Overall: good.
A scammer decided to go on a show to expose how scams work due to a pang of conscience. In the first segment, the scammer shared why he became a scammer.
He was scammed by a 'successful' old friend who introduced him to 'investment'. This part is accurate. He became a scammer to repay his debt, but ended up addicted to the money. It does not work that way. Scammers are not local and they do not get rich from scamming. They are probably abducted to operate in scam centres overseas.
In the second segment, he showed how he tricked an old woman by impersonating a police officer. The presenter was very upset and cut it short. It was revealed the old woman was her mother and she was depressed over the lost money even now.
I think this can hit too close to home to be comfortable. I feel Chinese nationals are especially susceptible to Government Official Impersonation scams, locals probably malware apps.
The producer forced the presenter to continue with the show as it was a hit. He threatened that she was dispensable.
In the third segment, the scammer explained why he had a change of heart. His daughter was disappointed her father was always busy, then she found out the nature of his work. She won a composition writing competition in school and her work was, "My father, a hero", which of course was antithesis of what her father was actually doing. When she had to pose with him on stage, she could not do it. She threw her compo at him and ran off the stage.
The presenter advised the scammer to turn himself in.
Show 2 started with a boy waking up from a hospital bed, then went on to save his mother in various outlandish scenarios. He always failed to do so cos he hesitated at the crucial moment. He never gave up and tried again the next day, but when he peeled off the calendar, it was always Sunday.
Next, he was on a bus with his mother and the bus met with an accident. He was rescued, but rushed back into the bus to save his mother. As he carried his mother out, there was an explosion...
The next scene was him lying on a hospital bed. His mother said she always complained he was hesitant, but he did not hesitate during the crash, so he managed to save her.
The doctor delivered the bad news that there was no hope for the boy, but the mother refused to give up. She would continue to wait for her son to wake up. She then tore the calender to reveal the next day, Monday.
The story is pretty good. Good fighting choreography. The musical segments, though very short, were a bonus.
Show 3 was a story about three friends, two boys and one girl. It started with them as kids in the 60s. Their parents were illegal hawkers. They then time jumped 10 years as teenagers in the 70s. Their parents now operate in hawker centres.
One boy was really good at cooking and already had multiple branches. The other boy just wanted to take over his father's chicken rice stall. The girl was good at studying and went to University of Cambridge for studies. The two boys went to the airport to send her off.
I thought it was a love story and the next time jump would be 10 years later, as young adults. Who would the girl choose?
A love story would resonate with the audience, most of whom are in this stage of life.
No, the time jump was 40 years later.
The chicken rice stall was now run by the boy, now an old man. It was still very traditional, accepting cash only. The boy's son wanted to innovate, but met with resistance from his father.
The successful boy came back, but he was dressed quite shabbily. We soon found out why, his business failed during COVID and he was left with only his original stall. He said his son would come back to run it and they would be neighbours once again.
The girl appeared next, pushed in a wheelchair by her daughter. She came to reminisce her childhood.
The three of them had a dramatic reunion. But this was problematic. It meant the girl never met up with them even once in 40 years.
Throw in a backdrop of transiting to English in the 60s, male chauvinist attitude of the older generation, keeping up with the times (electronic payment) and business failures during COVID.
I wanted to clean the keys thoroughly, so I removed them. When I try to put them back, the plastic clips broke.
The keyboard is still usable, provided I don't tilt it far enough for the keys to drop out.
There goes my last wired keyboard.
I still have two USB wireless keyboards. I won't be removing their keys for cleaning any time soon!
I kept a wired keyboard around cos I had issues entering the BIOS with wireless USB keyboard. By right it should work just as well, but there are too many ways it can fail.
Cost of living, employment and housing.
Sharply rising rental causes everything to be expensive. PAP does not like price control. Instead, they give vouchers to "subsidize". The ironic effect of "free money" is that it causes prices to go up!
Job security is always an issue. PAP is always about companies and businesses. Jobs will come "naturally". But locals do not have the right skillset, so need to import. And the trend does not last long enough for a new generation to be trained. By the time they graduate, their skills are already irrelevant. Older folks are not better off. If your industry disappears, your skillset becomes useless. Can you really re-skill?
The demand for HDB flats is very high and some people — new citizens? — are willing to pay very high for them. Can BTO flats be priced lower so that they are affordable? No, because they can be sold for a tidy profit once MOP is up — this shows the inherent demand for flats — and PAP can't have that. So they give 'grants' instead. Like all subsidies, grants have the opposite effect: they make prices go up. Also, grants are not free, you need to pay interest on it.
