The Real Estate Agent

Realtors body does not condone 'scare tactics'

The last time we attempted to sell our apartment, we encountered one such agent from ERA.

She is a petite, soft-spoken, and God-thanking woman with a sweet face and always wearing her over-sized ERA jacket. It is tempting to just place your trust in her.

However, upon interaction, one realises that she is not as 'professional' as she claims to be, as she cites partial market information and hurries to close the deal (i.e. within a few weeks). To the agent, it is merely marginal to fight for a $50,000 price increase for the seller as the resulting increase in commission for the agent is only $1,000, or a few hundred dollars for the agent after the agency deducts its share.

The last straw came one evening when she tried to 'persuade' me to close the deal using a bizarre tactic. That evening, she brought a couple to view the apartment. I was alone in the apartment as 'Good Fren' was out of town. Once the viewing was over, she saw them out of the estate. When she came back, she brought along someone I was not expecting, i.e. her husband (who is also an agent). They both sat in the living room. She placed an offer from a buyer on the coffee table and started to persuade me.

I read the offer and told her that I was not satisfied with the terms. Then, her husband began to speak, asking me to sign the offer first, to 'lock in the deal', then negotiate for changes later. I looked at him, and wondered if I should ask him what business he had with me and how many sellers have fallen prey to this act of theirs. But I reckoned that it was 2 vs 1, and I might end up injured or dead with my cats stepping all over my lifeless body. So, I told them I was not satisfied with the offer and that was all for the night.

Such behaviour that makes me wonder about why sellers are paying agents 1% to 2% of the selling price to begin with. What are these agents providing the seller (especially mass market) with that is truly worth a 4 or 5-figure price tag?

Hairdo, Cancer or Almost a Helix Bridge?

Remember Minister Lim Hng Kiang's comments in 2001 about how women ought to skip a hairdo and use that money for a mammogram instead?

According to Breast Cancer Foundation, a mammogram costs S$50 at the polyclinics.

A couple of days ago, MP Halimah Yacob urged the authorities to allow the use of Medisave to pay for cervical cancer vaccination. Cervical cancer is the 5th most common cancer among Singaporean women. Each year, about 200 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 100 die from the disease.

I'm not sure whether using Medisave is the right solution because not every female who needs and/or is in the optimal phase of her life (12 to 26) to receive the cervical cancer vaccination has Medisave, but Halimah Yacob's right about seeking help from the authorities to help to pay for the vaccination.

This is because a cervical cancer vaccination costs about S$150-S$200. That's 3 or 4 hairdos. Too much to ask of females to forego, yah? Up to 1/3 of the year without going to the hairdresser!

Imagine women with bad hair days walking around for 1/3 of the year. Scary! May have drastic impact on our productivity, tourism arrivals/receipts (young SQ girls with months of bad hair days?!), and ultimately... THE GDP! *gasp* Utterly Unacceptable!
............................................................................

Check out the wikipedia entry on the vaccine, and compare how some countries are rolling out heavily subsidised or free of charge and/or mandatory vaccines for their people. In general for girls from age of 12 to 26.

Citizens + PRs = 2mil + 1mil = 3mil
Female = 50%
Female Residents from age 12 to 26 = estimated 15% = 225,000
Assume FOC for Citizens and S$100 subsidy for PRs,
Total one-time cost to SINGOV = S$38 million.
Recurring cost henceforth = S$2.8 million

What does S$38mil mean?
That's about 35% of the cost of the upcoming Youth Olympics Games at S$105mil. Or perhaps almost the cost of the Helix Bridge. No biggie.

And S$2.8 million?
Maybe a few sessions of fireworks over Marina Bay.

Please don't say, without the vaccine, you can still prevent cervical cancer by going for a Pap Smear Test at a 'cheaper' S$15 a pop in the polyclinics once every 3 years till you expire. Or that 200 cervical cancer cases per year are too few for any broad base prevention programme.

The More People Want Something, the Less They’ll Like It

From Harvard Business Review:

"Denying people access to a product will make them desire it more and work harder to get it—but will also make them less likely to keep it."

Oh... So irrational of them, you say.

While these findings are discussed from a marketing point of view, they can be applied to all sorts of human relationships, including courtship and even parent-child relationship. E.g. The parent likes to claim that he loves all his children equally, but secretly, the most willing kid is not his favourite, while he yearns for the attention of that aloof child.

Because of the influence of classical economists and clever people of our time who have been exposed to and so like to stick with classical economics theories, we like to believe in the general rule that people are 'rational'. This 'rationality' alludes to 'purposive/instrumental' rationality, i.e. ends are rationally pursued and calculated.

Why you ignore me?!

However, what we fail to see is that there are not one but many types of rationality. Weber has already laid them out for us to learn and apply, but most of us, as usual, have not been listening.

(Read about Max Weber.)

Weber's 4 ideal types of rationality are:

• Purposive/instrumental rationality
• Value/belief-oriented rationality
• Affectual rationality
• Traditional/ingrained rationality

Most of us make decisions based on a mixed of the above and more. In other words, we ain't too disciplined when going about decision-making at all levels, from personal space to commercial decisions to professional decisions.

And as one ages, one's skin becomes thinner and ego becomes bigger. One begins to think and believe that he is now more experienced and therefore more 'right' than before. This obviously does not help with strengthening of 'rationality' in the way we like to believe.

Tuesdays with Shopping

It's Tuesday again... The day I get out of the apartment in broad daylight because the cleaning lady comes over to work her magic.

Had lunch at Lerk Thai. Hiding in the shade of PoMo, away from the angry sun. 2 tables away, a pair of middle-aged women was talking loudly. Ok, only 1 of them was doing most of the talking.

X: You know hor... My son ah... He decorated my house so nicely. He did *this* and *that* and *this* and *that*...

Y: Very rare for young people today to be so attentive... You are very lucky.

X: Yes, and you know hor... I wanted to go work part-time at ABC. You know lah... I have not worked for 8 years... And you know what the manager told me? He said he would pay me $2000.

Y: Fwah! $2000 not bad what!

