Winner of Survivor Samoa

For those of you who have been watching Survivor Samoa, you should know by now that the winner was Natalie, a 26 year old unemployed blonde. She walks away with a cool $1 million dollars


I really was rooting for Russell, (an oil company millionaire) who basically singlehandedly got Mick and Natalie into the final 3 by his cunning strategies.

Thoughts on My Life Purpose

As I was driving down the road today, I thought about my life purpose and what my ideal job would be like.

A man only lives once and since there must be like a thousand of different jobs, it is impossible for him to try out each and every job in the world. He thus has to make an educated guess on which is the best job for him based on his personality, skills, aptitude, etc.

I then realised how "coloured" my view of the ideal job was. I am to a certain extent the product of other people's opinions. People do not like me if I dig my nose in public. That is why I don't pick my nose in public. People's opinons do shape us in ways that we cannot imagine.

That is why we like to look up to doctors, lawyers and the like while looking down on other jobs that are deemed more suited for the common man. That is why our peers and parents secretly go "wow" if you find a girlfriend or boyfriend who belongs to any of those high paying and highly respected jobs.

However, I realised that I might be at the end of the day suited for a more normal down to earth kind of job instead of some high flying lawyer or doctor or businessman. The problem is whether I would be content with my position in life at the end of the day.

God, help me find my purpose in life

Oil Palm is the Biggest Thing in Malaysia

For those who get the chance to travel up to Malaysia, you will notice that most plantations are now growing oil palm.

If you drive up the North South Highway the next time, just look to your left and right and you will see that the entire Malaysian landscape is FILLED with oil palm plantations. Some of them are in their early stages, some are already matured. But it does show one thing: Malaysia is indeed determined to be the No.1 Producer of Oil Palm in the World.

In fact, Malaysia and Indonesia are vying to be the top producer of oil palm in the world.

This should do well for companies like Golden Agri, Olam and Wilmar which are listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange (Note: I do not currently own any of these stocks but am thinking of entering into a position when the time is right.)

Oil Palm is a lot easier to grow compared to cocoa or other fruit plantations. Oil Palm is very hardy and it seems that the production is also more consistent compared to other kinds of plantations like durian, pineapple, etc.

The price of oil palm has also been increasing steadily over the years as people have found use for oil palm in the form of bio-fuels. On top of that, labour is pretty cheap both in Indonesia as well as in Malaysia (which relies heavily on Indonesians for labour). All these makes oil palm plantations a profitable business for both big companies like Sime Darby as well as small plantation owners.

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1. 3/4 Petrol Tank Rule

A Peak At My Credit Card Bills

Isn't it nice to look at someone else's credit card bills.

Well, here is a sneak peek at my credit card bills for the month of 14 Nov 09 to 13 Dec 09

Amex
14 Nov - Hallmark $20.90
15 Nov - Hock Cheong Car Care $62.76
16 Nov - Accounting & Corporate $300.00
20 Nov - SPC $17.80
25 Nov - SPC $60.00
27 Nov - Crystal Jade Seafood $22.15
01 Dec - Starhub Cable Vision $25.68
06 Dec - Shell $57.02
07 Dec - Sushi Tei $14.02
11 Dec - Annual Fee $150.00
11 Dec - GST $10.50
11 Dec - Cold Storage $16.07

Visa
14 Nov - Crystal Jade $20.70
29 Nov - Hong Kong Cafe $109.80
30 Nov - Season Parking $90.00

Do note that i have already gotten my annual fee waived. I also make it a point to pay my credit card bills on time so that I do not incur any finance charges that cost a whopping 24% per annum.

What My Dad Taught Me About Inflation

Today, I was buying lunch at the hawker centre and paid $3.00 for my meal.

After handing in my money to the stall owner, I had a flashback where I recalled my dad's frequent lament about how a bowl of wanton mee used to cost only $0.20 to $0.30.

I also remembered how I used to respond. "Aiyah! Last time things very cheap la..I know.."

I remember seeing the pain in his eyes as he always made that lament. And now I guess I know the reason why.

