Will be seeing quite a bit of them this year, as we anticipate a mobilisation sometime this year, and another ICT later this year too.

Alright, am tired of being deliberately vague, so shall end this post. It's good to be back in civilisation. :)

the wait...

2007-01-25T00:54:00.000+08:00

The nervous waiting is killing me. Despite me knowing that God will decide the best outcome, the nerves are still buzzing. How human I am.

And on a completely separate note, here's a funny spoof. Har har.

(click on the pic to see it full-sized.)

THE executive summary...

2007-01-19T00:31:00.000+08:00

Ok, ok...here it is: the long awaited continuation of the executive summary.

Just installed Firefox to replace Safari as the default browser on my Macbook, solely because the formatting functions in blogger will work on Firefox but not Safari. So you're a privileged bunch for me to rock the boat in my Macbook just to ensure the posts here still turn out fine.

Anyway, I digress.

Just finished watching So You Think You Can Dance 2 which had been recorded on tape. I think the winner should have been Travis rather than Benjy, coz it's plain to see that Travis IS the better dancer. It's just too bad for him that Benjy IS the funnier guy, and thus more likeable. Oh well. I suppose things like that happen in our everyday lives too. How often have we been faced with the unenviable situation of bosses favouring someone else not because he or she does better work or is smarter, but simply because the said individual is funnier, or can schmooze easier with them? But don't be mistaken, I'm not implying I am in such a situation.

Ok I digressed again.

So here goes. After the Bangkok trip from 8 to 10 December, the big day came along very quickly, ie. my birthday! Had dinner with Ad at Bobby Rubino's in Chijmes, and then she surprised me by dragging me to this place called the Upper Club, where there was a huge dance floor, but largely empty. And that's not the end of the surprise! About half an hour later, Irks and Gi strolled in to join us, and we had a good time celebrating my birthday, complete with a log cake on fire:

That's about it for now I guess...it's a tad late to be catching up on the New Year celebrations now. In fact, this post has been sitting as a draft post waiting to be published for a few weeks!

So that's that. Suffice to say the New Year celebrations were great. Farewell 2006, welcome 2007!

a flurry of activity...

2007-01-15T00:55:00.000+08:00

While waiting for me to get round to completing that darned executive summary, I might as well keep going about the current events.

And so the date has been fixed. 12 January 2008. Signed the papers with The Marriott on 11 January 2007.

Pretty good package I guess. Pricey, yes, but the contents of the package seem sufficient to soften the blow on the wallet. Most yummy of all is the 2-night stay in the Junior Suite. Mmmm....

And of course the ballroom itself is sufficiently pleasing for our purposes. The slighly annoying thing is that we've just realised that The Marriott will be hosting a Wedding Workshop on 20 January 2007, and one of the perks to be offered at the event is a complimentary table in the package! Grrr...

But nonetheless, I think we got a decent deal, especially after I terrorised the poor girl from Marriott through numerous amendments to their contract and negotiations for more perks. Hopefully the ang pows collected will be sufficient to cover the financial blow (flying hint to all friends reading this! Heh...)

The following day, on 12 January 2007, which just happens to be exactly one year before the wedding, we dropped by a bridal fair in Suntec, and were sufficiently impressed/entertained by the folks at Santiago to place a booking for their bridal package. Again much haggling was done, and the Santiago staff even said I was a tougher bargainer than Ad! ;) The deal was pretty good, and includes pretty much all the clothes, make-up, flowers, etc needed for the wedding, and also the indoor and outdoor photoshoot. There goes another several thousand bucks. :(

http://www.santiagowedding.com/

We're just lacking a good photographer to do the actual-day shoot, following us around the island. Any good (and affordable) recommendations?

And to complete the said "flurry", we attended at the offices of Vegas Interior Design on Saturday to meet with someone recommended by Jo. http://www.vegas.com.sg/ Sadly, she forgot about the appointment, but she made up for it with earnest apologies and relatively practical and decent advice given. And it's a blessing she happened to be in the office at all, as Vegas had a booth in the ongoing exhibition at the Expo. Shall wait and see how the proposed layout and quotation works out.

So that's that. All set for the new life ahead except for a photographer and an ID/contractor. Now to consider the rather important factor financing all this insane spending: CAREER. Hmm....

Droooool....

2007-01-12T00:57:00.000+08:00

I cannot describe this. Go see it for yourself: http://www.apple.com/iphone/. Get your bib ready.

random post

2007-01-11T18:07:00.000+08:00

Ok so I didn't manage to continue with my executive summary that night. But I'll get round to it very soon. ;)

As an aside, check out this brilliant firm to work in: http://anonymouslawfirm.com/index.php. Grabbed the link off the vine, and it offers some much needed comic relief in the midst of these mind-boggling thoughts of career options.

This being a random post, I shall touch on some random issues I saw in the Straits Times today.

Random Issue #1

"THREE polytechnic students have come together to solve a bugbear for people in wheelchairs and those pushing prams.

A ramp they have designed can be attached to MRT carriages to prevent the bothersome - and dangerous - tendency of wheels getting stuck in the gap between the train and the platform.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will test the ramp in the coming months to see if it can be used in a big way.

The invention won the three final-year students from Temasek Polytechnic's Intelligent Building Design course a $500 cash prize at this year's LTA-Polytechnics Collaboration contest."

500 lousy buckaroos?? The LTA could possibly install these on all their trains, and all these students get for their innovative effort is 500 bucks? I certainly hope the students get some good advice from an IP-savvy person to go patent their device or something, and get properly compensated for their work. Shocking.

Random Issue #2

"Rethink plan for artificial turf in schools

ABOUT three years ago, I wrote to the Forum to highlight that many schools prohibited their students from playing in the school field outside of Physical Education lessons ('Pray, let the children play'; ST, July 8, 2004 ). In several schools, the fields were fenced and locked most of the time.

The schools' excuses for keeping the fields locked were, firstly, to prevent the children from hurting themselves; secondly, teachers' dislike of sweaty and muddied students in class and, thirdly, school fields being very expensive to maintain.

After my letter appeared, there was a strong push to let children play. Hence, my surprise when I learnt of the Ministry of Education's plans to replace the fields with artificial turf. While this may please both parents and the ministry, it comes at a cost.

Besides the environmental cost, there is the developmental cost to our kids. Why the paranoia about kids getting hurt while playing? That is part and parcel of growing up. If the worry is about parents complaining, then get all parents to sign a letter of indemnity before they enrol their kids in the school. Also, make personal accident insurance compulsory.

I remember my national-service days when the platoon sergeant made us crawl through muddy water as part of a training exercise. Our bodies, including our faces, were caked in mud. For those of us that grew up playing football in muddy fields, this was no big deal.

I dread the day when our NS boys are so afraid of getting muddied that they tiptoe around puddles of water because they grew up in an environment where they could not get hurt or muddied.

I send my kids to school not just to achieve good grades. I send them to school so that they can receive a broad education and be prepared to face the challenges of life.

If cost of maintaining the fields is the primary concern, get the children involved in replanting the grass. Working in the fields brings lots of benefits and valuable life lessons - they learn to use their hands, they learn about the environment and the laws of nature (you reap what you sow and you can't shortchange nature) and they end up tougher.

I appeal to the ministry to drop its plan to replace fields with artificial turf. The hidden costs outweigh any savings on maintenance.

Patrick Tan Siong Kuan"

Well done, Patrick. I echo his sentiments completely. Kids these days are just overly pampered and protected. In the unlikely event that I do hire a maid in future, her job will be solely to alleviate the burden of my wife, and not to pander to the kids' whims and fancies. Want a drink? Go get it yourself. Spilt some milk? Get a rag and wipe it up.

Come on, face up to reality. The kids nowadays are fast growing up to be devoid of self-reliance, but simply hollering for someone, anyone, to do everything for them, simply because they have never been told to do it themselves!

