The Sun Chair Critic

Is the flying ban in Europe justified ?

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:06:00 +0000

Flowing sunshine, fresh air, and fields of tulips. Those are the things I SHOULD be experiencing if there hadn't been a flying ban in place all over Europe. Worse, that Eyjafjallajökull (gawd, how do you pronounce this ??) is still spewing out plumes miles up into the air and the air chaos looks like its here to stay for at least a few more weeks.

Okay, okay, they all say that all that ash is really bad for the jet engine and all that, and there have been previous incidents where airplanes lost ALL their engines after passing through ash clouds. So perhaps, it really isn't that safe to fly. Or is it ?

If you flip through all major newspapers in the UK, they'll dedicate at least a few pages covering the flying ban and at least half a page explaining why the ashes are bad for the engines. However, all this seems a little weird to me (at least to me), but all these flimsy explanations doesn't seem to bother other people at all.

The thing that bothered me the most is that this flying ban is in place not because of a scientific study, but rather because of fear. Fear by the different aviation authorities that if they'll screw up and some people might die. Of course, that is a very valid fear, but we don't live in the stone ages where we can't quantify the risk or at least study the adverse effects of the ash clouds.

If you look through all the news reports, there wasn't a single shred of scientific evidence that the CURRENT ash clouds will cause damage to planes. Nope, what we get is just hoo ha about what happened to planes which have flown through ash clouds, some twenty over years ago. Perhaps society hasn't really progressed very much after all.

Sure, we all know that ash clouds damages engines. But, AT WHAT CONCENTRATION and WHAT COMPOSITION ? I'm sure not all ash clouds are made the same, and certain compositions of ashes are more damaging than others. Also, concentration surely play a huge part as well. a cloud with 10 ppm (parts per million) ash surely cause more damage than one with 1 ppm ash ?? but are all these taken into consideration when they instituted the flying ban ? HELL NO.... They just say there's ashes in the air and no plane flies.... Beautiful. A brilliantly scientific way of tackling things, just stop planes flying and they won't crash. You can't beat the logic. But, they might as well ban flying forever. That way, no planes will ever crash, EVER.

Do you have enough for retirement ?

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:38:00 +0000

Recently, I've been feeling the itch to buy a flat. Yes, in case you are wondering, I'm one of the few endangered "old" people in Singapore who doesn't own a HDB flat yet. Sponging off my parents have worked for me so far, but as my kid grow older, the urge to "strike out on my own" gets stronger. Perhaps it has something to do with the lust for "power" of being the head of a household (an illusion really, since women are nearly always the real head).

Anyway, I dusted my trusty calculator, and started punching numbers. If I go for a new HDB in somewhere far far away like Sengkang, it'll probably cost me around 300K. Minus off the miserable amount of money I have in my CPF account, I'll have to fork out more than 1K each month for the next 20-30 years to truely "own" (errr... I guess not, since we don't own HDB flats) the flat. But wait, I only contribute 1K to my CPF account every month ! Which means that, by the time I retire (or die on the job), I'll literally have NOTHING in my retirement account.... What a joke.

That, brings me to the point I'm trying to get through in this post. There's something seriously wrong with our pension scheme. I know we've been through this a thousand times, but something needs to be done and quick. Else, we'll end up with a generation that can't feed themselves when they retire, or have to work themselves to death, literally. I really don't fancy either option, but the stark reality is, that's what this country will be facing in ten year's time.

At the beginning, the CPF is probably a well conceived scheme that "forces" everyone to save for their retirement, and forces employers to contribute to this money pot as well. It's a good scheme, no doubt, as this money is manged by a single entity (CPF) and no matter how many jobs you change, you still contribute to the same pension fund. Cool, sounds like a great scheme, but what went wrong ?

The first thing that went wrong was the housing boom in the 80-90s. In the 60s and 70s, when they allowed the CPF to be used for housing, the price of a HDB flat is relatively low, compared to the salary levels then. In those days, price of HDB flats were probably less than 5x annual income. When Singapore's economy took off dramatically in the 80-90s, the prices of the flats increased even more dramatically. Suddenly, flat are 10x annual income, and the loan repayment took a considerable if not all of the monthly CPF contribution. Something should have been done then to control this outflow of money from retirement accounts. But alas, when property prices are increasing, people's properties are gaining value, HDB is laughing all the way to the bank, nobody wants to dampen the spirit by restricting CPF monies and cooling the market. Everyone is happy then, and nobody sees the problem. Of course, now when you look at it, it seems incredibly stupid that people can blow retirement monies on buying properties. But then again, even a 5 yr old can tell you that you can't eat a house unless they are made of candies, and candy houses, HDB are not.

The second blow came when some smart ass saw that the stock market in Singapore is lackluster, and he thought, hmmm.... the people doesn't have excess money to play the stock market. Now, where can we get the people money so that they can have fun with the stock market ? Naturally, CPF comes to mind. What a waste it would be for the money to sit there doing nothing. Duhh.... I guess that smart ass doesn't have much concept about retirement monies since civil servant can look forward to a big fat pension on retirement (in those days). In case you are wondering, I'm not referring to GCT. The smart ass is probably some skolar whose main job is sit around and think of bright ideas to impress his bosses. But then again, the fact that the bosses weren't able to see through the fallacy of this scheme speaks volumes.