X: I told my husband and he told me he will give me $2000 to stay at home. He says it's not worth it.

Y: Fwah! You are so lucky!

X: You know hor... Blah blah blah...

And the conversation went on and on for the 45 minutes I was there, with X doing most of the talking really loudly and showing-off how great her life is, while Y does the 'fwah! fwah!'. I thought I heard my tom yum soup laughing. A perfect pair of 'friends'.

Usually, I would catch a film at the Cathay, but I decided that there is nothing worth my attention today. So, I chose a rather dangerous activity to indulge in for the afternoon. I went shopping.

Because it was so hot, I couldn't make it from PoMo to Somerset on street level. I took the MRT. 1 stop.

313@Somerset is an inviting shopping centre. The layout is simple and logical. Once you get out of the station, you feel a 'sense of purpose'. The retail mix is credible. Probably spent some 1.5 hours there. It was comfortably filled with people. Not too few to make you wonder if something is wrong, not too many to make you feel claustrophobic.

Orchard Central (OC), on the other hand, is D-E-A-D. The mostest dead-est part of the OC is its B1. If I were not looking for a way to get to CentrePoint, I would not have even attempted to look for the OC basement. Even the ferns growing out of the basement walls are dying. I remember Liew Mun Leong of Capitaland was quoted in the papers rather bluntly that there were some lousy malls along Orchard Road earlier this year. I think he was refering to the OC by Far East Organisation and OCBC. O_o

Another really lousy mall is Iluma. The concept sounds good on paper. An urban entertainment centre for the young. Shopping, arcade, food, clubbing etc. But the design and execution didn't do it any justice. And the cinema attempt called Film Garde never fails to disappoint. We were there for Shrek Forever After last Friday. Once the credits started to roll, the lights came on and this attendant in front of the screen started to flash his torchlight at the audience. WTF??

Our one-stop supplies-shopping mall has always been Great World City. Been going to GWC since it opened during my uni days in the late 1990s. It used to be the best place to catch a movie because one could avoid the kids. Not anymore. Regardless, it's still a convenient supplies-shopping destination with ample parking provisions.

These days, we sometimes head for City Square Mall. We like this shopping centre by CDL very much. It's very clear that a lot of thought has gone into the concept, design and excecution. Its 'eco' theme is not cheesy, but in fact rather practical. Of course, the retail mix is just nice for the middle class family with many food choices. The education 'hub' sitting on top of the mall is a clever draw. I just wish the NTUC could stock its outlets a little better. NTUC stuff only looks cheaper because they are smaller in weight/volume/quantity. Ajumma talking...


I digress...


So, after the OC, I used the basement link and made my way to CentrePoint. Walked around a little. I like going to Robinsons... not because of the stuff on sale... But because it reminds me of my late aunt. We shopped for my secondary school graduation dress together in Robinsons. I still remember the exact spot where the white dress suit was hanging.

Eventually, I made my way to the last stop... Cold Storage in CentrePoint. Bought some fresh stuff for dinner. So... there I was with bags of groceries... Home is at least 1.5 MRT stations away... I stood near the taxi stand and wondered if I should walk home, take a cab, or walk back to Somerset MRT station. My aching feet didn't help with the decision-making. I had this nagging feeling that the cabbie will be nasty towards me for such a short ride. Somerset MRT station was so faraway!!

In the end... Having weighed all the pros and cons... I took a bus. And gosh!! I thought the fish I bought would stink up the bus... But the bus proved to be more overwhelming... The bus was chilled with dank air and it smelt worse than my fish. I don't remember the aircon buses smelling half as bad back when I used to take hour-long bus trips to and fro school and home.

As I was wondering how long I could hold my breath and whether I could make it to my stop alive, the phone rang... It was an overseas call! =_= I had to take the call amidst the cacophony of the bus, its contents, its smells, its chaos... Not to mention struggled to get off the bus whilst still on the phone... Should have taken the cab. =_=

It's Durian Season!!!

We are big fans of durian and we only buy from our favourite fruit stall.

As the elderly fruit stall uncle opened the durians and transferred the flesh into Styrofoam containers, he and 'Good Fren' would have a good chat in speedy Teochew about anything under the sun. Meanwhile, I'd either be standing around and smiling, not understanding much of the conversation, or in the car waiting with the hazard lights on.

In the latest round, the conversation topic was about foreigner vs local labour. Durian Uncle pointed out that foreigners had more purchasing power (at least 30%) than locals because they are not required to set aside 20% of their income for CPF, and that the employer's contribution portion (more than 10%) is given to them in cash.

Before we knew it,  we had finished all the durian. We will definitely be going back for more!

The Gen Y Career Setbacks & FT Policy

Yet another report on how Gen Yers are coping.

"WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES - The recession may have a permanent effect on the millennial generation, also called Generation Y.

They are the 18- to 29-year-olds who have graduated with good college degrees into a no-jobs job market, and they are still, in large numbers, underemployed, dependent on their parents and saddled with big college debt."

Read report and earlier entry.

You will Suffer only if the Economy is Shite?
You see... the difference between the US and Singapore is that our economy has recovered by leaps and bounds. (Just check out the great news about GDP growth rates, low unemployment rates etc in the papers these days.)

Yet, if "things" are looking good, why are so many (1 out of 3) of our poly/varsity graduates hired on contract basis and/or with low starting pay?

Meanwhile, you see so-called 'foreign talent' with little or no experience getting employed in Singapore by the hordes. It's understandable if foreign talents which we do not have are flown in to reinforce our talent force, but why are we bringing in direct competition with our own graduates?

We know the ratio of Foreigner to Singaporean+PRs is around 1:3. We also know that these figures include dependents, and that the foreigners we take are usually in the economically active ages. So 1:3 does not apply equally to all age groups.

So then, what is the ratio of employed FTs to SGrean Poly/Varsity Graduate IN THE GEN Y AGE GROUP?

If it's 1:3, that should partially explain the contract jobs Singaporean Gen Y grads are taking up. But 1:3 is clearly too conservative. Take away the PRs and remove the blue collars and Singaporeans who are not working in this Gen Y age group, the ratio is most likely tighter than 1:3, say 1:2 or 1:1. Such a ratio will then it should explain the employment situation a whole lot more.

