Remembering those who perished

This is quoted from ANZACDAY.ORG.AU in rememberance to those who perished in the Wars and Any conflicts that had caused a loss of life.

I have lost a handful of friends and to those who perished, to their families, my deep felt condolences.

May God give their Souls Peace....

A Poem for Remembrance Day

"The inquisitive mind of a child"

Why are they selling poppies, Mummy?
Selling poppies in town today.
The poppies, child, are flowers of love.
For the men who marched away.

But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy?
Why not a beautiful rose?
Because my child, men fought and died
In the fields where the poppies grow.

But why are the poppies so red, Mummy?
Why are the poppies so red?
Red is the colour of blood, my child.
The blood that our soldiers shed.

The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy.
Why does it have to be black?
Black, my child, is the symbol of grief.
For the men who never came back.

But why, Mummy are you crying so?
Your tears are giving you pain.
My tears are my fears for you my child.
For the world is forgetting again.

Author Unknown

Friday Blues

Fact of a Malaysian life:

You go borrow from PTPTN or MARA to go to university for usually about RM45,000 to RM200,000 just to find out your degree is useless and get you a job less than RM3000 a month.... so eventually you have to pay till end of your youth till pensioning age to settle the debt.

WTF rite? So eventually many try super get rich quick scams only to get more stuck with Credit Card Bills etc etc and they get more depressed. 

Compare the guy who never passed SPM, jual burger, everyday work hard.. still make and take home more than the Degree Holder....and without any debts.....

Tribute to my friends and relations who is riddled with MARA , PTPTN loans of up to RM650,000 (those study overseas like US, UK etc).... so don't blame us for not returning back only to work to pay off the debt.

tagging all my friends who are in debt....

So the moral of the story is.. a degree gets you no where....unless you have good experience to work on....else.. go sign on and get the Dole mate.

This is not meant to insult anyone or organisation... just that I feel we are being victimised by the paper chase that we forget the meaning of life and other things that are more important to us, like health, life, family and enjoying yourself.

Run your own business...then the rewards are more than you deserve.

Friday is here.. Happy Deepavali and Salam Maal Hijrah to all.

Defensive Riding or Offensive Driving

This evening, I almost had my life ripped out by a silly idiot who claimed that he "did not realise the Pakcik was going to stop for the Red Light at the Pedestrian Crossing" and me being an ON-Time On-Target speed demon, whizzed in and swerving between the lanes only to find out the pakcik beside me was knocked off his machine.

The impact caused him to fall, fracture his ankle and also that the point of impact almost tore his helmet off, and the driver claimed that he was driving slow. The stretch of Yio Chu Kang Road in front of Jalan Napiri off Block 506 Serangoon North Ave 4 is a deadly zone with kids and shady trees.

 See the impact of the car crushing the motorbike directly into his bonnet. It was supposed to be me... as I was on the same lane.. just that I swerved to the other side.

The mess the guy made is terrible and I really feel sorry for the man. What is worse is that the driver just passed his license 2 years ago in Malaysia and is holding only a Malaysian license while working in Singapore, as it is against the law for Residents (workers alike) to own and operate foreign registered vehicle and they must convert their license after 1 year being in Singapore.


 So what caused this? Well, the road condition is NOT Raining and it is not wet at the time of the incident and no skid marks showing he slowed down or jammed emergency brakes.

Time of Accident: 1720Hours approximately.

Age of Motorcyclist: approx 50-60 year old Malay Man

Age of Driver : 27 year old Chinese Malaysian


For me.. I do ride recklessly ..but it saved my bacon many times.. this time.. it did again.. but it really brought me shivers.

From what I got ... the rider suffered MULTIPLE FRACTURES of the Femur and Leg and require multiple operations tomorrow morning.

May Allah bless him and wish him speedy recovery.

A little loading a unloading

That is the exact thing I saw stenciled across a parking lot which, mind you sits just across the Pasir Ris Punggol town council office here in sengkang.

