Quote:
Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it.
Home improvement: the kitchen
Due to budget constraints, and the fact that the flat is more-or-less in a good shape, Missus and I will give priority to renovating the kitchen, the common toilet and the master bedroom toilet.
We are in no hurry, though. We'll probably do the renovations middle of next year.
Let's start with the kitchen.
We'll keep the wall-mounted cabinets, even though they are a bit too high for Missus to reach, but we'll either repaint the butt-ugly green doors to say, white, or, we'll change the doors totally. The doors work fine, it's just that they are butt-ugly.
We'll extend the table-top. I may fill in the space for the fridge and put the fridge somewhere else. That'll give extra table-top space — very limited now — and one more bottom cabinet.
We'll either replace the table-top tiles or wrap the table-top (much cheaper).
We'll move the sink to a better spot. Don't ask me why, but I like my sink to face the window (which overlooks a wall). As a bonus, this will give us more usable bottom cabinets (due to the layout). However, piping may be a problem.
We'll keep the position of the stove, but we may change both the stove and hob — in the future, perhaps. The current stove and hob work fine, but they look very old-fashioned. :lol:
We'll redo all the bottom cabinets and add shelves and drawers to them. The current bottom cabinets are almost unusable, so there is a lack of storage space in the kitchen.
There is a total of seven powerpoints in three locations. We'll probably remove two of them (near the new sink) and add three more (at the extended table-top).
We'll put the kitchen light switch next to the main doorway and make it a 2-way switch. As it is now, we have to walk to the other end of the kitchen to switch on the light. Brilliant design, right?
On the other end of the kitchen, leading to the service balcony, I'm thinking of shifting the light switch nearer to the entrance and putting the service balcony light switch there as well. Now, we need to walk midway into the service balcony before we can turn on the light. (Notice a theme?)
Finally, we'll redo the doors. Both are sliding doors. For the living room doorway, I hope to have a better looking and more compact sliding door. It has to be a top-roller also. I'm thinking of fitting the door into the wall, but that's going to really cost. For the service balcony doorway, the door just have the match the main door design.
We want to do a lot, but we only have a budget of $5k. :lol:
A busy last week of the year
A non-work week should be very idle, but somehow it isn't!
| 24/12 | Can't remember :-P |
| 25/12 | Visit a friend (to get reno ideas :-D) Window shopping at Jurong Point; bumped into ex-colleague |
| 26/12 | House cleaning Troubleshoot Dad's PC (no issue) |
| 27/12 | Spent 3 hours queuing to renew passport Window shopping at Great World City Final troubleshooting Dad's PC (no issue) Visit my brother (to get reno ideas) |
| 28/12 | 56 km trip just to collect passport Visit Chengtai Nursery (plant nursery, not baby nursery) Window shopping at Bukit Panjang Plaza |
29/12 | Routine prenatal checkup Carry the fish tank out of the flat for disposal; it weighs a ton! |
| 30/12 | Reposition fish and shoe cabinets 4 hours shopping for sofa and tv console! |
| 31/12 | Put car stuff into fish cabinet Final sofa shopping |
No time to root my phone! :lol:
Happy Chinese New Christmas?
It is pretty jarring to hear Chinese New Year tunes on Christmas day itself. It is usual practice to wait till one festival is over before preparing for the next, but some shops jump the gun.
Even before 2012 is here, many shops are already playing CNY tunes and selling CNY goods.
The cost of lighting
A 10W light uses 7.2 kWh per month if it is turned on 24/7. At 26.98 cents/kWh, it works out to be $1.943.
While we usually don't turn on the lights 24/7, this is equivalent to four 10W lights 6 hours daily — which is typical usage.
Of all electrical appliances, lighting consumes the least electricity; there is almost no need to worry about it.
Rosti, or something like it
Every time I go to Marche, I couldn't resist ordering rosti. Anyway, it is one of the few dishes I can have there. :-)
It looks simple to prepare, so finally, I decided to give it a try. As usual, I watched how-to videos on YouTube. :lol:
There are several ways to do it, but someone claimed that this is the true Swiss way:
- Wash the potatoes and boil them in salted water for 10-15 mins
- Peel off the skin
- Leave them in the fridge overnight
- Grate them
- Pan fry using butter
- Turn it over and repeat
- Salt and serve!
It's simple, but I still didn't manage to do it properly. :-( First, I wasn't able to fill the butter in the frying pan evenly, so the rosti wasn't fried evenly.
To make matters worse, I wasn't able to turn the rosti over properly! It is supposed to be easy, just put a plate on the rosti and flip the pan. However, my plate was bigger than the pan, so it couldn't fit in. It didn't occur to me to use another plate. :-P
(My pan has a diameter of 26cm, I think the plate is 28cm.)
Note: if the above photo looks different, it is because it was taken with my phone camera; my camera was being repaired.
It's not yours if it's not in your hands
News: The Silver Rush at MF Global
Investors are furious that they can't get back the gold and silver they stashed with the failed brokerage.
It's one thing for $1.2 billion to vanish into thin air through a series of complex trades, the well-publicized phenomenon at bankrupt MF Global. It's something else for a bar of silver stashed in a vault to instantly shrink in size by more than 25%.
That, in essence, is what's happening to investors whose bars of silver and gold were held through accounts with MF Global.
The trustee overseeing the liquidation of the failed brokerage has proposed dumping all remaining customer assets — gold, silver, cash, options, futures and commodities — into a single pool that would pay customers only 72% of the value of their holdings. In other words, while traders already may have paid the full price for delivery of specific bars of gold or silver.and hold "warehouse receipts" to prove it.they'll have to forfeit 28% of the value.
That has investors fuming. "Warehouse receipts, like gold bars, are our property, 100%," contends John Roe, a partner in BTR Trading, a Chicago futures-trading firm. He personally lost several hundred thousand dollars in investments via MF Global; his clients lost even more. "We are a unique class, and instead, the trustee is doing a radical redistribution of property," he says.
Roe and others point out that, unlike other MF Global customers, who held paper assets, those with warehouse receipts have claims on assets that still exist and can be readily identified.
The tussle has been obscured by former CEO Jon Corzine's appearances on Capitol Hill. But it's a burning issue for the Commodity Customer Coalition, a group that says it represents some 8,000 investors.many of them hedge funds.with exposure to MF Global. "I've issued a declaration of war," says James Koutoulas, lead attorney for the group, and CEO of Typhon Capital Management.