And going back to Patrick's point, it would be a sad sad day when all the new recruits balk at the idea of running through a muddy field. And so I say again - stop being over-protective, stop spoiling the kids. Let them learn that the world does not revolve around them, that people do fall down, people do get scraped knees, but pick yourselves up, brush it off, and you'll live.

Ok, I'll get round to the continuation of the executive summary soon. Have a nice Thursday.

catching up...

2007-01-09T07:41:00.000+08:00

Been awfully lazy with the updates since the period when my computer (Windows, urgh...) was dying, and so let me now try to give a brief summary of the ongoings since then.

The Nclave

Progress has been fantastic. Here's how the worksite looked like on 26 November 2006:

The front block is actually completed already, but the pictures are not with me now, so I'll post them up later tonight if I'm not too lazy. Most most exciting. :)

Baptism and Acceptance

26 November 2006 also marked the day when Ad was baptised as a Catholic, and I was officially accepted into the Catholic Church (I had been previously baptised as an Anglican). This marks a key milestone after 13 months of RCIA, spending 3 hours every Sunday evening in church.

There are several more sessions before we finally go through the Rite of Confirmation in June 2007.

Ad getting baptised:

Sitting in the pews after the rites:

Giving testimony as a newly-accepted candidate:

Personalised cupcakes made by the sponsors:

More pictures can be viewed here: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2098047675.

Bangkok Trip

Headed over to the Land of Smiles from 8 to 10 December 2006 with Ad and the folks at home except for Dad, who preferred to stay home to look after his beloved wheels.

Stayed at The Twin Towers Hotel, which was pleasant enough, but I tend to prefer the convenience of Asia Hotel. Shall switch back to Asia Hotel next time round. Also need to thank God that the recent bombings in Bangkok did not coincide with our visit.

The pics can be found at http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2098094099, but here are some selected pics for convenience in case you don't want to encounter the slooooow loading time of imagestation.

Map-reading outside the hotel:

Lingerie shopping:

Whizzing around in a tuk-tuk:

The big family feast:

Chilling in A&W at Siam Square:

Ok I'll have to pause here for now, as there are too many events to update for December. Will be back tonight to continue the executive summary. ;)

The Great Switcheroo

2007-01-09T00:15:00.000+08:00

It is done.

As promised earlier, I have made the great leap over to Macintosh. Bought a Macbook on 6 January 2007, and I have no regrets thus far. For the full details of my newly-acquired toy, go to http://www.apple.com/macbook/specs.html. It is the white 2.0 GHz version. :)

Been doing research on the web since my earlier post threatening to abandon Windows, and also did some on-site research by visiting the Epicentre @ Orchard twice to take a closer look at the form and function of the Macbook.

Eventually went to the iShop21 at Cineleisure to close the deal, as iShop offered a much better promotion than Epicentre. For an additional $149, I got a licensed copy of Office:Mac 2004 (which is crucial for working purposes), a Mambo sling bag with a laptop compartment, an optical mouse and a keyboard protector. The Office:Mac comes with 3 licenses, so if any of you decides to buy a new Mac, you may procure one of the licenses from me at an attractive price (or a nice meal ;p ).

It took a bit of getting used to especially since I have become quite adept at Windows over the many years of the Microsoft monopoly, but in a way, I have come a full circle since the days of excitedly trooping over to the Computer Lab in Sec. 1 to learn how to use MS Works on a primitive version of the Macintosh, which looked something like this:

And so it is evident that the Mac has come a long long way from that ugly nondescript box to the its very sleek and sexy form today. Needless to say, the features have improved dramatically, and I find myself very pleased at the ease of use of the Mac as compared to Windows. It is stable, faster, and very aesthetically pleasing as compared to the boring taskbar and Start button combination in Windows.

I still have lots to do in order to complete the switch though. The files have been mostly transferred, but I need to get down to organising the photos and music, and reconciling them with the built-in software like iPhoto and iTunes. Speaking of iTunes, the remote control that comes with the Macbook is brilliant. Well done, Apple.

Hours and hours of fun "geek-time" ahead for me! :)

The Thought of Christmas

2006-12-27T17:52:00.000+08:00

Here's something I found while surfing randomly:

One wintry day a man was walking down the street and noticed some grain on the ground. A flock of sparrows was having an unscheduled feast. As the man took a step toward the birds, they became uneasy. Another step, and their nervousness increased. When he was almost upon them, they suddenly flew away.

For a few moments the man stood there reflecting on what had happened. Why had those sparrows scattered in flight? He had meant no harm. But then he realised that he was too big.

Another question came to mind: How could he walk among those birds without frightening them by his size? It would only be possible if he were able to become a sparrow and fly down among them.

The spiritual analogy is clear. In Old Testament times, God appeared to people in various ways - to Abraham through heavenly messengers, to Moss out of the burning bush. They were afraid because of God's awesomeness. But centuries later, the angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds and announced, "There is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).

Yes, God became a man so that we would not be afraid to draw near to Him.

Jesus' birth brought the infinite God within reach of finite man.

How much or little do we care on Christmas to draw near to Him to worship Him, give him praise, rejoice (and spread the Good News to others)? Or are we drawn to (if not buried in) fine gifts, foods and entertainment?

Blessed Christmas to all...

i am vulnerable to assassination...

2006-12-17T23:31:00.000+08:00

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

story of the day...

2006-12-12T00:12:00.000+08:00

One day, a man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, "My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?" The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound. The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes about his merry way.

Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery. The monks accept him, feed him, even fix his car. That night, he hears the same strange noise that he had heard years earlier. The next morning, he asks what it was, but the monks reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk."

The man says, "All right, all right. I'm dying to know. If the only way I can find out what that sound was is to become a monk, how do I become a monk?"

The monks reply, "You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, you will become a monk." The man sets about his task. Forty five years later, he returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He says, "I have travelled the earth and have found what you have asked for. There are 145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth."

The monks reply, "Congratulations. You are now a monk. We shall now show you the way to the sound." The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "The sound is right behind that door." The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He says, "Real funny. May I have the key?" The monks give him the key, and he opens the door. Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man demands the key to the stone door. The monks give him the key, and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. He demands another key from the monks, who provide it. Behind that door is another door, this one made of sapphire. So it went until the man had gone through doors of emerald, silver, topaz, and amethyst.

Finally, the monks say, "This is the last key to the last door." The man is relieved to no end. He unlocks the door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the source of that strange sound.

But I can't tell you what it is, because you're not a monk.

What a joker!!

2006-12-06T17:04:00.000+08:00

Spotted in The Straits Times on 2 December 2006:

"...The SDP also said the three men were 'prisoners of conscience', whose 'incarceration is politically motivated by the ruling party, if not the Singapore Government'.

They had 'not committed any crime' and were 'victims of a dictatorial regime that is desperate to cling on to power', the party claimed.

Replying, MHA said: 'Chee, Yap and Gandhi were charged and tried in open court and were found guilty of having committed an offence.

'They were fined $5,000, $2,000 and $3,000 respectively. However, they chose not to pay the fine and elected instead to go to jail in lieu of the fine.

'Chee, Yap and Gandhi are therefore in prison because they deliberately sought this situation - their incarceration is a product of their own political motivation.'

Chee is serving five weeks in default of his fine, while Yap is serving 10 days and Gandhi, three weeks..."

And on 5 December 2006:

"...the party said that the prison doctor had found traces of blood in Chee's urine. It also said that Chee had abdominal pains and his blood pressure was low. Chee was admitted to Changi General Hospital.

The statement said Chee told his sister, Ms Chee Siok Chin, who visited him yesterday, that he had not eaten for over a week, as he would feel ill and throw up after eating.

He was 'amenable to consuming hospital food' but not prison food, it added..."

And today:

"SINGAPORE Democratic Party (SDP) leader Chee Soon Juan is in hospital for medical observation and tests, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said yesterday.

