Are the stars lining up...?

Goldman Sachs' scandal and run in with the SEC

Greece's debt downgraded to junk status by Standard & Poor

China's harshest tightening measures yet to curb property speculation

US is braying for the Chinese to allow the Yuan to appreciate but Grandpa Hu and Grandpa Wen are still in their Sichua Earthquake mode - "you must hold on. Grandpa Wen is here and we will save you. Hold on to my hands."

The Thais are gearing up for a battle. The Thai Monarch doesn't seem to be holding up that well.

Myanmar and Cambodia are holding polls soon.

The sharemarket is seeking a clear direction. Singapore investors seeming bearishly bullish. Odd but true.

At this rate, are we getting back to 2008 not long after we got out of the same mess?

I hope Grandpa Wen will now soon let go of his vice like grip on the Yuan. I've got some and I don't mind making a little profit.

If the army and the police fight the Red Shirts, and the Yellow Shirts join in the fight, what colour shirt will the Thais end up wearing? Rainbow coloured shirts? Hm...?

Singapore housing prices have risen so much I'm effectively priced out of the market.

Singaporeans and many people around the world are hoarding property like the new oil.

Interest rates are at an unbelievable low.

People are over-stretched on many fronts.

Salaries are NOT increasing.

Share markets are volatile and a week's gains is not quite enough to cover a day's losses.

Things are getting way too expensive and inflation is threatening to empty our wallets.

To quote Barbarella Posh Beckham, "In April, May, and June, everything is coming up roses."

Yeah, right. I do hope those bloody red rose petals are just covered with the purest of colouring agents - blood.

Oh well, maybe I should just literally scratch any itch rather than make serious moves into any investments now.

HDB Millionnaire?

My darling government should be concerned. In fact, it should be very concerned. Clearly, Singaporeans are now not afraid of their government. At least, not in the investment realms. Ok, add marriage and having babies to that list of things that Singaporeans simply don't care two hoots about what the men and women in white are urging us to do.

Singapore is likely to witness the first case of an HDB apartment - with a 99-year lease - to be transacted at a whisker under $1 million dollars. For those like my fortunate friends in the US who are not aware of leased land, the government allows Singaporeans to own their HDB flats for a lease period of 99 years. While that is stated on paper, Singaporeans will have to give up their flat should the government want to conduct en bloc upgrading of the estate or when the housing lease is up, whichever is sooner. At the current state, the former is happening more frequently than the latter. I have yet to see 99-year-old flats being repossessed by the state.

I shall not delve into the ethics of evicting me from my home - technically, I am not even an HDB apartment owner - or discuss the immorality of forcing me into another housing loan for a new flat that I don't want - many other Singaporeans cannot wait to move out of their free-range chicken farm into a chicken coop - but I shall say that HDB housing, a right of Singaporeans, is now becoming elusive.

It is so elusive that a single man can expect to fork out his arm, his leg and may be what hangs between his leg to buy an HDB flat. And add to that, he can pledge his heart, corneas, lungs, kidneys, and testicles even (!), to secure a housing loan, which he can expect to service for the rest of his life. (The gender under question is intentional - a woman "can expect to service for the rest of her life" sounds way too colourful for the G-rated nature of this innocent looking blog. *Blinks innocently*)

Now that the Bishan Executive Mansionette is going for S$900,000, Singaporeans are now of the belief that the shit hole they live in is worth twice as much as was valued by the HDB valuers.

Before we go forward, let us take a giant step back to see this travesty through the eyes of this innocent blogger. *Blink blink blink (think Bambi)* Let's do some sums!

Total value of unit - $900,000
Cash-over-valuation - $170,000 (This portion needs to be paid for in cash!)
Valuation - $730,000 (I don't quite believe this; EM valuation hardly break 700k)
5% cash downpayment on Valuation - $36,500
15% cash/CPF downpayment on Valuation - $109,500
80% or less bank loan on Valuation - $584,000 (If you decide to take a smaller loan, you have to fork out even more cash or CPF.)

In other words, this buyer has a total of at least $206,500 in cash sitting freely around! House buyers (or potential ones) know that there is still stamp duties to be paid on the house and lawyer fees!

How in the world did this happen?

Many worker bees like us are required to either go out and collect pollen and feed the hive or spend the whole time breeding the Queen Bitch. I mean, the Queen Bee. For the pittance we are often paid, how do we accumulate $200,000 in cash at all? I am hard pressed to come up with HALF that amount, much less have the full $200,000 lying around.