At stake is an unspecified, but apparently large, volume of gold and silver bars slated for delivery to traders through accounts at MF Global, which filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31. Adding insult to the injury: Of the 28% haircut, attorney and liquidation trustee James Giddens has frozen all asset classes, meaning that traders have sat helplessly as silver prices have dropped 31% since late August, and gold has fallen 16%. To boot, the traders are still being assessed fees for storage of the commodities.
Other kinds of problems are also surfacing. Investor Gerald Celente says he was hit with a big margin call when the gold contracts in his MF Global account were transferred to another brokerage. "I refused to put up more money," he explains, "so they closed out a number of my open positions at the current market price." The trustee, Giddens, couldn't be reached for comment for this story.
A substantial portion of MF Global's commodity clients cleared their transactions through the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Comex, owned by CME Group (ticker: CME). The question now looming over CME's stock is whether the company will be liable for customer losses. CME, which also owns the Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Board Options Exchange, runs markets for futures contracts and options on futures, interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and actual commodities.
CME's stock, which had been as high as $327 over the past year, has slid to a recent $242 as a result of low trading volumes and uncertainty about the MF Global scandal.
The Customer Coalition may eventually press its case with the exchange operator. "If it turns out the only way we get customer money back is [to] go after the CME, then we'll go after the CME," says Koutoulas.
Trader John Cassimatis of Philadelphia, who was a large client of MF Global, is furious at CME, now that his contracts for silver bars are stuck under the control of the trustee. "Ultimately," he says, "they have failed to be the backstop, anywhere, anytime."
IT'S STILL UNCLEAR WHETHER CME will put its commodity-futures customers first — or its shareholders. The company has set aside a $550 million reserve for MF Global customers, and it has cash balances of more than $1.1 billion that it could tap, if needed. But CME Group's chief operating officer, Bryan Durkin, said last week that CME wouldn't guarantee the funds that remain missing from customer accounts at MF Global after they are reimbursed by the bankruptcy trustee. Such a move would be "unwise" and the CME has a "fiduciary responsibility" to its shareholders, Reuters quoted him as saying.
In congressional testimony last week, CME Executive Chairman Terrence Duffy pinned the blame squarely on MF Global, asserting that Corzine knew that untouchable, segregated customer funds had been used as collateral for loans. Corzine later denied Duffy's charge.
At a minimum, it all makes for an intriguing, although risky, play on CME stock.
ISI Group analyst Brian Bedell points out that the shares are changing hands at just 13 times estimated earnings for next year, a three-year low relative to the price/earnings ratio of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. If the company dodges big payments to MF Global customers, the stock could be as good as gold.
You simply have to hand it to those Americans.
MF Global is not exactly a big firm, but its failure has exposed the rot in the system.
First, it stole customer's funds. Of course, none of the creditors are admitting they got the money, least it is clawed back from them. Then, the exchange — who boasts of its backstop in normal times — refused to backstop.
And now? Even people who simply use MF Global to store their fully-paid-for metals have to share the pain?
Does anyone still have any confidence in the financial system?
I have a very simple explanation why the situation is so messy: it is a struggle between powerful groups. The people who got the money are powerfully enough to prevent the money from being clawed back. The people who lost the money have the power to write new rules. So they simply dictate the rest of them to share the loss.
User or Telco fault?
A Singaporean shared his greivance on Facebook over his $349,243.25 data roaming bill.
He claimed that upon appeal, Singtel would waive $336,658.14, as those were incurred through its Bridge DataRoam partner. But he still needed to pay $12,576.51, as those were incurred through another Telco, and the "normal" data roaming charges apply.
He claimed that his phone kept switching network even though he had manually selected the network.
He brought up his tale to gain sympathy and to force Singtel to waive his entire bill — to manage its public relations.
Based on the evidence, I'm inclined to think it is the user's fault. Other people have also found it suspicious.
For example, he only showed page 1 of the bill. He did not show page 2. If he had, it should show that the $336,658.14 charge is offseted automatically and that he is only liable for the $12,576.51 charge in the first place.
Second, he only switched network thrice, and not frequently as he claimed.
Hence, I'm inclined to think the user forgot to select the network on those occasions, but he is now trying to pass it off as a phone issue.
Just what the user did to incur such hefty charges, you might ask? Good question.
His lightest daily usage was 23.5 MB (S$516.49) and his heaviest 2.68 GB (S$60,362.06). :-O
Obviously he must be streaming video.
But that's not what I really want to bring up.
You'll find that when Singaporeans STOMP something or raise some complaints online, they inevitably only show one side of the picture — the side that favours them. It can be quite obvious they are not showing the whole picture, and when people connect the dots, their whole argument falls apart rather quickly.
And, like citizen, like Government.
The Government does the same thing, but it is better at it. We got to read between the lines. What is not mentioned is the interesting bits.
The so-called annual value
In Singapore, the property tax is based on the Annual Value (AV) of the property. And the AV is "the estimated annual rent of the property if it were to be rented out", to quote IRAS.
For owner-occupied homes, the first S$6k of the AV is free, the next S$59k is 4% and it is 6% after that. Non-owner occupied home is a flat 10%.
According to IRAS, the new range of AV for 5-room flats is $125 to $173 — after a one-time $55 rebate — vs the old $96 to $144.
This means the lowest AV for a 5-room flat is $10,500 (from $8,400), and the most expensive $11,700 (from $9,600). This translates to a monthly rental of $875 to $975.
Find me a place in Singapore where you can rent an entire 5-room flat for that. I believe the actual rental should be $1.8k to $3.5k.
Historical data
| 1990 | 2004 | 2008 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-room | 1,300 | 2,100 | +20% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2-room | 1,900 | 3,300 | +20% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3-room | 2,700 | 4,200 | +25% | Tax +$72 | Tax $0-$36 | Tax $0-$41 |
| 4-room | 3,700 | 5,400 | +18% | Tax +$97 | Tax $60-$120 | Tax $77-$125 |
| 5-room | 5,400 | 6,300 | +20% | Tax +$107 | Tax $96-$144 | Tax $125-$173 |
| Exec | 6,300 | 6,900 | +18% | Tax +$103 | Tax $108-$156 | Tax $137-$185 |
Before 2012, IRAS did not do a consistent before-and-after comparsion. In 2008, they just use percentage; they did not show the old and new AV. In 2010, they just use the increase in tax. Again, they did not show the old and new AV. Did IRAS do this to obscure the increase?