Chee has been warded in Changi General Hospital since Sunday so that doctors could examine him more closely and determine the cause and significance of his complaints of nausea, it said in response to queries from The Straits Times.

The SDP secretary-general had refused to eat the meals provided by prison authorities, claiming the food made him nauseous.

But he has refused all medical tests and treatment at the hospital, the ministry said...

...Yesterday's MHA statement comes one day after SDP said on its website that Chee was in hospital because he would feel sick and throw up after eating his meals.

It also said he was 'amenable to consuming hospital food' but not prison food.

However, MHA said he had initially refused to eat the hospital food.

But on Monday afternoon, he ate the food bought by his family and later in the evening, 'decided to eat the dinner he selected from the daily menu provided by the hospital'.

The saga of Chee's health behind bars began last week when the party, on its website, questioned the prison treatment of its leader, along with Ghandi and Yap.

MHA, in rebutting the claims last Friday, said they were baseless and sought 'to undermine the reputation of the Singapore Prison Service'.

Yesterday, it noted that Chee progressively ate less and less two days after he entered prison on Nov 23.

On Nov 28, he stopped eating altogether and also refused other food options, like a vegetarian meal.

He wanted only home-cooked meals prepared by his wife, which prison policy does not allow 'for safety and security reasons', MHA said.

It also said the prison authorities had examined the food provided for Chee and 'found no reason to believe' it was the cause of his purported nausea.

It also said he had 'adamantly refused' to have blood tests done to ascertain the cause of his complaints.

He also refused to be put on an intravenous drip, to ensure his health would not be in serious danger.

Hence, he was sent to the hospital. On Monday, his wife, children and sister Chee Siok Chin were allowed to visit him. Prison authorities allowed it although the family's next visit was scheduled for Dec 11.

'Since admission to prison, Chee has demanded to be treated differently from other inmates,' the MHA said.

He has sought for more yard time and more than the entitled visits from his family.

Now in hospital, Chee continues to refuse to let blood tests be done on him. Other methods to assess his condition, such as X-rays and a psychiatric review, are being considered, said MHA.

The ministry noted that if Chee continues to refuse to eat and seek medical treatment, 'the prison authorities will study and access all means to stop him from breaching prison regulations, and doing harm to his own health'." (all emphasis added)

I suppose the extracts above are self-explanatory. The man is just unbelievably ridiculous. And the implications behind it is not too subtle either - he is obviously under the delusion that his name is Alexander Litvinenko and the government is trying to poison him to death.

And the funny thing is, he did not even have to go to jail. He chose to go to jail!

I groan at his retarded antics.

early days

2006-12-06T16:59:00.000+08:00

My boss has gone home. At 4.55pm. The other 2 bosses are on leave. I am heading for Bangkok on Friday.

Life is good.

But....have just received rumours of the remuneration for my peers in a certain large firm for next year. And I am incredulous. If the rumour is true, I have serious doubts that my increment will even come anywhere near the rumoured amount. Sigh...

still alive...

2006-12-06T13:10:00.000+08:00

Yes, I am still alive. ("Unfortunately", as some may say...)

The reason for my long absence is largely due to the incapacitation of my home computer, leading to the inability to upload my photos, and hence my reticence in posting, since I have no photos to complement my posts!

Anyway, the computer has been most annoying of late. It decided to succumb to some random virus/spyware a couple of weeks ago, and has thus been acting really cranky. It was so bad that I could not even install Norton Anti-Virus notwithstanding that I paid US$39.90 for it!

I thus brought in the big guns, and got my Dad to format and re-install Windows XP, but even after installing Norton, when I next rebooted the computer, nothing could run at all.

And so we went through the whole cycle of formatting and re-installing everything, to the extent that a new 160GB harddisk was bought at Sitex 2006, and the entire CPU and monitor were removed to my sister's room to accommodate the logistics of the overhaul.

So everything was apparently installed last night. Lugged it back to my room, re-connected the harddisks, ran a full virus scan on every disk, got everything working fine (save for the same booting problem, which Dad attributes to the motherboard being old and cranky), and proceeded to reinstate my computer with the necessary software and so on. Seemed perfectly fine when I shut it down to go to bed.

Then, the fateful call from Dad this morning: "The computer can't seem the boot. The blue-screen error keeps happening."

I am highly annoyed by the computer. Am MOST tempted to hop out and get hold of an Apple Macbook. Enough of Microsoft and its antics. Grr. ;(

(Many reasons to switch to a Mac: http://www.apple.com/getamac/)

movies galore...

2006-11-27T00:16:00.000+08:00

Managed to catch two movies over the past week or so - Casino Royale and Step Up.

Watched Casino Royale with Ad, after much persuasion on my part (ie. by making it a condition precedent to watching Happy Feet). It was an excellent movie, and I must say this new Bond definitely has a raw cutting edge, which to me is a more realistic portrayal of a secret agent in hostile territory. I am happy to report that Ad had no choice but to agree that it was an excellent movie, which means I should hopefully have an easier time convincing her to watch the next 007 movie. ;)

As for Step Up, Ad and I watched it with Irks and Gi, which I suppose is part of the ongoing conspiracy to subtly inspire Irks to agree to continue joining dance classes with Gi. It was pretty much along the same vein as Take The Lead, and I'm convinced that America now thinks that the best form of rehabilitation for juvenile delinquents is through dancing. All in all a pretty good show, with suitable eye-candy in the form of a male lead who looks suspiciously like Brad Pitt, and a female lead who looks like...er...some generic Hollywood pretty face... And the dance finale was rather impressive - sort of a fusion between ballet, contemporary and hip-hop.

Ok, enough of wearing my movie critic hat. Will let provide updates if and when we get down to watching Happy Feet. Which should be pretty soon.

I am a "God sent"...

2006-11-25T03:16:00.000+08:00

To my amazement, "Mrs Maryam" actually replied my email in the previous post!! I can't believe she actually thinks I will believe her! Oh my goodness.... might think of some happening way to respond, but will most likely ignore her. Quite a waste of time, unless she really forks over the 1%.... ;)

--------------------------
From: maryam tukur
To: feelingsleepy
Date: 24-Nov-2006 19:56
Subject: RE: From Mrs.Maryam.

Dear Mr.*****,
Good day and thanks for your mail,I have read and understand your mail,please note that before i contacted you for this problem which i found my self in,i prayed over it as a christian and i have the stroung belife that you are God sent to help me,i know that many things happen's now arround the world but please count me out,i am not what you mighty think .
Help me please for God sake,i am waiting to hear from you .
God bless you.
Mrs.Maryam.

I am the Dearest One!

2006-11-24T12:10:00.000+08:00

Here's an email I just sent out. Feels great to be the "Dearest One"...haha... ;)

=================
From: feelingsleepy
Sent: Friday, November 24, 2006 12:06 PM
To: 'maryam tukur'
Cc: '*****@spf.gov.sg'
Subject: RE: From Mrs.Maryam.

Dear Mrs Maryam

Thank you for your email below.

I will be happy to assist in your predicament.

However, as my brother's sister-in-law's cousin's son has just passed away, we are tied up with the funeral arrangements at present. In fact, we are deeply troubled due to the lack of funds, and your email comes at a very appropriate time.

Since you will be giving me 10% of the total sum of $10 million, I would be grateful if you could, as a sign of your sincerity, and also to help me in my desperate time, forward to me an advance of merely 1% of the $10 million.

Once I manage to resolve my difficulties with the advance payment, I will then be able to fully devote my time and energy to helping you to take the money out from Abidjan-Cote d'ivoire.

As I am deeply embarrassed by my lack of funds, I would be grateful if you could treat the information I have given you with utmost confidentiality.

I really want to help you, but I really need your help before I can help you.

So please, let me have the 1% advance. I assure you I am telling the truth and you should definitely believe me, just as I have believed you with all my heart.

Thank you and God bless you.

