Source
63 cases this year and over S$40,000 cheated from 26 victims, that means on average each victim was cheated of more than S$1500, wow, how can they just transfer so much money to strangers just like that, that's some easy money, too easy.
Just think, if I were to get a fine from ICA, they won't call me up and tell me to transfer money to a bank account, ICA is a government agency, they are not a private entity, they will never ask you to transfer money to their bank account. And this is Singapore, every fine comes with a ticket or letter, in black and white, no paper no fine, it's that simple, and also, after you pay the fine, you will get a receipt, that's for sure.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
San Francisco Meth Zombies Documentary
Documentary about meth addicts, dealers, suppliers, shows a part of their lives, I find it very interesting, and shocking, especially the addicts, their lives revolve around drugs, only drugs, and their only friends are fellow drug addicts.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
When will I Buy a Car?
I was thinking as long as I'm in Singapore, I will never buy a car, the reason is obvious, I can't afford it, but when can I afford it? Let's see.
I'm currently earning S$3480, after CPF and CDAC deductions, my take-home pay is S$2783, now let's look at my expenses.
Expenses
Give mom 500
Give wife 600
Myself 500
Mobile phone 46.65
Internet/Cable TV 66
Total 1712.65
Left 1070.35
I invest most of the rest, probably about S$800 a month, so I am left with S$200+, don't think it's enough to pay for one month's installment, unless I have another S$1000, I think that will help, that means if my take-home pay is S$3783, I think I might be able to afford a car, but that's provided I don't have children.
So when will my salary hit S$5000? Maybe when I'm 40? By then S$5000 is probably not much due to inflation, and COE will probably be a 6 digit sum, when I think about this, it's quite scary, better try not to see too far, can get depressing.
I'm currently earning S$3480, after CPF and CDAC deductions, my take-home pay is S$2783, now let's look at my expenses.
Expenses
Give mom 500
Give wife 600
Myself 500
Mobile phone 46.65
Internet/Cable TV 66
Total 1712.65
Left 1070.35
I invest most of the rest, probably about S$800 a month, so I am left with S$200+, don't think it's enough to pay for one month's installment, unless I have another S$1000, I think that will help, that means if my take-home pay is S$3783, I think I might be able to afford a car, but that's provided I don't have children.
So when will my salary hit S$5000? Maybe when I'm 40? By then S$5000 is probably not much due to inflation, and COE will probably be a 6 digit sum, when I think about this, it's quite scary, better try not to see too far, can get depressing.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
96% will Move in For Others to Board the Train, Haha, Don't Bluff La!
Source
94% will give up their seat to those in need
There were at least 2 occasions since I saw these signs, in fact the signs were right behind these sleeping commuters and on each occasion there was an elderly standing right in front of them, suddenly all of them fell asleep!
96% will move in for others to board the train.
No, I don't believe, just look at the center of the cabin, there is always some space, some idiots just refuse to move in, they rather use that space to read newspaper, play their phone or tablet, some even stick out their feet, hold the handle and lean on the pole, one person take up 3 person space. And those who get to sit, especially women, they like to sit with their legs crossed and their feet sticking out, come on, it's a crowded train, spare a thought for those squeezing at the train door area.
98% will queue up and give way to those alighting.
Maybe, nowadays the queue thing became a trend, seems like most people are doing it, but giving way, nope, most people still don't know how to give way, if you take train you'll know what I'm talking about, sometimes I really feel like smashing their faces with my elbow, crowded train, of course let people come out first then you can go in, alamak! Then the worst part is at Tanjong Pagar, that is the place where you will realize that well-dressed is not equal to well-mannered, even ladies can push their way in, die die want to go in means want to go in, well-dressed and behaving like animals.
The giving up seat part, it's really hard to say, it's a personal thing, we can't force people to give up their seats if they don't want to, they can argue that they paid for it, they are right about that, but 94% says they will give, hahaha, really bullshit to the max.
They should also ask this question for the survey, "Will you lean on the pole?", many people like to lean on the pole, I don't understand, that is for people to hold on, not for people to lean on.