But there is hope yet. For 2012, they show the tax range! From there, we can calculate the AV. I was surprised at the transparency. :lol:
End-of-year task list
Three things I have been putting off:
- Cleaning the fish tank
- Coming up with the renovation list, call up more contractors to get more quotations
- Rooting my handphone and upgrading it to Android 2.3
Hopefully I do them before the year is out. :-D
High-tech is dumb
If you think the SMRT breakdown is the event of the year, you have set your stage too low.
On 8 December, Iran displayed video footage of the downed US unmanned drone aircraft. US said it crashed and was assembled back, but Iran said it was brought down "electronically".
Nobody believed Iran had the technology to do it, until they outlined how they did it, then suddenly it was a possibility.
First, Iran jammed the communications between the drone and the US operators. This caused the drone to kick into autopilot mode. In this mode, it is supposed to fly to its homebase in Afghanistan using GPS. The only problem was that Iran spoofed the GPS, so the drone landed in Iran instead.
This is what an Iranian engineer said:
"The GPS navigation is the weakest point," the Iranian engineer told The Monitor, giving the most detailed description yet published of Iran's "electronic ambush" of the highly classified US drone. "By putting noise [jamming] on the communications, you force the bird into autopilot. This is where the bird loses its brain."
The "spoofing" technique that the Iranians used — which took into account precise landing altitudes, as well as latitudinal and longitudinal data — made the drone "land on its own where we wanted it to, without having to crack the remote-control signals and communications" from the US control center, says the engineer.
Iran's boast aside, nobody believe Iran has the capability to do this, so the jury is still out on how exactly Iran captured the drone.
Personally, I believe Iran found a weakness and exploited it. In security, you are only as strong as your weakest link.
Today, war is all about automated combat vehicles and electronic warfare.
As easy as french fries
How to prepare french fries:
- Cut a potato into fries shape
- Heat up some oil (enough to soak the fries)
- Fry for 3-4 minutes
- Sprinkle salt
Or is it?
That's the way I do it, but my fries were never crispy. So I turned to YouTube. :lol: According to the how-to videos, this is the correct procedure to crispy fries:
- Soak the fries in water for a few minutes to de-starch
- Freeze the fries for two hours
- Fry at low temperature to cook the inside. Stop when bright yellow
- Then fry at higher temperature. Stop when golden brown
There are several variations, but the water, freezing and two-step frying are almost always there.
I seldom prepare fries, though — it uses a lot of oil. And I always reuse the remaining oil for cooking.
A day unlike any other
News: MRT breakdown: Frustrated, confused commuters
Many stranded for hours due to lack of clear directions and alternative transportation
Cellphones became sources of light in a stuck train, a window was broken, and several commuters fainted.
From Raffles Place to Bishan on Thursday, tens of thousands of other commuters had their evening plans in tatters because of the North-South MRT line shutdown. Several were also traumatised after encountering chaotic scenes of fellow commuters pushing and shoving on the shuttle bus bridging services. In the stations, many were frustrated by the lack of signs and directions for alternative transport.
Tourists and older folk who did not speak English were confused and left waiting on platforms until MRT staff were mobilised to explain the situation to them. Announcements had been made only in English.
The ensuing confusion meant many took several hours to get home. Some boarded buses and taxis, while others got on trains that went in other directions so they could find their way out of the gridlocked central areas.
Among them was Ms Catherine Ow, a marketing officer working in the finance industry. She entered Orchard MRT station just as there was an announcement that there would be no train service.
The 34-year-old who lives in Woodlands said the taxi queues were so long she decided to take a bus at about 7.15pm.
'I thought I was so lucky to get into a relatively empty bus, but it started filling to the brim and everyone in the bus was in a foul temper,' she said.
The bus took her to Toa Payoh, but there were no cabs there so she took a public bus to Bishan. Again, she found no cabs there. She took another bus, stopped at Upper Thomson, and then finally got a cab. She eventually got home two hours later at 10.15pm, after three bus rides and a $16 taxi ride.
CITY HALL: Long taxi queues, with some waiting at least an hour for a cab
Ms Chua Shu Wen arrived to a chaotic scene at about 7pm - more than 100 people were swarming around the taxi stand outside Raffles City.
The 23-year-old Yio Chu Kang resident decided to take the Circle Line from Esplanade MRT station, a 10-minute walk away. She spent two hours to get home instead of her usual 45 minutes.
At about 8.15pm, there were still about 50 people in the taxi queue.
Mr Terence Ong, 45, a bank executive, waited almost an hour for a taxi.
'To have a breakdown happen at peak hour is the worst thing that can happen. Who's going to refund my cab fare?' he asked.
NEWTON: Many left stranded as shuttle buses are all full
Mr Loy Kok Nien, 36, was still waiting for a shuttle or public bus at 9pm. He had arrived at Newton MRT station at 6.30pm.
The IT support officer said: 'We were told that there would be bridging services to Bishan, but all of them were full and so infrequent.'
Many others were left seething after both public and shuttle buses arrived at the station full of passengers who had boarded from the Marina and Orchard areas.
At least one MRT staff member was affected by the hordes who kept seeking information, and was overheard telling a commuter gruffly: 'Just tell me where you want to go, and I will tell you whether you can or cannot.'
RAFFLES PLACE: Executives in suits and ties sweating in the heat
Cellphones clasped to their cheeks, executives in tailored shirts were soaked in sweat as they stood around trying in vain to get through to cab companies. Many were unsuccessful.
Ms Paulina Lee, a 42-year-old financial consultant, said: 'I'm tired and hungry and carrying two heavy bags so I just want to get home.'
Several other executives decided to return to their offices to put in some extra hours, or head to the nearby Clarke Quay for a drink to wind down from the stressful evening.
BISHAN: Circle Line area packed with people trying to use alternative routes
Staircases and platforms at the Circle Line segment were jam-packed. Even the staircase to the North-South Line platform was packed to the brim.
Ms Sarah Lee, a 44-year-old HR manager, said: 'Up till now the station staff have still not told us what is happening. I've been walking up and down the station trying to find out what is going on.'
About 500 people trying to get buses were spilling onto the road outside Bishan MRT station. Policemen were deployed to keep order.
One commuter walked all the way to Ang Mo Kio MRT station to catch the train home.
DHOBY GHAUT: Anger and shouting as commuters on buses refuse to make way for others
Tempers frayed when passengers refused to cram into a public bus so more people could get on.