Best regards,
feelingsleepy

PS. I have taken the liberty to copy this email to the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force. I'm sure they will be more than willing to help us ensure that the whole process takes place smoothly and without a hitch. In fact, I think you should get in touch with Officer *** directly as well, just to touch base and make some friends.

----Original message--------
From: maryam tukur [mailto:maryamtukur2003online@yahoo.co.uk]
Sent: Thursday, November 23, 2006 6:11 PM
To: feelingsleepy
Subject: From Mrs.Maryam.

Dearest One,

It is my pleasure to write you after much consideration since can not be able to see you face to face, at first.being the wife of late Dr Ken B.TUKUR, from ZULU in republic of SOUTH AFRICA (S.A) Iam Mrs MARYAM KEN TUKUR and my husband was a limited liability cocoa and Gold merchant in South-Africa .

Before his death after his business trip to Abidjan-Coted'ivoire west -Africa to negotiate on a cocoa business on 6th of February 2002a week after he came back from Abidjan,he was assassinated with my first son by unknown assassins which my son dead instantly but my husband dead two week after in the hospital , on that faithful afternoon I didn't know that my husband is going to leave me after I lost my jovial and intelligent son.

But before he gave up the ghost it was as if he knew hewas going to die .He KEN TUKUR my lovely husband ( may his soul rest in perfectpeace ) he disclosed to me that he deposited the sum of USD$ 10,000,000.00 million dollars with a bank in Abidjan -Cote d'ivoirethat the money was meant for his cocoa business he wanted toinvest in Abidjan-Cote d'ivoire.

Though according to my husband he told me to take care of the money for the future sake of his other children , so he instructed me to seek for a life time investment abroad . As a result of this assassination we cannot stay in South-Africa now .I have succeeded in locating and confirming the existence of the fund in Abidjan -Cote d'ivoire and also with mosthonest and confidentiality.

I am soliciting your assistance to help me on how to transfer this money from the bank in Abidjan Cote d'ivoire to your bank account abroad so that we will invest in a lucrative business in your country . you should understand that this fund is our only hope . I am waiting anxiously to hear from you so that we can discuss the modalities of this transaction.

Although I and my remaining Son Kevin Jr. have decided to give you a 10% interest from the total sumof $10million . Please kingly contact me on the above email address immediately for more discussion.
Thank you and God bless You.
Best regards
Mrs.Maryam.

the best man

2006-11-20T13:45:00.000+08:00

18 November 2006, Saturday, was the date of the customary wedding and wedding banquet for Irwin and Gigi.

We started bright and early, went through the overwhelming (and disgusting) obstacles put in place by Gigi's bridesmaids, and discovered, to our horror, that the bridal bouquet had been left behind at Irwin's place. So that cost him quite a fair bit of extra money.

Then it was a looong drive up to Sembawang, and an even longer drive back to Tanglin. For some strange reason, the driver of the bridal car decided to take an extremely convoluted and zig-zagged route back to Tanglin, and in a very haphazard manner, but we stuck to our guns and managed to stay right behind them for most of the journey, except for a brief period in Ang Mo Kio when they left us behind at a red-light after zooming through the amber.

The banquet was fabulous. Very grand, and with a nifty "live-photo" booth, where they instantly printed out the photos taken so the guests could bring them home. And not forgetting the star-studded guest list, including the likes of our DPM, Mr Wong Kan Seng, Dr Lily Neo, Mr Yeo Cheow Tong, Mr Lee Hsien Yang, Mr Kwek Leng Beng, etc etc. Pictures shall be posted in due course when they're ready.

And so of course I was a huge bundle of nerves throughout the night, as I had to present the best man's speech to this very distinguished audience. I think the contents of the speech were fine, but the delivery could have done with some improvement. Guess the nerves of the occasion outweighed even the nerves in Court. Sigh. :(

For posterity, here's the text of my best man's speech:

"Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Peter.

I've known Irwin for almost 17 years, and so when Irwin asked me to be his best man I was of course initially very thrilled at the prospect. But it didn't take long for this feeling of excitement to turn into extreme nervousness, firstly because I had to tell Tom Cruise I can't make it for his wedding today, and secondly as I remembered the last time I had to stand up in front of a room full of people. My client was found guilty and sentenced to jail for 3 months.

So I hope you will be a little bit more forgiving and lenient than the last audience was.

I have never been a best man before so lacking any experience I thought that the simplest way to put a speech together was to get one from the Internet, I looked at hundreds of ready-made speeches only to discover that 95% of them always start with the same joke. That being the best man is like dying for your country - it's a great honour - but nobody wants to do it - so I thought I wouldn't use that one.

Actually, being the best man is a big responsibility, and one that I have not taken lightly. I conducted a lot of research to make sure that I wouldn't forget anything, and came up with a checklist of what my basic duties should be:

Item 1 - Arranging the Stag Night

The less said about this the better, but I think you can all imagine that Irwin does look rather attractive in a pink lacy skirt.

Item 2 - On the wedding day, bring a credit card and loads of cash in case there is anything the groom may have forgotten to pay for.

Well, ever since I have known Irwin, I have had to do this so that's nothing new.

Item 3 - Help the groom dress himself.

It took a while, but I did eventually manage to persuade Irwin that Gigi wouldn’t marry him if he wore his favourite Mickey Mouse tie and his Superman cape tonight.

Item 4 - Ensure that the groom is sober, punctual, has his shoelaces tied, his fly done up and uses the toilet before marching into the ballroom - I knew I had forgotten something, Irwin you may go to the toilet now.

Item 5 - It is my responsibility to make sure his face and hair are in order.

I think that this duty is quite unfair, if God couldn't do it the first time what chance to I have?

The rules also stated that I should sing the praises of the groom and tell you all about his good points.
So what can I say about him.
He's Handsome...Witty....Intelligent....Charming....
Er..Er...Sorry Irwin, what's this, I can't read your writing. Oh, yeah and very lean and muscular - sorry.

So it is supposedly customary at this point for the best man to launch into a severe character assassination of the groom and to tell you a bit about the stag night, but I am far too scared of Gigi to do that so I will instead give Irwin some advice, which I hope he will find useful in the years to come:

Irwin:-
1. There are 5 rings involved in marriage: Engagement ring, wedding ring, suffering, torturing and enduring.

2. Always tell your wife those 3 important little word's . "you're right dear".

3. Communication is very important. One of my friends hardly spoke to his wife for two years after the wedding. It wasn't because he stopped loving her. It's just that he thought it was rude to interrupt.

Now, it gives me great pleasure (and immense relief) to hand over the mike to the lovely Maid of Honour, Kimberly, who will undoubtedly guard Gigi’s secrets much better than I have guarded Irwin’s tonight. But before I do that, I just want to offer my very best wishes to Irwin and Gigi, and may your years ahead prosper with love, affection, health, happiness, and of course, many many children.

Thank you."

My best wishes to Irwin and Gigi. Cheers.

entertainment for the day

2006-11-16T00:18:00.000+08:00

The Washington Post held a contest of the "worst analogies ever written in a high school essay". Listed below are some of the winners.

"He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it." (Joseph Romm, Washington)

"The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't." (Russell Beland, Springfield)

"From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and "Jeopardy" comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30." (Roy Ashley, Washington)

"Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever." (Unknown)

"He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree." (Jack Bross, Chevy Chase)

"Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph." (Jennifer Hart, Arlington)

"John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met." (Russell Beland, Springfield)

"The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play." (Barbara Fetherolf, Alexandria)

"The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon." (unknown)

erm...

2006-11-14T01:10:00.000+08:00

Mensa Singapore has come up with several print ads:

They're not planning to publish it though, due to lack of funds.

Phew.

The Prestige

2006-11-13T00:30:00.000+08:00

The title says it all. Caught the show over the weekend with Ad, after much persuasion on my part.

The show is brilliant, and manages to portray with great effect the intense rivalry between the 2 protagonists. Not only that, the twists in the story are enough to rival movies like The Sixth Sense, and certainly mirrors the running theme of the movie very well.