Given the CPF caps that are applied since two recessions ago, CPF is paid for the first $4500 of our salaries. This is again a complicated calculation process but it is suffice to say that there is very little likelihood to build a CPF to that grand scale as above.

Although market watchers will dismiss these HDB windfalls (for the owners) to be one-off, most houseowners will be emboldened by the news and begin withdrawing their units from the market and relaunch them at even higher prices. I have already experienced that with a few units I viewed recently. What will this world come to?

How is it possible for a single Singaporean man to own a roof these days? *Continues in his search for the Widowed Childless Rich Old Dying Datin*

Life just got harder

Went to my usual bakery to score some cheap bread at the end of the business day where it gives a discount to dispose of the day-old buns.

I was shocked to see that the bakery has radically repackaged its bread and totally reinvented its offerings of buns.

Whereas in the past, one could get a pack of 6 small buns at a discount price of $1.20 (U.P. $1.60 - $2.50), what I saw today were packets of 4 slightly larger buns at the same price. However, the 4 buns were lesser in quantity (about 70%) compared to the usual buns. Similarly, one could get a medium savoury or sweet bun at a discount price of 50 cents (80 cents), they have increased the bun size by about 30% and are selling them at $2.50 for 3 buns (U.P. $1 - $1.40).

Needless to say, life has just gotten harder for the folks.

Whereas in the past, a family of four might be able to subsist on a pack of 6 small buns, there isn't enough to spread the new 4-bun packet around now. The kids might get a slightly more substantial breakfast but the adults are definitely not going to have enough. If the family had to buy two packets of the buns because they can't buy 1.5 packets, the average cost would have been driven up by 60 cents, representing a 50% increase.

For folks like me who prefer to have larger buns, my usual breakfast consists of 2 medium buns. That would be $1. Now with the new buns, 2 buns are too substantial while 1 bun is not quite enough. In any case, even if I were to go for a 1.5 bun solution, my costs have also risen by about 25%.

Many retired contract workers like me do not get a pay raise. However, our cost of living could be spiked by 50% just overnight. Such surprises are really nasty and bone chilling.

If I might be a little vulgar, it seems life has become harder than a viagra-induced hard-on. But unlike the latter, life isn't going to get softer afterwards.

If I might share what I saw today at the bakery - there was a drop in the number of customers, easily a 70% drop, and there were many people looking at the new buns and calculating costs in their hearts. Some walked away without buying. Bread is staple for Singaporeans and yet, with such a drastic move, many might soon have to give up even their daily bread.

She

She may be the face I can't forget
The trace of pleasure or regret
May be my treasure or the price I have to pay

She ambled along the airplane aisle and began searching for seat 37F. That was the seat beside me and I was certainly not excited about having to be cramped in my little aisle seat in a Boeing 747-400 after losing the space beside me. Being somewhat more generous than I normally am, I looked at her and asked, "37F?"

"Yeah."

"You're here then." I pointed to the seat beside me.

This is my first impression of She. Definitely not a white woman; maybe hispanic, maybe Asian. I'm not too sure. But certainly not a big woman. More Asian, if you ask me to characterise her.

She got past the folks trying to shove their bags into the overhead compartments while I grudgingly removed my safety belt and got up from my seat.

She may be the song that summer sings
May be the chill that autumn brings
May be a hundred different things
Within the measure of a day

She carried her carry on handbag - not exactly a very small one - and then settled into her seat.

"I hope these two seats are empty," said She, pointing to 37D and 37E. "Then we can share the four seats between us."

"I heard the plane is full." I was unusually unhopeful.

"Let's hope," she said.

"We'll know once they say 'Cabin doors closed'," I replied rather nonchalantly.

A chatty one. Dear god, is this a joke? It's going to be 19 hours of... I think I'll go along. Anyway, there is nothing more exciting that disturbing that bitch sitting in front of me.

She may be the beauty or the beast
May be the famine or the feast
May turn each day into a heaven or a hell
She may be the mirror of my dreams
The smile reflected in a stream
She may not be what she may seem
Inside her shell

We got the four seats and she happily moved to 37E, leaving a seat between us. There was distance for comfort and proximity for noisy conversation.

"My name is She," she introduced herself. (For her privacy, I oughtn't name her.)

"I am He," I said.

"I'm from Florida," said She. "I'm flying home to Jakarta. I'm going home for the first time after I married to America."