One man shouted at others to squeeze in, and got both angry stares and appreciative waves for his trouble.
In the station, a woman passenger inquiring about alternative transportation, when told she could take the North-East line, exclaimed in relief: 'Thank god!'
It's like the aftermath of a party. :lol:
The MRT health is linked to PAP's fortune — because it is one of the symbols of PAP's "world class" boast.
People were unhappy about housing, but unhappiness over transport was also slowly rising. All along, the unhappiness was about cost and quality. Now, it could be about safety and even competency — despite the high pay.
It's not just about SMRT. SMRT, LTA, PTC (Public Transport Council). They all lead back to PAP.
Not all MSCPs are the same
Not all MSCPs (Multi-Storey Car Parks) are alike. In terms of season parking, there are ones that cost $75/month and ones that cost $90/month. The difference? The first have some token surface lots, so they are cheaper.
That is the official explanation, of course. But they don't tell you why they do it this way. The truth is, HDB makes the season parking cheaper because such a MSCP was constructed over a surface carpark, whose season parking costs only $65/month.
Then, there are narrow and wide MSCPs. In a wide MSCPs, the lanes are two cars' width, so one car can easily go pass a temporarily parked car. A narrow MSCP allows only one car to drive though its lanes.
It can be quite difficult to park in a narrow MSCP. But that's not my main beef with MSCP.
My main beef is that HDB gives preference to season parking in the lower levels. Visitors have to park at the higher levels.
That is exactly backwards.
Visitors and short-term parking should be at the lower levels. Season parking should be at the higher levels.
In my MSCP, level 1A and 1B are 99.9% full 24/7. I doubt the cars are moved at all during weekdays. Level 2A and 2B are 99.9% full after 7 pm. I'm sure this is similar at other MSCPs.
I will introduce a new pink parking lot: valid for season parking holders only from 8 pm to 8 am, including Sundays and public holidays. This is the opposite of the existing 7-7 rule that give precedence to season parking holders.
Not a good week for SMRT
News: North-South MRT Line breakdown affects thousands
A second MRT disruption in two days — this time along the North-South Line, affecting thousands of evening peak-hour commuters.
Train services along both directions of the North-South Line were affected from Marina Bay to Braddell stations on Thursday evening.
"Train services between Braddell and Marina Bay MRT stations are disrupted," said a SMRT statement. "Passengers should take alternative modes of transport or the bus bridging service available between Bishan and Marina Bay MRT stations."
Emergency services were spotted outside MRT stations, and peak-hour traffic on the roads was also affected.
Traffic congestion was reported on Orchard Road between Dhoby Ghaut and City Hall MRT stations, as many who were out of the stations opted for taxis.
Services on southbound trains resumed at around 9pm.
An SMRT statement says north-bound train services between Marina Bay and Bishan stations will be closed and will not be up for the rest of the night.
However, north-bound services from Ang Mo Kio to Jurong East stations, as well as all south-bound train services are still running. The East-West and Circle Line train services are continuing as normal.
SMRT says a dedicated one-way bus bridging service will run from Bishan to Ang Mo Kio stations. Circle Line passengers alighting at Bishan and travelling north towards Woodlands are advised to take this bus bridging service or other modes of transport.
A two-way bus bridging service is available between Marina Bay and Ang Mo Kio stations. Commuters are advised to take alternative modes of transport even though bus bridging services are provided.
An SMRT spokesperson told Channel NewsAsia that the breakdown was due to a "power rail problem".
According to an SMRT statement, preliminary investigation shows that around 40 metres of the power rail has been damaged between City Hall and Dhoby Ghaut stations.
"SMRT staff are now on site attending to the fault. We will work round the clock to repair the damage and hope to get the north-bound train service for this stretch up by tomorrow morning," says SMRT.
Passengers affected by the breakdown described scenes of confusion, as they tried to make sense of the situation. Some even used a fire extinguisher to break the windows of a train stuck underground due to lack of ventilation.
Channel NewsAsia viewer Nizam Rahim sent in a picture of his wife walking on the track in the tunnel at the Dhoby Gaut station.
One commuter, Adam, said he and hundreds of passengers were stuck on the train travelling from Somerset to Orchard. He said the electricity appeared to have been cut off, as the train was in total darkness. Neither did the air-conditioner seem to be working.
Adam said: "We have been stranded there for one hour, and it is very hot and stuffy. The train doors are all closed. The light also suddenly (switched off), so it's total darkness. The train doors (are) also not open, and it is terrible.
"A lot of people angry, banging on the windows to break the windows, I don't know whether (the windows) can (be) broken or not, so that the air can come in. It's very stuffy, it's like a sauna."
Adam later told Channel NewsAsia that the train appeared to have been towed to Orchard MRT station. Someone in one of the carriages then forced the train doors open, freeing the trapped passengers.
Another commuter, who wanted to be known as Mr Tan, spoke to Channel NewsAsia from Raffles Place MRT station.
He said he was on his way to work, and heard several announcements asking passengers to avoid the North-South Line and to take the East-West Line instead.
Mr Tan said: "A lot of us....all have problems. There are so many people coming downstairs and people telling them the train is not moving anymore. I think the crowd is getting very big.
"The only thing I know is that I'm late for work, so I have to take an alternative route. So I quickly ran upstairs to get a taxi, hopefully, I can get a taxi. I'm still trying to get a taxi, actually."
Another spoke to Channel NewsAsia from Toa Payoh station and said there were long queues of people. They seemed to be requesting refunds, he said.
On Wednesday, the Circle Line was down. A radio DJ announced it over the air before the official announcement. SMRT wasn't happy and issued a stern public statement.
On Thursday, the north-bound North-South Line was disrupted. Some trains lost power totally. Passengers were stuck inside without any ventilation. Later, they had to walk through the tunnel to evacuate.
To make things worse, SMRT sent out this message to their cabs: "Income opportunity. Dear partners, there is a breakdown in our MRT train services from Bishan MRT to Marina Bay MRT stretch of stations."
Needless to say, this just infuriated the public.
This morning, part of the North-South Line was down again.
It's not a good week for SMRT.
My thoughts
I believe the increased train services and the reduced maintenance has stressed the system, hence a breakdown is inevitable. (Hindsight is 20-20.)
It looks like there is no contingency plan for such a "worst-case" scenario, hence the delay in action.
And it looks like, in general, SMRT is not very prompt in informing the public about the breakdown and its full impact.