Then, came the problem with the raising medical costs. Again, CPF is the panacea. Sigh... so we have a retirement fund that is used to buy houses, buy stocks, and pay for our medical bills. In the end, do we really have a retirement fund ? Perhaps HDB can start building candy houses, and that will solve all our problems....

Calling the government's bluff

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:01:00 +0000

So our dear Straits Times is again assuring us plebians that no general election is in sight. Yeah, right. Maybe they are right, but my gut feeling is that this is just a smoke bomb.

Of course, the recent ST article quote very valid points, pointing out that no new faces were seen. But hold on, this Inderjit Singh said he was put to work 3 years (1994) before the 1997 election.... and the next election must be held before 2011, so the new faces were supposed to be working the ground from..... 2008 ? Errr... but wait, that's last year.

Anyway, my take is that they are probably not bothering with introducing too many new faces this time. And most likely, this is gonna be a "quickie", more like a "hit and run" thing. Well, one thing is for sure, the recession is only starting, and only moderately few people are affected so far. But it is only going to get worse. When people still have a job, and are afraid of losing it, they will most likely try to maintain the status quo, but when you don't have a job, it doesn't matter that much. So, get it over with when people still have jobs.

Just my 2 cents.

The Psychology of a General Election

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:07:00 +0000

Many people are speculating that a general election will be held this year. Now, how possible is that, given that the last one was held only in 2006. With only 3 years, will the government hold another GE this year ? This is my take on this.

Of course, there are many reasons why the government would want to hold the GE this year, and I believe the most important being

1. The economy is going to get alot worse. 2009 is only the beginning, and even if it ends by 2010, the economy will probably take a few years to recover to the current state. This is especially true for Singapore, which is mainly an export economy, and highly dependent on the global economy. Since we depend so much on foreign investments, it means that the foreign investment that flowed out of Singapore during this recession is most likely going to come back after the other economies have recovered, i.e. when they have cash to spare.

2. The government has always been stingy with us on the budget, having kept the budget in the surplus for most of the years. In 2009, the government announced the largest budget deficit to date. I think that tells us a lot about how bad the government think the recession is going to be. We can sustain a budget deficit for many years, and the government is certainly not going to give out goodies every year. So, when the goodies come, its high indication that the elections is round the corner.

3. Temasek just lost more than 30% of its portfolio, and Ho Ching is stepping down. Of course, they claim its unrelated, but to announce the two within such a short period, they obviously wants us to think otherwise. But, why ? This is not the first time Temasek lost such a huge amount of taxpayer's money. Shin Corp, IndoSat, Micropolis...... but nothing happened to her then. Obviously, when the wife of a PM can become CEO of Temasek, they don't really care about accountability. So, if we think careful, she's definitely sacrificed for a reason. Now the opposition can't claim the government does not have accountability.

While it seems reasonable that the government is going to the polls with these in their favour. However, they are taking rather big risks

1. The economy is already in a pretty bad shape now. Everyday we hear bad news. When everything is good, you have food on your table, you tend not to change the status quo. When when things get bad, people will want to change the current situation. Of course, this is debatable, since most of the population will still have jobs and they don't want to change THAT.

2. The volatility of the ecnomy and its dependence on the global economy means that in the run up to an election this year, the economy could collapse further if another big company like GM or another bank like RBS went bust. Any further collapse will definitely drastically increase the resentment among the population, and reduce PAP's support, even though its not their fault. That's the irony. When the economy is good, they claim the credits, but when its bad, no one will now believe that its not your fault.

3. The last election, PAP did pretty bad, with the PM getting only 66% of the votes and they even almost lost Aljunied GRC ! Of course, its doubtful that Aljunied GRC will still be around the next election (remember Cheng San GRC). But then again, you can only do this so many times. Each time you do that, you piss off people. Sooner or later, you will piss off so many that you can't draw a boundary that you can win.

Okay, so these are my two cents. Whether its going to come true or not, your guess is as good as mine. ;)

NUS ranks as one of world's most expensive college !

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 01:34:00 +0000

All through the years, the government had been telling us how good and cheap our education system is. How they ("the govenment") had heavily subsidized our tertiary education, and how lucky we are, for paying for little, for quality university education.

Well, we've all been had ! Forbes just published a list of most expensive universities around the world, and guess what ? Our beloved NUS ranks 9th in the list ! We are officially the MOST EXPENSIVE UNIVERSITY in ASIA ! Number 1-8 are all American and European universities.

Singapore: National University of Singapore

2008-2009 estimated tuition cost: $24,000 (non-resident)

The Times of London ranked the National University of Singapore as one of the top 20 best universities in the world in 2006. But NUS doesn't come cheap, especially compared with its Asian peers. The tuition cost is higher for international students, but residents of Singapore only pay a few thousand less. NUS students benefit from a relatively low cost of living, just $5,100 per year. Still, a total price tag of more than $31,000 per year makes an NUS education one of the most expensive in Asia.

Blimey... residents only pay a few thousand less.... I'm sure this is one ranking that NUS or the government will never want people to know.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/03/most-expensive-colleges-business-0203_colleges.html

How Long Will This Financial Crisis Last ?

