Romania hit-and-run case

I feel sorry for the injured and dead. Especially when everyone know that he won’t be returning for justice to be meted. At the same time, I feel government should show that they are making the effort. After all, it’s our own people. One people, One nation, One Singapore. If the government don’t even fight for us, then it is really a sad sad case for all Singaporeans. It’s similar to if you are young and being bullied, yet your parents just let it be.

-Straits Times-

Mininova is down

Mininova will only publish torrent for content distribution as it is unable to overrule the court order as their software is not able to 100 percent filter out copyrighted content. So for now, new user will have to move to other torrent sites. ISOHunt is one of them. Coincidentally, demonoid has also been down for quite sometime.

On TNP publish of patient zero name

Due to the recent case of TNP publishing her name despite her unwillingness has incurred the wrath of the online community, blog posts and twitters has been slamming the act of the newspaper.

I can understand why the company wanted to be the one to publish the name since CNA and Straits Times did not so as to protect Patient Zero. Since, we’re in a democratic country, a person rights should be respected

The worse part is that employee of the company engaged in blogger using multi-nick via the same ip address to try to support the company.

To another ordinary person, this may not be anything. But not for DK, since he studied software.

Either way, TNP will just be whack no matter. Or just making the situation worse. Maybe the company should review it’s protocol in engaging online community. This may be their first step forward.

Bleak future of GM

Well, after a week of high, the future of GM has not been changed. Even though it’s a pity that I did not wait for a few more days to earn a total of $2k profit. But I did not feel too much about it because of the past few days before GM while I’m holding their stock, it’s been a nightmare. A vicious cycle that keeps me to my lappie checking for every news that reported about it. It’s a good lesson learnt. I’m working too hard for my money.

Sorry for the digress. Let me explain why GM may not survive in this recession. Because investing base on emotion is a sure fail plan. And it can be a very strong factor that the stocks raise from $1.09 to $1.92 in a matter of days. There’s a lot of speculation or hope that the company will survive and pick up from there.

GM has solved the union problem. Good.

Their pension debt got restructured. Good.

Got more money loan to sustain for another month plus. Good

Offer for Opel. Good.

But the biggest problem lies in the bondholders. Asking them to forfeit $10Bn for only a maximum of 10% of the restructured company, does it make sense?

Do not blame them for the downfall. The focus should be on the company itself. They are investing in the company at a much lower returns. So they have the right to be the first to get the money in case the company goes bankrupt.

Right now the union owned 35%, US govt owned around 50%. So left maybe 10% for bondholders and 1% for shareholder. It means the shareholders will be super uber massively diluted. Maybe only worth 10 cents a share at the end of restructuring.

Given this type of situation, if people are telling me they’re going for long term, then they’re in for a rude shock. It’s all emotion at play. Buying stock because it’s cheap. Long term requires company with good fundamental. And it means more risk too.

Like what my pop always said, a bird on hand is worth two in the bushes.

Just for fun during recession

Found some funny articles from reuters on how Singapore actually cope with recession.

June 1, The ultimate decree for General Motors

June 1 will be the day Americans and ME (as a shareholder at least for now) will be very concerned because it is the day GM fate will rest on.

They’ve been busy selling off assets (have to) because of their position. GM has become quite cumbersome and it is good to shred off some weight. And it is a liability for a company that is losing money for every car sold. Not to mention the size of pension fund needed in just Canada alone.

BUT My bet is Obama will not let GM declare bankrupt because 6 in 10 jobs in usa is tied to the Auto industry.

GM price is now back to square one. It means if you buy GM 76 years ago, you are back to the same amount of money. This shows how stupid “buy and hold” is if one not adjusting his strategy to the current changes. Especially one is not buying the right company.

I strongly believed the pension fund should be scrap off. People should learn to save for retirement. Union should also be in the position of helping the company to prosper and at the same time fighting for the rights of the employee rather than dragging the whole company with them to the grave. It does not make sense especially when the company had to close down.

The best way ahead is to convince the union to change the bonds, pension fund to stocks to reduce outflow of cash. Sell off some assets for liquidity and provide retraining for their employee in prepare for the downturn!

Demise of US Auto Industry

If you know about US economy, around 6 in 10 jobs is linked to the auto industry. Hence, it’s a big blow to the economy and it’s no wonder that the stock market wasn’t performing well.

Chrysler is the first auto company to declare bankcrupt as according to report from reuters. For many others including President Obama, concluded that the car industry is not worth salvaging with taxpayers money.

Think about it, which company can fight with the Japanese like Toyotas. They make good, cheap and energy-efficient cars. The bottom line is that a company earns by making good products that people want.

So for next, it is quite obvious that GM will follow suit. It is another company that is not worth saving considering the amount of debt they are in. They are overpaying the workers not to mention the long-term debt of pension fund for older workers. Losing money for every car sold! It was once mentioned by the report somewhere that the workers are earning like USD$80/hour. That’s a freaking huge sum of money. Their one hour is almost equivalent to my whole day pay!

All in all, I believed the future of Americans is better to have those Auto Companies shut down and specialized in renewale energy where they have the edge given the amount of technology, scientist in states. Give the auto industry to the Toyotas or Tatas. Let them fight in this competitive and profit-margin thin industry.

It’s a tough way out of this recession for sure. But we can see that it is not as bad as one think though definitely not a V rebound.

Promoting Mandarin?

It’s been a long while since we have all the newspaper covered on promoting mandarin among the Chinese. What I would suggest is that MOE will have to take a resolute direction to making sure Mandarin is also taking in the same limelight as English.

English was emphasized in the past even until now because it will make trades with the West easier and now China will also be a important trading partner and thus Mandarin is getting more important. But one must know that failure of English in PSLE or O level means you’ve failed overall but this cannot be said for Chinese.