Is it then possible that for every white collar job in Singapore, the job seeker ratio of the Foreigner vs Singaporean is 2:1 or 3:1 or 10:1? Theoretically, it is definitely possible, because our foreign talent policy is literally an open gate.

If an MP is worth his allowance, he should ask these questions in Parliament.

"What is the ratio of 
(Employed Gen Y FTs) to (Gen Y SGrean Poly/Uni Grads)?"

"What is the ratio of 
(Employed Gen X FTs) to (Gen X SGrean Poly/Uni Grads)?"

Time Lost Cannot Be Undone
Right now, the Gen Yers are in their career formative years right, i.e. from early to late 20s. This is when they try at jobs and build the foundation of their careers.

If the opportunities available during these years are severely limited due to (i) economy conditions (most Gen Yers around the world are faced with this) AND (ii) inflow of direct competition (this is a result of specific government policy), many of our Gen Yers will not have a good chance to develop their careers. And this effect is permanent, i.e. once this time period of their lives is over, they will not be able to change it. Most will not be able make up for it for the rest of their lives.

In simple terms, such FT policies alter the life course of many Singaporeans permanently.

Yes, even if the inflow of foreign talents is lowered or capped henceforth, it will only directly ameliorate the employment situation for people who have yet to graduate. Not much is likely to change for those Gen Yers who have been 'sacrificed' in the earlier years.

Open Competition or Euphemism
It's so easy to claim "open competition ensures survival of the fittest". Are our Gen Y graduates inferior to these equally non-experienced foreign talents when our training/education system is amongst the best, e.g. NUS is top 30 in the world? Or perhaps it is useful to study the hiring practices of the major large employers in the market, e.g. whether MNCs are bringing in their own kind, rather than playing by the rules of 'open competition'.

A reader tells me that he was interviewed by 2 different divisions in the same foreign bank in Singapore. Each interview panel consisted of 3 directors. Ratio of foreigner director to local director = 2:1. These foreigner directors are of the race as the Top Man of that bank. Coincidence?

Who's playing the referee in this 'open competition' game?
Nobody. Not even the Government.

Help Yourself!
As the article suggests, a solution may be to further one's education during this period. Of course, this assumes you can afford it. Have parents who can afford it. Have access to (more) credit. In other words, the economic crisis and government foreign talent policy widen income gap within the Gen Yers.

The article also suggests, rather ironically, for Gen Yers to control/limit their debts. The last thing you should do now is to get the iPad or buy a Vera Wang for your wedding.

Lastly, instead of sitting around and waiting for the government to change its policies (which is unlikely to benefit you directly anyway), look elsewhere. Change any of the 3 properties of your job search, i.e. Industry, Function and/or Geography.

SHREK FOREVER AFTER

YOU HAVE TO CATCH SHREK FOREVER AFTER!!!

Shrek has a mid-life crisis. If he wasn't an ogre, he would have gone out and bought himself a sports car.

The jokes are funny, the graphics are superb, and it's in 3D!

The broomstick flying scene was obviously a dare for Harry Potter to be remade in 3D by Dreamworks.


And of course, nobody can resist Puss in Boots. Nobody.


Dreamworks is obviously very good at creating feline characters which resemble my Blinky and Tiger.

Remember Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon? He looks so much like Blinky.


And Puss in Boots? He looks like my Tiger.


I really hope this will not be the last Shrek film.

Here Comes Ajumma

Here Comes Ajumma is a 162-episode South Korean production that was released in 2006. It is currently showing on Channel U, Mon-Fri, 7pm... very slowly...

The female protagonist is a self-suffering mother of one in her early 30s. In Singapore, we call these mature females, usually housewife-ish and concerned about matters such as family health, kids' education etc, 'auntie'. In Japan, they are called 'obasan'. And in South Korea, they are called 'ajumma'. According to my South Korean classmates, the male version is 'ajussi'. Like how we in Singapore address mature males 'uncle'.

(Hence, since we started on this series, 'Good Fren' now officially goes by the endearing term 'ajussi' or 'apagee', i.e. Father in Korean.)


Bits and pieces of Here Comes Ajumma resemble those of Cruel Temptations. Or I should say... some parts of Cruel Temptations resemble those of Here Comes Ajumma because the latter is an earlier production. But Here Comes Ajumma is less dramatic and more believeable.

**~** SPOILER AHEAD **~**

Poor Thing Female Lead
This Ajumma is much much more likeable than the Cruel Temptations' blurfuck and sweetie pie Ajumma. Though she is relatively uneducated, she tries very hard for her family, but not in a dumb or shiok-sendiri way.

Philandering Husband
Ajumma's husband leaves her (i) for a pretty and sophisticated old flame, (ii) with a load of debts, and (iii) with his irritating mother. Ajumma signs up for cooking competition on TV to attempt to win the prize money, in hope to settle debts.

Mistress
Husband's mistress is the host of the cooking competition. Similar to the mistress in Cruel Temptations, she is a smart and scheming individual with an abnormal childhood. The difference is that her love for the guy is questionable.

Rich Family, Poor Family
Heir of TV Station falls in love with Ajumma. All set against the backdrop of 2 families, extremely rich and powerful vs extremely poor and helpless. Rich dads in both series are equally uptight, bound by social pressures such as 'face', and tend to faint/heart gives way when things go very wrong in the family/business. Cute grandchildren in all families.

Evil Mother-in-Law
As for the perennial 'evil' mother-in-law... both are totally irritating... with this mother-in-law being absolutely useless, whiny and not good-looking. I am unable to find any bit of myself sympathising with this mother-in-law, while I did feel bad for the Cruel Temptations' mother-in-law at some point. I guess the scriptwriters improved the formula right for the 'evil' yet human mother-in-law over time.

Stomach Cancer and Suicide by the Sea

Enuff said.