94% will give up their seat to those in need
There were at least 2 occasions since I saw these signs, in fact the signs were right behind these sleeping commuters and on each occasion there was an elderly standing right in front of them, suddenly all of them fell asleep!
96% will move in for others to board the train.
No, I don't believe, just look at the center of the cabin, there is always some space, some idiots just refuse to move in, they rather use that space to read newspaper, play their phone or tablet, some even stick out their feet, hold the handle and lean on the pole, one person take up 3 person space. And those who get to sit, especially women, they like to sit with their legs crossed and their feet sticking out, come on, it's a crowded train, spare a thought for those squeezing at the train door area.
98% will queue up and give way to those alighting.
Maybe, nowadays the queue thing became a trend, seems like most people are doing it, but giving way, nope, most people still don't know how to give way, if you take train you'll know what I'm talking about, sometimes I really feel like smashing their faces with my elbow, crowded train, of course let people come out first then you can go in, alamak! Then the worst part is at Tanjong Pagar, that is the place where you will realize that well-dressed is not equal to well-mannered, even ladies can push their way in, die die want to go in means want to go in, well-dressed and behaving like animals.
The giving up seat part, it's really hard to say, it's a personal thing, we can't force people to give up their seats if they don't want to, they can argue that they paid for it, they are right about that, but 94% says they will give, hahaha, really bullshit to the max.
They should also ask this question for the survey, "Will you lean on the pole?", many people like to lean on the pole, I don't understand, that is for people to hold on, not for people to lean on.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Create Diagrams Online Using Gliffy, for Free!
Last Friday I was doing up a user guide for a new system and I needed to provide a diagram to show an overview of the system but I didn't have Microsoft Visio, luckily I found this free web application and managed to quickly draw up the diagram that I needed, it was so simple, all I needed to do was drag and drop the shapes that I want to form the diagram, create an account and export the diagram into a picture e.g. jpg.
I explored a bit more and found that there are so many types of diagrams that I can create, network, flowchart, UML, even ERD and floor plan!
If your interested, here's the link.
I explored a bit more and found that there are so many types of diagrams that I can create, network, flowchart, UML, even ERD and floor plan!
 |
| A Simple System Overview Created with Gliffy |
If your interested, here's the link.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
IPPT Changes? Nope...
This morning I overheard my colleagues talking about IPPT 2.4KM has been changed to 3.2KM but I was too busy to check it out. Then after I went home, I saw this news with an update from the army on Yahoo!. The army has clarified that there will be no change, well too bad, I was hoping they would come up with something new, the 5 stations are boring as hell, I've been doing it for so many years!
But looking at the changes, other than the run, standing broad jump replaced with push-ups sound good, push-up is way easier than jumping, this can save a lot of people.
Just read about this article saying 13 year old girls are running 3.6KM at cross-country, was quite pissed off when I read it, obviously the writer has absolutely no idea what he/she is writing, it's not all about the distance, we have different category, we have different timing, we have different consequences, so what if the girls lose the cross-country, nothing will happen to them, if we fail our IPPT we need to go for 20 sessions of RT, that's a hell lot of difference already, imagine finishing work and then rushing to the camp for RT and ending at around 8 or 9pm, reach home maybe 10+.
And it's not as if most people don't try to pass, I didn't manage to clear my IPPT once, that time I was working on a system development project, OT almost everyday, weekend also burn, during rest day also tired to go out, just want to rest at home, after that I couldn't pass my IPPT, no choice have to go RT, at the 20th session I managed to pass, but really wasted a lot of my time, so damn tiring.
We have to juggle between work, family and fitness, how can we compare to a 13 year old student whose only duty is to go to school?
Update: I found out who posted that rubbish.
So who the hell is Les Tan?
He is the creator of redsports.sg, now I know why he posted that rubbish, controversial posts always garner more traffic, that's a really lame way to get traffic, so pathetic, he's a guy, he studied at Anglo-Chinese School, so I assumed he served NS, and he can still go ahead and write that kind of insensitive things, not trying to bring in traffic then what? Eat too full?
