:which part of the world do you wish to significantly contribute to today? :

Monday...blues

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:22:00 +0000

Why does Monday have to come after a Sunday? Why can't we have Sunday... then sunday and sunday again ?? And never have to get back to work ??? Why do we even work anyway, since the money is barely enough to keep me alive, and all that I do is just drone work that doesn't utilise half of what I'm even capable of ???

Which reminds me, I'm like a CPU doing loops when I'm capable of higher clock speed...

Nuff said...

Ridin - Classic & 86

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:20:00 +0000

Cool song ...

ridin songs
free mp3s | free songs

Nuff said. Enjoy.

...a must watch...

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:34:00 +0000

Hahaa... I should learn to bathe like that!

Nuff Said

...the 50 years bossanova concert in the esplanade concert hall...

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 06:31:00 +0000

It was fantastic... some of the songs featured ...

And Marcos Valle ... with his composition summber Samba, So nice or some call it Samba de verao

Another track here Bye Bye Brazil composed by : Roberto Menescal

Somehow i think bossa music is good for our tropics...

Nuff said.

...haven't been blogging

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:23:00 +0000

Yeah I have been lazy. Got other stuff to do other than blog, so got to settle them first.
Anyway, now that I'm free this morning, I decide to check in on some of the literally cooler stuff I've gotten the past few months.

Work sucks as usual... so I won't blog on that. Besides it will probably bore the reader to death... in case you wanna know how's work, look in the mirror and you'll know how i feel :)

anyway... the gadget market has been quite cool lately. Back in march I got myself one of these...

my take on this ??? its a good mobile PC if you're BROWSING on the go... I won't recomend these babies for working, they can't do too processing to deal in the raw work. Besides the batteries die too quick for any productive work to be done. Unless of couse you are desperate.

I use mine mainly for browsing. Reading in bed, watchin movies and surfing. I don't work on it and I don't recommend you do either. Its way too small to work on.

Next on my list... is the sony ebook reader...

This is for the reader buff only... at 300 USD, this pretty baby is one sleek book. Other than that, if you were thinking of using it to listen to mp3s or view pictures, (which are the other functions that are available on it), don't even bother. its crap.

However, if you take 300USD, divide that by the vast number of (free) ebooks available online, and considering that some of the hardcover versions of the current bestsellers are avail. at almost 40 to 60 pop. All I need is just to read 5 books to break even.

In fact this month alone I've already read 7 books and on to my 8th. Granted they are not all bestsellers, this baby really makes me read a lot more. One other plus... it helps me sleep when the book is boring enuf.

Out of 5 stars, I'd grade it ,
5 stars for something to put you in bed at night.
4 stars for the battery life.
and negative 2 stars for the mp3 and greyscale photos.

If you want an mp3 player and photos, get the iphone or itouch instead. This ain't for you.

Nuff said.

another great clip...

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:51:00 +0000

Check this out...

Nuff Said

Britain's Got Talent Micheal Jackson stunt...

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:30:00 +0000

A very popular clip on youtube for a MJ stunt...

If you enjoyed that... here is the semifinal

And on with the Finals...

:) I don't know if they won... probably...

The music in the first clip was remixed by PunjabMC - Tigerstyle - Nachna Onda Nei

the stut-stut-stuttering malaysian information minister...

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:21:00 +0000

Before the malaysian elections took place, (in which the ruling party) suffered a major defeat, there were protests in the streets for a democratic and fair elections...

On the day of the elections, the ex-information minister was interviewed by BBC and tried hopelessly to defend their political e-e-erection process. HaaHaa Haaa... Nice...

Transcript of Malaysia's Information Minister's interview with Al Jazeera News on the Bersih Protest.

Minister: I commend yo-yo-your journalists trying to project and exaggerate more than what actually happened. That-that-that-that's it. We are lusting at the and I-I congratulate your journalists behaving like an actor, very good actor...

Reporter: As you say that, sir, we're watching scenes of protesters being sprayed by chemical-filled water!