"Yeah, right, Miss Saigon," I cynically thought. Maybe I should ask her how she fished the rich husband. Instead, my politically correct civil servant persona kicked in. "Oh, Florida. I heard it's a nice place. And wow! It must be a pain flying all the way to Jakarta."

"I started at Fort Lauradale," said she. And she began regaling me with her travails since she began her journey in Florida, including how she had to run from terminal to terminal to make the flight. An earlier thunderstorm in the New York/New Jersey area apparently caused airports to shut down for about 2 hours and planes were backlogged.

"My journey actually started at noon, when I had to check out from the hotel," I countered, not wishing to seem that I was in any better shape. Oddly, it was as though I was trying to find an excuse for bad behaviour.

The flight took off and we had our meals, we napped, we chatted and she told me her lifestory somewhat.

She was not as bad as I had thought. Oddly, her generosity was amazing. She was a "sharer", a "giver" of sorts.

"I live in a big house in Florida. 5 rooms... 4000 over square feet," She proudly announced, right after telling me - a complete stranger less than 30 minutes ago - that I should visit her in Florida and stay at her place when I visit.

And then she started showing me digital photographs off her digital camera of her palace. I vaguely recall the house has a pinkish exterior and it looks huge.

"My husband and I used to live in an even larger house. One acre...," She reminisced as she began describing her heaven. "But he lost everything. You know Madoff?"

I'd be damned if I know not of Madoff.

"He invested all his life savings, our retirement money, millions, with him. He lost everything. You know, he has nothing now."

She described how he invested with Madoff because of "insider ties" and how all these promises of a worry-free retirement were dashed when Madoff was exposed as a fraud. And I thought I would never meet someone to be swimming in Madoff's circles.

I thought I saw tears shimmering in her eyes but She was so strong.

She who always seems so happy in a crowd
Whose eyes can be so private and so proud
No one's allowed to see them when they cry
She may be the love that cannot hope to last
May come to me from shadows of the past
That I'll remember till the day I die

"You know, he went crazy when she died. His friends all said that he married someone really beautiful, but now, he is married to someone who is really good for him."

She talked of how she entered his life after he lost his first wife to cancer. He lost the plot and was womanising and drinking his life away. She came in and turned him back to his home and his family. Her step children are grateful to her role in bringing the family back together again. She gained their acceptance through sheer grit and determination.

Such strength of character need not be said. These are private traits that an outsider looking in must discern and appreciate. And who knows what it took her to uproot herself from Indonesia to marry an Italian-American 8 years ago and live in the US. And worse, inherit a ready family, when at 40, she was somewhat past her productive years.

She asked me to guess her age. Ladies, never ask me to do that, because I'm damned good at that. If you wanna feel good about yourself, don't ask. I told her, 40s? She said I was very good and said she was 48. I politely told her I would have guessed 42. A white lie, but it probably made her day.

Then she half-bitterly and half-proudly said she is a stepmother of a few children and a grandmother of a few (I think 4) kids. The Chinese use taste to describe certain feelings and perhaps, only she would know the exact taste of that pride.

Her strength of character lay not just in how she gave up her job with a multi-national company to become a stay home wife who cooks daily for her husband and have dinner parties ever so often for her friends and family. "You know, I always include his dead wife's mother every time. She's 82 and we look after her." I think this says it all.

Our conversation went on for many hours, albeit intermittently. She gave me her recipes for southern Italian cooking while I told her where to eat when she visits Singapore. We exchanged contacts and we had a really fun time together. I promised to visit her sometime soon.

And from her, one can tell that her 62 year old husband is fully appreciative of her. Perhaps no one better than him will appreciate the closing stanza of his second life that he has decided to spend with this wonderful woman.

She may be the reason I survive
The why and wherefore I'm alive
The one I'll care for through the rough in ready years
Me, I'll take her laughter and her tears
And make them all my souvenirs
For where she goes I've got to be
The meaning of my life is she
She, oh she

My blessings to them.

I give up!

I finally succumbed to my spoilt, bureaucratic ways yesterday.

After lugging my bags and taking public transport faithfully from the start of the journey to the end of my Philadephia leg, my bags probably travelled on more pavements and tarred roads than they had on all their trips past added together.