Ok, I'm not a movie critic or reviewer, and so shall not attempt to ramble on too long about it. Suffice to say it's definitely one of the best shows I've watched in recent times. Next? Step Up, and Casino Royale. Can't wait.

construction warriors

2006-11-13T00:22:00.000+08:00

Dropped by the worksite again on Saturday, wondering whether they'll be working despite the storm that broke out about noon and carried on as a constant moderate rain for the rest of the afternoon.

And amazingly, the team was still pressing on with the work, clad in what looked like a cross between a poncho and a raincoat. Am most impressed with their ceaseless dedication to finish the work as soon as possible. Whether it was due to a need to fulfill their contractual obligations, that's quite irrelevant to me. What matters is that these folks were braving the rain to build the lift shaft / bomb shelter (see pic - I can't figure out which of the 2 they were building), and that's enough for my respect.

The ground floor of the front block is coming along well. :)

The Accused

2006-11-08T10:33:00.000+08:00

The Accused:

There is an ongoing uproar over the dangers of rubber clogs such as the ones pictured above being worn on escalators. Personally, I find these clogs butt-ugly, and they deserve to be stuffed into the very bottom of the ugly-fashion bin, never to see daylight again.

Having said that, I should remain objective and state for the record that I am not drawing a conclusion that the recent accidents on escalators can definitely be attributed to these clogs. In fact, I think it's rather silly to declare the clogs unsafe when there are probably thousands of wearers out there, still having their toes intact. For the 2 incidents reported in the media, I would rather think it's the parents' fault rather than the clogs.

I spied this in today's Straits Times forum:

"Specialist team needed to tackle such mishaps

I REFER to the report, 'Toddler's big toe ripped off in mall escalator accident' (ST, Nov 6).

I request the authorities to explain what has been done since August - when the first such incident happened - to make escalators safer for young children.

What further steps do they intend to take to prevent the occurrence of and to mitigate the damaging effects of such accidents?

This incident caused permanent disability to a young girl - a loss that will dog her throughout her life.

There exists a question of potential liability on the part of the relevant authorities for the injury and disability caused by the escalator. However, that is a separate issue.

In the latest accident last Saturday, I understand that the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers found the toddler's toe once the escalator's steel stair panels were removed.

But the officers had to wait for the arrival of another person - the escalator technician, who was not part of any emergency service - before they could get going. He had to unlock the stair panels first.

It took 1-1/2 hours to contact the technician and for him to reach the accident site - time enough to watch a soccer match.

It took nearly three hours to locate the severed toe, minus the bone. By then it was too badly damaged to be re-attached.

Would it have been possible to save the toe if it was found earlier, packed in ice and rushed to the hospital? Would a faster response time have helped?

As Singapore is densely populated and jam-packed with multi-storey buildings where escalators and lifts abound, it would be apt now to think about setting up a properly trained quick-response medical and rescue team that is competent enough to tear apart an escalator or lift system on its own to deal with such accidents.

Chia Ti Lik"

Notwithstanding that Mr Chia is a "learned friend", I find severe flaws in his views. Mr Chia demands for the authorities to "explain what has been done since August - when the first such incident happened - to make escalators safer for young children". He also asks what further steps the authorities intend to take "to prevent the occurrence of and to mitigate the damaging effects of such accidents".

Is he serious?? Is he really expecting the government to convene a special task force called the "Committee for the Protection of Young Children Wearing Rubber Clogs on Escalators"?? Is he not aware that escalators have been invented since the last millenium, and people young and old have been utilising this complex piece of machinery without much harm for decades?

As I had mentioned above, I would think it would be more suitable for parents rather than the authorities to make escalators safer for their kids. Come on, stand up and take responsibility. Yes, your kids were wearing rubber clogs. Yes, the clogs might have been gripped by the edges and yanked a toe off. But who allowed the kid to stand near the edge??

Granted, it is human nature to blame everyone else, but if you do not watch your kids when they are on the escalator, if you do not instruct them properly to hold your hand and stay away from the edges, then I'm sorry, mishaps will happen regardless of any special task force set up by the government.

And yes, while I agree that a quicker response time might have saved the poor kid's toes, it is very easy for such a comment to be made with the benefit of hindsight. Did he not read in the media report that the SCDF personnel had assessed the situation and determined that it would have taken a much longer time to "tear apart" the escalator, as Mr Chia forcefully advocates, than to simply locate the technician to unlock the stair panels?

Let's not over-react. The kids involved have my full sympathy. But given that only 2 out of thousands of rubber-clog-wearers have had their foot unfortunately caught in an escalator, and given that we have lived with escalators safely for decades without any task force, I find more than a reasonable doubt that the fault lies with the clogs or the escalators. The sad and likely truth is, the parents were not watching their kids.

But let's ditch the rubber clogs anyway. They're butt-ugly.

one down, one more to go!

2006-11-07T12:13:00.000+08:00

Been so busy that I have not had time to upload pics from the last 2 visits we paid to the worksite. Progress is excellent, and I really doubt we'll have to wait till Dec '07 to get the keys.

From 28 October 2006:

As you can see, the main structure of my block is completed, and work has started on the second block (see bottom right corner of the lower picture). The little palm tree adds a bit of a resort-feel no?

From 4 November 2006:

This is a view from a different angle. From here, you can clearly see that part of the ground floor of the second block is done, and the workers are starting on the second level.

Well done everybody. :)

relak one korner

2006-11-07T11:55:00.000+08:00

As promised in an earlier post, here are some pics of my new office, and the view from said office:

The space is definitely much smaller than my previous room, but the view from my new corner certainly compensates for whatever loss of space suffered. These pics were taken on a clear day, but at the height of the haze a couple of weeks back, I could barely see anything from my window. Scary...

So I had lunch yesterday with a good friend from law school at BK. I highly recommend the French Chicken Sandwich. Food aside, it was fun catching up. Wish I had as much money to copy her travelling habits. She's been to see Wimbledon, French Open, US Open, and next Jan she's gonna watch the Australian Open! (yes, she's a tennis fanatic) Spent some time discussing the likely pay rise next year as well....seems that the various rumours all differ quite significantly....hmmm...

breathing time!

2006-11-06T16:28:00.000+08:00

Yes, have finally finished my 1st draft of the darned prospectus, which is now sitting in my boss' office waiting to be torn up into pieces. Hopefully not though. Now it's time to go do a share placement for my listed company, which seems ok, save for the fact that I don't know how on earth to go about it! Yet. But shall figure it out in due course.

Ok, it's been eons since I last posted anything, so shall not bother to do the copious catching-up thing.

But for entertainment purposes, here's the NTU lecturer who seems to have a huge "fan base" among his students. Haha.

And here's how my little jazz will react in a head-on collision. At least the passenger cabin seems to be pretty untouched. Wouldn't want to try it though. ;)

In case you're wondering, no, I did not go on a sudden YouTube browsing spree. These were clips sent to me over the past week which I just didn't have time to share. Enjoy!

swamped thing

2006-11-02T18:42:00.000+08:00

I have so much work it's just not funny anymore.... sigh...

pot calling the kettle black

2006-10-30T10:12:00.000+08:00

Spotted in today's Strait's Times:

"Just 1% of alumni donate to NUS

AN APPEAL to National University of Singapore (NUS) alumni for funds to help its needy students has fallen on deaf ears.

Only 1,452 alumni, or one in 100 graduates, responded to the university's first call for donations last year.

The amount raised - $966,709 - fell far short of the more than $2 million the university wanted, to fund bursaries for an estimated 1,500 undergraduates.

The university launched its first annual giving drive in September last year, by sending out appeal letters to 150,000 former students.

The 1 per cent response rate pales in comparison to the relative generosity of American university alumni - four in 10 graduates from private universities such as Harvard and Yale open their chequebooks.

