A Singaporean In Australia

Ah Nair - The Jester of Parliament

2012-03-03T01:51:00.003+08:00

I received a few messages via whatsapp while I was grinding my life away at work. Something about someone wanted to sue someone - again. I replied, "Which PAP Minister/MP?" knowing that I had hit the bull eyes without even trying. Well in Singapore, who sues somebody and get the media to tell the whole world about it?

"Vikram Nair," came the reply.

*mind blank*

"Dark waters ah?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah that fella!"

Who the hell is Vikram Nair? You Sembawang dwellers have to answer me that. Patrick, you lived in Sembawang right? Tell me how did this worm crawled in, by the water tank?

To know more about this Member of Parliament, this article is the first thing I read once I got home. Blah blah the usual crap aside, this is what caught my unforgiving, uncaring peasant eye;

OooOooOoooh so that’s REALLY what happened? Wow, I think jokes in parliament is worse than ANYTHING ELSE! Parliament can joke one ah? Who voted this joker into Parliament so that we can pay him a 5-figure monthly salary to joke around? Sembawang voters, please jump into the Strait of Tebrau. Lately we revealed one confused dog sitting amidst the crowd, then we discovered a Parliament Jester. What's going on?

I'm not a Worker's Party yuppie and I don't have a good impression of all the opposition parties in Singapore. But didn't the PAP vomit stuff about meritocracy every single day? Isn't this Chen Show Mao as elite as any of the turds sitting in Parliament where it comes to academic and career performances? Why isn't anyone listening to his plans. And then they sent this jester to clown around Ah Mao? Double standard for someone wearing a different colour? You should hear what some of the retards in white came out with previously. Stuff like "GST increase helps the poor"

I quote Mr Jester:

"I pointed out that the investment concept Mr Chen proposed did not appear to be properly thought through because he did not explain how it was going to be paid for. I fully support the helping of vulnerable groups. In fact, I specifically said I agreed that we should invest in social capital. And that is what is being done now. But we should be clear as to how we are going to pay for it and not pretend that the money will materialise from nowhere."

Do PAP members present their ideas in details always, all the time, every time? I doubt so. If there isn't an explanation about certain detail, is anyone going to bother asking? Not if it comes from an opposition MP of course. So without checking, Mr Jester deemed Ah Mao's concept as not properly thought through. Is that how does Parliament really works?

What a joke.

I don't know which is funnier. Having a stand-up comedian in Parliament or the fact that he was voted into the Parliament in the first place?

So who's next after Dignity Lim, Facebook Low, Disgracefu, Confused Dog, Mr Please Cooperate, Chye Tow Kuay Chan and Parliament Jester? At this rate, we are going to fill WINNING ELEVEN by the end of the year.

Is what Mr Lee Kuan Yew meant by "Repent"? Painful.

You voted this guy into Parliament. Repent Sembawang!

Leasehold HDB Flats. Leasehold.

2012-03-02T03:02:00.001+08:00

Alvin, the gentleman who hosted our first Singaporean gathering (2 Malaysians joined actually) did a short comparison of housing related costs during our conversation. He was quite detailed and included all fees and bills. The conclusion was that it is about the same costs living in Perth and Singapore.

I'll leave that as that because I have no property in either Singapore or Perth to have the figures to countercheck Alvin's calculations. I pointed out a major flaw in our comparison. He was comparing his 600 over sqm freehold house in Harisdale against a 4-5 room 99 year lease HDB in Singapore. The figures will be a startling difference should we compare Perth government public homes vs the HDB or a private house in Perth vs a private in Singapore.

That was inconsequential because Alvin's point was about checking if we are better or worse off in terms of the expenditure outlay. We need to live somewhere, whether in Perth or Singapore and we took the most common type of housing as comparison. Fair enough. He was right in that sense.

But it is as clear as the sky that for the same dollar we spent, we are getting a lot more value in Perth than Singapore where property is concerned. A lot of Singaporeans are still confused over the 99-leasehold scheme. Or just apathetic towards it because it doesn't affect them. "Who lives for 99 years anyway?" Or they have forgotten how it works.

I have never put that at the back of my mind. To me, a 99 year leasehold flat is a 99 year rental flat. The agreement of lease is simply a contract that allows you to rent the flat for 99 years unless you break some serious rules. It's no difference from a normal rental agreement.

Mind you though, it is a rather cheap form of rental housing if you do the calculations. A S$300,000 new flat will cost you

300,000 / 99 / 12 = S$252.00 a month.

The bad news is, if you take a 30 year loan and include interests of the loan, stamp fees, conveyancing fees and caveat registration fee, your total outlay will work out to be closer to S$436,000 based on a 30 year loan on a 2.6% interest rate.

Your new bill works out to be a S$367.00 per month. Still rather cheap right? I knew you would think so. Indeed it is. That was why Mr Mah Bow Tan said it was affordable and everyone agreed.

To make it even more affordable, some MP guy suggested reducing the length of the lease to perhaps 30 or 60 years. Read about it here. MP guy must be in a wild hallucination mode unless he meant to suggest prices of these flats should be really cheaper - and not proportionately reduced. Otherwise what is the use of selling you 10 oranges for $10 and 3 oranges for $3? Is there really a difference?

Oh yes, you pay less no? Don't be fooled. Chances are you don't die fast enough and outlive your 30 year lease. Where are you going to live after that? Take up another flat? Pay more at the price in the year 2042 then.

It is scary to see what the government is trying to do. Our loans have been increased from 15 years to 20 to 25 and now 30. We couldn't possibly take a 40 year loan could we? The government knows that the limit is somewhat reached. The only way is to increase wages.

But no, they are thinking of reducing the length of lease. Classic. Let's do it then. Let's see how low can our lease length go. It's a no brainer this kind of system is not sustainable. Just like increasing our population to boost GDP growth. How many people can we squeeze into the island? If we continue to adopt these push-your-backs-against-the-wall policies, there will be a day when the impending damages are irreversible even if the government realised the folly of their ways.

You ask, "Why am I allowed to sell my flat if I don't own it?" Well you are not selling your flat. You are simply transferring the lease of the flat to another person. HDB does not lose anything. They will have gotten paid the full lease amount by the time that 99 year lease is up. So long as someone is paying that lease monthly till the end, it doesn't bother them a bit. The last guy who left standing when the music stops will get it.

True, there are enbloc schemes going on but if you think it'll happen to you, I wish you luck. When a lot of the older flats run down to the last years of their leases, or rather the last years of their building life (I don't think they are built to last for 99 years anyway), I wonder how many affected people will be relocated new flat with a new lease with nothing to pay for. If that happens, that's as good as a life hack in Singapore. You get freehold housing for the price of a leasehold. Wow. We'll wait and see eh.

Well, "If I am renting the flat, how come I can make money out of it if I sell?" Heh. That's a good one. Have you heard of tenants doing a further subletting of the flat that they rented and actually made money out of it? You're doing exactly the same, on a full 99 lease that is. Before heading to the bank, do remember if you buy a flat for S$300,000 and gotten almost a full 30 year loan on it, you don't make a single cent at the end of the 30 year unless you sell for an amount higher than S$436,000. If you manage to sell for half a million bucks,

Your profit: 500,000 - 436,000 = 64,000

Your yield: 64,000/436,000 = 14% over 30 years, about 0.5% per annum

(no compounding included)

Pretty sucky yield. And you better hope you can sell it for S$500,000 or higher. Well at least you get your money back. Meaning you managed to get a rent-free living for 30 years. Half a million bucks is a lot of money to retire by fishing and sleeping on the streets.

I prefer freehold land for the same price here. At least when I'm down and out, I can built my tent on it without risking being evicted by NParks Rangers. Hey yeah, I can live entirely on the vegetables grown on it as well, good for days when I can't catch any fishes.

March On to Autumn

2012-03-01T03:17:00.003+08:00

Summer is over. To be honest, it was over-rated. All Singaporeans who grew up in Singapore should have no problems coping with Perth's summer. For all its hype, it bothered me for a mere 2 weeks. Even so, I cannot imagine having to work the same way in a Singapore steel workshop any hot day of the year. When it comes to causing discomfort, the humid heat of Singapore is still more formidable.

Autumn begins in March here, so it's autumn as we speak. Prior to migration, I visited Perth twice in the winter and once in summer so this would be my first ever Autumn in Perth.

My supervisor Steve, a local, was spot on in his observations. The winds of change tells a story. The last time we experienced it in mid summer, the followup was the intense heat that last 2 weeks. For the last two days, there were the same strong winds at 2am when I drove back home. It coincides with the end of Summer. Spooky.

March is going to be interesting. First, Patrick will collect his car in a day's time. Along with a bored-stiff tai tai (Denise), it could be the start of many outdoor trips for all of us. Needless to say, the better weather expected in Autumn is a encouraging factor.