But looking at the changes, other than the run, standing broad jump replaced with push-ups sound good, push-up is way easier than jumping, this can save a lot of people.
Just read about this article saying 13 year old girls are running 3.6KM at cross-country, was quite pissed off when I read it, obviously the writer has absolutely no idea what he/she is writing, it's not all about the distance, we have different category, we have different timing, we have different consequences, so what if the girls lose the cross-country, nothing will happen to them, if we fail our IPPT we need to go for 20 sessions of RT, that's a hell lot of difference already, imagine finishing work and then rushing to the camp for RT and ending at around 8 or 9pm, reach home maybe 10+.
And it's not as if most people don't try to pass, I didn't manage to clear my IPPT once, that time I was working on a system development project, OT almost everyday, weekend also burn, during rest day also tired to go out, just want to rest at home, after that I couldn't pass my IPPT, no choice have to go RT, at the 20th session I managed to pass, but really wasted a lot of my time, so damn tiring.
We have to juggle between work, family and fitness, how can we compare to a 13 year old student whose only duty is to go to school?
Update: I found out who posted that rubbish.
 |
| Posted by Les Tan |
So who the hell is Les Tan?
 |
| Les Tan is Leslie Tan |
He is the creator of redsports.sg, now I know why he posted that rubbish, controversial posts always garner more traffic, that's a really lame way to get traffic, so pathetic, he's a guy, he studied at Anglo-Chinese School, so I assumed he served NS, and he can still go ahead and write that kind of insensitive things, not trying to bring in traffic then what? Eat too full?
Monday, October 21, 2013
What's the Point of Medisave?
From what I understand, Medisave is part of CPF, this whole CPF thing is meant to help Singaporeans save up for rainy days. CPF is made up of 3 main components, Ordinary Account for education, housing and some other stuff, Special Account is for retirement and Medisave is for healthcare, but today an incident made me lose confidence in Medisave.
My mom went to the polyclinic because her forehead is swollen due to a fall, they directed her to CGH for x-ray, no referral letter, they simply told her to go there, so my mom went to the A&E and paid S$100 in cash, after that she did the x-ray, she paid another S$157.50, so today she paid a total of S$257.50 in cash, she has money in her Medisave, but they won't allow her to use it, and I overheard her telling my dad she's only left with S$10+ in cash.
She's born in 1957, which makes her 56 this year, she's unemployed, financially she's mainly depending on my father, I do give her S$500 a month but that's for utilities and weekday dinners, I think there's still some surplus, well I'm okay if she asked me for more but she didn't, but I make it a point never to take money from her if she asked me to buy things.
So you know why I'm asking, what's the point of Medisave to my mom when she can't use it when she needs it? What will happen to her if me or my father is not here with her? How is she going to survive with S$10+ in her pocket? Or look further into the future, what will happen to my mother and father if I'm not here with them? When they need money, they are not allowed to use it, then what's the point of it all? Sigh, this kind of policy is really rubbish.
My mom went to the polyclinic because her forehead is swollen due to a fall, they directed her to CGH for x-ray, no referral letter, they simply told her to go there, so my mom went to the A&E and paid S$100 in cash, after that she did the x-ray, she paid another S$157.50, so today she paid a total of S$257.50 in cash, she has money in her Medisave, but they won't allow her to use it, and I overheard her telling my dad she's only left with S$10+ in cash.
She's born in 1957, which makes her 56 this year, she's unemployed, financially she's mainly depending on my father, I do give her S$500 a month but that's for utilities and weekday dinners, I think there's still some surplus, well I'm okay if she asked me for more but she didn't, but I make it a point never to take money from her if she asked me to buy things.