But Mr Chew Kheng Chuan, director of NUS' development office, which heads the annual drive, said the university was grateful for every donation.

NUS has not studied the reasons for the response, but Mr Chew said one reason could be the lack of a tradition of giving to universities here.

'A common question we face is, Why should I give? Isn't this the Government's responsibility?' he said.

Government funding here is generous - about 70 per cent of the cost of educating a student comes from public funds, he explained.

But that little extra in private funding would allow NUS to give its students an edge - through programmes such as those which offer stints at overseas colleges to hone students' entrepreneurial skills.

'In today's competitive world, that extra edge can make all the difference,' he said.

Alumni like Mr Adrian Seet, 36, do not buy that argument.

The business graduate, who is running a family travel business, said: 'I feel strongly that the Government should pay for the fees and the extras of the needy students.

'After all, these are the elite of Singapore.'

Others, like Mr Mervyn Sek, 27, disagreed.

The trainee teacher gave $1,500 last year - enough to fund one bursary. This year he has pledged another $2,000.

Mr Sek, who involved himself in over 40 clubs and student groups while studying at NUS, said: 'NUS helped me discover myself and my true potential. I hope through my donation, other students too will be able to seize the many opportunities that NUS provides.'

NUS alumnus Professor Saw Swee Hock, 75, who is a professorial fellow at the Institute of South-east Asian Studies, donated the largest sum of $256,000 - enough for 20 student bursaries this year and another 12 in perpetuity.

Mr Chew said his office had refined its fund-raising strategy to tug harder at the heart and purse strings of its alumni.

Last month, it sent out appeal letters to 170,000 alumni, and followed up by getting its current students to call potential donors.

Last year, it employed a direct marketing company to do the calling.

Another first this year - some of last year's donors got to meet the bursary recipients over tea.

So far this year, 1,006 graduates have made donations since the drive was launched last month.

Mr Chew also explained why the university specifies the use of the funds; in this case, for student bursaries.

'It is important that they know that the money they give goes to a specific cause,' he said."

Why are they asking alumni to give generously for bursaries, instead of looking into the mirror and dipping into its own coffers first?

I went to UCC for a show on Saturday night, and was amazed by the changes which had taken place in NUS. Spanking new buildings. A full-sized music conservatory. Renovations everywhere.

No offence to music-lovers or musicians, but do we really have that many music students here to justify a full conservatory? Look at the law school - S$4 million (or thereabouts) spent on renovating the law library, and within a year or two, they abandon it to move to bukit timah. The "brand new" library now lies vacant, a hollow reminder of the sheer waste of money.

If NUS expects its alumni to give generously to the needy students, they first have to stop their own opulent spending and wastage. The present situation is akin to a rich tycoon appealing for donations to feed its pets, because his own money has to go towards beatifying his home, and building dog runs, and new kennels. The food? Nope, that's for the public to contribute.

Even in asking for donations, there is wastage. "Last month, it sent out appeal letters to 170,000 alumni...", "Last year, it employed a direct marketing company to do the calling." 170,000 letters at 22 cents each - that's $37,400! Granted, Singpost probably charges a discounted rate for them, but still, it would not be a small amount. And paying a direct marketing company? That can probably fund one or two students already? All this money could have gone to the needy students, instead of making a big display of asking alumni to help.

I believe many would feel the same as I do. There is no point in telling me to fork out money to help the needy students, when you are not leading by example. And no, it does not help that your 170,000 letters are telling us that "the money they give goes to a specific cause". I would rather have a situation where NUS funds the bursaries fully, regardless of its upgrading plans or renovations or relocations. If you are short of money, the bursaries come first. Then you may send me a letter to say that you have not enough money, because X dollars was used to pay for needy students.

The difference is that it should not be the needy students who are subjected to the whims and fancies of the donors. If I choose not to donate, it should be the university that "suffers", and NOT the needy students.

If I see that the university had the compassion to fund all the bursaries, then I might take out my chequebook to help. But if they are washing their hands with gold taps, and asking me to do the funding of students, then please, just save your postage fees and go buy a nice painting or something. At least the needy students will have something to look at since they have no textbooks.

i love bangladesh

2006-10-26T14:35:00.000+08:00

Yep, dropped by the worksite again on Saturday 21 October, and the going appears to be very good. I would really be quite surprised if the TOP date pushes beyond the 3rd quarter of 2007. Our block appears to be almost done! :)

busy bee / slacker joe

2006-10-26T14:23:00.000+08:00

The past few workdays have been sheer madness. A US$50 million transaction is due for closing on Friday, 9 due diligence reports, and one draft prospectus, all due by Friday. And so I stayed my latest ever in my new firm on Monday night - 2.45am. Well, still early in comparison to the all-nighters during my early days in HEP.

Had a good weekend though. Went for a swim with my family, including the kids, and also dropped by the various shows at the Expo, followed by a yummy lunch with family again, at Din Tai Fung no less! Nice quiet homely weekend. :)

treasure found

2006-10-20T20:20:00.000+08:00

After all that effort to find the cheapest LCD monitor available, I came into the office today and received repeated offers from the office manager and my secretary to hand them the receipt so that the firm could reimburse me.

My secretary said if I had known that the firm would reimburse me, I should have bought a 17" monitor instead.

But I disagree. I view all my documents at "100%" setting anyway, and besides, it truly is a blessing that the firm offered to pay for the monitor even though I wasn't expecting it. Thank God for that. :)

kick ball - the story continues

2006-10-18T14:39:00.000+08:00

Ok, this is the last one for today, I promise. And a short one too.

The plan to play takraw on a weekly basis has finally begun last night. We gathered at SPE at 8pm, but did not start playing till about 8.30, due to some screw-up with the SPE admin. They apparently did not realise that I had booked the court online, and thus did not set up the net posts, etc. But anyway, the court generally sucked, and we're not intending to go back there in a hurry. Next venue should probably be one of those public courts in a HDB estate.

It was really great to be playing takraw again after such a long long hiatus. Everyone was generally a bit rusty, but we soon got into the flow of the game, and it was just like the old days back in NUS. We managed to gather quite an audience as well, since everyone who walked past simply stared at us all the way, and some even planted themselves in a corner to watch! I guess takraw is really kind of a rare sport in Singapore these days.

Shall leave you with an ideal picture of the top form of the sport. We sort of look like that, but only at the rare brilliant moments. ;) Looking forward to next week's session!

treasure hunt

2006-10-18T13:59:00.000+08:00

I have acquired a new Acer AL1516 15" LCD monitor for my office.

It started when I shifted to a new room at work, and the desk was a tad narrow for my CRT monitor, which was practically going to fall onto my lap. And since the firm does not provide LCD monitors, I simply HAD to get one on my own.

So I went to Carrefour on Monday, after the SAL movie night, and found an Acer 15" monitor going for $239. But having not done any prior research, and given the fact that the monitor was sitting with a random bunch of other forlorn-looking electronic parts on a shelf marked "Clearance Sale", we passed on it and decided to look elsewhere.

Being desperate for the monitor, Ad and I drove to Mustafa, hoping that the land of cheap things could come up with a better offer. But first, there was eating to be done:

So anyway, to my immense annoyance and disappointment, the cheapest 15" LCD monitor at Mustafa cost about $248, and was some kuching kurat brand that I've never heard of! *grumble*

The hunt was thus adjourned. I spent some time surfing on web that night, and found that I could get second-hand Dell 15" LCD monitors from a seller on yahoo auctions for $150 a piece. Sent him a msg, but he did not reply till after I had already bought the monitor, so that was not helpful.

Finally went to Sim Lim Square yesterday during lunch, and bought this Acer monitor for - guess what - $239! So much for the effort.

Am most pleased with my desk now. The removal of the huge CRT monitor REALLY made a very big difference to the feel of my desk. Shall post pictures of my new office soon. =)

some thoughts...