The Seagull is very sensitive to wind. It will move to left or right following the wind. This is because unlike most other kites, its surface area is on both sides (its wings) and not on the body — it can be unbalanced easily. It is very dynamic, unlike other kites that generally stay stationary. Also, it is best to fly it slightly higher in case it gets into a spin and need some space to recover.
(Apparently the Seagull has a detachable tail that will stabilize it. I never used it. :-P)
Needs class 3 wind. It needs a little bit more wind due to its smallish surface area, even though its wingspan is 1.4 m.
The Seagull flew for the last time due to my carelessness. A cloth part holding a metal rod in its wing was torn. I did not keep the kite in its bag but I just folded it and carried it to my car. When I got home, I found the metal rod had slide out.
Bought for S$11 in 2021, costs $14.50 now.
The Robot is big, 1.9 m across, but it is super easy to fly. The reason is its large surface area. If needed, it can double up as an umbrella.
Needs class 2 wind.
S$18. The shop selling it, Kite Culture, is still around.
Another easy-to-fly kite due to its large surface area. Its width is 1.45 m. It has a permanently attached tail, though I feel it is not needed. There are blue and red models, the blue one looks nicer, but I got the red one because I thought blue would blend into the sky. I should have gotten the blue one.
Needs class 2 wind.
This design is so ugly, I should not have gotten it. It is hard to find a plane kite that I like. I don't want single-color ones, nor too realistic ones, especially in grey color. Too cartoony is also out.
Bought for S$5.70 in 2022, costs ~$7.60 now.
I remembered I went to Marina Barrage one time and saw many kites being flown. One of them was very memorable. How could such an un-aerodynamic ship fly in the wind?
I have always wanted to own one since.
How does it manage to fly? It actually has quite a large surface area — it has four sails on each side.
Surprisingly, it is cheap, but it is quite hard to assemble. I'll recommend to pre-assemble it in case the site is windy — ask me how I know. It also needs mildly strong wind (class 4) to fly.
The size is 82 cm (L) x 74 cm (W) x 90 cm (H).
While I like the ship design, I don't like its colorful sails. I want something more normal looking. It also does not look as good when flying. The reason is that it tilts upwards significantly instead of being level — maybe solvable by adjusting the string.
It has a detachable tail that helps to stabilize it, but it flies just as well without it — it is well-balanced.
The frame is made of polyester, but the sails feel like thin nylon cloth.
Bought for S$19.60 in 2021, costs ~S$25 now.
This was my first foray into 3D kites. This is a very unique design. Need class 5 wind? No problem, Marina Barrage is always very windy. (*)
(*) Not really.
I never managed to succesfully fly this kite even once. There was either not enough wind, or the plane was super unstable and would crash immediately. I then realized 3D kites, while they look nice, tend to be less aerodynamic and harder to fly. But this kite takes the cake. Till this day, I'm not entirely convinced it can fly. This kite is heavy. I feel there is not enough surface area to support its weight — its width is only 85 cm. Maybe it'll fly if it is made from lighter nylon cloth instead of cheap polyester.
I also read that the tail needs to be attached for the kite to be balanced. I tried it, it did not help.
Some assembly is needed. It is not complex, but there are more steps than other simple kites.
Bought for S$25.40 in 2021, available for S$14.50 now.
Democracy does not work with 1-person 1-vote and first-past-the-goalpost.
For 1-person 1-vote to work, everyone must be an equal. Unfortunately, it is not outside of small groups.
'Special interest' groups will form naturally. It is possible to pander to some groups at the expense of others.
First-past-the-goalpost is the worst aspect of voting. 50.01% wins the election? It is difficult to get 60% majority nowadays.
And let's not kid ourselves, voting can be gamed. USA is the best example:
The more social benefit you receive, the less your vote should count. This prevents pandering to the poor, which is very easy to do by throwing money at them — it is not even the politician's own money.
More than one representative can be elected, until 75% of the total eligible electors are represented, provided each wins at least 20%. Their voting power is proportional to their win ratio. They don't have voting power from people who don't vote.
(If none wins more than 20%, they need to form an alliance to cross 20%.)
Elected represenatives have proportional voting rights to the number of people who voted for them to some extent. For example, if a representative has less than half the average number of electors by constituency, he will have 0.5 vote.