So you know why I'm asking, what's the point of Medisave to my mom when she can't use it when she needs it? What will happen to her if me or my father is not here with her? How is she going to survive with S$10+ in her pocket? Or look further into the future, what will happen to my mother and father if I'm not here with them? When they need money, they are not allowed to use it, then what's the point of it all? Sigh, this kind of policy is really rubbish.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Regarding Ms. Han Hui Hui and CPE
I think I saw this news a few months back but I didn't thought much of it, and today, I happened to see this news article on Yahoo, I read about it and found that CPE was trying to sue Ms. Han for defamation. This really kept me thinking, I don't really know much about CPE except that it regulates private schools like Informatics, MDIS and etc, it's like the private school watchdog to ensure they do things correctly, same like how IDA regulates telcos, see the recent record-breaking fine handed to M1 for service outage.
CPE was only setup in recent years, I don't really remember which year but when I was studying for my private diploma and advanced diploma at Informatics, they didn't exist, and that was from 2004 to 2007. During that time, many private schools can suddenly close down, leaving many local and foreign students in the lurch, most lost their money and had no way to recover since the school owners went missing.
Lucky for me, Informatics was one of the largest private school at that time, so I didn't have to worry about them closing down and running away with my money. I think later part there was an arrangement by CASE with the big private schools to take in these students who were left hanging, I saw a lot of them transferred into Informatics, which was a good move, at least they were able to continue with their studies and get their certification, but I'm not sure how the course fees were settled.
Next was the worst financial crisis seen by mankind in 2008, even more private schools went bust, owners went missing, leaving more private students lost, confused with big holes in their pockets. That time Singapore was trying to be an education hub, this kind of news only ruins that image, international students were losing confidence in our private education system.
Then came CPE, I think they were mainly setup to protect students in our private education system, then came EduTrust to certify private schools, and the Fee Protection Scheme, and some other measures, all meant to protect private students, be it local or foreign, and seems like they have been doing a good job so far, I don't see news of private students losing their money anymore.
So what I'm thinking next is, who is Ms. Han, was she a private student? How did she get into this situation with CPE? What transpired between her and CPE that lead to the potential lawsuit? I still don't understand the whole story, but one thing is for sure, CPE was trying to sue her.
What I'm thinking is, if Ms. Han is a private student, and CPE was trying to sue her, this really defies the mission of CPE, they were meant to protect private students, even if Ms. Han was indeed wrong and said or wrote something defamatory, lawsuit is just overkill, how can a young girl have the capability to take on a statutory board?
In the first place, how come a statutory board can sue her? Am I right to say that they are using my money to sue her? Who's paying for it? How did she attack CPE? Did she question their policy or did she attack a particular person in CPE? If she attacked a particular person, then that person should sue her on his/her own capacity, not via CPE using taxpayers' money, but if she attacked CPE's policy, then wow, does that mean a statutory board can sue people just because their policy was criticized? I've been criticizing ICA and HDB for a long time, how come I don't see them suing me? Maybe I should shut up from now on? Then how to improve?
I really think our government should come out and clarify this issue, this concerns every resident in Singapore, if people have to be afraid of speaking up just because of fearing a lawsuit from a statutory board, then how will they know whether they are doing things right?
CPE was only setup in recent years, I don't really remember which year but when I was studying for my private diploma and advanced diploma at Informatics, they didn't exist, and that was from 2004 to 2007. During that time, many private schools can suddenly close down, leaving many local and foreign students in the lurch, most lost their money and had no way to recover since the school owners went missing.
Lucky for me, Informatics was one of the largest private school at that time, so I didn't have to worry about them closing down and running away with my money. I think later part there was an arrangement by CASE with the big private schools to take in these students who were left hanging, I saw a lot of them transferred into Informatics, which was a good move, at least they were able to continue with their studies and get their certification, but I'm not sure how the course fees were settled.
Next was the worst financial crisis seen by mankind in 2008, even more private schools went bust, owners went missing, leaving more private students lost, confused with big holes in their pockets. That time Singapore was trying to be an education hub, this kind of news only ruins that image, international students were losing confidence in our private education system.
Then came CPE, I think they were mainly setup to protect students in our private education system, then came EduTrust to certify private schools, and the Fee Protection Scheme, and some other measures, all meant to protect private students, be it local or foreign, and seems like they have been doing a good job so far, I don't see news of private students losing their money anymore.