The public is already unhappy. This breakdown just adds to the fire:
- Packed trains
- An unrepentant highly paid CEO who has made several "so be it" remarks. Personally, I think she's just irritated by the unappreciative public
- A highly paid transport minister who only knows how to fine
- A recent cab fare raise
It is now obvious why even though the Cat A COE is $50+k ($13.70/day), people will still want to own a car. (But they are misguided. The roads are jammed packed too.)
My take on Transformers
To me, Transformers is the so-called Generation 1 transformers, those that appear in the initial 98-episode TV cartoons from 1984 to 1987. The first two seasons (65 episodes) are generally watchable, but I'll say only one third of the episodes in the third season are okay. By okay, I mean the plot and the animation.
Even then, the cartoons are meant for children, so there isn't much depth to the stories. Anime, it is not.
I don't like most of the follow-on series, especially the real-life movies. There is only one Transformers movie from 1986. It has a decent plot, is very well animated and still stands up to today's CG cartoons.
After the cartoon ended, G1 lives on in the US comics until 1991. However, I stopped reading way before that, because I didn't really like the art and the story. They also tend to use characters I didn't care about.
(Note that we must view the original cartoons and comics with the correct mindset. They are advertisements for the toyline. The stories suffer as a result.)
The next time the G1 returned to the comics, it was from Dreamwave in 2002. The art was pretty good, but the stories tend to be too grandiose. The company folded in 2005, and some of the stories were left hanging.
IDW picked up the comic franchise in 2006 and has been doing a decent job since. One thing I like about IDW is that they threw away the Matrix and Unicorn. The stories are always related to these two things for almost two decades. I'm sick of them.
The confusing Transformers comic timeline
I'm not talking about the Transformers in-universe timeline. That is confusing. I'm merely talking about the sequence of the comics and how they relate to one another.
It is pretty confusing to me as a casual collector because there is no overall numbering. Each series has its own name and runs for 4-6 TPB volumes (TPB = trade paperback; a collection of single issues).
If I'm not wrong, the sequence is like this:
- Infiltration (6 issues, Sep 2006)
- Stormbringer (4 issues, Feb 2007)
- Escalation (6 issues, May 2007)
- Devastation (6 issues, May 2008)
- Revelation (4 issues, Feb 2009)
- Maximum Dinobots (5 issues, Jul 2009)
There is also the concurrent Spotlight series:
- Vol 1: Shockwave, Nightbeat, Hot Rod, Sixshot, Ultra Magnus (May 2007)
- Vol 2: Soundwave, Kup, Galvatron, Optimus Prime, Ramjet (Feb 2008)
- Vol 3: Blaster, Arcee, Mirage, Grimlock, Wheelie (Sep 2008)
Then, having written themselves into a corner, IDW attempted to reboot the series:
- All Hail Megatron #1 (7 issues, Feb 2009)
- All Hail Megatron #2 (6 issues, Sep 2009)
- All Hail Megatron #3 (5 issues, Oct 2009)
- All Hail Megatron #4 (4 issues, Jan 2010)
And then they rebooted it again. The current continuity:
- For All Mankind (6 issues, Jun 2010)
- International Incident (6 issues, Dec 2010)
- Revenge of the Decepticons (6 issues, Jul 2011)
- Heart of Darkness (4 issues, Sep 2011)
- Chaos Theory (5 issues, Nov 2011)
Some other series:
- Megatron Origin (4 issues, Dec 2007)
- Last Stand of the Wreckers (7 issues, Sep 2010)
- Ironhide (4 issues, Dec 2010)
- Drift (4 issues, Jan 2011)
I stopped following in Feb 2009. I found it hard to get back because I have no idea where to resume.
Buying some wrong books didn't help. I bought Best of Megatron and Best of Starscream thinking they would be like the Spotlight issues. No, they are not! They are just a compilation of stories from previous issues! I don't want that.
Looking at my current options, I have bought The Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume Four, which gives me Revelation (already have), Maximum Dinobots, Drift and AHM #3.
Most likely I'll buy The Transformers: The IDW Collection Volume Five when it comes out. It contains AHM #1, #2 and #4.
After that, I'm not going to buy anymore Transformers comics for a long long time. :-D
Utilities usage
The national average household utilities usage from Apr to Nov 2011, from SP Power's website:
| Type | Elect (kWh) | Gas (kWh) | Water (m^3) | Amt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HDB 1rm | 126 | 50 | 9.3 | $67.89 |
| HDB 3rm | 295 | 72 | 15.1 | $136.20 |
| HDB 5rm | 470 | 86 | 19.6 | $198.89 |
These values seem very high. My average monthly usage in a 3-room flat after 5+ years:
- Electricity: 117.19 kWh
- Gas: 4.94 kWh
- Water: 3.41 m^3
Yes, it is even lower than a 1-room flat.
I wonder how people use so much electricity, gas and water?
The meaning of "revise"
According to a dictionary, to "revise" is to amend or alter.
In Singapore, it has an additional meaning. It means to amend or alter upwards. To revise a fare is as good as saying to raise it.
Another word with a similar usage is "adjust". Fares have always been adjusted upwards, never downwards.
ComfortDelgro just announced it will adjust its fares starting from 12 December.
You can expect to pay $3.20 for the first km in a Sonata, instead of $3 currently. Then, it'll be $0.22/400m instead of $0.20/385m. (A 5.88% increase if you work the math.)
The biggest change is the peak hour surcharge. It is reduced from 35% to 25% of the metered charge, but now lasts 9.5 hours instead of 5.5 hours per day.
All in all, it's effectively a 7.35% increase.
Careless at home!
Missus has been very careless lately.
She broke a new glass cup even before it was unwrapped.
Then she scratched the fridge door when she tried to remove a fridge magnet.
Then she hit a porcelain spoon when retrieving a bowl and it fell onto the floor, shattering into two.
I'm not counting. No, I'm not. :lol:
Well, it takes a while to get used to a new place. Some damage is inevitable.
How not to prepare soya milk
Missus claimed she knew how to prepare soya milk. "It's very easy. I've done it before", she said. Plus, she wanted to test drive her long unused blender and shiny new pot.
So, she put the soya beans (and some water) into the blender and hit the start button. To say it didn't sound right was an understatement. I thought something exploded. Missus said it was loud too. "Okay, she has done this before...", I thought.
After blending, she poured the mixture into a pot and boil it. And then she went to do her own stuff.