So, if you like Cruel Temptations, chances are, you will like Here Comes Ajumma more. Go get the VCD boxset from Poh Kim. Only SGD20. Audio in Mandarin/Korean. Subtitles in Chinese only. Please watch it in Korean. Dubbing takes away the flavour by too much.

Oh yes... Prepare a box of tissue papers. This drama-comedy makes you cry no less than a full-fledged drama.

Gen Y increasingly defaulting on debts

"... younger Singaporeans - those between 21 to 29 years old - are increasingly defaulting on their debts.
 

Figures collected by DP Credit Bureau from payment data of its financial institution members revealed that the percentage of defaults from this age group rose from 5.07 per cent in January 2009 to 7.16 per cent in December 2009. They also recorded the steepest percentage increase in bad debts during 2009."

"Unique to this age bracket is that fact that those who are married had higher default rates than their single counterparts. For all other groups, married individuals had a lower rate of default."

Read more here and here.

In other words, 1 in 14 Gen Yers using credit will default. Since most have credit cards, how big was your Gen Y graduating class in poly/uni? Apply this ratio and you will get an idea of how many of your friends are defaulting right now, especially those who are married.

This age group is also in the phase where many have just stepped out of school, started working, and are preparing for that dream (expensive) wedding, new home and renovations. A rather tumultuous phase.

Many graduated from tertiary education in the red, i.e. with a study loan to repay. Coupled with the discovery of ostensible 'financial independence' from the parents for the first time and easy access to credit (cards), it is not unimaginable that many will leap into a consumption frenzy.

The iPod/iPhone/iPad/Macbook, beach holidays, nights at Butter Factory, dinners at Dempsey, macaroons in a box tied with a ribbon, hair salon trips, mani/pedi-cure packages, gym packages, the LV bag/wallet/belt, the Ted Baker shirts, the 'man-boy toys', the car, the HDB flat/apartment, glossy renovations, dream wedding & gown, the private hospital maternity package, the purebred toy puppy to complete the picture etc...

You are only young once. You love yourself. You deserve the best perfect life money can buy. Buy/enjoy it now, think later.

But wait... Didn't an earlier MOM report highlight that 1 in 3 poly/uni grads are employed on contract basis? This must affect the income stability of this group, and its ability to repay its debts.

Furthermore, the downturn and the wide opening of floodgates for foreigners to work in Singapore (subjecting these entry level white-collar jobs to unprecedented international competition) render the slice of the pie for Singaporean young adults unstable and perhaps even on the diminish. This will also lead to future costs.

But of course, these income/affordability factors are somewhat 'invisible', especially if one refuses to see and is stubbornly determined to lead his 'dream post-poly/varsity lifestyle'.

The spending habits and their income situation are not squaring off. The calculations I did in 2007 still stands. And my suggestion of Basic Personal Finance Module for poly/varsity students has become even more relevant yet not implemented.

Men are Bigger Liars

According to a British study,

• Men (3 times per day) lie more than women (twice per day)
• Men lie about drinking habits, while women claim nothing is wrong when something is wrong.
• Men feel less guilty about lying
• Women are better liars
• Key audience being lied to is the Mother

And it seems British men lie 21 times more than they prefer to shower, i.e. once per week.

Oh!! Those dirty liars! O_o

My Thinkpad is Hospitalised

It's been 2 years since I brought the Thinkpad X61 home.
It's been having extremely high fever and has died on me multiple times, and giving me the blue screen of death to prove that it's so dead. I cannot bring it back without it lapsing into a vegetative state.

So I took it to the IBM laptop hospital in Changi Business Park on Tuesday.

Apparently, the hard disk mother board is dead. The battery is dead too.
I hope the hospital stay will not cost me too much!

Waiting waiting waiting...
.................................

UPDATE:

IT'S ALIVE!! IT'S ALIVE!!
Went to collect Mr X61 today... Happy! =)))

Agree to Disagree

Read this article in the papers yesterday?

Asked to change religion? Here's help 

As a result of Pastor Rony Tan's public criticism of Buddhism, the 2 largest temples in Singapore have sponsored a guidebook to help and suggest ways for Buddhists "who are facing proselytism in their workplace, school or even at home, so that they can maintain their stand with compassion and wisdom."

5,000 copies will be given out, free of charge, during Vesak Day at the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery.

You can also read and download it from its website at http://conversion.buddhists.sg/

I read the online version (available in English and Chinese). The guidebook is written in a simple, polite yet firm manner, suggesting specific lines one can use to reject proselytising in various situations. The guidebook also suggests what one can do if he/she feels that he/she faces insensitive proselytism, and highlights common misconceptions about Buddhism.

What's exceptional about the guidebook is its symbolic value. I can't emphasise this enough. Its existence reminds everyone of the boundaries. Stylish.

Too many issues are in urgent need of such reminders. Sexual harassment, office bullying... erm... road safety/use... high-rise living ethics... too many... People are often too forgetful and stubborn.

Kid Nation

Channel 5 is much better after midnight on weekdays.

If you ever get a chance to stay up and/or can bother to record it, do try to catch Kid Nation (Channel 5 on weekdays, 2am - 3am).

I thought it was a kid's show, but I was so wrong. This is a reality show with kids, but what the audience sees is far from being childish.

Throw 40 kids, aged 8 to 15, in an abandoned ranch in the middle of nowhere without adult supervision for 40 days, and call them 'Pioneers'. Divide them into 4 colour groups. Make them compete in challenges.

The winning team will get to be the 'Upper Class', i.e. no chores, just get money each for doing nothing. The 1st runner up will be the 'Merchant Class', where their responsibility was to man a shop in the ranch.

The 2nd runner-up will be the 'Cooks', having to cook for the entire camp. The last group gets the sucky title of 'Labourers' and equally sucky menial tasks of cleaning the toilets and fetching water, while making only a couple of cents. YES. It is like real life.

Meanwhile, encourage the kids to make decisions such as whether they should kill the chickens in the barn for food. Watch their reactions. Some kids get really emotional about something like that.

Wait... We are not done with the structure of this little society. Each colour group nominates a leader which represents the group in the Town Council. The Town Council has the power to make decisions on behalf of the Pioneers.