Next, Penny is coming to Perth in a week's time. Well, Penny said she was inspired after reading my blog and decided to call it quits at Ernst & Youngs to migrate to Perth. Hmm. Let's let not the Singapore Government hear too many of such stories. People like Penny (she's Malaysian) are the cheaper, faster and better treasures that our government loves. If the blog enticed more FTs away from Singapore, I'll be branded as a terrorist, if not already.

Lastly, I'll get my first visit at the end of March. My 2nd sister is coming to Perth for a short tour with her family. I am looking forward to carrying her 1 year old baby to have a feel of how Albany is going to feel like in a while. Meanwhile, it's comforting to know I will be finally seeing a kin here. It feels somewhat like getting a visit in prison. Maybe not. It is a very unique feeling.

Meanwhile in Singapore, Maggie started work in her new company, her husband and my buddy Aku began his upgrading course. It was something I encouraged both of them to do awhile back. Strangely

it didn't seem like either of them will leave their comfort zone 2 years ago. I'm happy they stepped out. That reminds me, Aku has not raved about Liverpool FC actually winning something this season, perhaps he has already converted to be a Manchester United fan to make friends with ~~laoniang~~ Julia, the beautiful scrapbook grandmistress. Tucky assembled his new PC at last, after enduring his old one for years.

A new season, another chance to start afresh. I wish everyone (special mention to Ang Jia Qin) will receive dividends in what you guys set out to achieve in this coming season. Our life force is draining by the seconds, so go forth and live life.

Baey Yam Keng - Sorry No Cure Understand?

2012-02-29T03:27:00.003+08:00

Baey Yam Keng is one confused dog. Before sending a lawyer's letter to me Mr Baey, I was actually referring your chinese zodiac sign. I'll have prefer to call you a cock, rat or a snake. My favourite is snake, seeing how you slithers around your different statements these few days. Count yourself lucky you are not born in the year of rat, snake or rooster.

Confused dog made a insensitive comment. Next, he tried to make a joke out of it with his lengthy "I'm born in year of dog" story, then stated that he did not meant it 'that way'. Subsequently he said the media might not have represented what he wanted to say the right way, then he stated he understood why some Singaporeans might have felt offended. When he finally felt the heat, he apologised in Parliament but defiantly insisting he had been 'accused' for siding with a foreigner while 'maintaining his stand'

Hey confused dog. If you are being accused, you don't apologise. If you felt that you have done nothing wrong, you don't apologise. If you want to maintain your stand urging Singaporeans to 'reflect', you don't apologise. If you don't want to apologise, don't.

Otherwise, do a good job.

Here the video of confused dog's apology. If you think I am over the top in my assessment of his apology, watch it yourself and decide if he is sincere.

Your award for your effort Mr Baey:

I quote CNA's report

This added to the furore, even after Mr Baey subsequently explained on his Facebook - saying he did not agree with Sun's comment, but that he felt Singaporeans could be more open to criticism.

He called us dogs and you urged to open ourselves to criticism.

You are a Singaporean yourself Mr Baey Yam Keng. This is your criticism on how you carried yourself lately. Shove this into your throat yourself the way you PAP members expect us Singaporeans to.

Last but not least, "Bark you"

Singaporeans Gathering

2012-02-28T03:47:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday was a little special. We did a little gathering, all thanks to Denise's help in organising it. It might probably never happen if she left it to me to do it.

So Denise and her husband Patrick, Patrick (the original), Grace, Jen, Albany and I were hosted by Alvin and his wife, Morley at his house in Harisdale. Hmm his house... maybe I won't talk about it lest Singaporeans think I am inciting unhappiness again. Let's just say Alvin's house is good.

So who is Denise and Alvin? I don't know where they came from but they appeared in my blog and then contacted me, the rest was history. Separately I met up for a short chat with Micky and his wife, Jacqueline (sp?) and both their young lovely daughters in their house in Southern River. Hopefully I can get them to join the next gathering at Alvin's. Suddenly I seemed to have a couple friends in Perth, it feels so much less discomforting to be honest.

Jen commented for the first time since she knew me, I am for once, for sociable than her. I wasn't. Nothing's change. Still the same introvert, still quiet when I meet people. What brings the difference is the blog I am writing. Since the day I started writing, astonishing things had happened to me, I'll share them little by little in future if anyone is interested. The gathering for instance, was almost totally fueled by the blog alone, not me.

I never enjoyed meeting new people, much less quite a few new people at the same time. But this one was somehow special. What made it intriguing was the mix. Alvin had a rather high flying career and is a retiree in Perth now. Both Patricks and Grace are professionals. We have a tai-tai in Denise and Morley, an unemployed Jen, baby Albany and his blue collared worker father. We were practically from all walks of life but we got along rather well. We chatted endlessly throughout, none of the topics bored me at all.

Needless to say, the gathering did all of us good. The retirees get some company, Denise found someone who loves her cake, Patrick found a golf kaki in Alvin, Jen enjoyed herself as a sociable creature in her natural setting. Grace found friends in the suburb where her future house would be at.

Me. I found some hope. When I came to Perth a few months back, I knew nobody. ZERO. I am not even talking about friends here, there wasn't a single soul I could even link a name to. Then one thing led to another. Jenny's friend Penny (who is joining us in Perth in March) introduced her Uncle Lai to us. Uncle Lai introduced Eugene to us who got me a casual job and eventually became my landlord. I got to know Patrick, then Denise, Alvin and Micky and all their spouses. Before I came to Singapore, I thought about this issue before. I could not picture how I am going to survive being me, a rather unsociable person, in a brand new environment. Being friendless will get me killed before anything else.

But when you keep throwing darts of beliefs, some of them are bound to land at the right places. There will be unexplainable forces backing you as long as you keep believing. I am still believing. Hopefully I will be proven right and somehow manage to settle down in future just like many earlier Singaporeans migrants did before me.

This blog will be the record. You readers will be the witnesses.

The Reason Why I'll Never Walk Alone

2012-02-27T04:04:00.000+08:00

Life is as tough as being a Liverpool supporter since 1990. The media tells the world you are shit. Just like the way the Straits Times and Mediacorp keep harping how elites are being valued in Singapore and how the rest of us are shit. I felt connected with the club because they value the community.

One example is that they do not clamp down on locals who produce and sell merchandise such as knitted scarves with the Liverpool brand on the streets just outside the stadium on match days. We know very well what some other clubs, authorities and organisations will do instead. We know very well what our Singapore government does to poor folks out there just wanting to make a buck for a living. Sweep them off the streets because they do not have the license to operate a trade. From fixing up somebody's shoes, cutting a key, selling newspaper, ice cream, home-made sng-bao, door-to-door hawking, probably teaching tuition soon. If you do it and never get caught, it doesn't mean it is legal.

I agree that regulation is necessary for any society but to a reasonable extent. We are over-doing it, leaving no space for the less well-to-do folks to roam. We are driving them against the wall, forcing them to undertake the miserably paid jobs that they are only qualified for. The government encourages these group to upgrade themselves but not willing to offer a full grant or loan. If you earn $800 bucks a month, will you be interested to take on a 'upgrading course' that the government is subsiding 50% for? If only the policies makers understand the feeling of living from mouth to mouth?

Self help, my ass.

Liverpool FC has been involved in organising activities to bring joy to the less fortunate such as this one for as far back in history as I have read about them. Kenny Dalglish, the current manager has been known to give a surprise visit to deliver a signed Liverpool jersey to a kid with terminal illness among tons of other true stories.

When Liverpool FC came to Singapore a few years back, among carrying out many promotional activities and playing the exhibition match itself, they did not leave out their community projects by conducting soccer clinics for the disabled. In another country they would have visited an orphanage similar.

Obviously, "Community first, profits second" has taken a toil on Liverpool's performance over the decades. Liverpool lost out by refusing to maximise gate revenue profits by increasing its ticket prices as high as their competitors not because the club is afraid that attendance will fall when locals could not afford it because some foreign fan will gladly pick up the ticket on a higher price. It is that they value their local fans and knew what supporting the club meant to them. Also, by not playing hard-ball maximising sponsorship dough as well as ruthlessly increasing market capacity, Liverpool fails to keep up with their competitors who are more aggressive in this area.

Despite this, Liverpool survives and win trophies now and then, albeit not the coveted league title that eludes them for more than 2 decades. Rival fans taunt us about falling to win the league title and having a shit team all the time. True Liverpool fans understand the underlying meaning of supporting this club. Yes, this club is about winning trophies but it is also about the way it carries itself, it's social responsibility and its willingness not to win at all cost.