A few minutes later, I heard a sizzling sound from the kitchen. That definitely didn't sound right. I went in and saw the mixture had overflowed the pot.
By this time, Missus had come into the kitchen. She was bewildered too. "It didn't happen before." She guessed that the glass lid did not allow the gas to escape. So, she tilted the glass lid a little to let the gas vent and restarted the fire. And she went off again.
By this time, I was not 100% sure it would go smoothly. After a few minutes, I decided to observe the pot. And it happened right under my eyes. The mixture boiled and overflowed the pot faster than I could react.
I had some tough questions for Missus. "Are you sure you did it before?", I asked. "Using the same procedure?"
Missus confessed that she just threw the soya beans into the pot to boil last time. And it worked, she said.
Not knowing what went wrong, Missus asked me to call my mother to find out. Unlike Missus, my mother has prepared soya milk correctly before. I was quite reluctant, but I still did it.
"Hi, Mom. Um, how do you prepare soya milk?", I asked. And I promptly got a scolding. :lol:
Why not to prepare soya milk, according to my mother:
- It is far easier to buy prepared soya milk
- It takes a lot of effort
- We don't have the proper equipment
"Yes, I understand. But can you tell me how to prepare it?", I persisted.
And it wasn't as easy as throwing the soya beans into a pot and boiling them. I knew Missus had missed a few steps.
- First, we got to soak the soya beans for 24 hours to make them soft. That accounts for the noise when blending
- After blending, we got to sieve the mixture
- We have to reblend the insoluble material to further extract the juice. We got to do this 2-3 more times :-O
- We then boil the soya milk, stirring it periodically to prevent it from overheating and overflowing the pot *ahem*
- Add sugar
- And we are done!
"Thanks, Mom. Erm, I got to go now. Bye!"
Well, at least the soya milk was still drinkable. But the pot seemed to be permanently stained, though. And it was brand new too.
Btw, Missus wants me to mention that her second attempt was largely successful, after following a simplified version of the steps. This time, the pot only overflowed once. :-D
A life-changing exam
News: Top PSLE pupil from Rulang Primary; 97.4% passes
Some 97 per cent of students who sat for their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) this year have done well to move on to secondary schools.
Topping the cohort is Yasmin Ziqin Mohamed Yousoof from Rulang Primary School, with a score of 283.
She is also the top Indian pupil.
The top Chinese student is Hannah Tan Jia Hwee from Raffles Girls' Primary School.
The top Malay pupil is Natalia Nadila Muhamad from St Hilda's Primary School.
And, the top Eurasian pupil is Bjorn Kaijun Betzler from Anglo-Chinese School.
A total of 45,261 Primary 6 pupils sat for the PSLE this year. Among these pupils, 44,106 pupils (or 97.4%) are assessed as suitable to proceed to secondary school, said the Ministry of Education (MOE).
In terms of course eligibility, 62.9 per cent have made it to the Express course, 23.1 per cent will head for the Normal (Academic) stream while 11.4 per cent are moving on to the Normal (Technical) course.
The MOE said 1,155 pupils did not pass the PSLE and will go for vocational training.
Yasmin is the first top PSLE student Rulang Primary in Jurong has produced since it was founded 81 years ago as Joo Long Public School.
Yasmin, born to a Chinese mother and Indian-Muslim father, attributed her performance to her peers, parents and teachers.
She said: "My peers, they were the ones who made me laugh every time at school, so that was the thing that made me look forward to going to school. And, my parents, they were very supportive, they told me that it's 'ok' whatever results I get as long as I have tried my best.... And my teachers, they really drilled me. For example, my maths improved tremendously and greatly because of my form teacher's effort."
For Natalia Nadila, the top Malay student, her inspiration is her sister, Natasha Nabila who obtained 294 points four years ago, the best PSLE score in 17 years.
Natalia Nadila, who scored 280 points, said: "As for my secret for success, I don't really have one. But, like my sister, I enjoy reading and I think that has helped a lot, and the people around me who have been encouraging me, they have also helped."
Other top pupils among the cohort include Leia Teo from Kong Hwa School who obtained an aggregate score of 278.
She has more than 50 assessment books and spent most of her after-school hours revising her work.
She said: "I'm very grateful to my mother who has resigned from her job for my Primary 6 PSLE. Every day, she'll sit next to me and teach me how to answer difficult questions and how to tackle them. She also gives me advice on how to relax and not be so tensed."
For Mohamad Azali Mohamad Jamil from Fuhua Primary, his PSLE results were sweet victory.
He had played truant for nearly six months when he was in Primary Five and even thought of dropping out of school.
But his teachers persuaded him to continue, even putting the avid football lover into the school team to give him something to look forward to.
Now, Azali has done well enough to qualify for the Normal (Technical) stream.
Students have until 30 November to submit their choices of secondary schools.
The Secondary One posting results will be released on 21 December.
The PSLE is the first exam that can determine the course of your life. It is also an equalizer. Regardless of what happened in the six years of primary education, you can get into a good secondary school based solely on your PSLE score. The next four years, 13-16, is the formative years.
Although PSLE is still scored against 300 points, same as 25 years ago, there has been some grade inflation. In 1988, 252 could get you into TCHS (The Chinese High School). Today, you need 257 to do so.
But don't despair if you do poorly in PSLE. There is another equalizer exam: the GCE 'A' level. You just need to do well enough to get into university. And it is easier than you think, especially after the entry requirements were (drastically?) lowered in the 90s. For some faculties, even a CCC can get you in.
Then, it is up to you. In the end, it is the degree that counts. No one will look at PSLE or GCE 'A' level results.
A lifelong mortgage
After affording the inital downpayment, it is time to service the mortgage.
Let's assume a loan of $300,000 at 2% interest rate.
| Years | Installment | Total interest |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | $1,931 | $47,481 |
| 20 | $1,518 | $64,217 |
| 30 | $1,109 | $99,171 |
A $300,000 30-year loan is pretty affordable at 2% interest rate. The problems?
- You can't buy much of a flat with it
- It may not be at 2% forever
- You pay a lot of interest, almost an $100,000 extra
- And at the end of 30 years — near your retirement age — your CPF a/c is empty
However, it isn't advisable to immediately opt for a 15-year loan tenture. The reason is that banks do not allow you to increase the loan duration, although they will allow you to shorten it.
The solution is to opt for a longer loan tenture, but make principal repayment from time to time.
