followup of andy ho's quality reporting

I was reading this article on students agents by Melissa Sim in the Sunday Times. Despite the fact that she had been told that her numbers were wrong, she still put it into print, claiming that students agents earned a hefty commission of between $2000 to $8000! And she was told that she must know what constitutes that $8000. The number is nonsensical if it is just commission for bringing a student here and help him enrolled into a school. No student would pay that kind of money just for that. The more likely figure is between $800 to $2000, depending on the complexity of the case. But $8000 is not uncommon for foreign agents in China, Korea or Vietnam to charge their clients as there are many domestic regulations and systems to get by, including paying off certain people. The impression given by Melissa Sim is that it is a 'low startup costs and about $100 million up for grabs...' What her article implies is that these are sheeps with plenty of money to be milked by the agents. But when you read her comments further, her evidence did not point to anyone paying that kind of money to their agents. Even a student who paid $2000 were unhappy about it. Where would anyone pay $8000? Other than the unscrupulous who would take the commission and run, many agents have to sweat it out and play parents to the students, especially the younger ones for 4 to 6 years when they are here, running and fetching them around to do domestic chores and worrying for their safety. It is hell of a responsibility to take a child into their care when their parents are thousands of kilometers away and have laid full trust that the agent will look after their children, responsibly. And she mentioned about the Association of Consultants for International Students(Singapore) or ACISS which was set up specifically by the agents and related industry players to self regulate and ensure professionalism and reliability of the service providers. The responsibilities are huge and the service providers knew that they have to provide a service that commensurates with the commissions they are getting, and to make sure that their care are safe and sound. It is no joke should an accident happen or the child is hurt in anyway. For $2000 and a responsibility that can stretch for several years, only the uninformed will think that it is good money. Perhaps in the eyes of this reporter, once the commission is in the pocket, it is time to disappear. I post this to show the quality of reporting and the amount of homework done by a mainstream journalist as claimed by Andy Ho. Factual and accurate reporting!

corporate watchdog!

Many of us are privy to many wrongdoings in the corporate world. Some were first hand information and some from hear says that were mostly truth. It is not uncommon to see hotshot and prominent honchos and CEOs indulging in sleazy deals, unethical and immoral practices at the expense of organisations and employees. I have heard of employees being held at ransom, treated like chattels, exploited and abused by the management they trusted. Some were used for horse tradings, some threatened and prevented from leaving the organisation, or if they leave, obstacles were placed along their path. All these wrongdoings have not been exposed for many reasons. And many at the lower end of the pecking order do not have the resources, money or intellect to take on the bigshot culprits who could drag them to court. And these people would lose by default as they would not be able to engage a legal counsel to bring the culprit to justice. They just cannot afford the legal fee. The internet forum will be a good place to expose such wrong doings to give warnings to those wrongdoers that their wrongdoings did not go unnoticed. Just to mention them here without identifying them or the organisations will suffice to put notice that their game is up. I hope forumers can contribute to this thread with their own encounters. And if this thread proves popular, I will stick it up as a permanent feature here.

crying wolf once too many

Putin has slammed the Americans for trying to flame the North Korean issue by claiming that the North Koreans are planning for an underground nuclear test. Even the South Koreans are dismissing the claim as untruth. The more the Americans keep dishing out their 'intelligence' reports of threats from terrorism or the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea, the less would the world believe in them. They have cried wolf too many times and too often. The Americans are losing credibility in the eyes of the world after Iraq's WMD. The latest terrorist threat claim at Heathrow has also raised many eyebrows as to its reliability. It is very likely another hoax originated from the White House but executed through White Hall. The wayang of Bush and Blair is now well known since the WMD debacle in Iraq. How much more would the world believe in the two of them? How much more would they keep on undermining the intelligence of their intelligence communities? The credibility of both services have plunged to the lowest level ever since their reports and assessments had led to the invasion of Iraq. Today we are hearing the Australians raising alerts to Batam and Bali islands. Are these also part of their scheme to raise the alarm on terrorism and indulging in more hoaxes to frighten the world and make them look right? Wolf, wolf, wolf!!!

the world can easily be turned topsy turvy

The world, especially in the air travel business, can be held at ransom, crippled, just by a phone call. Look at the panic stricken cities of the west. There is no need for WMD, no need for human bombs, no need for any complicated and expensive technology to disrupt the daily activities of any country. All that the terrorists needs to do now is to make a call to any airline or airports claiming that there is a threat or a bomb hidden somewhere and waiting to be exploded. Everything will come to a halt. All the security personnel will run around like bull arse flies trying to establish if the threat is true. And no want would risk taking any threat as a hoax. Fear and threats of sabotage will now be the most effective weapons of the terrorists. At their own time, and place of their own choosing, they could turn the world upside down. All life and economic activities will be disrupted at the mercy of the terrorists.

the mah chiam spat

Malaysia has the Mahathir Badawi Spat. Now we have our version of the Mah Chiam Spat. It all started with the light saga in Potong Pasir. Whatever Chiam said and did seemed to be wrong and will be commented upon as not doing his job or not serving his residents. Under such accusations, Chiam had no choice but to respond and rebut to level the ground. As the comments about Chiam came out in the media, Chiam responded through the media. From lighting a street path it goes on to the opening of the mrt station. (Where is Sitoh?) The latest reply from Mah is that he would not respond in the media but would want to answer Chiam in Parliament. Debating in the media would see both talking to the press and getting printed. In the Parliament, Chiam would have to speak to 83 MPs with one on his side and 82 on the other side, plus 10 neutral elected MPs. I think the laughters of 82 Mps will easily drown whatever Chiam has to say.