If only our Singapore government choose to adopt a more caring and softer stance instead of a hardcore profit maximising mantra. If only our top officials sincerely care about the less fortunate, visit them personally (without some fucking media around to report it to the whole world) to offer comfort and assistance instead of leaving the job to their underpaid cronies to do a half-hearted job with limited manpower and budget. How many of us will worship them with unconditional loyalty, ~~through wind or shine~~ floods and escaped criminals?

I wonder how many Liverpool fans really understand what supporting the club is about. No doubt, there are black sheep who bring the name and reputation of the club down by misbehavior but some things have never changed.

The Liverpool Way is not just about soccer. It is about respect and humility. It is a way of life. That is the reason why I'll Never Walk Alone.

Congratulations Liverpool FC, Winners of 2012 Carling Cup.

Perth VS Singapore (Rosti friendly match)

2012-02-25T14:00:00.000+08:00

Here's something interesting: Cooking duel over whatsapp over different continents between my beautiful neighbour Mrs Lim (formerly known as Miss Ang Jia Qin) and me - asingaporeanson. So the match up looks like this:

Representative from Perth:

asingaporeanson, Serial Whiner

using his A$26.00 Tefal Pan

at his rented lodgings in Huntingdale, Perth

Potatoes: White Spuds

Herbs: Rosemary (plucked from Eugene's bush outside)

Sausage: Lamb

Sauce: Sweet herbed tomatoes

Standing up for Singapore

Mrs 'Complain Queen' Lim

using her S$xxx.xx (before discount)

at her parent's house in Tampines, Singapore

Potatoes: USA Russet Potatoes

Herbs: Mixed herbs

Sausage: Huge delicious looking. Meat unknown

Sauce: Sour Cream

asingaporeanson did his cooking on Saturday afternoon with badly weakened arms due to an unusually tough week at work. He could hardly lift his 30cm Tefal pan, let alone flip it. Using a cheap manual grater with his wife helping to grate all 5 potatoes because his pathetic fingers were unable to grip the potatoes properly with the pain going on, he managed to savage an edible version of Rosti to fill the stomach of both his wife and himself.

His process:

His product

On Sunday, Mrs Lim used premium potatoes and nice smelling freshly bought herbs to whip up her storm. Effortlessly flipped her Rosti like a pro while the other hand satkilly giving live commentary to asingaporeanson via her iPhone. This is her very first attempt making Rosti with her Happycall pan. Or maybe her first attempt making anything with her Happycall pan. With huge curiosity and motivation to please the very hungry Mr Lim, she churned a very successful version of Rosti that got her an encore request even before the first helping was finished.

Her process

Her product:

Rosti from both sides were eaten up clean so it's hard to give points.

Fun. :)

Baey and the PAP - Stop This Meritocracy Bull Shit Already

2012-02-24T10:26:00.000+08:00

Today's Yahoo! article on Baey Yam Keng's ~~prata flipping~~ follow up comment on the whathisname PRC scholar issue left me boiling

Scholarships should be based on merit, not nationality: Baey

No words will be minced in my post. PAP for all your wisdom and experience, you guys have fallen short big time in this one. First, on meritocracy:

"Intelligence is a process, not a fixed, gene-determined, thing. This process begins very early on, before we can even really see it, and we therefore often confuse these early, invisible stages with some sort of innate giftedness. Then we test kids and report the results as innate differences — this one is gifted, this one is not. This one has extra promise; that one does not. We send the “gifted” ones to good schools with small class sizes, better-trained teachers, better infrastructure, better relationships with parents, and higher expectations. We send the apparently-unpromising kids to under-funded, teach-to-test schools with minimal expectations.

And then we tell ourselves that we live in a meritocracy."

- Jennifer Senior

The common people doesn't matter anymore

Gone were the days where the Nation, government and people stands at ONE. Where everyone believes in our nation building song "Stand up for Singapore" which emphasize the recognition of everyone's importance. Nowadays, only the elites matter for the nation - under the ugly mask of

M.E.R.I.T.O.C.R.A.C.Y

A challenge to the PAP

I challenge the PAP to conduct an experiment. Remove scholarship from these so call scholars, along with free accommodation and monthly allowances and whatever perks that they receiving - you guys know best.

Get them to earn their living part time while juggling with their studies. Give the benefits removed from them to any ITE student on the street and see who turns out better in 10 years time. Or better - who contributes more to Singapore in the future.

I'm all for attractive the best talents globally to play a part and make Singapore a better place. But have the PAP did adequate studies to conclude that these sponsored students can do that? Can the PAP guarantee that these foreign students stay in Singapore instead of returning to their home country to contribute to their countries?

Is it any wonder why we are not putting in effort to uncover the next Sim Wong Woo and placing the attention on areas with unproven yields?

Isn't attracting the best talents about making Singapore an irresistible place to be at, even without these incredulous perks for the foreigners?

The PAP double standard

Is meritocracy an one-off thing? Does an individual needs only to prove himself once or consistently throughout their service to deserve the royal treatment based on meritocracy? If it is the former, the system needs to be scrapped. If it is the latter, at least half the PAP should be sacked.

Look at the failings of government for the last 5 years. Let's not get things ugly by getting me to list them all out. Did the PAP take a hard look at themselves and conclude they are still the best people to run the show? If I may conclude, there are 2 possibilities.

It is either:

1) The PAP practices a double standard in the playing meritocracy game with their countrymen with themselves exempted.

2) They have extremely thick skin - even for dogs.

Pick one.

Singaporeans in Australia

2012-02-23T03:52:00.000+08:00

My friend Patrick did a guest blogger act by posting a really long comment in my post the day before. I like discussions and really appreciate such good comments. In fact, many of my blog posts were results of readers' comments. It became somewhat a viscous cycle - the more posts I did, the more comments and the more things I ended up writing.

Here is an extract of part of Patrick's comment in the post:

One thing I've noticed about Malaysians is they are more mobile than Singaporeans in going places. People asked why there are not many prominent Singaporeans in Australia. The Malaysians started moving many years ago! I believe this is partly due to a less kiasi attitude and partly lack of opportunities at home.

The latest population statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics was in 2006. The 2011 release is coming out soon. With what's best available, let me share with you a surprising finding. Why surprising? If you read Patrick's comments you would have agreed with him, no? I did.

I dare say the number of Singaporeans have increased significantly since 2006, likely at a much faster rate than Malaysians migrants due to the increase of push factors from Singapore. But let's just look at the 2006 figures.

Number of Singaporeans in Perth: 11,199

Number of Malaysians in Perth: 18,939

Number of Singaporeans in Australia: 49,819

Number of Malaysians in Australia: 103,947

Are you surprised? Malaysia has a population of 28 million people as compared to 5 million people in Singapore. (only 3.8 million are Singaporeans). The percentage of Singaporeans that moved to Australia is very high as compared to Malaysians.

There are plenty of conclusions you can draw from this raw data. Feel free to shoot.

Rejoice, Baey Yam Keng is a Dog

2012-02-22T11:23:00.002+08:00

What's the big hoo hah being called a dog by a PRC student that we paid large amount of money to bring him over form China and sponsored him lotsa what-nots?

I posted something 2 months back that mentioned about Singaporeans being dogs. It's ok that nobody reads my blog but it's about time Singaporeans know where they stand. Yes we are all dogs, the government regards us as dogs and you are one whether or not you like to admit it. My friend, it's better to acknowledge that in order not to get your blood boiling. You don't get angry being called a dog when you are one.

If you are still in denial mode, you can only buy a copy of The New Paper today. For all the crap you'll read in the paper, you'll probably find Mr Baey Yam Keng's comments about the PRC student incident.

He also added that we needed to reflect on ourselves, are we the way they described?

I supposed we are. I'm glad Mr Baey is with us on this. He's a good MP, many people can vouch for him. I'll be disappointed if he had said "You guys better reflect on yourselves."

He's one of us, good man.

Meanwhile Tay Ping Hui, the mediacorp actor and Young PAP member stood out to bash Sun Xu

Tay says "Balls" to ungrateful FTs

Any wonder why Tay Ping Hui is not in parliament but Tin Pei Ling is? It is pretty obvious isn't it? Tay Ping Hui does not bark to the same tune? He tries really hard but it's not quite the same. If he tries a bit more like Baey Yam Keng, he may get the nod to be nominated to contest the Hougang by-election, who knows?

Not in Parliament

In Parliament

Migrant Blood

2012-02-22T04:52:00.001+08:00

My maternal grandparents were both from China. Decades ago, they migrated to Malaysia and lived there ever since. Even till their deaths, they did not return to China. My paternal grandfather was from China but I knew very little about him. He died in Singapore. My paternal grandmother was from Malacca, Malaysia, still healthy at a ripe age of 85.