Minister: YA! I am watching! I'm here! Is not that...You...You've been trying... trying to do it this - to do this everywhere but in Malaysia people are lust at you, you know? We know our police had lust our colleague had have er have allowed the procession to go to the Istana Negara, you know? Do police, first police, like, they handle them, they attack them, they... police don't, don't, don't fire anybody?

Reporter: Our correspondent came back to the office, sir, with chemicals in his eyes!

Minister: You-you-you-you are here with the idea, you are trying to project, what is your mind! You think that we Pakistan, we are Burma, we are Myanmar. Everything you-you are thinking! WE ARE DIFFERENT! We are totally different!

Reporter: Well unfortunately when you refuse to let people protest, it does appear so.

Minister: Ya ya we are not like you! You have early perception, you come here, you want to project us like undemocratic country. This a democratic country!

Reporter: So why can't people protest then, if it's a democratic country?

Minister: YES, PEOPLE PROTEST! People do... first they protest. We are allowing protest, and they have demonstrated. But we just trying to disperse them, and then later they-they-they don't disperse, but later our police compromise. They have compromised and allowed them to proceed to Istana Negara! Police, our police have succeeded in handling them gently, right? Why don't you report that and you take the opposition, someone from opposition party you ask him to speak. You don't think from the government, right?

Reporter: Why did you not break up these protests...

Minister: Pardon? Pardon? Pardon?

Reporter: Why did you not break up these protests more peacefully?

Minister: I can't hear you! I can't hear you!

Reporter: Why did you not break up these protests more peacefully?

Minister: No we-we are! We... this protest illegal! We don't want..this ...NORMALLY...the demostration end up with the....you know hello

Reporter: OK, so let me return to my former question. Why is this protest illegal?

Minister: YA! It's a illegal protest because we have the erection in Malaysia. It's no-no point of having a protest! We are allowing we have every erection every five years never fail! They are not our like, like Myanmar, not like other country. And, and you are helping this. You Al-Jazeera also is helping this, this forces. The, you know, these forces who are not in passion, who don't believe in democracy! Right?

Reporter: ok, many thanks for joining us.

Minister: al, YA you Al-Jazeera, this is Al-Jazeera attitude. Right?

Reporter: and to some other news now, Mymamr's detainees...

当你孤单你会想起谁

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 03 May 2008 09:56:00 +0000

a remix of an old hit... currently available in singapore...

Honest mistakes... Really!!! ....

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 03 May 2008 09:47:00 +0000

Frankly, I make honest mistakes at work every day... who doesn't ???

Let me quote you an example: Just the other day, my client ordered a sardine curry puff, so I picked up a puff and plonked it into the paper bag.

Unknowingly, it was a malicious chicken puff. (they all look the same, safe for a coloured dot)

My customer paid for it and left. After taking a bite out of the puff, she came back and complained that I had to give her a refund or give her another piece since she ordered a chicken curry puff instead of a sardine one.

So in true Singaporean flavour, I told her... "Aiyah, miss, it was an honest mistake ... lets move on..."

"do u want lime juice to go with that as well ???"

Nuff said...

slo mo cam...

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:06:00 +0000

Who doesn't want to be Paris Hilton's BFF got to be either lying, kidding or joking.
Thats because she's looking for a new best friend. How anyone can resist is totally beyond me.

Go http://parisbff.com/ for more info...

Ever wonder what happens if your eyes can slow things down to 80 times of a second ???
This is what happens!!! Enjoy!

Slowed Down Camera - 80x Slower! - New Technology! - The best bloopers are here

cat welfare before national security ?

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:35:00 +0000

I saw this while along the corridors at toa payoh lor 1 recently.

the first thing that came to my mind was this...

in case you didn't know... Mas Selamat was the terrorist head who limp-ed out of a detention centre on a weekday afternoon, while going for a toilet break. He is presently at large. And mind you... the detention centre was only 100 metres from a busy expressway.

My point is : Are we losing sight of our priorities, when we start to offer S$1000 to nab a cat killer, but S$0 for information leading to a the arrest of a terrorist ? The only reason that seems even plausible is when we think that one is a convicted (cat) "killer" (ie deed done) vs the other (potential - terrorist) "killer".