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:33:00 +0000

Its probably no longer just a financial crisis. This is now a full blown economic crisis. What ten years of crazy extravagance in the financial circles has brought about, is now impacting the larger economy as a whole. It probably began as a crisis of confidence, but now, that lack of confidence in the economy has translated into a real economic slowdown.

When people start to tighten their belts, not because they have lost their jobs, but because they foresee an oncoming storm, THAT brought the retail market down, and together with it, a whole chain of industries.

Imagine, when people stop buying stuff in shopping malls, first you impact the retails stores. Then, this impacts the manufacturers, as fewer people are buying their stuff now. And when factory starts closing down, that impacts the workers, and reduced a whole bunch of people's spending power. Along the way, the supporting industries that supply machines, supply materials, logistics, and so on, all got affected. Its like ten pin bowling, the first pin falls and the others fall with it.

Ignore those people that say the crisis is over in a few months, or a year, and that the property market is going back up soon. Wake up to reality. Only the first few pins have fallen, there are others to follow. We are only on the way to recovery only when we reach the bottom. From what I see, we're still far from the bottom. So, fellow plebians, tighten up your belts, strap on your seat belts, and get ready for the ride of your life !

Of course, if you still need a number, the minimum is probably around 3 to 4 and it could last up to ten years. But count your lucky stars, your man here is no finance guru, only a man in the street that infers all these from common sense. Your financial gurus are out there wrecking havoc on the markets. :)

Temasek’s Merrill losses could exceed $2bn

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:26:00 +0000

I hate to say this, but we're probably looking at tax increases and upping of the retirement age in the coming years.

Just when the financial crisis is brewing, Temasek went in and bought tonnes of Merrill Lynch stocks. I'm not a financial guru, but when you even have an inkling that the stock market is gonna get volatile, the most sensible thing is.... NOT to buy.....

We are so in deep shit.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b1845f60-dcf3-11dd-a2a9-000077b07658.html

On the Footsteps of the Global Wanderer

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:48:00 +0000

As I edge closer to being one of the global-trotting worker, in search of a better life abroad, a sense of sadness grows as I'm set to leave this place where I have spent the better part of my 30 odd years of life.

Apprehension of the new life ahead starts to grow. Sometimes, I look at my young daughter running around in blissful ignorance, and wonder to myself if this move is good for her, and if she will be unhappy without the company of her usual play partners. Also, my aging parents, whose wrinkles are starting to bloom, and their happiness as they are engulfed in the bickering and screams of their grandchildren. They silently wish me a fruitful career, while hiding the pain that their son is about to leave them once again. And my wife, as she goes around seemingly unbothered by the change she is about to experience, but I suspect, deep inside, horrified that she is going to handle the little devil alone, in a distantly foreign land.

Sometimes, I almost give in, to the voice that hails and pleads for me to stay. To sacrifice my career, my passion, for a stable and blissful life in my homeland. But somewhere inside me is angrily unsatisfied, unwilling to live a life that is mediocre. But I want to live life, never to regret that I have not tried, never to give up on my beliefs and passion.

Maybe I'm selfish, to have put so many in pain. Maybe, one day I will regret this decision. Maybe, life is indeed better in Singapore. But life has so many maybes. Maybe I will have an even more fulfilling life ahead. Maybe.

On Foreign Talents

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:46:00 +0000

Yesterday, newspaper reported that the head coach of the Singapore table tennis team, Mr Liu Guodong is not renewing his contract and will be leaving the team by the end of the year. Many supporters of the table tennis team will be saddened by the news, especially when he is deemed to play a large part in getting us our 2nd (I would dispute that, when we got out "1st" medal, Singapore is not a nation yet) medal of the Olympics games.

From my previous posts, many people would come to the conclusion that I am not one that supports foreigners. Unfortunately, that could not be further away from the truth. I truely believe that Mr Liu is a one with talents we need, and ALL countries in the world with no exception will need SOME talents from outside of their country. If you are truely a talent, then Singapore needs you.

However, what I am unhappy about is the situation in Singapore. Firstly, the use of the blanket term Foreign Talent (FT). The government seems to be happy to abuse the term talents. Any tom, dick, and harry that comes in with a degree seems to be a talent in their eyes. However, is that true ? Of course not. A talent should be someone who posesses certain quality and skills that normal people lacks. Although that's subjective, but one thing you can't do is to call a technician or engineer that fills a job which 5000 local people can easily do, a foreign talent. THAT is something I would call a gross misrepresentation of the term.

Secondly, what is happening in Singapore is that we flood the work market with foreign "talents". I would hestitate to say that these people displace Singaporeans, but I think they certainly depress the wages of the work force. In a nation that takes an interest in controlling most things, Singapore has surprisingly taken a rather liberal attitude towards admitting foreign "talents" or workers into the country. Although the government seems to have some kind of quota that only allows a percentage of workers in a company to be foreigners, that seems to be frequently abused of simply not enforced.

As a consequence of the above, we may be faced with many social problems in the years to come. These people bring along with them their own culture and attitudes, and some of these conflicts with our own views and attitudes. Unless these people can be assimulated into our cultures and society, they will sooner or later be a social problem.