Once all 4 groups complete a challenge within the time limit, the Pioneers are presented with 2 options for a reward. By default, the Town Council gets to make the decision on behalf of the Pioneers. In one instant, after a wet and tiring challenge, the kids were dirty and shivering in the cold, and presented with 2 options. (A) An microwave with cocoa powder to make hot chocolate, or (B) 40 steaming hot pizzas. The kids went nutz and started chanting Pizza! Pizza! One of them was even wondering about the toppings.

But the Town Council chose the microwave, because 'the pizzas will only last 1 day' but the microwave would be very useful for the rest of the stay at the ranch. Surprisingly rational.

Ahhh... But here's the lovely bit of this programme, you witness the ramifications of such decisions... Afterwards, the Town Council, especially the kid who fought for the microwave, became rather unpopular... Just like how politicians become unpopular when they try to do the 'right' thing.

When the Town Council tried to put together a compulsory prayer session to calm the camp's nerves, no one turned up. =))
 ....................................

Because of the participation of children in the series, some thought it's unethical, e.g. child labour issues. The concept of ' forcing adult issues onto children/childhood' became a point of contention too. What a waste!

See details in its wikipedia entry as highlighted at the start of the entry.

Pinkdot 2010

Pinkdot 2010 was a mega success!

It was clear even before we got there. We saw groups of people in pink making their way to Hong Lim Park.

The vibes were so different from the week before. It's a carnival!

I saw families, couples, people from different races and religions participating in this event. It is heart-warming.

I took a vid from the same spot as I did last week.

And of course, the turnout was double of that of last year's Pinkdot! Hong Lim Park may not be big enough for Pinkdot next year.

I saw volunteers picking up rubbish once the event was officially over. A very well-organised event. Kudos to the organisers.

Rest in Peace, Dr Goh

"For us in Singapore, the road to greater wealth is through thrift, enterprise and hard work. The road to stability lies in prudence and foresight in prosperity, and patience and fortitude in adversity."

~ Goh Keng Swee (1918 - 2010)

They don't make them like that anymore.
Thrift? The system is so wasteful these days.

Read about Dr Goh here and here.

Away We Go

Sam Mendes (of American Beauty and Revolutionary Road) has done it again. This time, he made 'Away We Go'.

A couple in their 30s searching for a place they can call home. Aren't we all trying to do this? Some of us, doing it with our partners... some doing it on their own... Others doing it, thinking that their partners are onboard.

A rare romantic comedy which I feel good watching. I wish 'Good Fren' was there to watch it with me.

Tortoise Shell & Zapping

Somehow I chanced upon pictures of tortoise shell spectacles frames while surfing online.

I used to have a similar pair... during my uni days, I think. Back then, there was a tortoise-shell wave... I dun understand it either. Such things aren't meant to be analysed. Did you have a pair in the 90s too?

I also remember breaking that frame and attempting to tape it back together.

In a weird way, I miss wearing glasses. I remember the specs guy would heat up the frame a little before bending it to fit my face. My last pair was translucent green. I love plastic frames. They are like useful toys.

Has it been 5 years since my lasik op?

Been trying to get 'Good Fren's eyes zapped. But first, we shall get his air passage zapped.

Modern life is so convenient. Many problems can be resolved by zapping them with lasers and waves and whatever else they come up with.

I wanna zap my face too! They claim that if you use the right wave to zap your face, it can reverse part of the sagging! I imagine the contraction to be similar to what you'll get if you attempt to heat up some plastic sheets. O_O

DiSCiP is coming alive!

Well... At least a small part of it...

Remember my idea of DiSCiP, put forth on this blog in 2007 and subsequently passed onto a friend in IDA, to streamline interaction/transactions between SINGOV and citizens/businesses through a dedicated online platform?

IDA is finally calling tender for something along those lines...

Not as comprehensive as what I have envisaged. Neither does it sound as comprehensive as what the UK is attempting to build (announced in Mar 2010). It sounds like a government matters only email account for citizens and businesses. Nonetheless, it is a start.

"As part of a revamp of its eCitizen portal, the agency (IDA) is also to build in a secure inbox for consumers and businesses to access all Government-related correspondence."

We are back at Square 1

PM Lee has announced that the Mother Tongue Weighting will NOT change. MOE will attempt to review how Mother Tongue is taught in school.

So, after all that hooha about We love Mother Tongue and the PSLE Weighting cha-cha... It seems everyone is back at Square 1.

Huh? Same spot? How come? Surely all those emotions/energy/ love of mother tongue must translate to something?

I think it's a most ridiculous situation, where people get caught up in an unnecessary whirlpool of emotions, totally missing the point.

The Mother Tongue Environment Triangle
The necessary ingredients to make or break the adoption of the Mother Tongue and its all-encompassing culture are Family, Community & Government. You need 3 core stakeholders to be working together, and not just the Government doing the work alone, dragging along unwilling participants who resist and dig their nails into the ground whenever they have to learn 听写.

In fact, Family and Community play more important roles than the Government. Each group has to work with the other to reinforce the environment conducive for learning and using the Mother Tongue.

And if you look at the diagram which summarises the bigger picture, you'd realise that the MT PSLE Weighting is really a very very small piece of this huge puzzle.

FAMILY

Those who are fighting for status quo are those who are better at MT (Chinese). They want to maintain their edge in the current PSLE system. But some of the petitioners are unmarried/gay and do not have children or offsprings who will be affected by any changes in PSLE. So, they will argue that PSLE is not the only bone of contention. These activists, along with many grey-haired petitioners, claim that the maintaining MT PSLE Weighting helps to incubate and preserve the love for the Chinese culture.

How much does MT PSLE Weighting have to do with improving the adoption/absorption of Chinese language/culture at the family level?

Even if this 'Keep MT PSLE Weighting = Incubate/preserve love for Chinese Culture' assumption holds true, are we really expecting that this heated episode and its status quo outcome will result in say a bunch of kids will sit up tomorrow and become really interested in the Chinese language?