Don't they ever learn that foreign talents can't spell or write in English language especially those from the mid Asia continent??

I leave you to your comments.

What is so great of Windows 8?

The launch, the Hype and the Publicity. All the same with iOS, iPad Mini, Windows 8 and Android Nexus (Google own OS?). All the fanfare for as low as $17.99 for those who had Windows 7 to upgrade with.

Honestly, I have not fully tested out Windows 8 but from my POV, it's only for All-in-One PC and Tablets alike Or should I say smart devices as they deem it right now. So what about those laptops that are not touch based?

First off for me was the removal of the Windows Start Button. No more Windows. All Tiles and Scrolls. But then, why that format? Can't we stick to something like Apple's Lion X? All below? Or just plain Windows 7? I just don't get it why Windows is going after Android or iOS and this is for PC too.... Crap is more like it for me.

The Drop Point Requirements:

• Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with support for PAE, NX, and SSE2 (more info)
• RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
• Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• Graphics card: Microsoft DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM driver

Additional requirements to use certain features:

• To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch (more info)
• To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768
• To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768
• Internet access (ISP fees might apply)
• Secure boot requires firmware that supports UEFI v2.3.1 Errata B and has the Microsoft Windows Certification Authority in the UEFI signature database
• Some games and programs might require a graphics card compatible with DirectX 10 or higher for optimal performance
• Microsoft account required for some features
• Watching DVDs requires separate playback software (more info)
• Windows Media Center license sold separately (more info)
• BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive (Windows 8 Pro only)
• BitLocker requires either Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 or a USB flash drive (Windows 8 Pro only)
• Client Hyper-V requires a 64-bit system with second level address translation (SLAT) capabilities and additional 2 GB of RAM (Windows 8 Pro only)
• A TV tuner is required to play and record live TV in Windows Media Center (Windows 8 Pro Pack and Windows 8 Media Center Pack only)
• Free Internet TV content varies by geography, some content might require additional fees (Windows 8 Pro Pack and Windows 8 Media Center Pack only)

Which comes to this... if you want to watch DVD, you don't get Media Player.. or just get VLC etc. The hardware requirements in itself is a killer blow to the Atom Processor Computers. 1GB RAM, 1Ghz CPU. There is less than 1GB on most 1.6Ghz Atom CPU, so these is already out of the question... am I right???

16GB HDD SPACE for a TABLET?? You are kidding me right Microsoft?We want it as small as possible, not as huge as you can think of it. Though SSD is getting cheaper, memory space for Smart Devices start with 512MB or 1GB Ram with 4GB NVRAM (which is the Hard disk) and that expands depending on the stability of the TF Card (Micro-SD Card with SUPER HIGH SPEED Modules to us) and that is super costly.

Gosh.... the CPU will surely OVERHEAT and Burst like crazy reminding me of the first generation Creative churned out their ZuNe MP3 Player, which is bulky, lousy battery life ( I had to make an external one out of that) and super hot when it is operated on.

Having said that, I did test out some of the tablets that were running Windows 8 RT version which were shipped to the office from China for my consideration and mind you, mostly are running off Intel ATOM series , or some with AllWinner CPU which I have no idea what but they said it's Quad Core.

The verdict?? Sluggish. Slow, Hot, and I did not like the OS. Dual boot back to Android...and it's super fast, with many games etc.
They are killing the hardware with Windows 8... and you should not take it. It's not for Tablet or Smart Device but rather Windows 8 for Touch Based PC and Laptops.

Activated Google Adsense Filters

I did not much bat an eyelid over the advertising that Google Adsense or the associated networks over many years since it did not earn much for me, but of late, due to the Monetary Regulations and Advertising Laws in Singapore, Malaysia, Europe and US, I am quite displeased with the type of advertising I am getting from them, just the variety of things.