So what I'm thinking next is, who is Ms. Han, was she a private student? How did she get into this situation with CPE? What transpired between her and CPE that lead to the potential lawsuit? I still don't understand the whole story, but one thing is for sure, CPE was trying to sue her.
What I'm thinking is, if Ms. Han is a private student, and CPE was trying to sue her, this really defies the mission of CPE, they were meant to protect private students, even if Ms. Han was indeed wrong and said or wrote something defamatory, lawsuit is just overkill, how can a young girl have the capability to take on a statutory board?
In the first place, how come a statutory board can sue her? Am I right to say that they are using my money to sue her? Who's paying for it? How did she attack CPE? Did she question their policy or did she attack a particular person in CPE? If she attacked a particular person, then that person should sue her on his/her own capacity, not via CPE using taxpayers' money, but if she attacked CPE's policy, then wow, does that mean a statutory board can sue people just because their policy was criticized? I've been criticizing ICA and HDB for a long time, how come I don't see them suing me? Maybe I should shut up from now on? Then how to improve?
I really think our government should come out and clarify this issue, this concerns every resident in Singapore, if people have to be afraid of speaking up just because of fearing a lawsuit from a statutory board, then how will they know whether they are doing things right?
Thursday, October 17, 2013
And I Thought Filipinos Only Job Offer is Bad
Quite a while back, I saw a job offer at a restaurant, forgot which restaurant but they pasted this note on the wall beside their entrance which says something like this, "Seeking Service Staff, Filipinos Only", I thought it was very discriminatory, how come a restaurant running their business here in Singapore can post a job offer like that, right in public eyes, I wonder how many Singaporeans saw that. Please note that I have nothing against Filipinos, it could be Thais, Burmese, Indians or any other nationality, what annoyed me was they only choose a specific group of candidates instead of opening the position to anyone capable of doing it.
Today I saw this, this one really ultimate, it was a job offer from this recruitment firm called Randstad.
Source
They actually posted "This position is open to candidates who are not Singaporean Citizens or PR.", wow, I sure hope MOM is doing something about this Randstad, this kind of posting is insulting, what are they trying to say, Singaporeans and PRs are not capable of doing it? Come on.
Today I saw this, this one really ultimate, it was a job offer from this recruitment firm called Randstad.
Source
 |
| This position is open to candidates who are not Singaporean Citizens or PR. |
They actually posted "This position is open to candidates who are not Singaporean Citizens or PR.", wow, I sure hope MOM is doing something about this Randstad, this kind of posting is insulting, what are they trying to say, Singaporeans and PRs are not capable of doing it? Come on.
US Debt Crisis Over... For Now
Source
As expected, they managed to come up with an agreement before the 17 Oct deadline when the US would hit the debt ceiling limit. And also as expected, they did not completely solve the problem, this deal merely funds the government until 15 Jan 2014, this is when they will face another government shutdown if they cannot resolve their differences.
Another date was also set for the debt ceiling limit, it's on 07 Feb 2014, basically what this means is we will see another drama if they cannot resolve their differences before 15 Jan 2014.
01 Oct 2013 - Government Shutdown
In between - Fight between Democrats and Republicans over Obamacare
17 Oct 2013 - Debt Ceiling Limit
15 Jan 2014 - Government Shutdown
In between - Fight between Democrats and Republicans over Obamacare
07 Feb 2014 - Debt Ceiling Limit
I know where the Republicans are coming from, they wanted to save money for Americans, they see Obamacare as general waste of money, I also know where the Democrats are coming from, they want to help Americans by providing for them, but as an outsider, it's just my opinion but I see some things that are very questionable, like the food stamps, they spent hundreds of billions a year just on that, we don't have such benefit in Singapore, so it's peculiar to me. I even saw on YouTube where people are shown abusing the food stamp benefit, there's even a term for it, "Food Stamp Fraud".