Ahhh... now it makes sense... innocent until provent guilty... :)

Nuff said.

Migrant workers ... u either love em or hate em...

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:30:00 +0000

April 11, 2008, Straits Times

Psst...here's $3,000 to employ China worker
More agents offering coffee shop owners legally dubious 'rebates' to entice them
By Melissa Sim

THERE has been a recent surge in the number of middlemen offering questionable kickbacks to employers who hire workers from China, according to those who spoke with The Straits Times.

Restaurants and coffee shop owners said that, in the last eight months, they had seen a jump in the number of agents willing to pay them $2,000 to $3,000 for every China worker they hired.

This is a sweet deal for employers, who can then use the money to cover the foreign worker levy, which is between $240 and $450 a month for an unskilled worker.

But some foreign-worker advocates said that foreign nationals were the ones getting the short end of the stick.

Mr Jolovan Wham, the executive director of foreign workers' welfare group Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics, said that it had become common for workers to pay $8,000 to $9,000 in fees to an agent.

This includes their flight to Singapore and a job here. The agents could also possibly use part of this sum to pay employers.

'You could say it's like a transferring of cost to the workers,' said Mr Wham.

This practice seems to occupy a legal grey area. In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) did not say that the kickbacks were illegal.

But it said: 'All employers hiring foreigners on work permits are responsible for their upkeep and maintenance, including the payment of the monthly foreign worker levy.

'Employers are not allowed to pass on these costs to their workers.'

The MOM added that it would take action against employers or intermediaries for practices that exploited foreign workers.

Those in the food and beverage industry said that the kickbacks had been around for a few years, but competition had heated up in the second half of last year.

Now, they said, agents called and faxed coffee shop owners, blatantly offering kickbacks.

The issue came to the fore after a reader wrote to the forum page of Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao last week, saying that he had many friends from China looking for work.

He said that, when he tried calling employers on their behalf, he was immediately asked how much of a 'rebate' he could offer.

He added that some employers would abuse the situation, hiring and firing just to receive the $3,000 fee from agents.

There are also genuine employers like Mr Hong Poh Hin, the chairman of the Singapore Foochow Coffee Restaurant and Bar Merchants Association.

He said that he employed a Chinese national to serve drinks at his coffee shop last year and received $2,000 from an agent.

Mr Hong saw it as an incentive: 'Many workers want to come but demand is not enough, so agents share the agent's fee to keep volume up.'

One agent that The Straits Times called said he was willing to give a $2,500 kickback, while another said he did not give any incentives.

When contacted by The Straits Times, labour MP Halimah Yacob said that 'some clarity on the issue is necessary'.

She said the situation was a tricky one to manage. If foreign workers become cheaper to employ, it 'defeats the purpose of the levy'.

She also said that if workers come to Singapore already in debt, they may have to repay their creditors back home and go without pay for some time.

The MOM said that it would not hesitate to revoke the licences of employment agents or prosecute errant employers under the Employment Act. It would also bar such employers from employing foreigners.

If the collection of rebates by the employer involved a corrupt act, the MOM would refer the matter to the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau for investigation.

The MOM encouraged the public to provide information on employers or agents receiving rebates from workers.

Comments : <>
the problem is that they are so desperate to come that they are willing to pay to get jobs! this is amazing. how do you beat that?

Disclaimer: don't sue me: I don't write, endorse or encourage such stuff...I merely point to you
on what is available as public information and show you where it comes from...

something I read online recently...

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:23:00 +0000

Help grads who do as well as foreign talent
RECENTLY, I befriended a group of scholars from China studying at my alma mater, Nanyang Technological University (NTU). They were in their late teens and were attending foundation courses in English and maths before starting their undergraduate studies. In their five-year sojourn at NTU, they will be given free lodging and a monthly allowance of $500 each. Needless to say, they do not have to pay for their tuition fees. When they graduate, they must work in Singapore for six years as part of their 'payback'' bond.

A highly conservative calculation of their five-year tenure at NTU suggests that each will cost the Government or NTU some $70,000. That is, $30,000 for their five-year tuition fees, including the charges for their foundation courses, and some $40,000 for hostel accommodation and their monthly stipends. I graduated from NTU five years ago, with a good honours degree.

