Compare prices and save

'Consumers can save money if they shopped around, Case said, noting that there were variations in prices across supermarkets, even for the same item.' And when I study the price comparison table carefully, I am fully convinced. And I am going to put this great saving idea into practice today. I will buy canned luncheon meat and eggs from NTUC Fairprice, canned sardines and baked beans from Shengsiong, condensed milk and toothpaste from Giant, shampoo and soap from Shop N Save, dishwashing detergent from Prime, and bread from Jasons. Wow, I am starting to count my savings from buying the cheapest from all these supermarkets. And don't worry about my petrol and time. I have plenty of spare time, and I can walk.

A pathetic existence of a life gone drastically wrong

I truly admire, and even envious, the old hags that sit in the board of directors or even as chairman of huge conglormerates and actively employed even in their 70s or feeble 80s. These are the men and women who have a good life. After toiling for half a life time, they ended in a job that demands them to attend a few board meetings and being paid in the millions or at least a few peanuts. And in between board meetings, maybe once a month, and a few corporate functions to grace the occasions, the rest of their time is for their own enjoyment. They can go travelling or spending quality time with friends, girlfriends, boyfriends or grandchildren. It is a life worth 'working' and living for. Anyone in such a privilege position will want to 'work' till death makes them part.With plenty of money and plenty of free time at their own disposal, 'working' for a life time makes a lot of sense when 'working' is once a month to attend board meetings. 'Working' really makes sense to these privileged individuals but not to those who have messed up their lives, wittingly or through a spate of misfortunes. No judgement here as many got into their predicaments through many reasons, self inflicted, environmental or circumstantials. It is a very sad state of affair to see a different set of old hags wiping tables and clearing plates in kopitiams or high end food courts. These octogenarians are a frail presence of their exuberance youth. Now their presence in stark contrast to a new generation of affluent young that have everything that they did not have in their life time. And the new young are enjoying every minute of their time in luxury while these old hags are told to value and treasure their economic independence and dignity, to earn a living at a time when they should be lying beside the boxes and waiting to be carried them home. Is this what life should be in a rich beyond belief first world paradise? That the oldies must toil to the last day of their pathetic existence? That this is called dignity and pride of living? Strongly encouraged by the state! I think this is the most shameful thing to see, and to believe that it is good. Don't we have any better options, a new thinking on what life should be for the oldies? A little tropical paradise as suggested by Boon Wan is not a bad idea as a choice, no compulsion and with true subsidies, to allow the oldies to retire in grace, comfort, stress free and with dignity. Walking the aisles of kopitiams and foodcourts can never be something to be proud of or to look forward to in one's twilight years.

And now I understand

I happened to step into Robinson last week and, to my amazement, the store was so crowded. I didn't know there was a sale on. I picked up a couple of items and headed for the cashier. I almost dropped what I was holding. There were something like 50 people in the queue. I looked around for other cashiers and the same picture struck me again. It might be a big sale. But hey, that's Robinson, and every item there is not cheap ok. And the customers were just grabbing, each with a few items in the hands and under their arms. Easily every customer would be hanging on to a couple of hundred bucks of items. Now this is also a part of paradise. While in the NTUC Fairprice the same crowd was there. But you could notice that price checking seems like a past time. The customers were checking and rechecking the prices and comparing similar items. If one patronises stores like Robinson, it is very excusable to exclaim that the good times are here. What is a few hundred bucks? It is good time and spending is a good distraction to the boring life. What a different world! Please forgive me if I don't have the same world view as you.

Different style

Below article was posted by a blogger in Tan Kin Lian's blog. It presented a different style on the issue of responsibility and accountability. I am not making any value judgement here as it is not a matter of right or wrong. It is just a style, and people do it differently. (Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at Wharton India Economic forum , Philadelphia , March 22,2008) Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, leaders should manage failure? Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India 's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India 's 'Rohini' satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space.... By 1979 ...I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts -- I had four or five of them with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal . It was a big failure. That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference....Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization. ...in July 1980, ... and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, 'You conduct the press conference today.' I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team....