My father was born in Selangor, Malaysia. He came to Singapore at a very young age. My mother was from Pahang, Malaysia. She came to Singapore in her late teens, got to know my dad and he made his best decision of his life by marrying my mother.

Jen's paternal grandfather was from China. I'm not too sure about her grandmother and her maternal grandparents. Her dad was from Hong Kong and her mum is a Malaysian. Jen holds a Malaysian passport though she grew up entirely in Singapore and know not a word of Malay.

Like my parents' case, I wouldn't have been born or gotten married and started a family with Jen if somebody didn't decide to migrate somewhere else a long time ago. Among these list of foreigners, I am the only true born and breed Singaporean. Unfortunately, I am tainted with the Singaporean blood that makes me resistant to change, extremely risk adverse, dare not to speak up and a serial moaning complainer. Many of my generation and the current batch of youth were embossed with the curse since birth.

How could we not be? The younger generation were born with MRT trains, air conditioned public facilities and covered link ways all set up for them. Cooked food is readily available in every nook and cranny of the island. From the day a Singaporean baby is born, everything he goes through is scarily systematically predictable. It is almost as if we are products of a manufacturing factoring, being segregating in different conveyer lanes according to our quality without a chance to redeem ourselves if we do not make the cut in a stage too early. Likewise, the elites are assumed infallible for life.

But it was written in the stars. My bloodline were migrants so were Jen's. I decided to move out of Singapore in spite of all my fears. Just as my parents and grandparents did, to seek a better world for themselves and their future generations.

No one questions any of their filial piety. Because being filial does not mean being physical ensnared by your parents' side. How many of us have gotten married, moved out, not visited nor making a telephone call to the parents in weeks or even months? So much for being with the parents by staying in Singapore. I call my mum once a week, twice if I could and I miss my family and dogs every single day.

I wondered how my mum felt when she came to Singapore empty handed as a young adult, leaving her parents in Malaysia. I have never asked her about it before. Was it because she knew, thus she let me go?

Baby 1.01 For Dummy Dads

2012-02-21T04:45:00.001+08:00

How You Lose Money From the Consumer Market

2012-02-20T00:16:00.001+08:00

It's market talk tonight.

You don't play the stock market? Doesn't matter. This post is for every consumer. As long as you spend, you are a consumer. It does not matter where you are too, it's the same concept.

The stock market is just like any other market you buy stuffs from. In the past, you hold a piece of paper that indicates what you bought. Today, it's all transacted online and you don't even have to keep slips of paper.

A simple question:

Will you buy a stock for $1.00 if you know the price will drop to $0.50 in the near future? Unless you are a fool, your answer will be a definite no. Anyone will know that is a 50% loss and that's a whopping loss for anyone, unless perhaps you are Ho Ching. Well however it isn't easy to forecast the price of a stock in the stock market because there are many factors that influence the prices.

Better. Probably.

That's why a stock picking money can probably do better than Ho Ching on an average day.

So let's talk about something simple and practical. Still the same question in a different context:

Will you buy a watermelon for $0.88/kg if you know you could get it at $0.38/kg? I'm not sure about you. My answer is no. I'll buy it at a lower price instead. Now the shocker. Most of us have been guilty of doing buying that watermelon at $0.88/kg or higher.

If you think that's the daft example, you're in fact, the daft example. A real life analogy from the vegetable and fruits market I buy stuffs from each weekend.

Just a mere month, prices doubled. That's not funny if you happened to be at the wrong end of the purchase in the stock market. If you take this kind of things seriously in the stock market, you should take it seriously in any market.

Another example to show it wasn't a one-off thing:

See what I mean.

Big deal you say? If a watermelon weighs around 5kg, the most I'll save is $0.50 x 5 = $2.50. Small money? Imagine if you spend $0.50 cents more than me on common items you buy on regular basis such as:

soft drink

a kg of fruit

a kg of vegetable

a kg of meat

a lunch takeaway

etc etc

Say you paid $0.50 more than me for 50 units per week. That's a conservative mere 7 units per day. If you consider a 5kg watermelon may already be 5 units if you buy at peak price, 7 units is not far fetch. So how much money would that habit cost you in 10 years?

$0.50 x 50 units x 52 weeks x 10 years = $13,000.

How much can $13,000 buy for you? Perhaps a full depreciation account of home appliances consisting of an air conditioning unit, a fridge, washing machine etc. You know, these stuff.

Why do people lose money this way? A few reasons that I can think of:

We don't know the market price of regular items we buy well enough

Straight forward. If you don't know what is expensive, you don't know what is cheap.

We don't know where to get stuff at lower price

Fact. But you can find out if you think this thing is convincing enough to make you to.

We think that time taken to travel and transportation costs are going to offset savings from purchases so it is not worth the effort
Not if you plan it well logistically. For example, you can buy it if you pass by the location once in a while, or get a friend to do it for you if he is getting something there. It doesn't have to be one location. It could be a couple of items from each aspect of your life. Or you could be saving a straight $10.00 on a single purchase. That is equivalent to 20 units itself. Remember if you save $0.50 on 7 units of purchases per day, how much will that be in 10 years?

We mistaken buying at discount as savings
The biggest consumer trap of all. Maybe you do save but the hard truth is: You save more by not buying anything that you don't need. Such as an air fryer. :D

We do not know the intrinsic value of many consumer items
How do we know if we know? Test yourself: How much will you pay for this bed?

Some may pay thousands of dollars for it. Some will not even part with $1 for this piece of crap.

If you happen to consistently paying incredulous prices for pieces of crap like this, then your valuation skills need to be upgraded.

What if I am losing money from the consumer market the way you are describing?

The hard solution: Act. IF you concur with my observations and find that it is worth increasing awareness towards your spending behavior, that's the choice you can take.

The easy solution: You can feign ignorance. After all ignorance is bliss. Not knowing anything means you aren't losing money right?

Or you can come to Perth and grow your own watermelons on abandoned land sites on sale:

You spot anything?

Can you spot the baby melons?

Happy Birthday Tucky

2012-02-19T10:47:00.000+08:00

This post is harder than I initially thought it would be. There are too many things that we shared together, I can probably write a book on it. Perhaps I will in future when I finally end this blog.

We knew each other under strange circumstances. There was a class re-arrangement just less than a month to the start of secondary one. Everyone was still pretty much strangers to one another by the end of January.

Tucky was designated to be the Special One since he was arrange to seat with me. We had a conversation. I could not remember the details, you know kids talk. But somehow the topic of my birthday popped up during the conversation. As Tucky reminded me once in a while over the years, that I looked 'kinda sad' that I had to go to school the very next day of the day we knew each other. Something along the line.

The next morning before school, I was at Tucky's home upon his invitation - probably his idea of cheering me up for a sucky birthday @ school later on. He showed me his amazing array of nintendo games. A shocking collection in fact. Needless to say I was in awe and that was the start of our incredible friendship built solidly on games and medieval fantasy in the early years.

That day he demonstrated how to play Captain Tsubasa 2. He duly entered a long gibbish looking code (it was japanese) and we were magically teleported into the great finale of the game. BRAZIL vs JAPAN. Japan scored first after some struggle, with Tucky's usage of Hyuga's most powerful kick. Then the computer playing Brazil scored 2. With the time running down, Tucky tried to pull back one goal to bring that game to a draw. He tried ways and means but couldn't put one past the 'Super Goalkeeper' (in his words.) Then I told him to do the same trick that he did that got him the first goal. He looked enlightened and tried it.

The flight of Hyuga's shot took place, crashing every defender out of the path of his ferocious shot including Super Goalkeeper! Then the shot crashed into the left post of the goal and was cleared by the defender, putting our goal celebrations to an abrupt stop.

We were almost late for school that day, with bus 51 doing us no favours being infamously tortoise slow. Tucky generously made me go home with his Tsubasa 2 cartridge that day. On this very day, our friendship was forged with endless of games we played together, as well as our reading literature and the sports that we participated together. We spent a lot of time outside school hours together. Time just melted away like that.

Needless to say, my teenage years was heavily influenced by Tucky. I am always secretly thankful I got to know him. Given my rebellious streak and the lack of attention from my parents, I could have gotten into real trouble if I joined the wrong group of people. Knowing him early in my secondary school life could have been the best thing that happened to me back then.

After I came to Perth, he told me that I was always around for him during important events in his life. After he listed some of them, I realised he was right. Wow, we really came a long long way down the road. But he did the exact same for me too. He was there (in a flash) when my girlfriend left me during my NS days, he was there when I knocked on the wrong hotel door to pick up Jen on my wedding day. he was there to lend me the moral support when I was worried for my wife and child's safety outside the delivery theatre. Ironically Tucky's happiest days are not with me but it doesn't matter for I was there for him on his saddest. I will continue to do so as long as he needs me to.

