Abandoned BN tourism project??

What pissed me off is that the renovation works are making things worse off than before and it is way over the agreed time period.

Just look at the toilet, it is now home to squatters or even drug junkies.

Will the Bentong council answer this as I am really pissed after driving 300km to find out my favorite place to chill is in ruins.

Finding peace

I'm right now at changi airport where this used to be one of my hideouts if I need some simple peace of mind. It still is and that looking through the window, makes me want to be back free.. Going places, flying to many destination and exploring places despite with the least of budget.

Gone were the days and I still miss this place for this is where I spent the best time of my childhood days, at Tanah Merah Besar... Now a condo.

I had many fond memories, and of those friends I have left behind. Still, this is a part of me.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Wishing all my Chinese friends and readers a prosperous new year. May this year of the dragon be filled with joy and happiness to you and the who family.

As always, drive safe, don't drink if you want to drive. Take a cab instead.

CGPA grades or the grade of life??

A question I pose to those academician and hiring managers alike of whether the academic grade of a 4.0 is worth more than of a graduate who thinks out of the box and work smart which can work to the expectations and independently?
I have always a believer of street smart people who can achieve many things rather than of those who think they know they can of it , only just on paper rather than no real physical skill themselves.

For the past many years,Singapore have been emphasizing on the academics but lacking on the development of the thinking mind and took the short cut of just importing cheap foreign talents from India , Philippines and the sort and not heavily investing on the locals itself. Locals like the dominant sound blaster Creative Technologies will not be so of the standard unless he is without a thinking mind, not even a scholar. Why am I raising this matter up is that our GLC companies are wasting tax payers money on useless and outdated technology that even back dated England had used 5 years back. Technologies within the home team are so critical of the 3G technology that if an act of sabotage, they will be out of communications just as SingTel always screw up the 3G services. So what if there is a power outage or some china man used a cellular disrupter which you can buy off eBay for $29.95?? Where is the secondary system?? Lives would have been lost.

I just ask to take a few steps back and think out loud. Are we going back to the stone age and rely on foreign thwarts for everything and blame them for all the fuckups?? Or are we allowing Singaporeans fly out and never come back and be drained of the brain cells???

Another Singapore financial scam

The recent highlight of over 200 victims who had their debit visa and MasterCard ATM combo cards cloned and misused in Malaysia is just to show that cheap skate Singapore banks just don't listen to the reality of new age fraud and still using backdated technology in the name of saving money.

They just don't get the fact that magnetic technology which is super cheap don't work anymore. Everyone else is using EMV compliant technology, reading cards just off their data stored on the smart chip. I used it more than 10 years back in uk where we found the security loophole and here we are, Singapore stuck with the same old problem. Why?? Because they wanted to save money and still be able to charge you $2 a month for service fees. So what is the ultimate resolution for these faults??

Firstly, scrap all the existing cards. Replace all of them with NETS visa wave and embossed cards. This will deter clones and faults.

Replace all ATM machines with smart technology such as a combo cash recycler and cheque image deposit. Touch screen is pretty useless actually.

Update all the crypto keys with 4096 SHA2 SSL3 technology on all machines. All nets terminal to use wireless payment as mandate. The machines must accept all other card services such as diners club,Amex and Malaysian MEPS bank card as ocbc and uob are member banks there.

Automatic call notification of foreign transactions and especially ATM withdrawals. Locator services can see if customer is outside the country and manual checks done.

Now the customers suffer. Time for you to think if our Singapore banks are up to scratch.

Happy new year!!!

Happy new year to all my friends on this first day of 2012.many are still hung over from yesterday's party and to those who were at the Marina Bay Float to usher in the New year, I just hope it was well worth it.

Well from what I know Siti Nurhaliza was there performing live till 3am in the morning. But I just stop to ponder as to why Siti,a multi millionaire and married to a super rich DATOK K had to stoop so low to a concert which she labeled 'with improper moral values' and with tickets at $25 a pop which she usually performs for nothing less than $100 and costing organisers at least $4million in performance fees alone. And why as a married woman stay out so late than rather spend time with her husband?? Are these signs of financial constraints or marital issues or are the rumors of her husband took on another wife which was said to be a Singaporean stewardess?? These are here say but her actions are portraying such.