I hear them whine as their rubber-bare wheels are tortured by the gravel and the uneven roads. I see them shed whatever they have left of their rubber protection as they attempt to navigate the relative potholes that I didn't pay enough attention to. The poor baggies are faithful travel companions. They moan and groan and attract a helluva lot of attention in the hotel lobbies when I arrive - you could hear the wheels roar at the top of their voices to announce my arrival. But they have never complained.

I feel my arms aching and my left shoulder is in pain whenever I take on the weight of my carry on bags. I didn't pack a lot. A usual official work trip during my past civil servant days would see me lug around the same amounts of stuff - at least - but with a difference. On official duty, you can book private transport to ferry you from point to point. On your way in to the country, you only need to drag your luggage as much as from inside the airport at the baggage claim area to outside the airport to the waiting transport, from outside to inside the hotel check in desk, and then to your room. Reverse the baggie movemenets on your way out of the countries. And in between hotel, skip anything involving the airport.

It is not that I miss my good ol' civil servant days but, at PHL, I decided that I cannot survive another round of dragging bags from baggage claim to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) metro station and then change 4 trains to get to Davis, Evanston, and then drag the bags and walk a couple of blocks to get to the hotel. The hotel is only 15 miles from the hotel but the CTA tracks require me to go downtown first and then change trains to move north, taking about 22 or 27 miles in all. Crazy...

At that moment, I decided that paying USD50 for cab fare each way may not be that bad a proposition after all. But is there something more worthwhile?

As luck would have it, GO! Airport Express at ORD provided the answer. I managed to get a return booking for USD57. As I waited in line, I actually see local Chicago folks queueing for the same service, instead of taking the trains or the cabs, despite not having much to carry. I think I must be doing something right.

My transport arrived 15 minutes after I booked it. My American-Jordanian driver and I chatted when the traffic was not that heavy. My bags are comfotably seated in the boot of the vehicle and gently let off at the door of the hotel. The trip is 35 minutes (despite the traffic jam - Chicago is ramping up its infrastructure for its 2016 Olympics bid) - and 15 miles. Although the CTA would have cost USD2.25 each way, I face the prospect of a 90 to 118 minute trip (depending on how (un)lucky you are with the train schedules) and the need to make 3 transfers between lines.

Honestly, costly as it might have been, I have never found a more justifiable way of blowing away money than taking the transfer.

City Hopping - Snap shots

I.

Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) looks amazingly fresh despite its age. The internal refurbishment work is really well done. The airport is bright and welcoming. I think Singaporeans should really learn from people around the world when they rethink comfort and modernisation. The Singapore Airport folks are doing the same by constantly refurbishing and upgrading its interior, while keeping the external walls and facade largely unscathed. However, while the Americans and the Europeans tear down the insides of buildings and give them new leases of life, Singaporeans tend to demolish the entire building and rebuild something new in its place. I am not saying that either way is superior but evaulate the merits of these cases. Resources are finite and if you don't have to destroy a building with architectural value, then why do it?

My only gripe is with security. Perhaps it is now time to come clean and admit to the people that liquid explosives are not exactly potent enough to bring down a plane. I mean, if we want to be purist about things, then why am I disallowed to bring water in but allowed to buy bottles of mineral water in the secure area?

II.

The UA flight to Chicago arrived 30 minutes late in Philadelphia today. After the passengers were deplaned, Chicago-bound passengers, including me, boarded. As we got on, we were repeatedly told to stow our cabin bags under the seat in front of us if they fit. The overhead compartments are for people with roller bags which take up too much space.

We were reminded that if we do not cooperate, leftover bags that cannot be fit in the overhead compartments will need to be checked in and the flight would be further delayed. Some passengers cursed UA, for it is its charging of check baggage that forced passengers to attempt to carry on everything. So there was a perpetual ding-dong about where the bags should go. I checked in two bags but I was lucky - Frequent Flyers with Silver (or Gold) membership need not pay.

I just feel that such "cost recovery" or "cost limiting/cutting" measures are limited in their effectiveness. But till someone with the power to change things has the foresight to know what's the problem and have the guts to change the policy, nothing positive can be expected from anyone.

III.

The United Airlines Flight arrived 30 minutes late today and took off at 1314 h instead of the scheduled 1238 h. Once in the air, the pilot went at maximum speed. The last time I was in a speeding aircraft travelling at such speeds that the cabin was filled entirely with the roar of the engine was on an Yichang - Chengdu flight in China. I guess it is only in domestic sectors that pilots can pull off such a stunt. There is probably the only air craft in the air at that moment on such a route at such a flight level. Any other traffic would probably only come in as the flight nears the destination airport.