He was not recalling the days when things used to be cheap or cheaper. Rather, he was feeling the pain at how the cost of living has gone UP and UP over the years.

It was not too many years ago that my dad could get a meal at $0.30 and a drink perhaps at a few cents. But those days are over and now the price of things have gone up. Economists call this inflation. My dad calls it : " Last time this only used to cost XXX cents, now it is a few dollars."

Things were not cheaper back then. Things are just more expensive now.

I can only imagine myself lamenting to my son in the future 20 years down the road....

Imagine the year 2030....

I am walking down the food court with my son who wants to order a plate of chicken rice. Then, I lament and say:

"Last time chicken rice used to cost me $3, now one plate costs me $30!!!"

I can imagine my son staring blankly back at me and giving me the same reply that I gave my father...

"AIYAH, last time things are cheap.. but last time is last time LAH!"

Have you factored in inflation into your retirement plans? If you have not, be prepared for a rude shock when you retire.

3/4 Petrol Tank Rule

All cars leaving Singapore must have the petrol tanks filled to 3/4 tank full.

Lately, Malaysia has also come up with a ruling that does not allow foreign registered vehicles to pump more than 20 litres of petrol at any petrol stations within 50 km of any exit points.

What is the rationale for this decision?

For Singapore, it seems that the Government wants to prevent people from crossing over to Malaysia to buy cheap petrol. This 3/4 tank ruling was put in place so as to prevent that. The government earns revenue from taxes placed on petrol and this measure would help to prevent any loss in revenue.

For Malaysia, it seems that they have a problem with fuel smuggling especially at the border with Thailand. As the Malaysian government heavily subsidises the petrol, they do not want these subsidies to be passed on to foreigners.

What about the consumer?

A lot of people are clearly unhappy with these rulings but it seems that this will not go away anytime soon.

The amount of money I could save if I pumped my petrol at malaysia would be tremendous. I could easily spend half the money that I usually would on petrol. Never mind the inconvenience.

The best I can deal with this now is to make sure that I pump just up to 3/4 tank when I leave Singapore for any trip to Malaysia. I then make sure that I pump a full tank before arriving back in Singapore.

For those worried about the 20 litre rule, just make sure that you pump once before entering the 50 km radius of the Johor CIQ or Tuas Checkpoint.

I have also heard that some petrol stations are not as strict and simply let you pump 20 litres, reset the pumps and then pump 20 litres again. It will be extremely hard for anyone to police this as the petrol stations also do not want to lose money just because of a ruling. There are many grey areas as nothing is stopping motorists from pumping at multiple stations within the 50km radius.

Why Hawker Food Tastes better than Food Court Food

I ate a beef don at Thomson Plaza yesterday and I was amazed (or should I say disgusted?) at the food quality. There were like just 6 pieces of beef and the rice was soaked in a gravy that did not really taste japanese or anything. The miso soup was also terrible and tasted nothing like miso soup at all. All this cost me $5.50 and I would most probably never eat that again.

All the years in my life, I have always wondered why hawker food tastes so much better than food in the food courts.

Now, I think I know the answer why.

I used to think that it was the air-con in the food court that somehow affected the quality of the food. I then realised that it was not necessarily the air-con but the people that made all the difference.

I believe that most food court stalls are not actually owned by the people running it. There might be a small exception but I believe most stalls are actually owned and managed by the food court themselves. Many of them are actually hired by the food court themselves to operate the various stalls. These people (usually PRCs) are hired and are not the business owners.

They simply do not care about the quality of the food or the service that they provide. They are just there to make a living without having to bother about profits and customer service. I have seen these PRCs trying to speak Mandarin to Malays and Indians before... totally oblivious to the fact that these people do not understand them!

Compare this to the hawker centre where the stalls are runned by the owners themselves. The owners put in the effort to make sure that they smile at you (okay, some of them do smile) and at least maintain a reasonable standard of the food quality.

Hawker food for me always tastes way better than food court food. I don't know if it is true for you but it certainly is for me.

Not only is hawker food much nicer, it is often much cheaper too!