As for the Samoans, they are enjoying the benefits of having to celebrate the new year twice since they swapped time zones last night, loosing the eve and head out to the eastern time zone instead.

Just that is my ramblings and wish u good health and great fortunes ahead

Salam always
Azrin

Post Xmas blues

I have been quite out of touch with my blogs recently mainly that I am generally facing the bloggers block,nothing worth to write about other than just to see,look and observe. The Brits have had a white Xmas and the normal tube strikes on boxing day which I pause to ponder, is it worth living in London again?

Though I miss it too much with my fond memories of me and my family and that I missed my little daughter Athira very much, Singapore faced the almost same fate with retailers fretting as much as the commuters when SMRT was hit with a triple whammy!!

Thing is, there was supposed to have backup protocols in place. Are we getting too complacent with things and taking it too much for granted?? Or are we going to wait for nature's wrath to be ready for floods, uninsured losses and loss of livelihood? Or must a train full of commuters must suffocate or gassed out to death, only then will changes be made.

Nationalise the whole bus and train service. We Singaporeans own it not corporate entities. If Malaysia no leh, we are more than that, just as long as Jangan asal boleh ( Chin chai anyhow)

Happy holidays yo

Of stupid SMRT woes

I am quite proud of the robust transport system in Singapore but of late I am quite disgusted with it, mainly due to the severe disruptions that almost could have had lives lost. I am talking about the North South line issues that led to the suffocation within the coach if it was not for the quick thinking and wittiness of a Samaritan who broke the window for ventilation.

Heck days earlier,the new circle line was disrupted and led to more woes for those who work and relied on the services. I was one of the pissed off people who just got refunded $0.80 for the journey refund which when I took the alternative bus ride,it cost me another $1.70 resulting me more than $2 out of pocket which the normal fare just costed me $1.78 rather than the $4.80 in all. Plus that I losses 3hrs of income. Just what dumb luck to have 3 strikes in a row.

Mobile Travel Tips

Many have been asking me how to save money when UR overseas.... deferring the hefty costs of calls and calling back home to check on things. I agree roaming charges are hefty, especially data packages, even by our 4 operators, namely MAXIS, DIGI, CELCOM, U-Mobile*TuneTalk*SalamFone*XOX*Merchant-Trade grouping. There is no roaming for P1,YES! or even TM TDMA for what I know (unless on Wifi VOIP Access)

Let me assure you that THIS IS NOT A PAID OR SPONSORED POST, but generally a good travel tip. If you are using Bill (postpay), make sure you have your ROAMING switched on. Take out your simcard from your Smart Device (iPhone, BB, Android etc) and use a LOUSY 2G fone such as the old ancient NOKIA 3320 or without a camera one, as it's really put to use later on.

Subscribe to a 3rd party roaming service such as FlexiRoam who charges RM10 or so a day on UNLIMITED ROAMING CALLS. Do note that you are basically diverting your call from your fone # to the 015x service and rerouted to you local roaming number.

What is LOCAL ROAMING NUMBER?? Well, some operator may give you a static local number, such as XL for Indonesia for CELCOM users so people in Medan can just ring you up just as if it's local/inter state.AXIATA has their agreements in many countries but no LNR given in Singapore. Otherwise, get another sim card for your smart fone. Depending on your device, you may need a micro simcard or just carry a cutter for that purpose!

Here's some tips!

In Singapore, STARHUB offers cheap call packages. You can get FREE CALLS to Malaysia, UK landlines and US too by using the 018 prefix. So to call Malaysia, instead of using +6012-3456789 you use 018-60-12-3456789 and all you pay is the local minutes (18c/min). Happy 128 also works the same. The initial card cost about $12 to $18 depending on your type and that also works for DATA!!! Of course you can get a dedicated Micro SIM card for your iPad and iPhone but it's costlier for $32 with the same amount of money loaded ($15) and the charges are more. But you get to use the FULL SPEED of 7.2Mbps compared to the full fledged 2.0Mbps on standard SIM. BTW, the standard is $7 (RM 20) for 7 days with 1GB quota which is a good value.If you are floating in and out, it will be $20 for 30 days (1GB)!