One of the bitter pill I had to swallow about migration is the loss of the company of such a great friend. I would have love to watch the skies at Henderson Waves and the bright lights of the ships docked in the shores of West Coast Park with Tucky with my 'time off' granted by Jen. I would have drag him to the rally of Worker's Party's Hougang by-election. He would oblige as usual.

On many nights when I drove home after work, gazing at the shiny stars in the unblocked clear sky, I wished my friends were all with me here. There were limited joys in enjoying these good things myself. Imagine the weekends we would have here in Perth, the places that we would explore and drowsed ourselves in awe. That would only remain fantasy unfortunately, that's how imperfect life is.

My friend, if you still read this blog, I want to tell you that you have been one of the most important person in my life. Thank you for giving me so much and expecting nothing in return. I hope I'll have a chance to go on another overseas trip with you. Hopefully I don't have to wait another 20 years for that. Please don't forget me while I'm away.

I wish you happiness every single day, not just this day.

Albany's Full Month

2012-02-18T17:14:00.002+08:00

Albany, 5.0 kg at first month

The traditional Chinese Baby Shower, also known as 滿月 has an origin that most of us do not know today.

Back in olden days, the mortality rate of babies was very high because of the lack of medical technology and knowledge. Thus Chinese gathered to celebrate if a baby survived for a first month. Many of us follow the tradition without understanding the true meaning behind a practice. With this understanding in us, we are not upset without being able to hold one for Albany.

We are not able throw a baby shower party for Albany today because we do not have our own house so it is not 'convenient', so to speak. It's alright, so long as all are healthy and well and everyone's happy. Besides we are busy with the usual weekly grocery shopping and packing mother-in-law's stuff as she will be moving to Jen's sister's home today.

She made the decision because that will save us A$100/week for rental in this arrangement. At the same time, Jen's confinement period is officially over. She was the best performer during this month. Other than not having a single shower in the searing heat of the Great Australian Summer, she managed to feed Albany almost entirely on breast milk. All these while juggling the tension between her husband and mother.

Mother-in-law will be happy as she will have a decent space of her own. She had it hard for the past 2 months too. Jen will be happy as she can bathe as she wants and probably eat some nice things moderately finally. I'm happy because Albany is well and healthy for the past month. Everyone's happy.

We'll learn to cope. When humans are forced to the wall, they'll always perform to survive. That's the secret innate strength of humans that many of us didn't have to harness because life treats us to be honest, pretty well in Singapore. Many mums these days have maids to assist them for a start or their mothers or in-laws living within reasonable traveling distance to lend a helping hand when required. We'll be alone again after tonight.

Jen. Albany. Me.

5 Months of Perth

2012-02-17T03:36:00.002+08:00

Mandurah Sunset

When I penned my thoughts about our 4th month in Perth, we were still a couple. Just one day after, we became a family, with Albany finally born after 10 days overdue. In a blink of the eye, we are 5 months into Perth.

I could still remember the moment Albany cried for the first time. I staggered over the pedestal she was placed on while they cleaned her up. She looked beautifully normal; no Down's Syndrome as warned by KK Hospital. Tears threatened to well but I held them back by turning away. I walked back to Jen and gave a silly grin. The medical staff would have noticed there was something wrong about me by then.

Too many thoughts on my mind but the main feel of relief was apparent. The negative mind of mine had warned of possible ordeals such as Jen suffering a miscarriage due to the new environment, improper nutrition or during the period where we had to shift lodgings. There was this nagging feeling of being driven out anytime because there wasn't a rental agreement signed and Albany would be sleeping on the streets with us. We had to count our blessings to have delivered her well and healthy. Jen was amazing and took everything thrown at her in stride.

If somebody could have come from the future and got me to read my own blog in 2007 when I was toying with the thought of migration, I'm not too sure if I would still attempted it after realising the rocky adventures we would be going through. To be honest, I expected adventures in 2007. In fact, I looked forward to them. We told each other that we had nothing to lose and could come back to Singapore if things didn't work out well. How differently things turned out since. The conceiving of Albany took us totally by surprised and we were forced to make decisions fast and sharp along the way.

What now, from here?

Another unsettling month ahead with Albany going full month in a moment, the mother-in-law moving to sister-in-law's place to stay before leaving Perth in March, along with Summer. The only thought in both our minds.

Can we cope?

Month 1

Month 2

Month 3

Milestone: Breaking Even

Month 4

Khaw Beh Khaw Bu

2012-02-16T04:40:00.000+08:00

I have not written a single post on Yaw Shin Leong before. This post is not an exception. It's boring to write about things that everyone is talking about, getting in the mix simply means making more noise. Admit it, you guys are just jealous someone gets to shag a MILF while you don't.

While everyone is talking about the expulsion of Mr Yaw, Worker's Party and the by-election, let's look at strange things that happened on the sidelines. Within short hours of Worker's Party's press conference, somebody apparently was giving one of his own.

I quote:

"The Workers' Party needs to come clean with the people what information have they got about Mr Yaw and in particular, what did they know about him prior to the May election. And if they know, why did they field Mr Yaw. I think it is sad that the voters have been misled by the Workers Party," Khaw said, as quoted by CNA.

Who's this Khaw and where did he crawl out from? Worker's Party's press conference was held at 1700hrs, peak vehicular traffic hours. Did the Channel News Asia got to Khaw on an ambulance? That must be the only way to reach him fast enough. Either that or I'll love to buy that teleport machine Khaw holds in his possession. Or was he 'just happened' to be somewhere where news crew 'just happened' to be there to hear him taking a cheap shot?

Let's look at some other thing Mr Khaw advised in his little press conference:

Khaw reminded voters to consider a person's character when they go to the polls, adding that there is no difference between a person's personal and professional life once he or she enters politics, according to CNA.

Oh yeah. A person's character is important indeed. Listen to Mr Khaw voters. The next time you cast your bloody important vote, remember what Mr Khaw said today.

Meanwhile, remember these faces and see if you want to vote for them or listen to Mr Khaw. The choice is yours. Democracy remember?

Dignity Lim

Disgrace Fu

The Unspeakable One

Team Leader

Big Man

Flip prata

Caring

Retard

You know, I can go on but you get the drift. Besides it's tiring at 0440 hrs here. Wife warned that I won't be a very happy man if I sleep at 0500hrs.

Just a parting shot:

I pay $8 to get my tits sucked. Can you?

Diam lah.

Why I Chose to Have a Baby

2012-02-14T05:15:00.002+08:00

Today is St Valentine's Day so let's start the first reason with something nice.

My child is my personalised gift to my wife

I'm old but not that old. Many of my peers are still going through that lovey-dovey stage of their relationships. Some of them are trying to have kids, some intend to do so in the near future and some of plan not to have kids.

I'll like to address the last group. If you love your spouse, have a child.

I could die prematurely at work, or through an illness. So could my spouse. So could anyone else or their spouse. A child is the best gift you can leave behind for a loved one. Not those photographs in facebook, not videos, not your expensively renovated love-nest. Not that stained smelly underwear.

Only your child could provide the comfort for the loss of a partner the way no material can.

What if I die too early?

The problem is money. If I die too early, my child will be a financial burden to my spouse. That is the reason why I refuse to indulge in luxury. I refuse to call that air-conditioner a need because it truly isn't. Neither is that car, iphone nor that hotel banquet, home renovation, posh furniture, luxury electronic goods and yearly overseas vacation.

The longer I live, the more confident I am leaving behind enough funds to ensure my child to continue to be a precious legacy gift to my spouse. Contrary to what is commonly believed, I feel that many young couples these days can afford at least 2 children if they are willing to sacrifice just a fraction of what their parents did for them. The next time you dine in that restaurant or attempt to make an order for that cup of KOI bubble tea, think over what you just read. Before that, stop for a minute to think about your parents' struggles. You know their stories best.

A Single Mum's grit

I could never understand why my elder sister refused to give up the custody of her child. She has been struggling in all fronts to keep things going in the face of the ex-husband's harassments. At one stage, she seemed like she had fallen into depression but she managed to pull it through.

The amazing strength that my niece gave her is phenomenal.

Before this, I ruled out the possibility of having my own child but my sister's ordeal was an inspiration.

Grateful to be alive

I could have been dead even before I was born - a victim of the "Two is enough" campaign of Singapore. Obviously money was an issue back in those days just as in the present. My mum seriously considered aborting me to save some money from being fined upon my birth.

Yet these days, people talk about not just the affordability of raising a child, they talk about the returns of investment in having a child. Oh, but by not giving the best, you are bringing the child into the world to suffer. And you need money to give the best to a child don't you?