2006-10-18T11:19:00.000+08:00

I went for the SAL movie night with Ad on Monday to watch "World Trade Centre".

It was "tastefully" done, in the sense that I felt it would not jar the nerves of those who experienced the trauma of 9-11, but there was nothing tasteful about the events which took place on that day. The movie managed to capture the raw shock and horror felt by the victims and the emergency personnel, but most of all, it embodied the strength of the human spirit at the end of it all. By the end of the movie, there was narry a dry eye in the cinema.

I condemn terrorism. I fail to see how the killing of thousands of innocent lives can ever be justified for any cause or agenda. Have the perpetrators ever tried imagining how the families and loved ones of the victims would feel? Have they tried to imagine, to quantify, to feel, the immense waste and pity to terminate the life of a baby who has her whole life ahead, a child who has just learnt algebra, a teenager who just had her first kiss, a fresh graduate who had just finished a decade of formal education, a father who just cradled his first child, and the list goes on...

I pray for the victims and their loved ones, but most of all, I pray for the perpetrators. Let them see the folly of their ways. The killing needs to stop. Let peace prevail.

be prepared...

2006-10-17T18:52:00.000+08:00

Last weekend was an extremely nostalgic one. I was at Singapore Scouts Association Sarimbun Campsite for an overnight camp, and it brought back tonnes of memories of my 10 years of scouting. The many many nights spent exploring the grounds of the campsite, pitching tents, cooking in the open, and generally having loads and loads of fun. Those were definitely the days.

Anyway, had a pretty good time at this camp, notwithstanding that I didn't know anyone else at the beginning. Our group had a good mix of people from all walks of life - architect, insurance agent, academic, accountant, IT consultant, professional dancer, police instructor, and the list goes on... It was really a refreshing experience, to exchange views with such a diverse group, and to build the camaraderie through the timeless team-building games and ice-breakers.

On the second day, we did a spot of rock-wall climbing, and the muscles put up a massive (and painful) protest the next day. There was also a long slide into the murky pond, where everyone ended up at the end of the activity, trying to scour the bottom of the pond for a pair of spectacles which fell off a group member's face when he hit the water! Poor fella.

On a more serious note, the lectures were enlightening, and the group discussions, both formal and informal, were rather inspiring. There is much to be done, and it's never too soon to begin. All that's left is to squeeze some time and effort out, which will probably prove to be the most difficult part.

Alright, enough rambling. I'll end with some pics. Fare thee well, good 'ol Sarimbun....

arty farty

2006-10-16T00:21:00.000+08:00

Had a very cultural end to the work-week last Thursday and Friday.

On Thursday, it was the Red Giselle by the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg:

It's a biography of the ballerina who plays the female lead in Giselle, whose life mirrors that of the character she plays, ie. she gets into some superbly messy problems with her romantic life and is driven insane eventually. According to the programme booklet, the actual ballerina whom this ballet is inspired by has spent the last 20 years in a mental institution. Not a pleasant thought.

It wasn't as brilliant as Romeo and Juliet, which I watched with Ad about a year ago, and the story gets a bit strange and jumpy towards the end. The interpretation is also very modern, and a lot of elements from other dance styles were incorporated into this ballet performance.

So, to put it simply, not a fantastic choice I would recommend, and not something I would go watch again (unlike Forbidden City, which I did watch a second time this year, but I digress).

And then on Friday, it was a whole lot more exciting:

For those not in the know (which included myself before Ad told me who this fella is), he's Wade Robson, who is supposed to be this super dance prodigy, and particularly in hip hop.

So this was the finals of Overdrive, a local hip hop competition, and Wade Robson had flown in to be the guest judge for this event. As a reference point (again for those not int he know, like myself), this chap starred in Michael's Jackson Black orWhite MTV at a ripe old age of 9, and went on to choreograph for many superstars, including Britney Spears, N'Sync, etc, etc. So a hip hop event judged by him was, well, huge.

So anyway, the competitors were mostly brilliant, and the competition was well-planned, including a very nice segment where the final 4 competitors had to learn some fresh dance steps from the man himself.

But the highlights of the evening that drove everyone wild were the two dance items performed by Wade and his dancers. It's evident from the choreography that he was heavily inspired by Michael Jackson, but I would say he has managed to take it even higher. Well done.

The second item was a tad weird, and very reminiscent of Thriller, but the first item was simply brilliant. Done to Sexyback by Justin Timberlake, here's the bootleg video (disclaimer: it wasn't me):

So yes, I have been immensely immersed in dance, and next up would be the Raffles Hall Concert on 28 Oct. Hopefully they've gotten out of the rut they've fallen into in recent years...

Testing

2006-10-12T23:22:00.000+08:00

Here's a test post from my phone. A bit frustrating that i can't seem to blog pictures directly though. Grr...

Tuesday is Waffle Day

2006-10-11T12:43:00.000+08:00

Went to Gelare yesterday night with my folks to enjoy some gelato and waffles. It's been a while since I've eaten there, and also a while since I spent some time with my nephew and niece. Had a good and yummy time of general chatting and eating. Should do it more often.

And of course i just HAD to show them my new phone. ;) Here are my nephew and niece. Tremendously cute!!!

speedy gonzales...

2006-10-10T13:55:00.000+08:00

Dropped by to visit the worksite on the very hazy afternoon last Saturday. Progress is still very amazingly fast, and since our last visit, the 3rd storey has been completed, and work is ongoing on the 4th storey, in particular the unit above ours.

Most exciting. At the rate construction is going, we might be able to get our keys at the end of the 3rd quarter of 2007. Most exciting. :)

lights, camera, action!

2006-10-09T18:28:00.000+08:00

Sunday afternoon was spent at Irks' and Gi's new matrimonial home at the Cuscaden. Lovely lovely place, and it's HUGE!! (not surprisingly though...)

The task of the day was to shoot the video for the wedding dinner in November. Everyone got their parts and lines assigned in a script, and filming went pretty smoothly, though most of the time was spent lounging and waiting around for our turn in front of the cameras.

I love my friends, and gladly do my part for this video for them, but I can't help but worry that it may turn out to be super cringe-worthy.... I cringe myself out filming my parts! Haha. Oh well, hopefully it turns out just great!

And since much time was spent lounging around, here're some pics taken with my new toy... ;)

Irks posing for the camera:

Ad, Kim, Gi:

My lovely Ad, gorgeous as always! ;)

succumbed!

2006-10-09T18:19:00.000+08:00

I have succumbed to my latest indulgence, which you now see on the right.

Or rather, I should say Ad succumbed to my latest indulgence. It was most sweet of her to insist on making it my super be-early birthday gift when she saw me drooling over the phone at M1 shop. ;)

Pardon the geek-talk here, but the K800i is one cool piece of equipment. 3.2 megapixels, with built-in xenon flash, and image stabiliser - it really is more of a camera than a phone! But just when you expect it to compromise on other functions, it shines as an even more user-friendly and advanced version of a phone than my previous phone, the K750i. The pictures are crisp and amazingly sharp. I am duly impressed. Sad thing is I've lost all my games in the K750i, and the battery life for this new phone is not particularly outstanding. But that said, I still love every bit of it. Thanks to my dearie!

as promised...

2006-10-09T17:47:00.000+08:00

Here are some of the pics taken at my best friend's wedding last Tuesday. Enjoy! :)

Half of the bridesmaids:

Me and Ad:

Us with the newly-weds:

The bride's niece feeling hungry:

The wedding invite...(bouquet and jacket not included...)

The hungry bride...

And the hungry groom...

due diligence

2006-10-05T21:33:00.000+08:00

Went for my very first due diligence inspection today. It is NOT fun. Especially when I'm the most senior in the team of 4 people conducting the inspection, and thus have to handle the listed company (ie, the biggest) among the 9 (yes, 9!! urgh..) companies we're supposed to inspect.