And in America, fat people who have difficulty moving are considered "handicapped", and they do get benefits based on that, that's just a strange concept to me, here in Singapore, if one is too fat to move, it's your problem, no benefit is ever going to come from our government, we say "wait long long".
As expected, they managed to come up with an agreement before the 17 Oct deadline when the US would hit the debt ceiling limit. And also as expected, they did not completely solve the problem, this deal merely funds the government until 15 Jan 2014, this is when they will face another government shutdown if they cannot resolve their differences.
Another date was also set for the debt ceiling limit, it's on 07 Feb 2014, basically what this means is we will see another drama if they cannot resolve their differences before 15 Jan 2014.
01 Oct 2013 - Government Shutdown
In between - Fight between Democrats and Republicans over Obamacare
17 Oct 2013 - Debt Ceiling Limit
15 Jan 2014 - Government Shutdown
In between - Fight between Democrats and Republicans over Obamacare
07 Feb 2014 - Debt Ceiling Limit
I know where the Republicans are coming from, they wanted to save money for Americans, they see Obamacare as general waste of money, I also know where the Democrats are coming from, they want to help Americans by providing for them, but as an outsider, it's just my opinion but I see some things that are very questionable, like the food stamps, they spent hundreds of billions a year just on that, we don't have such benefit in Singapore, so it's peculiar to me. I even saw on YouTube where people are shown abusing the food stamp benefit, there's even a term for it, "Food Stamp Fraud".
And in America, fat people who have difficulty moving are considered "handicapped", and they do get benefits based on that, that's just a strange concept to me, here in Singapore, if one is too fat to move, it's your problem, no benefit is ever going to come from our government, we say "wait long long".
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
STI and US Markets Rise
Seems like investors here and the US are not very affected by the debt ceiling issue, me too, I have confidence that the Democrats and Republicans can come to an agreement, just like what Warren Buffet said, "We will go right up to the point of extreme idiocy, but we won't cross it", he predicted a last minute deal that will solve the debt ceiling crisis. I just find the whole thing too dramatic, they are like arguing over something that needs to be done no matter what, why not just do the necessary and negotiate later? If the Republicans have problem with Obamacare, attack it bit by bit instead of putting their economy at risk, and Democrats should be nicer to them, I know standing firm is good, but not in the face of a potential recession.
I think the shutdown is more of a problem now, federal workers don't get paid, their families suffer un-necessarily, even affecting US war veterans, these are people who have put their lives on the line for their country, how can America let them down?
I think the shutdown is more of a problem now, federal workers don't get paid, their families suffer un-necessarily, even affecting US war veterans, these are people who have put their lives on the line for their country, how can America let them down?
DBS Vickers CPF Investment Account Interest
Just noticed they actually give interest for money parked inside the CPF Investment Account, seems like it's given on the last day of the month, mine was credited on 30 Sep 2013. I had S$20,476.70 inside, now there is S$20,476.87, S$0.17 difference, how many percent is that?
0.17 / 20,476.70 * 100 = 0.0008%
Very pathetic, but better than nothing since the money has to go through there anyway.
0.17 / 20,476.70 * 100 = 0.0008%
Very pathetic, but better than nothing since the money has to go through there anyway.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Bought 12 Lots of Cache Logistics at S$1.165 With CPF
Initially wanted to buy 19 lots, but unfortunately there was a hiccup, my buy limit is only S$15,000, DBS Vickers suggested that I use up my buy limit first, then request a temporary increase to purchase the rest, but that will mean extra charges. The commission, clearing and trading fees are negligible, the problem was with the CPF buy charge, for every 1000 shares, there will be a S$2.50 charge, up to a maximum of S$25. You can get the full CPF Investment Charges here.
Let's see the total cost of buying 19 lots at one go versus buying 12 and then 7.
19 Lots: S$22,239.85
12 then 7 Lots: 14,056.27 + 8,205.15 = S$22261.42
Difference: 22261.42 - 22,239.85 = S$21.57
Hmmm... not a huge difference, actually this amount is negligible, assuming I have 19 lots and if there is a S$0.005 change in the share price, I'm looking at almost S$100 difference, but well, market is closed now, too bad.