For example, if we opt for a 30-year tenture, but make a principal repayment of $36,000 in the 4th year, then $12,000 each on the 5th and 6th year, then the loan tenture is reduced to less than 23 years and the total interest is $62,842.
It is a more flexible arrangement, especially in uncertain times.
Buy vs rent
If we look solely at the installment, we can quickly see why most people consider it more worth it to buy rather than to rent. You pay around the same, but the flat is yours at the end of the day.
This was especially true a few years ago, when you could get a decent 4-room HDB flat for ~$250,000. Your monthly installment works out to be around $800 only. Much cheaper than any rental units you can get.
How long to a home?
First, we try to determine how much we can save.
| Pay | CPF OA | Take-home | Saving % | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000 | $460 | $1,600 | 25% | $500 |
| $2,500 | $575 | $2,000 | 24% | $600 |
| $3,000 | $690 | $2,400 | 26.6% | $800 |
| $3,500 | $805 | $2,800 | 28.5% | $1,000 |
| $4,000 | $920 | $3,200 | 30% | $1,200 |
With this table, we can quickly see how much we can save up in 3 years. 3 years is a good time frame; not that short, but not too long either.
If both husband and wife earns $2,000 each (39.4th percentile in 2010), they will have $36,000 in cash and $33,120 in CPF. They can afford a flat at $305,600 (including $10,000 COV). That is doable for a 3-room flat, but not a 4-room flat.
Their best choice is to get a new flat. $300,000 can get a 4-room flat. No COV some more.
If both partners earn $3,000 each (58.6th percentile), they will have $57,600 in cash and $49,680 in CPF after 3 years. They can afford a $456,400 flat (including $20,000 COV). That'll give a reasonable 4-room flat in many places, and even a 5-room flat in really outskirt places.
If both partners earn $4,000 each (71.5th percentile), they will have $86,400 in cash and $66,240 in CPF. They can afford a $563,200 flat (including $40,000 COV). That covers most 4-room and 5-room flats, as long as they are not too picky.
From this little exercise, we can see that the household income needs to be $4,000/month before it is feasible to buy a 3-room flat. And there is little problem at $8,000/month.
(Caveat: for the initial affordability only. It still takes 20-30 years to service the mortgage.)
What does this translate to? The bottom 39th percentile or so will find it difficult to buy a (resale) flat. The middle 32th percentile will have to find their own sweet spot. The top 28.5th percentile will have no problem at all, but most of them won't opt for HDB flats.
Cost of a home
In Singapore, HDB flats have an offical valuation. In other words, HDB tells you what a flat is worth based on its location, age, nearby amenities, interior deco, recent transactions and so on.
The valuation is very important because you can only loan up to 80% of it. You have to pay the remaining 20% with cash or CPF (at the point the property is transferred to your name).
If a flat is valued at $375,000, you have to pony up $75,000 upfront. The good news is, you only need to pay 5% in cash ($18,750) if you got the rest in your CPF.
And $375,000 just gives you an average-and-below 4-room flat in non-desirable estates.
Just when you think $75,000 is a lot of money to come up with, there's more: the COV (Cash-Over-Valuation).
What is COV? Basically, HDB allows you to sell your flat independent of the official valuation. Except in long recessions, HDB flats have always sold above valuation. In other words, it is almost always a sellers' market.
Today, you can expect to pay an extra $20,000 for COV at the least. In non-PR ratio filled flats, COVs go up to $50,000 and beyond. Yes, PRs are willing to pay more for a flat and they can afford it. (Note: Malaysian SPRs are not counted as non-PRs by HDB.)
Well, COV is something you got to pay in cash, since it is above the 80% valuation.
So, potentially, you need to pay $38,750 in cash and $56,250 in CPF upfront. That's a huge sum of money to save up, especially if you are the spendthrift type.
Rubbing salt into wound
Don't close your wallet yet. We are not done. :-D
You got to pay stamp duty. It's 1% for the first $180,000, which works out to be $1,800. That's not too bad. The next $180,000 is 2%, which is $3,600. That means, for a flat worth $360,000 (including COV), you got to pay $5,400.
For our flat above, we need to pay $1,800 + $3,600 + $1,050 = $6,450.
The next fee is the lawyer's fee. It is around $1,300, even after subsidy.
Now, the Singapore Government's solution to high stamp duty and lawyer fee is: you can use your CPF to pay for them! So typical. Well, CPF is still your money. Just because you can't touch it doesn't mean you should waste it on unnecessary fees. But Singaporeans are easily fooled. Out of sight, out of mind.
The last fee is your agent's commission — cash only. At 1%, it works out to be $3,950. It is possible to do away with this fee if you do all the legwork yourself.
The total sum
All-in-all, you need to pay a total of $106,700 — $42,700 in cash and $64,000 from CPF.
Surprisingly, it does not take very long to save this amount. For two people earning $3,000 each per month, if they save $700 per month — doable with little sacrifice — they will have $50,400 in 3 years. And their CPF will have $49,680 (OA $690/month). Almost there.
So, it takes 3-4 years to save up.
And you wonder why Singaporeans date so long and marry so late? They are saving for their flat. :lol:
Obstacles to a home
You quickly learn a few things about buying a HDB flat:
- They are much cheaper than a private property
- They have a lease of 99 years
- Each block of flat has a racial and PR ratio quota
- You need to ballot for a new one; completion time is 3+ years
- There are many conditions to meet to buy one
- There are strings attached after you buy one
- There is an official valuation
- You have to pay 20% upfront (only 5% in cash, though)
- There is a Cash-Over-Valuation (COV)
And some costs you may not expect:
- Buyer pays 1% agent commission (typical for HDB flat)
- There is a stamp duty
- There is a lawyer's fee
- Valuation and application fee
When SERS goes wrong
News: Southern phase of North-South Expressway affects Rochor Centre, SJI, Novena Ville
It's a one-way ticket from Rochor to Kallang
The southern phase of the planned North-South Expressway (NSE) will involve the relocation of the largest ever number of Housing & Development Board flats for an infrastructure project, the Land Transport Authority revealed yesterday.
Some 567 flats in the four-block Rochor Centre will be demolished to make way for a 5.6-kilometre stretch of tunnel that will complete the 21.5-km NSE. The tunnel will run from Toa Payoh Rise to East Coast Parkway.
The total cost of the NSE might be higher than the estimated $7-8 billion which was announced earlier this year, the LTA also said yesterday. The final figure will depend on the outcome of engineering studies and various site conditions.