Or that parents who have not been speaking Mandarin to their children because their Mandarin suck will get off their arses to go learn Mandarin properly so that they can create a Mandarin-speaking environment for their kids?

Rather, even at the more realistic level, that Chinese language tuition centres would see a spike in enrolment?

Let's not kid ourselves. If the parents have no self-discipline when it comes to learning the Chinese language, it is a huge discount off the probability that the kids will learn the language well.

Nothing has changed at the family level. Nothing.

COMMUNITY
If the family is not helping the situation, what about the community in which the kid is immersed in?

The point is, despite a small percentage of people making a lot of noise, there is no material change to way Chinese is promoted and used in Singapore. Should the responsibility of promoting the MTs only rest on the shoulders of the Government?

If a community really loves its culture and is intellectually-honest, it will examine how much/little effort it has put into helping create a Chinese culture-friendly environment. (I can feel the defensiveness even as I write this. 做么? 做么? 你算哪根葱? 敢批评我?!)

For example, how much have the Chinese clan associations done to pass down and preserve the traditions? I think the efforts are fragmented. Some clan associations have highly rationalised programmes and function like extra curricula enrichment centres, while others have not done much beyond its membership.

And what about the Chinese Teachers' Union?
Yes, they made noise this time round. But is it gonna change how Chinese language will henceforth be taught in schools? Will it be in the same moralistic and rote learning fashion? Does including more 'fun' ways to learn Chinese really lead to a higher level of proficiency?

Or perhaps, the real problem is with the image of the Chinese teacher, i.e. less accessible to the average student than other teachers? Afterall, these Chinese teachers/ 'community leaders' are the spokesperson of the Chinese Language. If the problem is with them, it has to be fixed pronto. And yes, in my opinion, this is the toughest group to reshape.

Lastly, those in the Chinese media. These are the bunch of people with the potentially largest influence on the Chinese community. They have significant influence over the production of Chinese popular culture, ranging from TV drama, films, plays, music, visual arts, classical arts, new media, mainstream media/news, Speak Mandarin campaigns etc.

Polarised in terms of 'quality', the Chinese media's creations are mainly either overly intellectually-purist or of intellectually-insulting quality. What then is filling up that huge in-between gap? The highly-accessible English popular culture. To cement 'Chinese culture' in the hearts and minds of the Chinese audience, the Community needs to regain this huge in-between space.

There has been some efforts such as mypaper, omy.sg... but I see major areas in critical need for improvement, e.g. TV drama production. It's all about being accessible. It's not about lowering standard of Chinese language used so that people will read your papers/websites... It's about the content and how you market your content. Case in point: If many Singaporeans are voluntarily taking up Korean language classes because of the Korean Wave, it speaks volume of how powerful popular culture is.

BE CONSTRUCTIVE
I see the recent interaction between Community and Government as a great opportunity for these 2 groups to work together, and not just a talk, complain, petition session. This is the best time to ask the government for resources/support to develop efforts for promotion of the Mother Tongue. The Community has to take ownership of its Mother Tongue/Culture. I hope those who have made a lot of noise this time round will prove their worth by doing more than just a petition.

What's the objective and how do we know that we have arrived?
In the modern world, we have arrived when majority of the Chinese community smses and/or instant messages one another in Chinese.

Hello Miss Lee... Is this a good time?

I keep getting sales phonecalls on my mobile. =_=
Almost 5 times a week.

A couple of weeks ago, this bank told me they would update my XYZ card. Then it came with another card which can do this and that... and with like 300 passwords.

This has to be crazy.

BM: Hello?

X: Hello Miss Lee. This is X from ABC Bank/Insurance company. Is this a good time?

BM: What is this about?

X: ABC Bank/Insurance company is having a promotion/ has a new product...

BM: I am not interested. Thank you.

X: This is a special blah blah blah...

BM: I'm not interested. Thank you.*presses 'End Call'*

Please stop calling me. I do not need another credit card, funds transfer credit, overdraft, insurance... nothing. (Though I could do with some help for laundry, especially folding.)

Is there an opt-out option with the phone service providers/ law/ something/ anything??

Hong Lim Park & Mother Tongue Petition

Hong Lim Park is ALIVE!

On one side, there is a snoozing temporary hawker centre. On its left, the community centre with an outdoor stage and canopy buzzing with people and hokkien songs.

Then across the grass, 2 small tents have been set up (by 民间?), and a crowd has gathered.

 
The crowd doesn't look that big. Probably around 300-400 by 5.45pm. Event is scheduled to take place from 5pm to 7pm.

Isn't poetic that hokkien songs are blasting casually in the background while a bunch of people gather to 'fight' for their Chinese Mother Tongue?

The tents are where the petitions are signed.

So, what is the petition about?
It says here in the 4 major languages on this enlarged document for all to view at the event:

"As a group concerned about mother tongue education, we are of the belief that all mother tongues, or languages, be accorded the same degree of respect, be it Chinese, Malay, Tamil or even English."

Hmmm... Though this is what the text claims, the 'marketing' of this event (refer to online posters and efforst) has been primarily in Chinese. Not sure how that is to say this is a group concerned with respect for ALL mother tongues and/or reaching out to people who have non-Chinese mother tongues.

Another intriguing observation: For any event, there must be a 'centre' of event and peripheral areas.

In this event, the centre is where the 2 tents are. Apart from people queueing up to sign the petition, the centre is occupied by 'younger' people. E.g. You can see DJ Danny Yeo (in red) in the centre of the picture, talking to a bunch of young people.

At the peripheral areas, you will find small groups of Baby Boomers (marked by various stages of greying hair) gathering and watching.

I must have witnessed at least 3 episodes of excited 'AHHHHH!', hand grabbing/shaking and hugging. It felt like an old Chinese school gathering...

And of course, the press was having a field day (pardon the pun), interviewing people... From children to organisers to... I guess... 民间.

At around 5.45pm, a police car came by coz these enthuz people were parking illegally along North Canal Road. =))
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Pinkdot attracted 2,000 people last year.
How many LGBTs are there in Singapore? My gay friends tell me... Maybe 1 in 10 in Singapore is LGBT.
So the turnout rate is 0.44%.