Of course, incoming calls are payable. Just pay 50c a day to activate the free incoming calls plan or use the Happy Card. Compared to our Malaysian Prepaid plans... that is a good value. The MAXMOBILE DATA ONLY offers unlimited too... with 5GB daily quota! Speed? 7.2Mbps!

Why I said U need a chao kia fone? When someone rings you, see the caller ID. if it's your friend, call them back at your local number, or if it's urgent, let the fone be diverted into the Roaming Service Number...so you can get it where you are.

Is it worth it? If you are a heavy user, yes... otherwise, SKYPE with Credit and Local SIM CARD is cheaper, so U can reply on your device via Skype. You can send SMS on SKYPE too...with your Malaysia # as a caller ID.

So where is the good deals??

Singapore: STARHUB with 018
United Kingdom : Use any operator you like, call the JUST DIAL IDD service (ask me) for the free call to Malaysia. Just use your local minutes to call back.
Indonesia:Use WIFI to call back
Australia: OPTUS is a good deal too!

Others, let me know... and those who have experience.... share with me.... so we all can save.

Prepaid users... I've better ways for U too....

Good luck

...........

Alibaba - any good deals on board?

I have been dragging my feet about writing this article about the products on offer at ALIBABA. The fact is that there are many sellers and buyers on the platform, and that we have to be fair to everyone. I have been trying to be as honest and as positive as possible but sometimes, there are many jokers and clowns on board ALIBABA. Too bad, with the upcoming IPO, I feel the buyers will be more cautious given the current economic state.

 

Buying mobile phones from China is a drag. They usually ship with DHL and if you think you will get it within 3 days, you are absolutely wrong. I tried with many sellers and the fact that it is almost impossible to export directly from China is a drag, so usually they give you a Land Consignment Note number where the local carrier will carry it across from Shenzhen to Hong Kong awaiting repackaging with the Battery Export License, and then another wait, while the number is changed.  In actual fact, it takes 72 hours from Shenzhen to Hong Kong and another 24-48 hours for the loading of the cargo on board the aircraft and from there, standard shipping times go about.

 

I had something purchased from a few sellers in China. They all claimed to be the manufacturers. And I was quite annoyed. Very annoyed that after payment, things take 12 days to arrive. Heck even an AIRMAIL parcel get to me within 3 days, and that because DHL has lousy shipping network in Malaysia, serving only Capital and Major Cities. I had to drive 75 miles to go collect it from their depot and if I did not collect, they will pass to another carrier where it will take another 3-5 days to arrive.

 

What UTTER RUBBISH. The declaration forms are also totally messed up. They also demand you pay using WESTERN UNION which I will not allow, since they don’t protect me at all. After insisting on PAYPAL, they ship it out late.

 

I honestly am quite disappointed with the quality of things. As the Chinese saying, “ YOU GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR”. I asked for an ANDROID IP4 Look-a-like with DUAL SIM. It came with an older version , no in-built memory (4mb??!) and no memory slot, and only single SIM SLOT…and of course, the item did not pass my standards for testing. I had to counter demand the payment for the dodgy products sent, but then you have the issue of returning the item back, as China prohibits import of their products. You can return these mobiles etc without the battery, but the cost is too much. When Paypal dragged their feet on this, all you have …is to lose out.  We lost a few hundred bucks on these junk (bricks!)… and we learnt our lesson.

 

If you wish to deal with the Americans.. think again too..since they are also fly by night. They have many stolen goods for sale..and this is the reason I will not deal with them. For a real deal, of huge quantities, ask to meet them to check first…and then you confirm the payment by Cashiers Order or L/C.

 

ALIBABA-A THIEVES MARKET….. be careful with the junk sold!