At Rochor Centre, 389 - or about 69 per cent - of the units are 3-room flats, with an area of 67 square metres each. There are 82 more 3-room flats but they are larger, at 82 sq m. And 91 - or about 16 per cent of the units - are 4-room flats, with an area of 92 sq m each.
An 810-unit HDB development will be built next to Kallang River by mid-2016 for the Rochor Centre residents. They will not have to vacate their old flats before construction of the new ones is complete. Residents will ballot for the unit of their choice and will be offered relocation benefits that are similar to that of the Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme's (SERS).
As in SERS, residents will be compensated for their old flats based on the prevailing market value, taken as at yesterday. The price of their new flats will be the subsidised rate, also taken as at yesterday and comes with an additional discount of up to $15,000 for singles and $30,000 for joint singles and families for eligible purchasers of the new flats.
Also, compensation for 'reasonable expenses' will be made. While the compensation monies offered will not be in cash but used to offset the cost of the new home, anything left over will be returned in cash. The same benefits will be given to residents applying for a flat elsewhere.
The new development at Kallang is expected to have a mix of studio apartments, and 3-to-5-room flats. Owners of an existing 82 sq m 3-room flat, however, will have to opt for an 85 sq m 4-room flat at Kallang if they do not want to see a shrinkage in living space. This is because the largest three-room flat available at Kallang is 67 sq m.
Even then, estimated figures in a leaflet that residents were given yesterday showed that 'upgrading' to a 4-room flat with an extra three sq m of space might actually leave the average household in the black. (see table)
The final mix of flat sizes and types is 'subject to review', as it might change, depending on 'feedback from Rochor residents', HDB said yesterday.
Nanyang Pho Leng Building's lot will also be fully acquired, while the lease on Lee Ah Mooi Nursing Home will not be renewed when it expires in 2013.
Twenty-one private properties will be partially affected, such as Novena Ville and 368 Thomson. They correspond to a lot number from which 29.9 sq m and 239.1 sq m of land have been listed as gazetted for acquisition, respectively. BT understands that the land involved will be grass verges or driveways and the buildings themselves will not be affected.
'For Novena Ville, (this might) bring the road nearer to the shopfront. It might create even better exposure to the shopfront, but for al fresco food and beverage outlets, there might be more noise implications,' said Donald Han, managing director at Cushman & Wakefield.
St Joseph's Institution International will see 4,654.3 sq m of its land gazetted for the NSE, one of the largest parcels of partially affected land listed.
The total amount of land acquired for the NSE's southern phase stands at 24,700 sq m. The northern phase, announced in January, involved acquiring 55,800 sq m of land.
The NSE, expected to open by 2020, will connect north-south towns such as Woodlands, Sembawang and Yishun with the city centre. There will be 16 in-ramps and 17 out-ramps in total.
'The immediate impact (on property prices) is probably minimal for the time being. Nearer to completion, there could be a 5-10 per cent increase in values. It will not be as distinct as the kind of pricing for the opening of the North East MRT line or the Circle Line. because MRT stations tend to be a bit more specific when providing access and convenience to residents,' said Mr Han.
Advance works on the NSE will start from 2013 and major construction works will start in 2015.
Today, Woodlands, Sembawang and Yishun are the three cheapest towns in Singapore. With the NSE, they may not be. After all, they are the intended recipients. AMK and Marymount residents suffer the most and gain only a little.
The central and northern phase were unveiled in January, but the southern phase was only just revealed. Tough luck to the 10 new Rochor Centre HDB flat owners since Feburary. They paid $419k (Feb) to $455k (Aug) for their 3-room units, and now they have to move to Kallang!
SERS does not guarantee that the replacement flat is within the vicinity of the existing one — usually yes, but sometimes not. And this is one of sometimes-not.
This is really a good excuse to acquire the prime land that is Rochor Centre, if you ask me. When the dust settles, I'm sure Rochor Centre will be a high-end condo or a shiny mega-mall.
Well, this is just Singapore's urban renewal in progress. No wonder people don't feel connected — their memories no longer exist.
For me, I remember Rochor Centre for two reasons: it is the place I transferred my CB400F bike and that its carpark is just outside the CBD ERP zone — and within walking distance to SLS and Bugis Junction!
Bondzilla appears, finally!
In the economic crisis since 2007, people thought Bondzilla will show up. It didn't. That's because the US poured in so much money "to rescue" the economy.
It has appeared today. The Greece 10Y Government bond yield is 28.48% now. Its 1Y bond yield is even more crazy, at 249.20%. As a rule-of-thumb, anything above 15-20% is an implied default rate. (In a default, you get a haircut, so 250% could just be 25%.)
The next target is Italy. (Why was Spain skipped, I have no idea.) Its 1Y bond yield is 6.087%. That's near event horizon.
The ECB (Europe Central Bank) claims it has infinite money, i.e. it can print money, just like US does with its QE. But is it true? Unlike last time, I'm sure this time there are speculators who are willing to test the water.
Interesting times ahead.
What's with Bedok Reservoir?
Since June this year, there has been five suicide cases (six bodies) in Bedok Reservoir.
Why this reservoir? Why not others? Are the people living in the east more stressed?
There has also been a few HDB jumpers and one case of charcoal-burnining suicide.
This was unheard of even two years ago. But maybe it's because the cases are more high-profile. There were 364 suicide cases in 2008, 401 in 2009 and 353 in 2010, so it's not like there has been a drastic increase.
Suicide is an easy way out.. for the deceased. It is painful for his or her loved ones who are left behind.
Why do people kill themselves? Same old reasons: love, depression and debt. Debt is the least worth it of all, but sometimes you borrow until you can't pay back within your lifetime. Then, you wonder if you are better off dead.
Note that a certain Government is also trying its best to keep its citizens in debt their whole life. It is to its advantage that they are wage slaves. That's just life on that little island.
Singapore, Bhutan, and Shangri-La
I've not heard of Bhutan, until Mr Khaw, Mr Geography, mentioned it in the parliament. He was responding to Workers' Party Sylvia Lim's question about Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Index.
And that comment ruffled a few feathers in Bhutan.
Mr Khaw is a very perceptive person and can tell if a person is happy or not by looking at him. But most people, including his fellow Malaysians, do not believe it. :lol:
I'm really wondering about Mr Khaw. He has made gaffes so many times that I wonder if he is deliberately doing it — to provoke the masses to think about the issue.
At any rate, it is good entertainment.