This Chinese Mother Tongue petition attracts a few hundred and announces on Facebook that the petition was signed by 2,000.
How many Chinese are there in Singapore? 75% of 4.5mil.
Turnout rate of this event = 0.06%.

Pinkdot is roughly 7 times more subscribed by its community than the MT Petition is within the Chinese community today.
Which cause is more significant?

Busy Hong Lim Park

This weekend, Hong Lim Park will host the Mother-Tongue petition-signing exercise on Sun, 9 May 2010.

According to his blog, former DJ Danny Yeo is denying that he started the peitition-signing against Mother Tongue Weighting Reduction, and insists that 民间 (people in general) started it.

Regardless, whoever's name is on the registration form to NParks for the use of Hong Lim Park for this event will be the official creator of this exercise.
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Next Saturday, Hong Lim Park will be transformed into a huge pink dot because Pinkdot is back.

If you are unfamiliar with Pinkdot, do read its wiki entry.

What impresses me most about Pinkdot is not its catchy pro-LGBT "Freedom to Love" message, but rather how organised and convincing this effort has turned out to be.

From planning to viral/mainstream marketing to finding/organising volunteers/spokespersons to fund-raising to execution of event. Clear, concise and effective. These people are definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Do take a look at these videos featuring families of LGBT and their stories of tolerance and acceptance.




These stories bring tears to my eyes.

Do your parents love you this much for who you are?

Re: Re: Reducing the Mother Tongue Weighting for PSLE

While the discussions amongst MOE, the Chinese clan associations and Chinese Teachers' Union are ongoing, more noises stemming from the Mother Tongue Weighting Reduction issue have emerged.

(A) Member of Chinese Media making a move

Some of you may remember Danny Yeo 杨君伟, a former Chinese-station DJ, now a polytechnic lecturer of sorts. Well, he has been rather passionate about the current MT debate and has written a few passionate entries on the subject in his blog hosted by SPH's online bilingual platform called omy.sg.

Today, Mr Yeo put up an entry calling for his readers to gather at Hong Lim Park this weekend for... Mother's Day, not Mother Tongue.

The weird thing is that this entry has been linked with the Mother Tongue issue and quoted as such in other people's pages which are dedicated to the Mother Tongue issue. Furthermore, this call for Mother's Day at Hong Lim Park is written only in Chinese, and with the Chinese character 母 (mother) clearly in the background.

Is this a call for people to gather at Hong Lim Park for the Mother Tongue issue, but masquerading as Mother's Day gathering instead? Have these people gone mad?

(B) Malay Media voicing concerns over MT Weighting Reduction

This article has appeared on Berita Harian today, citing concerns of a few individuals in the Malay community over the MT issue. It's worthwhile to note that it is NOT an 'outcry'. It's just a report put together by the media, quoting a few disparate people.
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Regardless, SINGOV needs to tackle this issue quickly. 有一群惟恐天下不乱的人在一旁搅和. It's not about to stop burning on its own.

Re: Reducing the Mother Tongue Weighting for PSLE

It has been a long time since the Chinese community has been so openly active about an issue:

• Chinese clans to petition against Mother Tongue Weighting Reduction
• Chinese Teachers’ Union called for preservation of weighting in mother tongue

This is extremely intriguing, especially when the next election is round the corner.

This may just well be a watershed in the usual lead up to the election. This is history in the making, my friends.

What are the possible outcomes of the discussions amongst Singov, the Chinese clans and the Chinese Teachers' Union?

• Delayed reduction of MT Weighting (E.g. to maintain no reduction for next 2 years, then to be reduced incrementally to 20% in 2013, then 15% by 2015)
• Slight reduction of MT Weighting (E.g. only reduce by 5% - 10%)
• Segmented: If you take Chinese A, your MT weighting remains at 25%. If you take Chinese B, your MT weighting is reduced by X%. <<<< My favourite... Heh heh heh... 融会贯通呀! 知己知彼，百战百胜哦! =))

Can't wait for the outcome to be announced.

Ip Man 2

I went to Cathay and asked to watch 'Eye-Pee Man', instead of 'Yip-Mun'. The ticketing boy didn't even flinch. He simply took my order and gave me the ticket. I rated his service as "Excellent". =))

Here's the trailer of Ip Man 2.


Now that you have seen the trailer, you have seen the better bits of the film.

Only the action is good. The story line is overly simplistic and simply lame. The makers of this film must have had chest-thumping peasants in mind when creating it. Any single episode of Here Comes Ajumma can beat its storyline hands-down.

Once again... Another product to cater to the Chinese mass market with the following ingredients:

1. Chinese pride theme
2. Hong Kong stars with peripheral actors from China
3. Funds from Hong Kong/China
4. Production location/labour etc from China
5. Post production/effects from Thailand
6. Music from Japan

And if you spend enough time in the cinema before the film starts, you'd realise that they are capitalising on this Ip Man wave... They are making the prequel of Ip Man. I would not be surprised if they soon announced that they would be made Ip Man 3 = Ip Man + Bruce Lee.

I wonder if the recent wave of Chinese Mother Tongue pride/solidarity in Singapore (re: the MT Weighting Redux Debate) has anything to do with the airing of this film over the same weekend?

Reducing the Mother Tongue Weighting for PSLE

I received an email from a reader, urging me to write about the reduction of Mother Tongue (MT) Weighting for PSLE.

hi blinkymummy,

I have been your reader for quite some time. Recently there is the announcement by MOE wrt PSLE Mother Tongue Weighting Cut. This has created plenty of noise over the mainstream paper and online discussion. As i know that you are quite interested in Chinese Language, I hope that you can support our cause either by writing about it or at least create some awareness over your blog. Looks like the standard of Chinese is going to take a huge dip with the impending announcement of the cut. A group of concerned parties is trying to create as much awareness as possible. Do take a look at our work and what others had written about it:

1. http://www.facebook.com/pages/fan-dui-jiang-diPSLE-mu-yu-cheng-ji-bi-zhong/113447375354697
2. http://siewkumhong.blogspot.com/2010/04/politics-and-policy-making.html
3. http://politicssg.blogspot.com/2010/04/truth-of-why-moe-is-reducing-weightage.html

The 3rd link gets you to an entry which suggests that MOE is reducing the MT weighting because of its Minister Ng Eng Hen's personal experience, i.e. in 1999, he and his son were quoted in the Chinese papers saying that the son thought Chinese was taught too sternly in class and it would not be as important as English.