The new battle on foreign workers

We have discussed this many times over. Though some were more against foreigner workers, many narrow down to foreign talents that are not really talents but cheap white collar workers. And the gripe is that they are taking away these jobs from Singaporeans who are just as well qualified. Reading the msm today, a new battle is being fought between the govt and the opposition parties even to the extent of ridiculous challenge asking Worker's Party to just hire Singaporeans. This is the same kind of challenge asking Singaporeans to come up with alternative solutions when it cannot happen simply because the one being challenged is not in a position to carry them out. Ya, hogwash. So now we have the trade unions and the govt strongly for foreign workers. On the other corner, the natural opponents, the opposition parties. As far as workers are concerned, it is now an established fact that many jobs are shunned by Singaporeans and only foreigners are willing to accept them. So there should be no question as to whether the employers should or should not employ foreign workers for these jobs. What is needed is in jobs that Singaporeans want and are qualified to do. If these jobs are lost to Singaporeans, with so many things stacked against them, we are going to see many educated, qualified and angry Singaporeans hogging the net and kpkb.

Mahathir into blogging

Mahathir has joined the blogging world to say his piece. And this is a world that he had no special liking for when he was in power. For then, the msm was his mouth piece, saying and printing what he liked and his fancy. Things have changed when he lost power. He lost his voice in the msm. They no longer say or print what he likes. And knowing that he has no other choice by cyberspace, he accepts what he thinks is best. Now he has cyberspace to thank for in giving him a voice. Whether people listen to him is another thing. But at least he is talking again He is using his pen name of Che Det. Welcome to the world of talking nonsense, or saying what you feel, Che Det. No one is going to censor your free speech now.

Don't worry, we have plenty of rice stockpile

This is a very comforting message. And then there is NTUC Fairprice advising people to switch to housebrands that are cheaper or go for special discount promotions. And the govt has assured the people that they will help those who need help, directly. A Lily Cheong wrote to the ST complaining, yes, complaining that 'A 10kg bag of rice rose from $17.50 or $18.50 to $20.80 one week ago. On Tuesday, the price rose to $26.80.' Using the $17.50 as base, this is more than 50% increase in slightly more than a week. She added that for low price cooking oil, 'For a 2kg bottle, the price rose from $2.35 to $5.25 or $5.35 a week ago. On Tuesday, the price spiked again to $5.90...for cooking oil sold under Fairprice's house brand, labbeld a low price item.' Total increase is more than 150% from $2.35. At the rate this is going, the people better be afraid. Be very afraid. There will be plenty of rice and basic essentials available. But money will not be enough.

The fascinating world of internet

Blogs and forums are sprouting out daily in cyberspace. There must be several thousands of local blogs and forums out there, from students talking about their school and social lives to hobbyists, food and gourmets, pornography and social political sites. It is blossoming with each day passing. There must be plenty of interesting and exciting things said or happening in cyberspace. OK, I shall not deliberately avoid mentioning Stomp, CNA, P65s and other sites that are being promoted by the msm. All of them are competing for readership. With such a vibrant community existing in cyberspace, the strange thing is that there is no interest in the msm to cover this ground. All we get to hear occasionally is a brief mention of Mr Brown, Yawning Bread, Mr Wang and maybe TOC and no more. Oh, maybe about someone selling food or comics. And if there is any article on internet and cyberspace, it is about something that not many people will not bother, or about blogs existing in Siberia or Timbuctoo perhaps. I read something in the ST talking about starving a dog in Nicaragua and Bonsai Kitten where kittens are stuffed in bottles by Tan Shzr Ee. To be fair, she was skirting around to talk about the meaning internet rants and kpkb. She said people argued that internet activism is ineffective because it was easy and cheap, and would be ignored. She disagreed. She said 'internet furores create a sense of greater awareness, or at least an opportunity for one to find out more.' Views in cyberspace are intentionally and deliberately ignored for obvious reasons. They present a serious challenge to not only the approved truths, but also posed as a serious challenger for readership with the msm. No business enterprise will promote the interests of their competitors or give credits to them. That is expected. Will msm give greater coverage of cyberspace one day, devote a page or a column for it? Not much of a chance if they can help it.

SMRT profit soars to $150 mil

Full year profit soared despite higher fuel and operating cost. Profit rose by 10.7% due to higher ridership and other incomes. So will fare price come down? I don't think so looking at oil prices. I think more increases are likely if the mindset and past precedence are to go by. And the reasons of the past can always be pushed out again and again. And don't forget that they are answerable to the shareholders to bring in ever increasing profits.

The internet revolution

Imagine all these years when the supremacy of the press was unchallenged. The editors, the journalists and reporters were in such a comfortable and commanding position to write whatever they want in the press. And the masses just had to read whatever that were in prints. Internet is such a revolution as far as spreading news and information is concerned. And the coverage of internet is world wide. Its readership can only keep on going up while the printed media is limited to a paid readership, and shrinking. China alone has 220 mil net users, surpassing the US. The talk back process, the challenge to official views, the cynicism and criticism of tooth and half truths must be quite a shocking experience to the editors and journalists. Suddenly the comfort zone vanishes and they have to face judgement day for every piece of article they write. No longer untouchables. And if they write nonsense, they will look nonsensical. It is a brave new world.