Money aside, sometime back two fellows were generous enough to give you life and not expecting anything in return. These folks gave you the best they could, not the best (how do you define that anyway?) If you are grateful enough, let someone else have the chance to be as grateful as you, one day in the future.

A child disciplines her father

I read an article somewhere about a research is done on tons of successful people and they found 'the common secret' behind these people - discipline. Not surprisingly, that stuck out like a sore thumb in my life. I have to admit discipline is one attribute I sorrowfully lack all my life.

That's not to say I'm going to be a real successful person from now on. How do we define success anyway? Not important for now. We can agree a bit of discipline doesn't hurt. It should make me a better man.

Discipline is hard to instill in anyone at any stage of life and especially so at my age. A child as close to that magic potion as it could get. You can change your mind, sack a boss, dump that goldfish but you can't quit a child.

Living life again

Have you been stuck in a puzzle or an RPG game at the same stage for weeks and found that when the breakthrough comes, it opens a huge gateway of possibilities and new places to explore? Just when you felt life is monotonous and you have seen it all, a first newborn truly humbles you.

You learn new things at breakneck speed. You forge (or could unfortunately, break) a teamwork with your spouse like never before. Everyday you watch how the baby struggles to control her physical components and learning worldly skills. Their eagerness to improve is contagious. You face work, and the world in another perspective.

Liberation

By then you realise you are no longer energetic as before. Your body creaks and starts giving you problems in some way or another. You'll be happy to pass on the soul to a new generation while you erode slowly in that miserable shell. You care lesser about your appearance, well being and petty yearnings - experiencing some sort of strange sense of freedom although in reality you are constricted with more responsibilities.

No regrets

You can only experience it. Imagination and words do not work.

When your infant wail and coo upon your hug

When you feel her helplessness and regard you as her everything

When she gives that unintentional smile

When she gives you that blank stare with her mouth forming an 'O'

When she defecates while you change her nappy just so coincidentally each time

When she finally sleeps peacefully

There are many more to come, many parents will be eager to share.

Only when you experience these little things, will you realise true satisfaction does not come from work achievements or the accumulation of money.

If you miss this part of life out, you are missing a big part of life. If living life is about fulfillment, isn't this the greatest return of investment you can do with money?

How to Apply for Australian Permanent Resident Visa (Subclass 175)

2012-02-12T03:49:00.000+08:00

**Important: Information provided is only accurate at the time of posting. Due diligence is recommended to confirm changes to the application requirements and procedures at www.immi.gov.au

Skilled Migration Application (Subclass 175)

Introduction

The original post "How Did I Get Here" was done on the 30th Oct 2011. That means I have been posting garbage, nothing really useful to mankind for 3.5 months. Look at my blog profile, you'll spot these phrases

"Why am I here?""Who am I?""How did I get here?""What fuels me?"

No one really gives a damn about the content of other phrases other than "How did I get here?" In truth, that remains the clear purpose of the blog. By the time I stop updating this blog, I hope to leave a small legacy that might offer some form of help, however small, to someone out there.

I will do so by writing this simple guide. It will not be awfully detailed because I'm never capable of producing fine work in the first place. But it'll be functional. In Singapore terms, we call it 'just pass'.

There are many types of Skilled Migration visas as shown in this list:

Skilled – Independent (Residence) visa (subclass 885)
Skilled – Sponsored (Residence) visa (subclass 886)
Skilled – Regional visa (subclass 887)
Skilled – Regional Sponsored visa (subclass 487)
Skilled – Graduate visa (subclass 485)
Skilled – Independent (Migrant) visa (subclass 175)
Skilled – Sponsored (Migrant) visa (subclass 176)
Skilled – Regional Sponsored visa (subclass 475)
Skilled – Recognised Graduate visa (subclass 476)

Subclass 175

The visa that will be highlighted in this post is called subclass 175. It is one form of skilled migration, which is also commonly known as Permanent Resident Visa and it is probably the most visa that Singaporeans apply for.

Cost of application:

A$2,960 at the time this is posted. This cost does not include other charges like a health screen report, police clearance and the IELTS test.

Step 1: Qualification

Qualifying is simple though not easy. You'll need to fulfill 3 requirements:

are under 50 years of age
have competent English language skills
have the skills and qualifications that meet the Australian standard for an occupation on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL).

It is simple isn't it? The first 2 are probably not a big issue to most Singaporeans. The last requirement is the killer. Always check the latest Skilled Occupation List (SOL) as it changes often. Then check if you could chalk up 65 points, which is the current passing mark.

Step 2: Application

If you do not qualify there are obviously 2 choices from here:

1) Stand up for Singapore

2) Get yourself qualified

If you do, here are the next steps:

1) Apply through a migration agent

2) Apply on your own

If you choose 1), that's out of my scope. There are a good number of agents in Singapore who are more than willing to do business with you. Usually there will be a happy ending - at a cost that you have to be willing to pay.

If you are ~~cheapo~~ adventurous like me and decide to apply yourself there is another choice to make:

1) Apply physically

2) Apply online

You can't go wrong by following either systems faithfully. Do not play punk by leaving any information or documents required. This is not a school exam where you can pass by answering 9 out of 10 questions. You need to put in a 100% effort here or prepare to kiss goodbye to your A$2,960.

Both systems, though tedious, are well constructed. If you follow the checklist to a T for 1) or fill in all fields for 2), you'll be alright.

Step 3: Wait

If you are dying to get out of Singapore and leave for Australia, prepare to die. This one really tests your patience. Checking the status of your application is available online once you are contacted and provided a Transaction Reference Number (TRN). The initial wait can be unbearable. This isn't spending S$10 for the application of a HDB BTO flat after all. The stakes involved are higher.

Once you are allocated a case officer, things will get moving. The officer will contact you to request for incomplete information (provided he/she hasn't dump your application in the bin by then) or missing documents. This is when your health check will be requested. The medical centre will be sending the report directly to Adelaide office on your behalf so all you have to do is to turn up for the check. However, you will have to send the police clearance yourself after you obtain it for S$50.00 (presently). After these final documents are received by the Australian office, your application will move another inch towards the closing stage.

Step 4: Result

If your visa is not approved, it's not a tragedy. You can always stand up for Singapore. If your visa is approved however, you'll be heading to the Australia Embassy in Singapore to get your visa.

It is merely a sticker no bigger than a single page of your Singapore passport. It looks something like that:

A very costly sticker

Ah, once this sticker is pasted on the last page of your passport, you can start setting a date to make your initial entry, which is 1 year upon the visa is granted. Should you fail to make the initial entry, your visa will be forfeited.

So make that trip, get your feet landed in Australia soil, get that passport stamped at the custom, your initial entry is done and you are official a Permanent Resident of Australia.

Congratulations!

Wait. Don't be too happy yet. For the next 5 years after that, you must reside at least 2 years in Australia or your visa will not be extended at the end of the 5 years. There are some concessions about this but I don't want to talk about it in this post. Just remember - 2 out of 5 years.

Good luck.

Patrick's New Car

2012-02-11T12:00:00.000+08:00

Patrick bought a new car today and we are 100% excited by it. Obviously the excitement ratio is around Pat 99%, and me 1%. Nonetheless, I felt thrilled for Patrick.

Well no one is interested in how I feel. So let's not waste time with it and talk about the car!

What a beauty

Make: Mazda

Model: 3

Year: 2012

Engine: 2L, 4 cyclinder 16 valve DOHC S-VT

Power: 108KW from regular unleaded

Transmission: Manual, 6 speed

Well, just look at that. How can Mr Patrick not be happy? Even his car looks happy be to bought by him. Both of them will have to wait 2 weeks to be reunited though.

I wonder what name will Patrick gave his car. Susan? Elizabeth, Veronica? Nay. Patrick may be older than me but he is actually more modern thinking and technology savvy than me. No teasing please. Most likely he'll give a modern name like Megan. Or Chanel. Heh.

Trivialities aside, Patrick's Mazda 3 is going to serve him well. With a decent boot for his golf clubs, reasonable fuel consumption, safe and comfortable drive, he'll go places. Yeah, literally go places. I bet my last dollar on it.

The important question: HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

I hope Patrick isn't annoyed with me for talking about money here. But the price is all over the net for anyone to check anyway so I dangerously assume he doesn't mind. It'll burn an A$22,000 in Patrick's pocket but looking at the situation, he is taking it in stride. Well coming from Singapore, I don't think anyone will seriously feel annoyed paying that price for that prize.

The most important question though, is whether Patrick will take us down south in future together in his polished beauty instead of us smelling his exhaust in a panting Barry White from behind. But I must baotoh a bit that Patrick did 130km/h on Singapore roads (Yeah book him!) so it's not telling what's going to happen here.