But on the bright side, you really experience the simple pleasures in life, such as finding a particular form or resolution exactly where it's supposed to be, instead of having to plow through every file just to locate the errant document. I know I must be sounding like a complete geek now. Haha.

Well, this will be the story of my life tomorrow as well. Gotta be back at the law firm's office where I'm doing the inspection at 9.30am tomorrow. Just to digress, that office is VERY nice! My current office pales in comparison. Sigh. Shall go raid their pantry tomorrow and drink mocha all day from their nescafe dispensing machine. The simple pleasures in life.

kick ball

2006-10-04T13:57:00.000+08:00

I just had lunch with an old friend from Raffles Hall today, at this jap restaurent called Nanten, at Hong Leong Building. To digress a bit, I had the braised egg ramen, which was fabulous, just as touted in I.S. magazine. A must try!

So anyway, had a pretty good chat, general catching up, and sharing some perspectives on life, career, home, etc. I'm really happy for him as he's doing really well in a translation services firm with global operations. Well enough to be renting a whole apartment at dairy farm estate for 1.7K a month, and buying a Honda Integra! (Good choice!)

On top of all that, one of the main purposes of the lunch was to kick-start a plan to rustle up some of the old takraw kakis to play some takraw on a regular weekly basis. Am pretty excited about that, since I'm not getting enough exercise, and I don't even manage to go for badminton every week. Hopefully the plan does really take off.

P.S. For those not in the know, takraw is short for "sepak takraw", a sport which is played in an indoor court similar to a badminton court, and involves 2 teams of 3 players playing a volleyball-like match using a small rattan ball (which is now usually plastic), but using their legs and head only. A very agile and acrobatic sport, you can find out more about the game here: http://www.sepaktakraw.org/
My interest in takraw began in Raffles Hall, where I started by playing for leisure, then representing the hall for Inter-Hall Games, then representing NUS for Inter-Varsity & Polytechnics Games, and finally becoming captain of the varsity team. I really do miss the game...

congrats!

2006-10-04T13:53:00.000+08:00

My best friend of 15 years got married last night. It was a lovely lovely solemnization ceremony for close friends and family at the bride's residence. Took plenty of photos, but I haven't uploaded them yet, so watch this space for updates. :)

Only "downside" was I had to wear this green shirt and green floral tie ensemble to work the whole day, which felt just a tad weird since I hardly ever wear this shade of green!

The formal dinner will be at the Ritz-Carlton in November, and am looking forward to that too. Cheers!

videos of the day

2006-10-02T14:07:00.000+08:00

No camera tricks or special effects for the ad on top, and I read that it took more than 200 tries to get it right. A tribute to the mastery and precision of the creators of my Jazz... ;)

the sweatshop

2006-10-02T01:47:00.000+08:00

Spent Sunday afternoon helping to prepare for my best friend's wedding. Must remember to inform my boss that I'll have to leave early on Tuesday.

The production line:

Am most impressed by the design of the "double-happiness" graphic. Very "Illuminati", as the couple's names are spelt out when you look at the side-view.

Just playing with the new-fangled functions on my camera:

Yes, it IS a miniature electric porsche to deliver the rings down the aisle, made in Italy! (the porsche, not the rings)

I think we should set up shop.

Looking forward to the big day on Tuesday, but I'm in a bit of a bind, as I'm supposed to propose a toast as the best man, and erm, I have no clue what to say yet. 2 short days to toss some ideas around. Time sure flies - 15 years in a flash, and my friend's getting married. Cool.

paper wastage...

2006-09-29T14:49:00.000+08:00

I received a letter and brochure from ABN AMRO yesterday by mail, inviting me to start a Van Gogh Preferred Banking relationship with them.

All I need is a minimum of S$200,000 in deposits and/or investments.

Riiiight.

random rant

2006-09-29T11:00:00.000+08:00

What is it with motorists and their left/right indicator lights?

Will it shorten the battery life of their cars just to switch it on for a few seconds longer, if at all?

Will they face an increased risk of arthritis just by flicking a finger to switch it on?

Will it rob them of their pride and dignity just to demonstrate that little bit of courtesy to other road-users? And not to mention safety as well?

Am disgusted.

big brother!

2006-09-29T10:45:00.000+08:00

Spotted in today's Strait's Times:

"Eye-in-the-sky ERP system 'pie in the sky' for now

TRIALS which began a few months ago to determine the feasibility of a satellite-based Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system have shown that the eye-in-the-sky concept is difficult to apply in heavily built-up areas.

'It is still very, very far off,' said Dr Chin Kian Keong, Land Transport Authority (LTA) director in charge of ERP and Intelligent Transport Systems, referring to a satellite-tracked toll system.
He said tests to determine the strength of satellite signals - using a car fitted with a device - showed that tall buildings downtown posed a challenge. 'The tracking is often quite unreliable,' he told The Straits Times.

A satellite-based system would be more efficient than the gantry system currently in use as it would enable authorities to constantly adjust road pricing as and when they become congested. It also has better scalability, enabling the LTA to implement ERP islandwide if the need arises.
'It has a lot more flexibility,'' Dr Chin said, explaining that there are constraints to where gantries can be set up. And once up, it is hard to move them.

But a satellite system may still require signs to warn motorists they are approaching a priced zone, he said. Either that or the alert capability could be built into the in-vehicle units (IUs).
Dr Chin said there are ways around the blocked satellite signals, such as installing beacons in the city to boost the signals. Or one can use intelligent IUs hooked up to the cars' own onboard computers to determine information such as speed and distance.

The technical challenges aside, Dr Chin said cost was a major consideration.

'The IUs used by the German truck tolling system costs $600 and takes three hours to install,' he noted. 'Multiply that by the 750,000 vehicles we have now - and maybe one million by the time we are ready to implement - and you have an idea of how much it costs.'

Even if an IU can be obtained for $400, it will still be much more expensive than the model currently in use - which costs $150 and takes less than an hour in install.

The heavy investment, however, would be offset by other cost savings, such as the eradication of gantries, and a smaller control centre.

'The smarter the IU, the less you need to spend on the backroom,'' Dr Chin said.

He admitted that a satellite-based system is the way to go in the future, but there is no rush to implement it. The gantry system, he said, is built to last '10 to 15 years', and can be used indefinitely 'if you keep changing the components'.

He said that the system, set up in 1998, is a reliable and proven one but it can be 'unsightly'' - especially when more gantries are needed in the future. There are now 46 gantries and the current system can accommodate around 100.

Meanwhile, the LTA will soon introduce a new IU, one that is sleeker and can read contactless cards such as the ez-link fare card. The current model can read only CashCards."

I do not agree that "a satellite-based system is the way to go in the future". We are being watched by the authorities sufficiently as it stands, if not already excessively. To now propose adding the capability to monitor exactly where my car is at all times? Thanks, but no thanks.

fyi...

2006-09-28T17:01:00.000+08:00

Some time ago I did a random search in a popular online map provider, and actually managed to locate The Nclave in it already!

So for those who don't already know where I'll be staying, here's the map for reference. :)

How is YOUR day going?

2006-09-28T12:09:00.000+08:00

I saw in a friend's blog that a YouTube video was posted IN the blog itself, so am testing this function. No particular video I'd like to post now, so I randomly picked a funny ad. Enjoy! :)

confirmed!

2006-09-27T18:26:00.000+08:00

Things are looking up at work.

For those who bother to keep track of the ongoings of the corporate world, you must have heard about the drama going on for integra2000 Ltd. Anyway, been busy in the thick of the highly tense (but entertaining) meetings the past couple of days, and finally found some breathing space today.

And out of the blue, I was summoned into the MD's office, only to be told that I'm doing very well, and that the firm would waive the remaining period of my probation. Am finally confirmed!! :D

It's such a relief that the transition to corporate work has been relatively painless. Shall not publish the full details of my little chat with the MD, but suffice to say that the road ahead looks quite bright. Am most pleased. Thank God for making my paths straight.