Laugh it off as you might, but while we have not felt the full effects of the things to come, I have no doubt that things will come to a head very soon. Currently, we have over 1 million foreigners in our country, making up approximately a quarter of the whole population. Of course, with these figures, I do not differentiate PRs from foreigners, as that is what they are, no matter what the government prefers to call them. Few other countries in the world have such a large percentage of foreigners amongst them, and we know little about what impact this will bring to society as there are few parallels that can be drawn.

Thirdly, the government places too much emphasis on these people and fails to recognize the importance of our own populance. The government seem to be eager to drill into everyone's minds that the very existence of the country depends on these foreigners. Without them, we will sink into the sea and into oblivion. THAT, I think is a tad too much. Yes, it is true that we do need the talents of a few, those that we cannot find amonst our own people. But, is there really a need to praise them to the heavens and harp on it everyday that we DEPEND on them ? That's a defeatist attitude. The only reason why we need 10,000 engineers from third world countries is simply because they can do the jobs at a much lower cost, and NOT because they possess some out of this world skills that our local engineers lack.

The government may not realize this, but the frequent brain-washing of the plebian poplulance has a reverse effect. Now, many of these very foreign "talents" a.k.a. posers, really think that Singapore will really sink into the ocean without them. Many a times have I seen a "I'm better than you" look from these posers on the streets. Ptui. Like what Mr Lee KY said to a HK SCMP journalist, these people are mostly mercenaries. They are not going to stick around when Singapore fails, they will be off in the first plane.

Lastly, I am very against the "buying" of sports medals by using foreign "talents". Sure, many of these sportsmen and sportswomen are truely talents, which Singapore unfortunately lacks. However, we must also understand that when a sportsman represents his country in a sport, this is not something that we can delegate to a mercenary. Most of our "FT" sportsmen/women are here because they either have the opportunity to forward their career, or that they are paid obscene amounts of money. Do any of them have geniune love for this tiny piece of land ? For most of them, I can dare say the answer is NO. By using these people to win medals, is no different from using money to BUY these medals.

Some in the sports council may argue that we are simple using these people to train our younger generations. Yah rite, that must certainly be true when none of our medal winning trio is born in Singapore. Perhaps some Singaporeans can still say they are proud that we have won a medal. Sadly, I cannot concur. For the very spirit of sportsmanship is that there is fairness in the game. For countries to "buy" over atheletes and win medals, this works against the very principle of sportsmanship. So, till Singaporeans start growing a spine, I shall wait for the day when a Singaporean brings home our first Olympic medal.

Why the Stock Market Keeps Dropping

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:23:00 +0000

Last night, the Dow dropped 7.87%, the NASDAQ 8.47%, and the S&P 9.03%. This comes after Mon which jumps 10% and a week of tumbles and a stock market descent that saw the market lose more than 20% of its value. Of course, on the hindsight we could have all seen these coming, with the subprime problems surfacing last year and all the financial institutions losing their pants and more.

However, the straw that broke the camel's back is Lehman Brothers filing for Chapter 11. The then 5th largest investment bank in the world, with assets worth over 600bn USD, ran out of cash. The Fed refused to throw them a lifeline, preferring to let attrition take out the troubled parts of Wall St. By the time the Fed and the Treasury realize what kind of shit they have on their hands after Lehman's collapse, it was too late. Even a 700 bn USD rescue package to bail out troubled companies is not work magic. What the Fed and the Treasury failed to see was that with the collapse of Lehman, the people in general lost confidence in the system. Confidence cannot be built overnight, but it certainly can be destroyed in a night, and that was what happened in the stock market.

For the taxpayers of USA, the Fed could have paid a fraction of the 700 bn to inject capital into Lehman. Unfortunately, they chose not to, and the taxpayers have to pay a bigger bill. But the real problem created was that many investors lost confidence in the stock market, and withdrew money from it. That, is not something 700bn or 800bn can fix. It wil be a few years before money start flowing into the stock market again. Till then, we're all going to a depressed stock market, for a good many years to come.

Singapore in Recession

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:04:00 +0000

Singapore's economy contracted by 6.3% in the third quarter, following a 5.7% contraction in the second quarter. This means that Singapore is officially in recession. Good Luck.

Source : CNA

Three more products found to contain melamine

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:00:00 +0000

The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) has found 3 more food products that contain melamine. These are :

Cadbury Choclairs - Blueberry flavour
Cadbury Choclairs - Chocolate flavour
Panda Dairy Whole Milk Powder (industrial pack)

List of Products Contaminated by Melamine

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 07:08:00 +0000

With so much confusion and more and more products detected with melamine due to the Chinese milk scandal, I've compiled a list products from different countries which have been detected with melamine. Probably will miss some, but that's inevitable, given the huge list of products affected.