Appalled by the state of corporate governance

Theresa Goh was so appalled by the reports on corporate governance at CAO that she wrote to Today with 7 pointed questions. 1. Is it right For CAO not to appoint a CEO after the fiasco 3 years ago? 2. Is it decent for the Chairman to be given an above average remuneration in director's fees, assuming that he is de facto CEO? 3. Is it right for the CEO to appoint independent directors from his network? 4. Is it decent for Wang Kai Yuen to accept more than 14 directorships? 5. Is it right for David Gerald, Chairman of SIAS, to endorse CAO's governance standards, based on seemingly misleading statements given by them... 6. Is it decent for him to say 'There is no law that prevents them from taking up more positions so long as they can discharge their duties and make sure that the shareholders are not disappointed? This is the sad state of affairs of corporate governance.

I am so angry....and so helpless

I used to be the one that called the shot. I decide what people should read, should know and what I think they need not know. I set the agenda on what people should be thinking about, should be talking about or should not be thinking about. You see, I decide what is in the people's mind. And sometimes I tried to be generous and invite people to say what they want to say. Then I went through them and chose what was agreeable to me and allowed it to be said. And those that I did not like, I threw them in the waste paper basket. And they were so helpless. Some felt very frustrated as their pet topic would not be given a chance to be aired. Whew! I was that powerful. Not that I could not do the same things now. I am still doing the same things. But people are not listening to me anymore. They simply ignore me. They went to cyberspace and say whatever they want and to whoever they want. Things that I do not want them to say they keep on saying. And I can't do anything about it. They now set their own agenda. They think what they want to think and decide want they think is important and what is not. And there are things that I do not want them to talk about for good reasons but they keep talking about them, and fanning them. And I am powerless. I cannot throw them into the waste paper basket any more. Neither can I ignore them. It is they who are ignoring me. And they even criticise me. They dare to criticise me. My god! What is happening?

Is there a disconnect?

Just a few months before the Malaysian GE, UMNO did not see any disconnect with the people. UMNO believed that it was in an unassailable position, that the bumiputras would be strongly behind them and the opposition could not do anything about it. They kicked their BN partners on their arses. They kissed the keris in a threatening manner. They tore down temples and places of worship of non Muslims at will. They cut down education grant for schools for the non Malays, and they took and took, to fill up their bank accounts. They never saw it coming. They believe there was no disconnect. Is there a disconnect south of the causeway? No, no signs of any disconnect. The govt is with the people and the people all behind the govt. All the decisions and policies and explanations were well received by the people. So where got problem? The third pay rise for the ministers will be coming soon. All is well.

Corporate Governance raising its ugly head again

Lee Suet Fern resigned as independent director of CAO. She was unhappy about how decisions were made. It was more like a fait accompli according to a report in Today. And the Chairman doubles up as the CEO and paid an undisclosed sum. And 'the firm is said to be in contravention of the Corporate Governance Code, which requires that at least one third of the board of the directors are independent.' How could a public company be in violation of the Corporate Governance Code when there are so many eminent and highly honourable people in the board? Don't these people know that their actions are illegal? They are the cream of our society, the role models, the people that the public look up to. So what is at fault, the system or the people? A primary school kid will give you the answer immediately. And if Lee Suet Fern would not have resigned, the issue would not have come out in the open and everyone will be so happy continuing what they were doing without any sense of wrongdoing. Another point which I think is very wrong in our culture is that independent directors are there to make sure things are done right and legally. They are not supposed to run away when they see that things are going wrong or when things got foul with the law. Why would our world class infrastructure and system of transparency and accountability allow such things to get by without putting a stop to it? Are independent directors appointed only to collect money when things are ok and quickly runaway when things are going wrong, and thus absolve their responsibility? When will there be a major revamp of the independent directors system to make sure that everyone in the board of directors are held accountable for wrong doings? A parallel report by Esther Fung said SIAS 'did not determine any obvious flaws in CAO governance standards following concerns raised by Mrs Lee Suet Fern in her resignation letter last week.' The report also said CAO board 'comprised 4 reps from CAO's parent company, two reps from oil giant BP and 3 independent directors.' And that this is unprecedented. Now who is right?