It was pretty interesting to hear the pilot go, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the pilot speaking. I've turned off the seat belt signs but I would urge you to keep them on as we are going as fast as we can to make up the lost time. We expect to arrive at 1.55 pm, meaning there is no delay on the flight. Connections will be fine." We finally made it to the gate at 1404h. To chop 30 minutes off a scheduled 2:17 flight means...

IV.

Chicago O'Hare Airport (ORD) is HUGE. Ginormous - a rather American portmanteau that is ugly to the core, at least in my opinion. Still, it could possibly describe ORD. It seems larger than PHL but it is also very much more run-down. I guess it cannot be helped. ORD and PHL are two of the world's busiest airports in terms of number of flight and passengers handled. But I believe users would want to see a refreshed ORD soon. After all, airport upgrading is the in-thing at this moment and such infrastructural work can help create jobs, direct governmental spending to more worthwhile causes and improve surroundings...

If it sounds too good to be true...

It probably is.

I bet this is what many people who paid up to S$12 000 for a ONE-YEAR Bachelor degree from the ROYAL MELBOURNE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY found out.

How is that even possible? I also wonder...

How is it possible for near academic morons - sorry, I don't know how else to describe them - achieve a degree from a top Australian university in ONE year when top government scholars take at least 2 years of full loads (including two summer terms at full loads) to complete the same degree at the same university. In fact, most top students attempting to do so at any of these accredited universities need about 2.5 years to complete a degree.

And many of these people paying for the shortcut cannot even write a proper sentence to save their lives.

Rubbish Rushes in to Fill a Vacuum

Lost Generation by Jonathan Reed

I am part of a lost generation
and I refuse to believe that
I can change the world
I realize this may be a shock but
“Happiness comes from within.”
is a lie, and
“Money will make me happy.”
So in 30 years I will tell my children
they are not the most important thing in my life
My employer will know that
I have my priorities straight because
work
is more important than
family
I tell you this
Once upon a time
Families stayed together
but this will not be true in my era
This is a quick fix society
Experts tell me
30 years from now, I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making
In the future
Environmental destruction will be the norm
No longer can it be said that
My peers and I care about this earth
It will be evident that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
It is foolish to presume that
There is hope.

And all of this will come true unless we choose to reverse it .

Read the message, then read it again in reverse.

Which generation do you belong in?

---@---@---

Guess what? As I arrived at work, I saw the lost generation. The latecomers, the stragglers, the lost souls, the headless ghosts, the useless bums, the lazy bones... And there were all made to stand outside the office while the rest went through the passage.

Me? I am part of a lost generation. I will tell you that money will make me happy. More money will make me more happy. Ok, bad English. Still, you get the point.

Happiness comes from within. It can't come from anywhere else. I don't laugh or gloat at others' misery. But having money can make me happy.

I am part of a lost generation. Despite me telling my employers that they are not the most important things in my life, I can't stop working. Because I need money. Remember, money will make me happy.

My family is more important than my work. But they will have to take a back seat. Don't forget, money will make me happy. And money makes them happy too.

I don't believe in spending money to be divorced in 30 years. I can't afford that. So I won't marry and won't have children. This way, my money is all for I, me and myself. And money will make me happy.

Environmental destruction is part of nature. Global warming has to do with the less than perfectly circular orbit of the earth. The hell I care about spending any of my hard earned money on environmentally friendly nonsense. Why should I pay others money and make them happy? I should amass my wealth. After all, money will make me happy. Perhaps I should want to be buried in a dollar bill mache coffin. To be buried in money will make me happy.

I am not apathetic and lethargic; watch my energy levels as I throw myself at money. I already know there is no hope (for the hopeless others). Might as well now work towards getting them to bequeath me their money...

All together now: Money will make me happy.

Free China Warmth

Bought a quilt from Ikea just before Chinese New Year (mid Jan) to fit into the new quilt cover. The main reason was the northeast monsoon was a little cold, especially in the night, when the chill seemed to penetrate right into your bones.

As the weather became warmer and more humid, I decided that the quilt was no longer a necessity. Took the quilt and the cover out for a wash on Wednesday and completed doing laundry today. I like to soak the clothes to remove all smell and dirt. The quilt was washed according to the instructions on the label - gentle wash, low tumble dry. I also saw it was made in China.