So I wanted to filter out some low earning adverts and those I classed as Haram or Syubaha which is in the Grey Area, like Kosher to the Jewish community. What I wanted to filter out are those Forex Adverts, Gold Schemes and MLM Related, specific to the certain regions, as they also do not pay as much as I feel is right  to me.

So what I did is activate the Ad Blocking Feature in Adsense.

I am getting rid of the Keywords FOREX, iForex, Gold Trading, Silver Trading, Futures, Insurance Mutual and Gaming related. Due to the fact that I am a Professional Financial Adviser, I can't sell them or promote them without a need of a license. Even to the layman, it's not allowed in ASEAN regions now.

Just that I am cleaning my act here... so bear with me.

Broadband Woes in Singapore

Some have been asking me what is the big fuss of the internet market in Singapore namely with SingTel, M1, Starhub, MyRepublic , Open Net and ViewQuest. They all provide the same service but what is so big of a fuss here??

First off, let us start with the incumbent Singapore Telecom, SINGTEL which call their service SINGNET, MAGIX and among other names. They offer 2WIRE MIO Service , via the Copper Telephone Cable and now Fiber Internet. As with copper, it's called in many countries as ADSL which has a maximum speed of 32Mbps download and 2 Mb upload speed depending on the duplexing. Together with their IPTV Service MiO Home HD TV, the TV Service requires very high bandwidth, usually at least 10Mbps to stream at an acceptable level, not withstanding the HD Service. In recent times where they were penalised due to the MiO failure to show the Premier League matches, it's just the same technology where you download and watch movies online via YouTube or any other service. If the Duplex Feeder (MDF) can pump up good internet connection, they will supply typically 15Mbps (Mega BITS per Second) to the user and saying or claiming speeds of up to 15mbps service, but in actual fact, they are stealing the customer's bandwidth from the Internet to the TV Service. The 2Wire modem has a VPN Connection to the net for the TV, Internet and Telephony at the same time, thus also causing you not able to tunnel into your home network using dynamic IP Address / Hostname due to this reason. Many complained the modem always hang.

Their typical packages for ADSL start from $26.95 / $44.90 / $47.90 for MiO + another $36.90 for 6Mbps / 10Mbps / 15Mbps (MAX) connection (Usually you get typical speeds of about 2Mbps / 5Mbps / 7Mbps or so). Their fiber service costs $49.90 on it's own for 150Mbps connection giving you about 20Mbps international and up to 130Mbps locally  and due to RJ45 CAT5e, you will get only at best 80Mbps or so and about 44Mbps over 2-Channel WiFi.

Pacific Internet now only offer Fiber Internet to Corporate Customers and do not offer any cable (SCV) Connection or so to End Users. This is accurate at time of writing.

M1 offers Fiber Services for the pricing of $39/$49/$59/$79/$99/$399 for their 15/50/100/150/200/1000Mbps services.  M1 do offer CABLE Broadband (Over SCV Connection) for $40.90 for a 10Mbps connection. This is a shared bandwidth which I will explain below.

As for Starhub, they are the incumbent CABLE OPERATOR using DOCSIS Connection and previously known as SCV or Singapore Cable Vision. Using a Motorola Surfer Modem, they pump up speeds of up to 100Mbps on their cable tv point using speed boosts or what ever they call it now. Usual speeds will be at best 30Mbps and this is SHARED ACROSS THE WHOLE BUILDING. So if someone in the block of 400 residents is downloading heavily, then the speed will drop to as low as 1Mbps. Think of it as you paying road tax for a 5000cc car but a motorbiker of 1000cc is hogging your highway, which I find it quite disgusting.

Prices for Starhub SCV Internet (Cable Internet) are $56.20 and $80.60 for Premium 50/100Mbps and basic services of $25/$35/$45 (round off figure) of services up to speeds ranging from 3-6-16Mbps. You also have to pay for your own modem costing about $80 or more. Silly right?