Myth 179 - PAP and people disconnect

The disconnect is due mainly to the PAP government’s failure, or refusal, to understand the importance of the affective component in a government-people relationship. Indeed anything outside their sternly pragmatic, rationalist, functionalist framework is viewed as just so much unnecessary emotionalism or ideology. Catherine Lim The above quote from Catherine Lim came about after the Mas Selamat escape. Catherine concluded that the way the govt handled the issue showed that there is a disconnect between the govt and the people. It seems that what the people expected of the govt have not been met. I think this is only a single issue and is not sufficient to say that there is a disconnect. Furthermore the escape is not even crucial if a journalist's comment is to be taken seriously. So my view is that there is no disconnect. The people will likely return the govt to power in the next GE and with bigger majority. That will be the best proof that there is no disconnect between the people and the govt. And the party will go on and on. You want more proof? See, no public demonstration. And the online petition calling for Kan Seng's resignation is not even receiving any support. Neither were there a flood of letters in the ST forum page criticising the way the govt is handling the case. Case proven. Case closed.

Investigative journalism

If our journalists are running out of ideas or what to write, do a little investigative journalism on this case. Many things could be revisited. Many people could be interviewed. And we will have a great strong from another dimension.

Put frugality into practice

Why must people be made to pay for more luxurious things that they do not want? The current mindset is that if you have money, you must spend, pay for comfort or eat sharksfin even if you don't want to. This kind of prodigous thought must be abolished. Frugality is a virtue, thrift is a virtue. There is nothing wrong for people who want to save. Lily Chan-Wong Jee Choo, Acting Dep Director, HDB, replied to a Song Yee Soon who called for a revision of the $8000 income ceiling for HDB buyers. She said there are many choices available to high income earners in the resale and open market. Yes, sure. But why should these people be penalised just because they are earning more? Penalised for being more able? What if they are first time buyers? When the housing problems are almost solved, it is timely to doing away with this policy of higher income must buy bigger and more expensive flats. Why can't higher income earners choose to live in smaller flats? Why must spend everything or hang a millstone over one's neck?

Sorry not enough

Several UMNO Youth Branches are calling for Hishammuddin to resign for his keris kissing antics and causing the lost of confidence from other BN supporters. Kadar Shah Sulaiman Ninam Shah said about 90 branch and 25 divisional leaders made the call after Hishammuddin's apology and admission of his mistake. Actually Abdullah is paying for the sins of Mahathir, Hishammuddin and Khairy. The poor PM is being asked to resign for inheriting problems caused by other UMNO leaders. Now this is definitely unfair. Abdullah is a moderate leader, not an extremist. Given a chance, Abdullah could bring Malaysia forward in a more democratic way. It is time the wrongdoers be made to pay for their sins, not Abdullah.

Looking for a closure?

BN Balji wrote a piece titled, 'Looking for closure in Mas Selamat case.' Many would like a closure quickly. But many more will want to see more if the mood in cyberspace is to go by. Princess Diana's death has still yet to see a closure after so many years. And with so many questions unanswered or unsatisfactorily answered, would a closure now be acceptable? Balji answered his own question. 'That will come when fugitive is found and the issue of culture is dissected.' What does he meant by issue of culture? Actually the issue of culture today is money culture. If one is prepared to demand to be paid in millions, the expectancy of the people is equally high and unforgiving for mistakes of such a nature. Many are now obsessed by the equation of responsibility and money. The more the money, the higher the responsibility. It cannot be otherwise. We need to address this issue of money culture thoroughly in order to appease the angry people. There is no free lunch.

Addressing higher payments instead of cost

By 1 Dec the basic Medishield premium will just go up. It will just go up, like it or not, object or not. It has so been decided. And it is so cheap, $1 more a month for the young and only $40 a month for those above 80. Hey that is $480 more a year above what they are paying now. This is what happens when you have no control over your CPF or Medisave. A ruling, and your money disappears. No one is interested in addressing the cost of medical fees but on how to make you pay. How much will Medishield be expected to pay out? ICU claims from $200 to $900, surgical implants like pacemakers and hip replacement form $2,500 to $7,000. Or not happy can opt out. Can anyone afford to opt out and risk being bankrupted with this kind of medical fees? The increase premium also means that the patients are now able to afford to pay more. This also means that hospital can also afford to charge more. But no sweat. According to one reitiree who was so glad, he said he did not feel any pinch because the premium was paid by his Medisave. My 85 year old mum was even happier. She said it was free. No need to pay because CPF was paying. But for the millions of CPF account holders, millions were paid from their CPF, like it or not, use it or not. Everyone is paying in advance. So cheap.