Singapore (As of 30 Sep; Source: http://www.ava.gov.sg)

Yi Li Choice Dairy Fruit Bar Yogurt Flavoured Ice Confection
Dutch Lady Strawberry Flavoured Milk
White Rabbit Creamy Candy
Dutch Lady Banana Flavoured Milk
Dutch Lady Honeydew Flavoured Milk
Silang - House of Steamed Potato - Potato Cracker
Silang - House of Steamed Potato - Potato & Tomato Cracker
徐福记 Puffed Rice Rolls - Butter Corn Flavour
徐福记 Puffed Rice Rolls - Cheese Flavour
New Sshmallows Mallow Dippers-Strawberry Flavour

Hong Kong (As of 1 Oct; Source: http://www.cfs.gov.hk/)

Frozen Confectionary

Natural Choice Yogurt Flavoured Ice Bar with Real Fruit
Yili Bean Club- Matcha red bean ice bar
Yili Bean Club- Red bean milk bar
Yili Prestige Chocliz - Dark Chocolate Bar
Yili Super Bean Red Bean Chestnut Ice Bar

Milk and Milk Beverages

Nestle Dairy Farm UHT Pure Milk 1L (Catering)
Yili High calcium low fat milk beverage
Yili High Calcium Milk Beverage
Yili Pure Milk (250ml)
Yili Pure Milk (1L)

Other Food Products

Four Seas Cake (Strawberry Flavour)
Glico Pocky Men's Coffee Cream Coated Biscuit Stick (Net 52g)
Lotte Cream Cheese Cake
Lotte Koala Biscuit (Family Pack)(Chocolate Filled)(Double Chocolate Flavor)
Lotte Koala's March Chocolate Biscuit (Family Pack)
Lotte Koala Strawberry Biscuit (Family Pack)
Silang House of Steamed Potato Wasabi Cracker (Net weight: 238g (8.39oz))
White Rabbit Creamy Candies (227g)
White Rabbit creamy candies (454g)
Licheng Milk Slice
Licheng Milk Slice (Original Flavor)
東望洋Coconut Cakes
東望洋Walnut Cakes
Heinz DHA+AA Vegetable Formula Cereal
Cadbury Chocolates (Made in China)

Taiwan (Source: http://www.health.gov.tw/)

克寧(KLIM)銀養奶粉
克寧即溶奶粉 600*2
克寧奶粉保鈣配方800g
克寧即溶奶粉900g
雀巢成長奶粉
克寧即溶奶粉
克寧保鈣配奶粉
雀巢特優NESLAC成長奶粉
紐西蘭「塔杜瓦（Tatua）」乳鐵蛋白
Golden Kestrel Co Ltd Regimen House cheese cracker sandwich (Made in Malaysia) 奶概多vs起士三明治 (Imported by 晨鴻有限公司)
Pizza Hut Cheeze packets
Cadbury Chocolates (Made in China)

Australia (Source: http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/newsroom/factsheets/factsheets2008/updateonmelamineinfo4050.cfm)

Cadbury Chocolates (Made in China)
White Rabbit lollies
Lotte Koala Biscuits
Cadbury Eclairs

Canada (Source: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/relations/relationse.shtml)

Kaiser Strawberry Dressing Pretzel Approx. 40 g
Kaiser Choco Dressing Pretzel 50 g
Koala’s March Chestnut Cookies 270 g (10 x 27 g)
Koala’s March Strawberry Creme 270 g (10 x 27 g)
Koala’s March White Chocolate Creme 270 g (10 x 27 g)
Koala’s March Chocolate Creme 270 g (10 x 27 g)
Koala’s March Chocolate Creme 50 g
Koala’s March Strawberry Creme 50 g
Koala’s March White Chocolate Creme 50 g
Mr. Brown Instant Coffee 3 in 1 Mandheling Blend Coffee
Mr. Brown Instant Coffee 3 in 1 Blue Mountain Blend Coffee
Mr. Brown Instant Coffee 3 in 1 Arabica Coffee
White Rabbit brand candy
Nissin Cha Cha Dessert

United Kingdom (Source: http://www.food.gov.uk/)

Koala Chocolate Cookies 49g
Koala Strawberry Cookies 49g
Koala Yummie Cookies Chestnut 49g
Koala Melon Cookies 49g

United States

White Rabbit Candies

SM Goh Comments on JBJ's Passing

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:10:00 +0000

COMMENTS OF SENIOR MINISTER GOH CHOK TONG IN RESPONSE TO MEDIA QUERIES ON THE DEMISE OF MR J B JEYARETNAM

I was taken aback when I learnt this morning that Mr J B Jeyaretnam had passed away. I did not expect it as I had recently read of his formation of a new political party and his interest in contesting in the next General Elections. I send my condolences to his two sons, Kenneth and Philip.

My first encounter with Mr Jeyaretnam was in the 1981 Anson by-election, which he won. I was then the PAP’s Organising Secretary. His victory showed that it was possible for opposition MPs to be elected into Parliament.

We had many more encounters later, in Parliament, during elections and in the Courts. Politically, we were on different sides of the fence. I did not believe his brand of politics was good for Singapore. PAP leaders and he had many heated exchanges. But despite this, we kept up our personal relationship.

As Prime Minister, I did not allow the PAP’s fight with Mr Jeyaretnam to affect his sons’ place in society. In reply to a letter from Kenneth, I assured him that we valued talent, regardless of his father’s stand in politics and determination to oppose us. I had invited Philip for lunch, to tell him the same thing.

What do I remember or respect most about Mr J B Jeyaretnam? Even though I did not agree with his political cause, I respect his fighting spirit to advance it and his willingness to pay a price for it.

Perhaps in this case, it would be better to just make it short and sweet. What great leaders we have.