I'll need to end the procrastination and settle my family private health insurance as well as a personal life insurance soon.

Don't Be Afraid

2012-02-10T04:18:00.002+08:00

As the story goes, Maggie found her new job, submitted her resignation and is 2 weeks away from a new job, new working environment. Still, I am hearing her echo her fears whenever I met her online. It's already a couple of weeks since she signed her appointment letter, surely the nerves have subsided by now?

Not quite. Maggie is afraid. I have ran out of words to counsel her. But today Maggie asked me an interesting question, "Were you afraid when you migrated?"

Over work, I thought over her question. There were strong vivid flashbacks of how I felt in the initial weeks. I remembered how terrible I felt when I made the last call to my mum before boarding the plane. When we reached Perth, there wasn't a 'wow' factor as with my previous visits as a tourist. The same cold feeling when I stepped into Belmont Forum, totally numbed. During the first few weeks, I had the strange mentality that whatever I was going through would end and I would be flying back home with Jen. Everything would be normal then.

Maggie hit the point home, I was afraid.

Then I found the job. Deep inside I was terrified but I couldn't tell anyone. I didn't want to take up this job but I needed the money. I was a project manager - not a tradie. I couldn't operate a hand grinder to save my life. Sparks seared the skin of my face and arms. The grinder jerked and kick-backed during my first cutting job. It could have shave my fingers off if I didn't grab it tight enough with the sudden recoil. I had countless metal splinters embedded painfully in my skin. My arms and back ached terribly after the first week. I hurt my eye bad enough to require a minor surgery. The joints of my fingers swelled. Till today I still cannot clench my fist because couple of fingers give me too much pain. I could very well never play the guitar again in this life.

After 3 months on the job, work became a routine. So much so, I don't pay attention to pain anymore. I became much more proficient in my job and my technical skills improved vastly. The latest weigh indicated my weight to be 66.7kg, down from 73kg when I first landed in Perth.

I'm still afraid. Not as petrified as before. Not when I was new to Perth, struggling to adapt to the dry weather, not knowing what to do for Jen who was 5 months pregnant then, not knowing how to find a job and .. not knowing a single soul.

I'm still afraid. I have fears of losing my job with Jen unemployed with a baby to feed, getting kicked out by the landlord, potential injuries or even death at work, the responsibility of making the decision for the future of my family.

My dear friend Mag, I understand your fears. 8 years to the old job, an abrupt change is frightening. In 2 weeks time, you will be meeting new people at work. Your traveling routine, job scope and working hours will drastically change. But do not be afraid, for you are not alone. Everyday people challenge their fears. Some do it better because they do not have an option of turning back, such as myself. For now, Albany is too young to travel. There is nowhere we can go. As a sole breadwinner, I could only grind on.

Remember the reasons that made you choose to look for a new job. Never forget them. When you are facing discomfort with the total new life in 2 weeks time, recall them and remind yourself why you made the choice. By focusing on your motivation to make this big change, you'll overcome your anxieties. You'll do well.

Do not worry. Do not be afraid. You'll be fine. Fantastically fine.

The SMRT Embarrassment

2012-02-09T04:41:00.001+08:00

WARNING: WALL OF TEXT

This is embarrassing. Well, sometime back I wrote this post admitting I was an SMRT investor. I still am.

Screw me.

I'll tell you what happened. In the last post I swore that I would sell SMRT on the first market opening I could. I tried. I logged in to uobkayhian.com.sg, keyed in my password. And again... and.. you know what happened.

In a turn of the eye, my account was locked. I knew the procedures that I have to go through. Call kayhian, speak to the lady with sweet voice, give her the answers to some personal questions (not that personal though :D) and they will send a hardcopy new password to my home address.

My Singapore home address. Sigh.

I can't call my broker as well. I don't have my CDP number with me. Having not calling him for years, that'll probably be the first thing he asked for to kick start our business transactions. So, that's why I'm still an embarrassed holder of 1000 SMRT shares.

Since we are into the topic of investment, let me reenact a past conversation with a good friend, Warren, a few years back. Here was how it went:

Warren: Heard you are into DIY investment lately, how are things going?

Me: Like that loh, waiting for results.

Warren: Heard of socially responsible investing?

Me: Har? Simi lai eh?

Warren: Well it has origins dated all the way back to 1700s but long story short, it means not investing in companies that are socially irresponsible. In modern era, we focus on civil rights, equality and labor issues.

Me: I invested in ST Engineering. It has a business wing involved in military weapons manufacturing. Does it fall into your black book?

Warren: Yes of course.

Me: Hmm, isn't investing just about making money. That's all I care about my investments. What's wrong?

Warren: You need more income from a day job don't you?

Me: Er... yes?

Warren: Why don't you take up pimping? It doesn't require an educational background and it definitely fetch a higher income than your current job.

Me: Ah... I get your point. But this is subjective. While prostitution is definitely bad on the first considering, its existence may have reduced other social problems such as rape.. And that ST Engineering may be manufacturing weapons but that may be sold to countries that use them to defend their citizens instead of aggressive motives.

In that case, how do we judge which are the socially unethical and irresponsible businesses?

Warren: That will depend entirely on you, my friend...

******

Story nice or not? Or already sent you to dreamland? Sorry but this has to be told or my conscience continues to prick me. What does the above stuff gotta do with SMRT again? I'll come to that later. Meanwhile please bear with me.

You know, recently I read some interesting news about a certain bus company in Australia. The Aussie Bus Boss gives A$15 million to his staff as bonus after he sold his business. What caught my attention was not the boss's generosity. This comment in the article got me instead:

"This is to recognise that. We have had people here who are second generation, and one fellow in the same job for 52 years."

Which company in Singapore can boast something like that? Rare, if any. Apparently it is common in Australia. In my company alone, there are 2 pairs of father and son working in the company. What does that tells us?

I wonder if there are any for example, SMRT train officers that will encourage their sons to join SMRT and be an officer like themselves? The answer is a definite no. I challenge ANY SMRT train officers to refute this. More likely, train officers will ask their sons to keep a distance as far as they could from the creaking trains, cable ties and all.

Once upon a time, I read about Peter Lynch, the unit trust fund legend. He was so good in it because he knew the businesses that he was investing in inside out. From having lunch with CEOs of the companies, making workshop visits and having small talk with employees of the companies and devil knows what else, he extracted crucial information to make his decision whether to buy or avoid. That eventually led to his success in his investments.

Let me do a mock Peter Lynch on the SMRT, the stock I am still holding.

Exit: Saw and her little car

Well we know that Saw ~~was sacked~~ had resigned right? So everything's gonna be fine isn't it? Good company, good investment?

No.

Well personally I like the companies I invest in to be thrifty but SMRT has gone a little too far in it.

The rumored cheap China made trains or components, the well known cable ties, as well as dyfunctional buggies in train depots and who knows what else?

The thing about excessive cost cutting is that, if a company has its back to the wall in terms of cost cutting, it's not a good sign because well, it has no no other room to maneuver. Personally, I don't like that but I can close an eye on that.

Adoi, still don't want to change buggy?!

If you have followed and made it here so far with me, I applaud your stamina. The below revelation is going to link back to the above grandfather story about socially responsible investment as well as the story about the Australian bus company.

Does SMRT treats their staff well? I'm referring to of course, the operating team. No operating team, no trains. No trains, no commuters get to work and no revenue for the company. That's it.

Despite the obvious importance of the operating team, it doesn't not take a genius to figure how well this typical Singapore company treat their cheaper, better, faster staff. Ma ma dei, at best.

There was a case that SMRT train officers getting their union to fight with the management for getting their public holidays paid.

You know how good the unions are in Singapore right? The biggest one sells groceries and insurance but can build a big building in One Marina Boulevard, heads and shoulders above even some buildings of banks nearby. The chief urged the workers they are supposed to fight for to become cheaper, better and faster, learn to be a mouse that barks like a dog and also learn to bite some bullets along the way so that we can ~~upskirt the ..~~ upturn the downturn.

That's about how good the union is from what I see it. All talk and fuck all.

Not surprisingly, whatever union that SMRT train officers signed up for was a great disappointment. The union representative sided with the management, citing that they are on a shift work basis and works less hours that the normal manpower guidelines MOM prescribed, thus they shouldn't be paid extra working on public holidays. I.e they don't have public holidays to enjoy.

This is bullying and I detest this. It reminded me of my ex company who forced me to go on a company's trip but I had to take leave for it. When I told my boss I don't want to go, he insisted on it. I told him that I need to take my parents to Australia for a short trip at the later part of the year and I need to preserve my leave.

He simply said, "Oh nevermind, if not enough leave, take no-pay leave for your trip loh."

Fuck off.