Their Starhub Fiber Services cost around $68, $82, $102, $395 for 100Mbps, 150Mbps 200Mbps and Gigabit Internet. Typical International speeds are about 22% of the promised speeds. This was published by IDA recently and due to the nature of the content and classification, I can't put it up. Their assured international traffic is only 15Mbps and 100Mbps for Gigabit MaxInfinity Supreme.

This is quoted from their fine print:

^^Assured typical international speed of 15Mbps 95% of the time during peak hours. + Typical local download speed: MaxOnline Premium (30Mbps – 50Mbps), MaxOnline Ultimate (60Mbps – 95.2Mbps), MaxInfinity Ultimate (60Mbps – 96.3Mbps), MaxInfinity Elite (90Mbps – 144. 5Mbps), MaxInfinity Platinum (120Mbps – 185.2Mbps) & MaxInfinity Supreme (566Mbps – 755.5Mbps). Typical international speed: MaxOnline Premium (15.4Mbps – 17Mbps), MaxOnline Ultimate (19.3Mbps – 30Mbps), MaxInfinity Ultimate (15Mbps), MaxInfinity Elite (15Mbps), MaxInfinity Platinum (25Mbps) & MaxInfinity Supreme (42.6Mbps – 100Mbps).

What about MyRepublic? I am an authorised partner and I do check on the services once too often. Testing from their 100Mbps no frills service (100Mbps Download, 50Mbps upload), their typical speeds are about 80Mbps and this is even lower for the WiFi connection since the regulatory protocols cap it to around 41Mbps. I tested on their own office (busy office) with me downloading the whole pack of MSDN Windows 8 Enterprise file (Akamai) and NTL AS4700 Network, the network is stable and similar tests have been down across a few customers around Singapore and the promised rate is within acceptable tolerances like the router on 2nd Floor and I'm at the car park with 2-3 Bars of WiFi, getting almost similar results. Their cost? $59.90 a month or $69.90 a month for Gamer packages.Add-on of  $40 a month if you want static IP!

Lest not forget Ethernet Protocols of 8-N-1 so there is about 5-17% loss due to the overheads and bit CRC Checks.

ViewQuest is more of a Hosting company. Their sales are not aggressive as any of the competitors, and they claim to provide IPTV, and basic packages cost  $59.95 with speeds varying from 30Mbps to 97Mbps. Servers and Services are provided by Hurricane Internet via Equinix.

So what is Open Net, Nucleus Connect and NGN? Open Net is a consortium of ISP , Companies to provide the Fiber Internet Infrastructure to your home or office, and connected to the backbone of the Singapore Internet Exchange, and your service is diverted to your respective ISP namely SingTel,M1,Starhub,MyRepublic,ViewQuest. Their infrastructure ends at the white box called the OpenNet Fiber TP Point and from there, the fiber connects to a device similar to a modem provided by Nucleus Connect, a Starhub Company (WTF right??) and they act as a router and WAN Connector to your ISP just like their SCV Modem. From there, it's connected to your own router provided by yourself or ISP. Think of them as a Tunnel Provider.

So who will you choose?? If possible, Fiber but then not all homes are connected. Those just completed in 2011 and later are not part of the 95% Open Net Promise for connectivity, so in retrospect, many in Teban Gardens, majority of Punggol and Sengkang are not connected or the infrastructure not available yet.

Their excuse?? Not enough Banglas to fix it up.. no joke... they are only promising 3000 homes to be fibered up each week and 2900 to be activated / switched on per week.

So much for progress.

You decide.

Updated my Punch tab rewards

For those who are loyal customers, readers and hated me...stalking me all about, I am happy that you drop by and a comment by someone saying they needed the points make me wonder and apologise for not blogging as often as before.

Right now, I am upping the ante for Malaysian based readers.I am giving away RM5 Prepaid Top-up for the first 10 Bloggers who can reach 2000 points. You get 100 points for just registering or coming in here... and you get points for commenting and much more if you share on your facebook.

I have no idea (forgotten about it more likely) of the current points system, so do test out....