The Passing of a Persistent Man

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:33:00 +0000

Of course, this old news to everyone. Long time opposition leader, JB Jeyaretnam, has passed away. I think in the minds of many Singaporeans, JBJ is the symbol of persistence, having gone through numerous ups and downs, and yet still have tenacity to remain in politics and speak his mind. If what he has gone through happens to some other person, most surely, he would have called it a day, long time ago. But not this man. He hung on, he survived, but only to be defeated by Death.

In 2003, then SM Lee remarked that Singapore also need mavericks to help the society move forward, that it is important to have people that think out of the box. Unknowingly, he has just to look on the opposite side of the debating floor to see one. JBJ has all the characteristics of a maverick, he was not one to go with the flow, he challenged the government's policies, even if it meant that he is going to suffer for it.

As I was browsing through a forum just now, I came across a post that brought me to the attention of the PM's condolence letter to JBJ's sons. It goes like this:

Dear Kenneth and Philip Jeyaretnam

I was sad to learn that your father, Mr Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, has passed away.
Mr JB Jeyaretnam was a Member of Parliament for Anson constituency from 1981 till 1986, and a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament from 1997 till 2001. He used to engage in heated debates in the House. Perhaps it was because he and the PAP never saw eye to eye on any major political issue and he sought by all means to demolish the PAP and our system of government. Unfortunately, this helped neither to build up a constructive opposition nor our Parliamentary tradition. Nevertheless, one had to respect Mr JB Jeyaretnam’s dogged tenacity to be active in politics at his age.

However, our differences were not personal. In 1993, one of you (Kenneth) wrote to Mr Goh Chok Tong, who was then Prime Minister, to say that you found employers in Singapore reluctant to offer you a job, and your only explanation was that the employers felt the authorities would not welcome your employment because of your name. Mr Goh replied with a letter which could be shown to prospective employers, to say that the government did not hold anything against you, and that employers should evaluate you fairly on your own merits, like any other candidate, because Singapore needed every talented person that it could find. Mr Goh had previously made the same point to your brother Philip, whom he had invited to lunch. I am therefore happy that both of you have established yourselves in Singapore.

Please accept my deepest condolences.

Yours sincerely
Lee Hsien Loong

I at first thought it was a hoax, but apparently, its not. It was on CNA's website.

Perhaps the PM can learn from the Emperor Kang'xi of the Qing dynasty. On the occasion of his 60th year of reign, he said (rough translation) :

I would like to thank my enemies. They made me who I am today! They forced me to accomplish these great feats. I hate them, but I respect them. But today, the are all dead, and I am very lonely. I do not wish them peace in their death, but I wish that they will be enemies with me again in their next life !

Perhaps its a lesson for all of us. That we will never be what we are without these opposition parties. They indirectly made Singapore into what we are today. Rest in peace, JBJ, Singapore is indebted to you.

Rescue Bill To Rescue Wall St Unveiled

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 07:47:00 +0000

According to CNN.com, a rescue bill to rescue Wall St from its current woes is unveiled. Luckily, the Congress, was not reckless and did not flush 700 billion down the toilet, which would be the case if they have gone with Paulson's initial plans. Some safety measures were put in to ensure that the money was well spent, or least not dumped into a shit hole with no returns.

The two measures which I most agree with :-

Stemming foreclosures: The bill calls for the government, as an owner of a large number of mortgage securities, to exert influence on loan servicers to modify more troubled loans.
In cases where the government buys troubled mortgage loans directly from banks, it can adjust them more easily.

Limiting executive pay: Curbs would be placed on the compensation of executives at companies that sell mortgage assets to Treasury. Among them, companies that participate will not be able to deduct the salary they pay to executives above $500,000.
They also will not be allowed to write new contracts that allow for "golden parachutes" for their top 5 executives if they are fired or the company goes belly up. But the executives' current contracts, which may include golden parachutes, would still stand.

Good. Now at least we now know that at least something can be done to help those with mortgage problems, AND mostly importantly, we will not have assholes that come in, screw the company, and leave with a fat pocket.

4.84 Million, Can Our Healthcare Cope ?

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 07:22:00 +0000

As most would know by now, our population now stands at 4.84 million. This is a staggering 5.5% increase over 2007's estimate of 2.59 million, and a 16% increase over 2004's estimate of 4.17 million. If you have noticed that its more squeezy at shopping malls and MRTs, as I have, now you know the reason.

I have blogged earlier about my concern about Singapore healthcare system. Now, we really should be concerned. If we assume that the number hospital beds remains the same as last years, then with the increasing population, we have less beds per capita. As I have noted earlier, from 2004 to 2007, we have a DROP in the number of hospital beds, even as the population increased. So, while our population increased a staggering 16% from 2004 to 2008, our hospital beds DECREASED 2.5%.

I'm not sure how the hospitals are coping, but I'm guessing that they are probably kicking people even if they are fully recovered. And even that might not help. If we don't do anything about it, soon, we'll have bodies piling up in the A&E instead of patients. With the Yishun hospital only slated to be ready in 2009, just hope that nothing happens to your love ones from now till then.

With the increased number of people paying tax, I think the government can at least provide the healthcare infrastructure to cope with the rising population. No, Mr Khaw, I do not think we are asking for too much.

What You Need to Know About Chapter 11

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 05:09:00 +0000

After the Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11, probably a lot of people don't exactly know what that is. Forbes has an article which tells you what exactly it is.