Alas, the mesh covering of the quilt was tore as I removed it from the clothes dryer.

I did not see any damage when the quilt was first fitted into the cover, during or after the wash, and before I put it into the dryer. Honestly, I wouldn't be able to tell if it was torn because dry quilt was fluffy and everything was "huge and white, clean and bright."

The tear was not structural. One would expect to see the expanded herring bone structure of the knits if indeed the mesh covering was overstretched. But it wasn't. There were two holes, which I can best attribute to material fatigue. The mesh was constructed using iffy materials and the manufacturers probably expected the guarantees to run out when the damage is seen.

Took the torn quilt, marched to Ikea and got a refund. When giving the refund, the service counter guy reminded that such items had to be done in this way and that, giving stricter conditions that was prescribed by the label on the item. Looks like there is a deeper problem than this.

Moral of the story for Ikea: Outsource to China by all means; screw your own bottomlines.

As the quilt was returned, I reminded Ikea of their other product, a towelette, also from China, which was padded with small "cotton balls" to make it fluffy. But in the end, the balls came off during the laundry cycle and my entire laundry load was rendered useless because the balls stuck to the entire load. Some of my whites turned slightly greenish.

Moral of the story for consumers: If you can tolerate nonsense and have lots of time, buy the Chinese items. Quickly use and make sure they are spoilt by the end of the first use (and before the 100 day guarantee) and then return to Ikea to get your money back. Remember to stress that that was the first use.

I didn't expect free warmth to be most heartwarming. :)

So WRONG!

Singapore - More than half the investors who lodged complaints over the way they were sold investment products linked to Lehman Brothers will get some money back.
And about a quarter will be fully compensated, ending months of worry that started when their investments went belly-up together with the collapsed US investment bank.

This is so wrong. Greed should not be guaranteed. Instead, these investors should be given a goodwill payout NOT AMOUNTING to an admission of guilt.

There is a huge difference between an outright compensation and a goodwill payout. The premise of the former suggests that there are some greed that are more acceptable than other greed. There are some gullibility that are less heinous than other guillibility. It also assumes that when you are old, you need not be responsible for your actions.

In the latter, you acknowledge that all are placed on an equal slate and then judged and sentenced equally. But out of goodwill, a certain more vulnerable group is given a little assistance to alleviate their sufferings from their mistakes. This, itself, is already a less than ideal situation but to give an almost outright compensation to the "old and guillible" is really BS.

Surely, these OAGs, being salt of the earth compared to the young and rapacious, should know better the downfalls of the greedy, especially over an additional 1% interest per annum.

I feel sorry for those who did not get any money back in this circumstance, though my definition of the ideal case is for all investors to suffer comparable (percentage) losses.

6% or Blisters

The new Ikea shelves arrived on Saturday.

Being spatially spastic, diagrammatically dysfunctional, dexterity disinclined, and work tool-totalled, I paid the delivery guys to build up two of the 2 metre bookshelves that I've ordered. The third shelf is already assembled, as it is an AS-IS item with a corner chipped off. But there is a good amount of money chipped off. As the damage is not structural, buying it is not too much an issue.

The cost of erecting each item is 6% of the item's cost. This is not too much money but sometimes, it is not just money.

I've also bough 6 doors for my two shelves. Being (more) fickle (than a bee in a field of flowers in bloom), I decided that it might not be sensible to get the delivery folks to do the door assembly. After all, I might want the configuration that I specified and have to end up reassembling them. And worse, since the delivery guys depend on hand held drills, the screws they put in tend to wear down the wood quite a bit. It is somewhat different when you do it manually. Perhaps it is the lesser strength used and the lower speed of entry. The wood does not get worn away that quickly and certainly, removal and reassembly are possible.

There were another 6 doors that were to be put up for the existing shelves. (And for good measure, we took down the existent doors on the two shelves we already have and changed the opening direction. Worse! At the end of the day, we bought another 2 doors for a third shelf.)

So, by the time the third door was up, I have a large blister on my right middle finger and by the fifth door, the handle of the screwdriver was wet. I've bust the bubble. And I was faced with the unsavoury prospect of finishing the doors or keeping it to another day. Somehow, another day is often no other day. So I grinned and bore it and the doors were done! Don't ask me what hit me, but I did. I even managed to assemble two drawers, which I never thought I could.

With the additional strain on the other fingers and thumb and the bust blister, there was much pain each time I touch water. Sigh. What a way to get things done. Paid the money and got the blisters. The worst of both worlds!