I personally went through the period where I would fail my English during mid term and pass it miraculously during end of the year. My mandarin is of above average standard during that time. Not sure about now. After years of toiling in the field of academics, English is already driven in my mind as the most important language. Thus even when I’m back from States, I still consciously remind myself to continue to improve my English. Hence, Mandarin has been of limited use for the past 1 year. Does it matter? Nope as of my work now, Mandarin is not of any use to me except to read manga.

To really promote Mandarin, it’s more than just preaching on the need for it. Rather that, more reform on education needs to done.

Welcome back Jerry Ee

Just want to mention I STILL don’t like the photo they used. It’s just a preference of taste I guess. With that kind of money, I believed he could have live a life with a different identity so I’m still quite puzzled why he turn himself in.

Extracted from CNA
SINGAPORE: Jerry Ee, the former Cortina employee who made away with some S$8 million worth of watches from the Cortina outlet at Raffles City last December, surrendered at the Singapore embassy in Bangkok on Tuesday.

The Singapore Police Force said 35—year—old Jerry Ee is currently in the custody of the Royal Thai Police.

More than 200 pieces of the stolen watches were recovered from him.

Singapore well short of 60,000 births needed each year

Well I don’t really see the concern for the falling birth rate. From the way it is and the way Singapore operates, we can always import babies from other countries just like we import sportsman etc. Isn’t it so?

Extracted from CNA
SINGAPORE: Singapore remains well short of the 60,000 births it needs each year to enable the population to replace itself naturally, figures showed.

A report released on the Department of Statistics website showed 39,935 babies were born in 2008, up marginally from the previous year.

It is the highest number of births since 2002, when there were 40,760 babies born, but remains well short of the number needed for population levels to remain stable without measures such as increased immigration.

Singapore needs a fertility rate of 2.1 babies per woman so that the population can replace itself naturally, the government has said.

The government has implemented several measures, including financial incentives, to encourage married Singaporeans to have more babies but these have failed to make a significant impact.

And when you grow old, you can go to JB for retirement. Kudos to MrBrown for this video

New formula for calculating electricity tariffs to reduce volatility

Well I’m not entirely sure about where it would help but quite a proportion of energy came from burning waste and how much rubbish cost? And because of betting the fuel to head north, the contingency plan of it heading south is not planned for and thus we’re punished for due to slumping demand caused by global recession.

New formula for calculating electricity tariffs to reduce volatility: “SINGAPORE: The cost of electricity in Singapore is expected to be less volatile and more reflective of current oil prices with a revision in the tariff formula.”

(Via CNA > Singapore News.)

Mas Selamat, where are you?

I find it quite hilarious to see this article. By no means, I’m taking a dig at our minister.

It would be nice if Mas Selamat can post a youtube video to let people know of his whereabout if he is enjoying life right now. Maybe by the beach sun-tanning and drinking juices with girls putting grapes into his mouth.

Ok my dear reader, the truth is…

this is my fantasy :p

ST Jan 16, 2009
Likely Mas Selamat has fled

ALMOST a year after he escaped from custody, where is terror fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari?

Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng narrowed it to either of two scenarios: one, he is in Singapore and hidden by sympathisers unknown to the authorities, or, two, he has fled the country.

Asked which was the more likely, Mr Wong told The Straits Times: ‘It’s very hard to say. Both scenarios are plausible. Maybe the second one is more plausible.’

‘Meh’ enters dictionary

Singlish is a culture, it’s a way of life and now ‘meh’ has even entered the dictionary to make its use a formality. Imagine this, we’re now able to use meh in formal documents!

For university student, it’s time to test the system by using ‘meh’ in your final year report and exam papers :p Quite insightful application for the word right?

And relax all Singaporeans, the inclusion of word is due to Simpsons. Yes, the famous Homer family throughout the globe, with legions of fans, that popularized the word.

For now, really meh?

‘Meh’ enters dictionary: ”

LONDON - AT LEAST someone is excited about ‘meh’. The expression of indifference or boredom has gained a place in the Collins English Dictionary after generating a surprising amount of enthusiasm among lexicographers.

Publisher HarperCollins announced on Monday the word had been chosen from terms suggested by the public for inclusion in the dictionary’s 30th anniversary edition, to be published next year.”

(Via Straits Times Interactive - LATEST NEWS.)

Dummies guide for USA presidential voting system

Alright, I guess many people can’t really understand what’s is it with the America president election voting system. So many terms, so confusing… unlike Singapore system where one party rules them all.

Let us start with the basic. People in the state vote for the person that they want to run America. This is also known as popularity vote for each state. So when the candidate has more popular vote (even by one vote), he will win all the electoral vote.

Number of electoral vote in each state is dependent on the number of people in the states (think of it as a ratio). So when a state is bigger in terms of population size, that state will have more electoral vote to fight for.

So one may say why the electoral vote? Alright, the president is elected base on electoral vote and not popularity vote. See? A state like Texas has more electoral vote to fight for than a small state unlike New Hampshire. So a term used for state with a lot of electoral vote is called the big state.

Here are common terms used:
Swing state: states that neither support Democrat or Republican, can swing either way.
Blue state: Democrate
Red state: Republican

YES!! Obama won

Like what I said Obama will win (calculating with finger action). And yes Right now, Obama has a 297 votes, 27 more electoral votes than required to win the election.

Congrats and wish Obama can achieve what he had said.

People over here has been celebrating. Well done Obama and Democrats. Whee

And yes, people in Alaska, you can stay in bed. Don’t bother to vote anymore. :p

update: here’s the video on Obama’s victory speech. It really touch my heart and even make me feel that I can have an American dream even if I’m not one. I wonder when will leaders in Singapore give us hope and direction to work towards to rather than always focusing on GDP growth. The transcript can be found here.