But today I was aiming for Cambridge, the selling price kept staying at S$0.68, and then I saw Cache selling price fell from S$1.185 to S$1.165, thought it was a good opportunity, was also looking at Sheng Siong, S$0.64 seems like a good price, what I really like about Sheng Siong is they have no debt, and they are earning money. I wonder how the market will perform when SGX opens on Wednesday, US market is opening in about 30 minutes time from now, maybe I can check that out first.
Let's see the total cost of buying 19 lots at one go versus buying 12 and then 7.
19 Lots: S$22,239.85
 |
| 19 Lots |
12 then 7 Lots: 14,056.27 + 8,205.15 = S$22261.42
 |
| 12 then 7 Lots |
Difference: 22261.42 - 22,239.85 = S$21.57
Hmmm... not a huge difference, actually this amount is negligible, assuming I have 19 lots and if there is a S$0.005 change in the share price, I'm looking at almost S$100 difference, but well, market is closed now, too bad.
But today I was aiming for Cambridge, the selling price kept staying at S$0.68, and then I saw Cache selling price fell from S$1.185 to S$1.165, thought it was a good opportunity, was also looking at Sheng Siong, S$0.64 seems like a good price, what I really like about Sheng Siong is they have no debt, and they are earning money. I wonder how the market will perform when SGX opens on Wednesday, US market is opening in about 30 minutes time from now, maybe I can check that out first.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Singapore Press Holdings 2013 Full Year Profit Down 26%
Source
The result is for 01 Sep 2012 to 31 Aug 2013.
Profit after taxation (S$000)
2013 434,302
2012 586,648
Dividend 2013
Final S$0.08
Special S$0.07
Total S$0.15
Dividend 2012
Final S$0.09
Special S$0.08
Total S$0.17
Total Debt 2013 (S$000)
2,721 + 872,495 + 865,727 = 1,740,943
Total Debt 2012 (S$000)
3,293 + 301,582 + 978,740 = 1,283,615
Long-Term Debt 2013 (S$000)
872,495 + 865,727 = 1,738,222
Long-Term Debt 2012 (S$000)
301,582 + 978,740 = 1,280,322
Total Asset (S$000)
2013 6,373,354
2012 5,485,359
Total Liability (S$000)
2013 2,157,648
2012 1,732,183
Total Equity (S$000)
2013 4,215,706
2012 3,753,176
Gearing Ratio 2013
Total Debt / Total Asset = 0.27
Total Debt / Total Equity = 0.41
Long-Term Debt / Total Equity = 0.41
Gearing Ratio 2012
Total Debt / Total Asset = 0.23
Total Debt / Total Equity = 0.34
Long-Term Debt / Total Equity = 0.34
Their foundation is still very strong, but their newspaper and magazine revenue is declining, nowadays with the computer and internet, who needs hard-copies, even the older generation is picking up IT and updating themselves using forums, news site like Yahoo, no wonder they are moving into property business, that's a good move though, I think if their share price drop below S$4 can buy, S$4 and above I find it expensive, as at 11 Oct is S$4.12, have chance, maybe during dividend period will drop, or can wait until XD.
The result is for 01 Sep 2012 to 31 Aug 2013.