What you need to know about Chapter 11

Self Worth and the Meaning of Life

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:26:00 +0000

I would like to dedicate this post to a good friend of mine. She is a Stay At Home Mum (SAHM). Housewives like to call themselves such as it sounds sexier and more professional. Hard to imagine calling my mum a SAHM...

Anyway, back to my friend, who's feeling kind of down lately. She was working for one year after giving birth, but finally threw in the towel when she found it hard to juggle work and looking for her baby, and the work wasn't very fulfilling. After a few months, she started looking for work again, but wasn't very successful.

After staying at home for almost one year, she is falling into a depression, and starts to question her self-worth. She also have no idea what exactly she wants in life. This is what I told her:

Life is a complex thing. Everyone is worthy in someway, but you have to explore to find that yourself.

Be happy that you now have a period in time, when you can sit down and think about what you want in life. Many people did not have that chance, and lived a life never knowing what they want.

When my students were graduating, I always ask them the same thing. What do you want in life ? Most of them have no idea. I told them to go think about it, and choose the path that will lead to a happy life.

Ask not what the meaning of life is. To some, there will never be an answer, to others, there are infinite answers. Live the life you want by doing what you want to do most in your life. That is the way to a happy life.
...

I know, it sounds like a bunch of crap. Life is a bunch of crap. Just live and be happy.

Sweets in New Zealand Contamined by Melamine

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:30:00 +0000

The New Zealand Herald - Unacceptably high levels of melamine have been found in a Chinese milk sweet on sale in New Zealand.

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority has issued a warning about the White Rabbit sweets, which the New Zealand Herald discovered on sale in Chinese supermarkets.

Testing found the presence of 180 ppm of melamine, the substance which has been implicated in the tainted baby milk powder scandal in China.

"Melamine is not an uncommon finding at low levels and we expect we may find other low levels that are not a health concern," said Ms Daly.
"But the levels we have found in these products are above a level that is acceptable and do raise potential health concerns so we have taken the action we needed to."

Looks like White Rabbit Milk Candy got a lot more melamine that we though. Now even the Kiwis get a taste of Chinese poison. The scandal has already cost NZ based Fonterra $139 million.

List of Products Taken Off the Shelves

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 05:24:00 +0000

There's a list of food products to be taken off the shelves in Singapore, due to contamination by Chinese milk ingredients, floating around in the internet. I'm not sure how accurate it is as there are no official sources confirming this. I'm guessing they are trying to do this low profile so that it will not create panic among the public.

I've managed to find one. This includes some biscuits and crackers, which unknown to many, also uses milk products as its ingredients.

----------------------------------------
Rabbit Milk Sweet 150g
Youcan Unusual Multipack 4s
Youcan Stawberry Multipack
Youcan Traditional Sesame Multipack 4s
Youcan Passion Multipack
Youcan Masterbean Multipack
Youcan Silk Sliced and Passion Strawberry
Monmilk Breakfast Milkmalt 6s
Monmilk Breakfast Milk Walnut 6s
Monmilk Breakfast Milk Malt
Monmilk Breakfast Milk Walnut
Monmilk Chocolate Milk 6s
Monmilk Coffee Milk 6s
Monmilk Hi Cal Low Fat
Monmilk Pure Milk
Monmilk Hi Cal Milk
Monmilk Hi Cal Milk 6s
Monmilk Pure Milk 6s
Monmilk Hi Cal Low Fat Milk 6s
Monmilk Hi Cal Low Fat Milk
Monmilk Pure Milk
Monmilk Milk Deluxe 12s
Yili Pure Milk 1L
Yili Hi Cal Milk 1L
Yili Hi Cal Low Fat Milk 1L
Yili Pure Milk 6s 250ml
Yili Hi Cal Milk 6s 250ml
Yili Hi Cal Low Fat Milk 6s 250ml
Want Want Flavoured Milk 250ml
Snicker Candies Funsize 240g
M&M Chocolate Candies Plain 200g
M & M Chocolate Peanut 200g
Lotte Koala Cocoa Funpack 210g
Koala Cocoa Biscuit 40g
Orion Fresh Pie 138g
Orion Tiramisu 138g
Vitasoy Q Soya Milk 4s 125ml
Vitasoy Chocolate Drink 4s 125ml
Vitasoy Melon Soya Bean Milk 4s 125ml
Dreyers Rocky Road Ice Cream 887ml
Dreyers Strawberry Ice Cream 887ml
Dreyers Toast Almond Ice Cream 887ml
Dreyers Choc Cake Ice Cream 887ml
Dreyers Cookie & Cream Ice Cream 887ml
Dreyers Mint Chip Ice Cream 887ml
Dreyers Vanilla Ice Cream 887ml
Nestle Nes D/Stick Mini Vanilla
Nestle Nes Distick Mini Choco
Meiji Ujikintoki 2978
Meiji Umakabo Chocolate
Meiji Family Pack-Green Tea
Meiji Chestnut & Redbean
Bairong Grape Cream Crackers
First Choice Calcium Sesame Crackers
First Choice Calcium Saltine Crackers
First Choice Calcium S Onion Crackers
First Choice Calcium Seaweed Crackers
Ginbis Party Animal Butter Bisc
Ginbis Party Animal Seaweed Bis
Ginbis Party Animal Cnut
Ginbis Animal Biscuit
Kraft Oreo Wafer Sticks 18s
Kraft Oreo Wafer Sticks 5s
Kraft Oreo W/Stick Wh Choc 18s
Kraft Oreo W/Stick Wh Choc 5s
Nabisco In A Biskit Chicken
No Frills Wafer Blueberry
No Frills Wafer Chocolate
No Frills Wafer Peanut
Pei Tian Cream Biscuit
Silang Natural Oat Cracker
Dove H/Nut Alm & Raisin Choc
Dove Hazelnut Choc
Dove Milk Chocolate
M&M Choc Candies Plain%
M&M Choc Candies Peanut%
M&M Choc Candies-Plain
M&M Choc Candies-Peanuts
M&M Funsize Milk
M&M Funsize Peanut
Mentos Bottle Yoghurt Promo Pk
Mentos Bottle Yoghurt
Snickers Peanut Chocolate%
Snickers Snacksize Bars Pnut 5
Want Want Milk Candy
Take One Baby Bites 24s
Take One Baby Bite Ck Vg
Take One Baby Bite Carrot
Nestle Milk & Berry Stars Crl
Dutch Lady Ster M Lf Banana
Dutch Lady Ster Mk Lf Plain
Dutch Lady Ster Mk Lf Choc
Dutch Lady Ster Mk Lf Sberry
Dutch Lady Ster M Lf Hnydew
Dutch Lady Ster M Lf Hnydew
Dutch Lady Ster Milk Plain
Dutch Lady Ster Mk Lf Choc
Dutch Lady Ster Mk Lf Sberry
Dutch Lady Ster M Lf Banana