The (Bad) Writing on the Wall

Reluctantly, when all else have lost the ability to bring another round of oohs and aahs after the rush of yet another over the top euphoria at the exchange, the hidden weapon was unleashed.

It was the last thing the phobic leaders wanted to do. To unlease this device could mean dependence on it for a long time. The leaders fear silence on the Street as people flock to enDow their Jones.

Different genes, different sizes. Some countries offer the weenies, while others, the FTSEs. Others like theirs Hang Seng while some, like TW, like them Weighted. Some are so SET in their ways that bootleg KOSPIs (copies) of the magic wand have reared their ugly heads.

Still, to keep the XDAX in NASDAQ, the ultimate comfort weapon, the cash d*ldo had to be taken out from the deepest recesses of the bank vaults of the various central banks. These used to be the singular weapon of pleasure for the you-know-who but now it has to be shared among everyone because there is a sense hanging in the air that with equal misery come equal pleasure. Or so we hope.

Unfortunately, time will prove once again that the ultimate weapon would be shoved up the wrong hole.

"I'm here so that, hopefully, I can have a good tea"

A friend was "invited" to attend a timeshare presentation. He was enticed with lots of gifts, such as free hotel stay, online vouchers, and cruises, for attending the session. I tagged along because I really want to update myself on the cupidicious behaviour of these marketeers, or if you would indulge me, profiteering chalatans.

(Another reason was the fact that I needed to vent after having marked Assignment One and knowing that Assignment Two was coming in on Monday. But this was not the main reason.)

At the door, my friend was asked to register and I had to be registered as well. I pulled my friend aside and told him to report his salary as half of what he was receiving now. I had asked him to go for the lowest option but he thought it was not realistic.

For me, I wrote "unemployed" for my occupation and was dressed for my role. He then submitted the form.

Then I told my friend that I had prepared my speech in case the con asked me what I was there for.

"You see, I'm unemployed. Since my friend was invited here for a presentation at this time, I hope that if I'm here, hopefully, I can have a good tea."

My friend, of course, nearly flipped when he heard this. Then he asked me to go easy and not say anything if we were invited to the presentation.

In less than 3 minutes after the form was submitted, the receptionist called him and handed him the vouchers for the gifts, with the message that we did not have to sit through the presentation as the con-sultant was very busy.

See? We portray ourselves as paupers and we got off with the gifts without any time wasted. They must be kicking themselves for not doing their market survey properly.

Me? Have you heard the maniacal laughter of a genius in the lift down from the penthouse of the Rolex Building to the ground floor? Priceless!

Cold comfort is no comfort

The bubbles have burst at last. But there are still some bubbles that are hiding in the corner.

A single friend and I spoke recently and invariably, we talked about our long running concerns which had been shared between us since 2006.

Both of us were incredulous as we watched the markets soar beyond reasonable heights and marvelled as we saw how people spent money like there would be no tomorrow.

We kept looking at the growing bubble. We reminded each other to keep our monies close. We talked each other out of investments. Avoid big investments anyway. We tried our best to save our salaries - it was getting progressively harder to save up because the cost of living was inching up quietly.

We wondered how people could live such lavish lifestyles and own two houses (and thus service two loans) when we, both single and were then (she still is, I'm no longer) getting rather good pay packets. We had little to worry about, except our basic needs essentially.

It was evident that when two rational people share the same outlook, there is something very long. We laughed at how long the paper could contain the fire, how tough the bubble could be to withstand the elements, how many skeletons some closets can accommodate.

Subprime was all the rage. Sub- means below or not as good. Yet, people thought they had flourished under the banner of sub-optimal living. As they tried to reach for their prize, the thickness of the ice sheet they are standing on grew thinner and thinner.

Now the cracks are showing and shore is beyond reach. People who en bloc-ed are losing their bollocks. I hope this will not be too rampant but there would be people losing their shirts on their backs. I hope SMRT and LTA get the MRT platform doors erected fast or there could be more train delays.

AIG showed how you think you have protected yourself, only to have all the money you've invested in your life Houdini in front of your eyes. DBS Treasure 5 is another joke now. Fortunately, it's the rich who are losing their marbles, I mean money.

I'm going to sort out my accounts knowing that Singapore Laws only protect the first $x dollars for each bank depositor. I'm going to be careful. Given how things are, one could be better off keeping their monies in a pillow than to a bank. Safe deposits may not be a bad idea after all.