I don't even have a choice to opt out of a company trip and had to take leave for it?! If the trip was an incentive to reward staff for the hard work, why do I need to forfeit my annual leave for it? This left a bitter taste in the mouth ever since. When I read all about the SMRT train guys' predicament, my heart is with them. I hate the management messing around with the entitlement of their staff. It's bullying and I detest it.

As far as I know, SMRT falls short on labour issues of my friend's Socially Responsible Business Checklist. I'll reiterate my ratings on SMRT.

SELL! SELL! SELL!

Send me an angel with my password.

The Australian Government Says The Same Thing Too

2012-02-08T05:30:00.003+08:00

Click to enlarge

From the report: Lucky country becomes lazy: Migrant workers to do 'dirty' jobs.

Yup. It's official. It's the same everywhere. Locals shun jobs citing low pay, government wants to bring in migrants to take up these jobs, locals get pissed. Sounds familiar?

Is the situation the same for both Australia and Singapore? There are some notable differences.

1) Social support. There is a minority on social support. They receive money funded by taxpayers which is comparable to what some of these 'low end' jobs are offering. Thus it is very difficult to entice them to be employed.

2) Minimum wages may be too low for workers to enjoy a decent lifestyle in Australia but it is arguably adequate for survival. In Singapore, some of the equivalent jobs pay way too low even for survival.

3) Australians argued that there is a serious shortage of housing already, bringing migrants in will worsen the situation. Australians have not seen the housing situation in Singapore.

4) Population density: Singapore 7,148 people/km²vsAustralia 3 people/km²

It's an open secret that Singaporeans resent the so-call 'foreign talents' brought in by the doves to compete for jobs. Some people asked me why I chose to go to Australia and face resentment, prejudice or even mistreatment. You know, the usual second class citizen thing pops up too.

Well, I am one of those who naively believed that menial jobs in Singapore will be taken up by Singaporeans if wages of these jobs were raised to a reasonable level. I remembered declaring that if someone offered me S$5,000/mth to sweet the streets, I will quit my job and take it up. I'm not sure about other Singaporeans. Here I am, in Perth doing a menial job. Action speaks louder than words.

Space. I really need this. Everyone does. The importance of adequate physical space for every human is grossly under-rated.

Space gives you the fresh air that is good for health.

Space gives you room to run, shout and play with your family, friends and dog without disturbing or being disturbed.

Space provides you a sense of freedom.

Space relaxes your body, tight neck muscles and slows your heart rate.

Space calms and brings peace to your weary mind.

Just look at how big Australia is:

Someone once told me: Australia 地大人少，難到不可以容納多一個你？

Yes he was right. I'm still searching for it and struggling to fit in, but it does feel that there is a place for me here, somewhere. 2nd class citizen? It's all in the mind.

Opposition Parties - Just a Bunch of Crabs in a Bucket

2012-02-07T14:35:00.001+08:00

Have anyone wondered what is my political alignment? My friends regard me as 'anti-establishment'. I'm sure if you read more than a few posts of the blog, you may agree with my friends.

I disagree but more about that the next time.

If anyone of you did the feat of reading my entire blog, you'll notice that I have no inclination towards any opposition parties.

In the 2011 election, I've attended rallies of all major opposition parties (sorry SDA), just to see who became more or less sucky since 2006. There are some improvements of course. SDP printed really nice backdrop for their stage. WP's adopted that wtf ugly blue as their party colours. Apart from that, Chen Show Mao was a surprise. SPP was near disintegration to me even before the recent debacle. NSP was all hype and hot air. RP was, really young.

If you observe a bucket of crabs for a few minutes and come back another few minutes later, you'll noticed nothing has quite changed. Each crab is still trying to tear each other down just to get an inch closer to the top whereby working together will have them easily succeeding to at least getting a couple of them out in no time.

But not stupid, selfish crabs. And not stupid, selfish oppositions with the crab mentality.

Nothing will change in 2016. Oppositions will be still dividing the votes, slating and clawing one another down when they feel like it. The incumbent will get away scot free once again with their latest erroneous term.

The PAP probably deserves to emerge victor just by being able to keep their team appearing united. Yes, I do not believe the PAP is One. They are just pieces of fissures and cracks held up firmly with chains.

A chain though, is only as strong as its weakest link.

Can We Still Trust Lee Kuan Yew?

2012-02-05T14:31:00.002+08:00

By today, Mr Lee Kuan Yew has spent half a century tinkering with Singapore's population. On the 3rd Feb 2011, he reinforced his conviction of his latest plan, familiar to all by now: Mass immigration

SINGAPORE: Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has called for the understanding of Singaporeans towards the government's decision to continue taking in immigrants.

Speaking at a Lunar New Year gathering in his constituency of Tanjong Pagar on Friday, Mr Lee said Singapore's per capita income is one of the highest in Asia.

But it faces an ageing and shrinking population. Last year, the birth rate was 1.15, with the Chinese leading the decline among other races.

Mr Lee said Japan also suffers from similar problems. But its decision not to take in migrants has contributed to economic stagnation.

He said: "Our choice must be the other one - taking in immigrants. I know Singaporeans do not feel very comfortable seeing so many strange new faces, but the alternative is economy stagnation and worse, nobody to look after our old people later on."
Source

A brief walk through history

1959 - Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister of Singapore

1965 - Birthrate was 29.9 per 1000 population. Government launched family planning campaign in the form of;

Publicity:

Exhortation:

Material 'disincentives':

- Incremental higher costs of bearing the third, fourth, and subsequent children were instituted.

- Civil servants received no paid maternity leave for third and subsequent children.

- Maternity hospitals charged progressively higher fees for each additional birth.

- Income tax deductions for all but the first two children were eliminated.

- Large families received no extra consideration in public housing assignments

- Top priority in the competition for enrollment in the most desirable primary schools was given to only children and to children whose parents had been sterilized before the age of forty.

Material incentives:

- Voluntary sterilization was rewarded by seven days of paid sick leave and by priority in the allocation of such public goods as housing and education

1980 - The government's family planning campaign worked - too well. By 1980, the birthrate had reduced to 1.7 per woman, low enough for the government to hit the panic button to reverse the effects of the campaign.

1983 - Lee Kuan Yew identified the failure of female university graduates to marry and bear children as a serious social problem.

1984 - The government acted to give preferential school admission to children whose mothers were university graduates, while offering grants of S$10,000 (that's a lot in 1984) to less educated women who agreed to be sterilized after the birth of their second child.

Social Development Unit (SDU) was established as a matchmaker for unmarried university graduates.

1985 - The policies made in 1984 was shelved or heavily modified because they flopped big time.

1986 - "Have three or more, if you can afford it" campaign was launched to encourage the population having bigger families, this time with no preference of the educational level of the parents.

1987 - Birthrate of Singapore fell to a (then) record low of 1.44.

1989 - Campaign promoting the joys of marriage and parenthood was launched by the government.

2001 - Baby bonus was introduced.

2004 - Baby bonus was enhanced.

By 2011, our birthrate stood at yet another historic low of 1.15. Mr Lee's population tweaking and his obsession in eugenics has arguably brought Singapore to its current dilemma. The PAP never took ownership of the mistake, let alone taking responsibilities.

In the current report by Channelnewsasia, he left me perplexed by citing Japan's economic stagnation was contributed by Japan's refusal to adopt mass immigration for those who studied the rapid rise in the Industrial Revolution and economic fall of Japan as a case study would be sure that immigrant was a mere triviality and hardly a contributing factor to their current situation.

The following statement was even more bizarre:

"Our choice must be the other one - taking in immigrants. I know Singaporeans do not feel very comfortable seeing so many strange new faces, but the alternative is economy stagnation and worse, nobody to look after our old people later on."

Ironically, Singapore was deemed overpopulated in our tiny 700sqkm with a 2.1 million population in 1970. In the name of economic progress today, suddenly it is alright to have 5.2 million people in the same amount of space, not that we reclaimed land significant enough to change the statistic - and we are aiming for more, perhaps a 6.5 million population as projected a few years back?

How would the injection of immigrants ensure our future old people to be taken care of? I'm sure LKY did not mean that literally, for that will be the best joke I've heard in a while. By taxing the foreigners? Maybe. But in the future when we ask for assistance for the old and needy, would that future minister in charge of MCYS be reiterating the famous quote

"How much do you want? Do you want three meals in a hawker centre, food court or restaurant?"

Don't forget, we need to eat that $10 XO Chye Tow Kuey as Chan Chun Sing advised us to do so.

By today, Mr Lee Kuan Yew is no longer a minister of the cabinet. Yet clearly, he continues to influence in crucial areas that defines the future of Singapore. This time though he will not be there to see the repercussions of his final (hopefully) experiment with Singapore.

But the rest of us will. It's already too late to stop it.