-------------------------------------

Some cakes and pastries also use milk ingredients, however, to date, there have been no announcements by the major players, Breadtalk, Bengawan Solo, Prima Deli..etc.. Lets hope they use NON-Chinese milk products...

Boycotting Chinese Food Products

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:03:00 +0000

I think many of us have had enough of the crap that is coming out of China. Greedy and unscrupulous businesses in China have been putting toxic substances into food products all these years. The final straw is the milk powder. Now, even innocent babies are involved.

Perhaps its extremely difficult to completely weed out made in China food, as many ingredients in many food products are from China. Someone actually tried. But I think it'll be a small step towards a good objective, by first boycotting food products wholly made in China.

No, I'm not some fanatic whos calling for the boycott because I believe Tibet should be freed. Frankly, that's none of my business. What is OUR business is that what we put in our mouth everyday should be safe, and not some toxic crap churned out in a dirty factory in China. And I'm not on to dangerous toys and products from China yet.

Just to convince you just how dangerous it is to put Chinese crap into your mouth, the following are some of the recent incidents:

April 2007 - Poison Pet Food: Two Chinese companies intentionally exported contaminated pet food ingredients to the United States, killing hundreds of American pets that ate the food.

June 2007 - Tainted Seafood: The FDA detained imports of three types of Chinese fish — catfish, basa and dace — as well as shrimp and eel after repeated testing turned up contamination with drugs unapproved in the United States for use in farmed seafood.

China products also frequently topped US FDA's import refusal list, with things like "Dried apples preserved with a cancer-causing chemical", "Frozen catfish laden with banned antibiotics", "Scallops and sardines coated with putrefying bacteria", "Mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides". Just how many unsafe foods have gone below the FDA's radar, we really don't know. The Americans have been up in arms against Chinese products in the past years, to the extend of bringing their own food to the Olympics, and this recent incident have only proved them right.

If all of us will just take a little time, to weed out Chinese products from our diet, then it will surely send a signal to the Chinese just how pissed off the rest of the whole are with their crappy products. That will also save you the pain of ending up in hospital years on after consuming toxic food. Remember, that evil businessman in China with his pockets full of money is not going to pay for your medical bills. So don't line his pocket with money.

Even White Rabbit Creamy Candy is Contaminated with Melamine

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 06:51:00 +0000

The candy which many of us grew up with, the White Rabbit Creamy Candy (大白兔奶糖) has been found to be contaminated with melamine. This was announced by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), and brings the number of products in Singapore found with melamine to three.

Sales of Nestle Baby Milk Powder Stopped in HK

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 06:02:00 +0000

Zaobao - Sales of certain Nestle baby milk products have been stopped in HK after traces of melamine was detected in a baby milk powder product originating from China's Heilongjiang province. There are also arrangements for customers to return their purchases.

The affected products include :

Neslac雀巢金装助长奶粉1+、
Neslac雀巢金装助长奶粉3+、
Nespray雀巢儿童高钙奶粉1+、
Nespray雀巢儿童高钙奶粉3+、
Nespray雀巢儿童高钙奶粉6+（上述都是900克装）及
Nespray雀巢即溶奶粉（1800克装）。

When will this end ?

12892 Toddlers Hospitalized due to Tainted Milk Powder

noreply@blogger.com (The Hopeless Traveller) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:11:00 +0000

BBC - Nearly 13,000 children in China have been hospitalised due to tainted Chinese milk powder, officials say.

104 have shown serious symptoms.

A generation affected, because of greed. What more can I say.