Minister Ng said that he "is glad that Chinese B classes will allow his son to concentrate in other subjects. He laments that even when his son was spending 30-40% of his time in Chinese alone, he was not making any progress in his result at all. With the new scheme, he can now spend his time more efficiently on subjects he can understand better."

And so... I am guessing quite a few people are thinking that Minister Ng (now the Minister of Education) is trying to undo the disadvantage his kid(s) had faced with in their earlier school days.
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There are a few issues all mangled up here. Let's try to detangle them for purpose of discussion.

(A) Stratification of the Chinese Language

Well, if you have been following my blog, I'm all for stratification of the Chinese Language (as a subject).

CL1, CL2, Higher Chinese, Chinese B, CL'A', CL'AO'... So many...

Why are there so many different names and 'grades' of the Chinese language as a subject in our Singapore education system?

The double first language system was started for a variety of reasons. Some made known to us, and probably others we would never know.

The point is, even with the 'Difficult' vs 'Less Difficult' options, some students cannot cope. Why, you may ask? Because I believe learning the Chinese language is more difficult because:

1. Of the way it is taught (e.g. always preaching certain values = jarring to the ears.); and more importantly,
2. It is used less often in the everyday life, especially if you are a teenager in an elite school, an English-speaking family, and attends mass in English. The less you use it, the more alien you find it, the more difficult it becomes, the more you resist it... vicious cycle. Remember, the contributing factors are 'Community' & 'Family'.

Does this mean the Chinese language is less important, as pointed out by Minister Ng's son? It depends on whether you intend to use your Chinese language skills later on in life, e.g. by then you need to work in China and/or with Mandarin speakers.

The Chinese language is a tool. Regardless, whether it's gonna form 25% of your PSLE or 2.5%, it's up to you to master it. And from the looks of how the world is developing, one would be silly to dismiss the importance of the Chinese language.

(B) Chinese Singaporeans & MT Weighting for PSLE

Why are the letters to the forum (both for and against) by authors with Chinese names? The change in Mother Tongue Weighting affects all Mother Tongues, and not just Chinese. Why no vehement responses from other racial groups?

I only belong to one racial group, so I can only theorise about this.

I think the Chinese group is making so much more noise about the MT weighting, relative to the other groups, because:

(B1i) There are simply more 'Chinese' in Singapore.
It's a bigger group. Hence, higher probability of noise-making. More noise = more attention.

(B1ii) Bigger group also means there are different factions within the group.

Remember 'Community' and 'Family' as mentioned above? Even when it says you are 'Chinese' on your NRIC, your way of life can be very different from someone else who is also 'Chinese'.

You may speak Mandarin to your folks at home, hang around friends/school mates who speak a mix of Mandarin/English/Hokkien, read comics in Chinese, and perhaps go to a Chinese temple for prayers. Your scriptures are in Chinese. Your priority is to watch Ip Man 2 instead of Ironman 2. Mayday over Jonas Brothers.

Meanwhile, this other 'Chinese' person is from an English-speaking family, attends mass in English, hangs around English-speaking classmates who come from similar backgrounds and consume MTV culture and Aston steaks. Their priority is to watch Ironman 2 instead of Ip Man 2. Jonas Brothers over Mayday.

The 'Community' and 'Family' for these 2 groups of Chinese Singaporeans are vastly different. The primary languges used are different too.

If you compare this effect of 'Community' and 'Family' with that of the Malay community, because they speak Malay at home, it's less likely for them to resist Malay MT lessons in school.

And it is highly plausible that the current debate amongst Chinese Singaporeans about the MT Weighting Reduction is in fact about social class (education is seen as a vehicle to move between classes. Hence, its fairness + access are being questioned).

The more 'cheena' Chinese Singaporeans do not want the revised system to benefit the more 'kentang' Chinese Singaporeans, citing a zero-sum game situation amongst the Chinese Singaporeans who take Chinese as MT at PSLE. I'll discuss this 'compeitition' later in the entry.

(B2) Lack of Choice
Because the Indian group is ethnically less homogeneous than the Chinese group. E.g. Sikhs are not Tamils. New immigrants from India are mostly not Tamil. Because of this, non-Tamil Indians are allowed to choose any language as MT. Having a choice may have helped to reduce unhappiness if and when these students don't do well at the MT exam.

(C) Invisible Factors affecting the Reduction of MT Weighting

I personally believe, with the flooding of our little isle with immigrants from all over the world, the MT system has to bend under such weight.

It's getting more difficult to provide appropriate MTs for all ethnicities of Singaporeans (especially New Immigrants). Hence, it is difficult to continue to argue that one has to be forced to learn a MT which doesn't really mean anything to his ethnicity, and that the grade forms a significant portion of his PSLE aggregate score.

In fact, it will make more sense very soon for all public schoolers to be able to choose a 2nd language from a range of languages, e.g. Chinese, Bahasa Melayu, Tamil, Hindi, Filipino (Tagalog), Vietnamese etc. In fact, this may be the next Unique Selling Proposition of Singapore's public school system, i.e. we offer an opportunity for your kid to learn an Asian language.

I also observe a glaring blind spot.
Those Singaporean Chinese, who do not want the reduction in MT weighting because they think their better command of the Chinese Language (relative to the more 'kentang' Singaporeans) gives them an edge, should stop competing inwardly and remind themselves that there are many PRCs who are competing against your kids in school now and in the future. And they can beat your kid at Chinese blindfolded and with their arms/legs bound.

Hence, reducing the MT weighting helps Singaporean Chinese to maintain some sort of advantage (I'm assuming your kid's command of English is better than that of the PRC New Immigrant/PR, hence resulting in some kind of advantage).