This is a financial crisis that no one wants to see. But all the signs point to its inevitability. It is a matter of time and now, it's time. Eat your bitter fruit as you have sowed your seeds.

Greedy folks have played the housing and other market out of the ordinary person's reach. It's pay back time and I hope a loanshark's interest would be levied.

God bless Wall Street and America.

Have fun, world.

This goes to the press next

- Stock reply -

Dear Tan Eugene,

Thank you for contacting PayPal with your concerns.

After review all the information on your account,we still couldn't find anything that you claimed.So we could't help you to cover the loss due to currency exchange.

I do apologize for any frustration that you have experienced.

Thank you for being part of the PayPal community.

Sincerely,
Hui
PayPal Account Review Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

- "I've got enough" response -

It's not frustration. No, it's disbelief. Utter disbelief that Paypal would hire staff who cannot figure out what is wrong even though I have already sent you the supporting document. I reattach the document so that you don't have search for it again to do the simple exercise below. (Document not attached because over here, I do not have to prove figures below.)

Let us try one more time.

Before I begin, let me remind you that I've already informed Paypal that my credit card transacts in Singapore Dollars (SGD) and therefore, when forex rates fluctuate, what I am charged in and what I receive may be different even though the foreign currency amounts in question are identical. In other words, regardless what happens, the credit card company will do the conversions and then I am billed and refunded in Singapore Dollars (SGD). Another way of looking at it is that all currencies will be converted to SGD when I am billed or when I receive refunds. If we have an understanding here, let's proceed.

Fraud cases 1 and 2 - case 1 and case 2 present identical scenarios.
When my account was fraudulently charged for USD 600, the credit card company billed me for SGD 883.10.
When Paypal reversed the charge for USD 600, the credit card company credited me SGD 838.40.
What has happened to me with regards to USD and with regards to SGD?
What can you say about my financial position? Is what I got back MORE or LESS than what I paid?
Do you see the difference now in SGD? Can you calculate the difference that I lost?

Fraud case 3
When my account was fraudulently charged for USD 100, the credit card company billed me for SGD 147.18.
When Paypal reversed the charge for USD 100, the credit card company credited me SGD 139.74.
What has happened to me with regards to USD and with regards to SGD?
What can you say about my financial position? Is what I got back MORE or LESS than what I paid?
Do you see the difference now in SGD? Can you calculate the difference that I lost?

Fraud case 4
When my account was fraudulently charged for GBP 180, the credit card company billed me for SGD 468.36.
When Paypal reversed the charge for GBP 180, the credit card company credited me SGD 441.81.
What has happened to me with regards to GBP and with regards to SGD?
What can you say about my financial position? Is what I got back MORE or LESS than what I paid?
Do you see the difference now in SGD? Can you calculate the difference that I lost?

Now, can you calculate the TOTAL amount in SGD that I have lost?

This is clearly simple enough that 10 year old kids who have learnt money and decimals can work out.

Let us check if we arrived at the same answers. Did you finally manage to figure out that:
(i) although there *seems* (operative word) to be no difference in my foreign currencies standing,
(ii) the reality is that I have lost SGD 123.39 ARISING FROM CURRENCY EXCHANGE from USD and GBP to SGD?

So what is it that you do not find?

Making good this loss is what Paypal has promised to its users, who had been fraud victims, in your rules and regulations - Paypal promised to honour all losses arising from the fraudulent charges. In this case, the losses in SGD are SGD 123.39, even though on paper, it *seems* like all charges have been reversed. What you see on paper is NOT accurate in my case because the reality is what costs me in the end. According to Paypal, it should cost me NOTHING because I had been a fraud victim. However, based on Paypal representatives' repeated failure to understand my requests, it seems like Paypal's promise is no good because nobody at Paypal will honour it.

If this happens to you one day, what would YOU do?

By the way, I have cc-ed a representative from my credit card company, Mr X, in this email. I am sure Mr X would be able to teach you a thing or two about non-US credit cards and how foreign currency transactions are handled. He may also be able to teach you how to read the statement from the credit card company, if my explanations are insufficient.

Best,
Eugene

>> X, thank you for the follow up phone call yesterday highlighting Paypal's responsibilities to its customers. Looks like Paypal's folks do not understand what I'm trying to tell them. Could I trouble you to speak with them if needed? Thank you for your kind assistance.