I was in the top 15 per cent of my cohort - and performed better than some of these scholars. While studying at NTU, I had to work as a pizza delivery boy to earn my allowance. Upon graduation, I had to start paying off a $24,000-student loan.

Why are Singaporeans like me not treated as considerately as such scholars? My study loan took five years to pay off after I started working. The China scholars receive financial support, a free education and start their working lives debt free. Their six-year bond is seen as a contribution to Singapore.

Am I not contributing as much, if not more? Non-scholar Singaporeans are not treated in quite the same way as foreign talent, regardless of how well we perform. The disparity is disheartening.

Don't Singaporeans like me who have done well deserve some relief? True, local scholarships are available. But not every Singaporean who graduated well, gets one.

Can the NTU or the Education Ministry tell me why graduates like myself don't deserve some relief or reward for doing as well as, or better than, some of the foreign talent?

Zhou Zhiqiang

Source Document : http://comment.straitstimes.com/showthread.php?t=9609

Nuff Said.

Disclaimer: don't sue me: I don't write endorse or encourage such stuff... I merely point to you where it comes from...

fake degrees... taken as real

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:58:00 +0000

I wish to highlight this case that was recently reported in the online New Paper.

FAKE FOOLISH
Gets bogus degree after parents ask her to Carelessly hands in fake degree to MOM
By Crystal Chan
April 14, 2008 Print Ready

FOR three months, Indian national Garakapaty Bhagya Lakshmi had her dream job in Singapore.

A systems analyst with IT company Aspirant Technologies, the 33-year-old was drawing a monthly salary of $2,500, about double what she would have earned in India.

But her dreams ended abruptly when the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) discovered that she had used a fake degree to apply for a work permit.

The irony? Garakapaty is a bona fide graduate from an American university - but she claims she accidentally submitted a fake degree from another university.

She admitted she had obtained the fake degree years before she got her genuine degree. It was, she insisted, to please her demanding parents.

Her absent-mindedness got her hauled to court, where she was fined $9,000 last Friday after pleading guilty.

She could have been jailed up to a year and fined up to $15,000.

Garakapaty, who is from Hyderabad, told The New Paper on Sunday that she regrets her carelessness.

'Because of this, I lost a job which I liked, and worried my parents who aren't in good health,' she said.

PARENTAL PRESSURE

Garakapaty explained that when she was still in India, she studied for a Bachelor of Science degree at Sri Krishna University.

But she kept failing a chemistry module and had to drop out.

She said: 'I then got a diploma in IT because I was interested in it, and also because the IT boom made it easy for IT graduates to get jobs.

'But my parents were ashamed of the fact that I had failed to get a degree and kept pushing me to get a fake degree as they thought I could get a better-paying job.'

Garakapaty said a friend helped her get a fake degree in IT from a real university in Hyderabad called Osmania University.

She said she could not remember how her friend had obtained it.

But she insisted she never used it to apply for a job.

Instead, she said she chucked the forged document into a stack of personal documents and forgot about it.

Using her genuine IT diploma, Garakapaty worked for almost a decade in India.

In 2006, she got a real computer science degree through distance learning from Golden State University, an American institution.

She said: 'I never wanted to cheat anyone. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten a real degree.'

OVERSEAS WORK

Garakapaty then decided to look for a job overseas, believing she could earn more.

In July last year, she came to Singapore to work as a consultant for Pan Asia Resources Consultancy.

There were no problems as she had applied for her employment pass with her Golden State degree.

This job lasted only three weeks - the duration of the project she was working on.

Once it was over, Garakapaty landed a one-year contract job with Aspirant last October, after responding to a newspaper recruitment advertisement.

She said: 'Aspirant paid me $2,500 a month. Back home in India, I would've earned half that amount.'

The company offered to apply for an employment pass on her behalf and asked her to submit some supporting documents.

Garakapaty did so, but forgot that the fake degree was among the documents that she handed to Aspirant.

When MOM spotted it, Garakapaty's employment pass was cancelled and she was hauled to court.