As such, one lucky person will get RM5 topup here by dropping a comment, sharing and re-posting on your social media network. If you are in Singapore or somewhere else, I may just pay you in Paypal.

Fake Notes in and about

This is written without any legal representation or binding, but of late, sources do indicate that there is a scam involving fake currency in the city area. What I was been told was that the bank note scam modus operandi is using real $10 notes, but cut into two and taped up with a fake half.

As we all know, the new plastic series of $10 is tested to be so durable unlike the Malaysian RM5 which is very brittle. It is known to withstand heavy use and tested to rigorous destructive testing such as abuse inside the cash deposit machine. Usually we hear fake $50 note scams, but $10... is really taking the piss.

Knowing this, anyone in possession of a fake currency can be jailed at least 3 years and caning, and as such we must not pass it on, except to call the police and hand it over.

If you happen to get one of those... if you are just plain lazy... you may get away with it by destroying it. But then I am not a lawyer as I don't want to be hustled into filling out paperwork and going down the Police Station to answer silly questions.

My POV is , if you feel the money is not right, don't take it. If it's torn or the serial number is tampered, don't take it, and FYI, there is a 9A Series but the color is a little bit purplish, commonly known as the Replacement Note (Previously known as the Z-Series) or the Cop Sting Money (used to catch crooks with dirty money).

I just hate to be out of pocket, but the time saved is more than the hassle of dealing and getting caught in possession of a fake note.

For your info, the BRUNEI Bank Note is LEGAL TENDER in Singapore but then we tend to take only up to $100, as we don't commonly see the $500, $1000 or even the $10,000 Titan notes about what more of the Brunei.

The last time I saw these notes was in Temburong during NS and Reservist days and in East Malaysia.

These bank notes have a common reverse side, s there is no TWENTY DOLLARS Dua Puluh Ringgit on the back. It's a commemorative $20 series.

Oh ya... last I saw a $20 was 1985 which had the Concorde on it!



Quoted from MAS Website about torn notes:

Under Section 19(1) of the Currency Act, no person is entitled to recover from MAS the value of any mutilated note and coin. MAS is empowered to award value at its absolute discretion as an act of grace under Section 19(2). Under Section 19(3), notes and coins that have been illegally dealt with shall be repossessed by any officer of MAS when tendered for assessment.
Notes and coins are considered illegally dealt with if they are impaired, diminished or affected otherwise than by fair wear and tear. Notes that have been defaced by writing or impressing with any mark, word, letter or figure or by perforation, cutting, splitting or in any other manner, are also deemed as illegally dealt with and command no value.

So don't say I do not warn ye!

PS: Did you know we only have $26.5 billion dollars worth of currency in circulated of which $11 Billion are the titans ($1000 & $10,000) ...surprise eh???

Of FCUK and FUKC

Oh F***, we said it again. Oh This and Oh That. We see it every day and if we commoners say it... it's all right ain't it Guv? But for someone of stature , holding top post, it's a big no-no.

The American FCC fines a broadcaster up to $325,000 for every vulgarity said on the air during prime time, with kids about and you get suspended from work if you boss is the BBC, but if you are Homer Simpson, it's really all right.

Here in Singapore, we spend over 2 years of our lives saying vulgarities, in more than one language. I remember my days in the army, during those nasty BMT days, where we do it at the old Yishun Camp (Transit Road Camp for many of you guys) and the good morning for everyone is KNN B CCB U F***ing Maggots, get up and go mandi....well, that is way we get it from the CSM or RSM before reveille and you are sure gonna get that if your platoon is not up by 5am! Then you get the 5BX and all the XXX.

Having said that, it's darn all right to verbally say it but you do not cuss and swear over the Internet. What you say can and will be used against you and under the ITU / CCITT Regulations read under the 1984 regulations, is that we shall not use the Network for Public Harm or cause any discomfort to others.

What the heck right???

Point it, don't cuss online. Period. You get sacked for that.

Unless you are worst blogger of all time!