Her lawyer, Mr Kirpal Singh of Kirpal & Associates, said in mitigation that Garakapaty just wanted to please her parents who felt she could get a good job with a degree.

He added that her 'unwilful negligence' led to the offence.

Mr Singh had attempted to get the Attorney-General's Chambers to drop the charge. However, MOM's position was that the fake degree was used to get the employment pass.

Aspirant's director Mr Devendra Rautela wrote a testimonial for Garakapaty, saying that her conduct was good and the company's clients appreciated her work.

Tears welling up, Garakapaty said: 'I think it's human nature to have the habit of dumping all your documents into the same file.

'I should have been more careful and looked through the stack of documents thoroughly to ensure the forged degree wasn't among them.'

She has paid the fine and now wants to return to India to care for her ailing parents.

Some comments I've seen online:
Comment 1:
>In 2006, she got a real computer science degree through distance
>learning from Golden State University, an American institution.

Golden State University? Oh please, what is that???

Comment 2:
that the hell is this golden state university? still a diploma mill..MOM people does not do their work? just a simple search on google is needed..

http://online.degree.net/archive/index.php/t-1411.html
http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/unaccredited.aspx

Nuff said

one of those retro songs....

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:15:00 +0000

I was listening to Class 95 FM on a Friday evening... and this tune was played over the radio.
I immediately recognised this tune as one of those: O level mugging tunes. (that is how i categorise my fav tunes.)

It's a fav. oldie, and I'm here to share it with you. Enjoy.

Nuff Said

Pangea Day

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:58:00 +0000

A day where the world celebrates unity on May 10th tune in for Pangea Day.

In this short film, another country gets together and sing the national anthems of other countries.

For this France sings the National Anthem of the United States

Next Japan Sings the National Anthem of Turkey

Somehow this reminded me of the Quantas ad I saw in Perth... :)
That was the original.

A few years later, Singapore came up with this "copycat" version. The song was original - no doubt. But the idea of children singing in a chior alcapella ~ comes from the quantas ad. But to be fair... the song is indeed original.

Nuff Said

can't take the heat!!!

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:13:00 +0000

did you ever wonder what happens when the going is too tough for an easter bunny and
it can't take the heat ??

here's what happens.

Nuff said

a useful device in the office

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 03:38:00 +0000

I was surfing the net one day and I came across this really wonderful little device that might be useful for some people while in the office :)

stop grinning.
nuff said.

ntu student hostel

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:14:00 +0000

sometimes, student in hostels don't get enuf places like the one i'm showing here ... and they try to squeeze 3 people in to a room designed for 2.

the students protest...

but as usual ... if u didn't know the style and how things work around here ... they just proceed and design a model showroom by paying only "lip service" to students saying that they value their feedback.

hahaha I can imagine the students having another person in bed... :)

a cool new ad

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:42:00 +0000

sorry i haven't blogged in a while.
been busy at work as well as travelling around.
in the meantime. enjoy this cool ad from youtube.

nuff said.

A Linux convert speaks...

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:14:00 +0000

I recently got my hands on one of these.
an ultra low cost ultra mobile pc.

And was introduced to the world of Linux.

The KDE version of Linux Xandros is very similar to winXP, with a remarkably improved performance.
So now I'm taking the plunge to move my other hardware systems to Linux.

I'm a convert. Nuff said.

Mas Selamat ...

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:44:00 +0000

Where did he go ?? Mas Selamat made history by escaping from a Singapore Internal Security detention center while on a toilet break.

Right now, the heat is on with 4 million pairs of eyes looking out for him on 625 sq kms.

This is his side view.

Nuff Said.

politics...

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 17:05:00 +0000

This is a really good MTV by Rihanna - Umbrella

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4X7eFbP3u4

But a Parody brought in politics. Clinton and Obama. And this was the result.
:)

Nuff Said and Enjoy.

where in the world is Mas Selamat ??

noreply@blogger.com (admin) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:09:00 +0000

hehehee.... the Parodys are already coming in.
Com'on guys. You can do better. Go catch da man!

:)
Nuff said