Profit after taxation (S$000)
2013 434,302
2012 586,648
Dividend 2013
Final S$0.08
Special S$0.07
Total S$0.15
Dividend 2012
Final S$0.09
Special S$0.08
Total S$0.17
Total Debt 2013 (S$000)
2,721 + 872,495 + 865,727 = 1,740,943
Total Debt 2012 (S$000)
3,293 + 301,582 + 978,740 = 1,283,615
Long-Term Debt 2013 (S$000)
872,495 + 865,727 = 1,738,222
Long-Term Debt 2012 (S$000)
301,582 + 978,740 = 1,280,322
Total Asset (S$000)
2013 6,373,354
2012 5,485,359
Total Liability (S$000)
2013 2,157,648
2012 1,732,183
Total Equity (S$000)
2013 4,215,706
2012 3,753,176
Gearing Ratio 2013
Total Debt / Total Asset = 0.27
Total Debt / Total Equity = 0.41
Long-Term Debt / Total Equity = 0.41
Gearing Ratio 2012
Total Debt / Total Asset = 0.23
Total Debt / Total Equity = 0.34
Long-Term Debt / Total Equity = 0.34
Their foundation is still very strong, but their newspaper and magazine revenue is declining, nowadays with the computer and internet, who needs hard-copies, even the older generation is picking up IT and updating themselves using forums, news site like Yahoo, no wonder they are moving into property business, that's a good move though, I think if their share price drop below S$4 can buy, S$4 and above I find it expensive, as at 11 Oct is S$4.12, have chance, maybe during dividend period will drop, or can wait until XD.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Learning About Gearing Ratio
If you surf the internet while researching on your favourite stocks, no doubt you will eventually come across this term "Gearing Ratio", so what is it? Basically this tells people how much the company is borrowing to fund its business, too high means the company is at risk because it is over-leveraging, one good example is Lehman Brothers, before their collapse, they were owing way more than they were owning, so when they went bankrupt, there was nothing left to give back to shareholders, a lot of people lost their life savings.
In the first place if they didn't over-leverage so much, they probably wouldn't have collapsed. If you do a Google search on "lehman brother over-leverage", sources say they leverage from 30-35 to 1, that means for every $1 they own, they owe $30 to $35.
There are also a few ways to calculate a company's gearing ratio, but let's look at the Debt-to-Equity Ratio, where Equity means Shareholder's Equity. We will use the Total Debt and Long-Term Debt ratios.
You may also be thinking how high is too high, this you will need to compare with different companies in the same industry, the lowest in the industry would be the low point, the highest in the industry would be the high point. Following I'm comparing REITs of different industries, later on you may want to try to compare maybe purely for Industrial, or purely Retail.
Lippo Malls Indonesia Retails Trust (2013 Second Quarter Results) - Retail
Total Debt / Equity = 462,875 / 1,245,720 = 0.37
For every S$1 of equity, they have S$0.37 debt.
Long-Term Debt / Equity = 318,371 / 1,245,720 = 0.25
For every S$1 of equity, they have S$0.25 long-term debt.
Equity is found at Unitholders' funds at page 4.
Total Debt is found at Total borrowings at page 4.
Long-Term Debt is found at Total unsecured borrowings at page 4.
CDL Hospitality Trusts (2013 Second Quarter Results) - Hotel
Total Debt / Equity = 676,094 / 1,555,751 = 0.43
For every S$1 of equity, they have S$0.43 debt.
Long-Term Debt / Equity = 383,725 / 1,555,751 = 0.24
For every S$1 of equity, they have S$0.24 long-term debt.
Equity is found at Unitholders' funds at page 10.
Total Debt is found at Total borrowings at page 12.
Long-Term Debt is found at Amount repayable after one year at page 12.
Cambridge Industrial Trust (2013 Second Quarter Results) - Industrial
Total Debt / Equity = 472,543 / 824,390 = 0.57
For every S$1 of equity, they have S$0.57 debt.
Long-Term Debt / Equity = (117,165 + 49,590) / 824,390 = 0.20
For every S$1 of equity, they have S$0.20 long-term debt.
Equity is found at Unitholders' funds at page 12.
Total Debt is found at Total borrowings at page 15.
Long-Term Debt is found at Amount repayable after one year for secured and unsecured at page 15.
Obviously these 3 companies are much less risky compared to Lehman Brothers.
In the first place if they didn't over-leverage so much, they probably wouldn't have collapsed. If you do a Google search on "lehman brother over-leverage", sources say they leverage from 30-35 to 1, that means for every $1 they own, they owe $30 to $35.
There are also a few ways to calculate a company's gearing ratio, but let's look at the Debt-to-Equity Ratio, where Equity means Shareholder's Equity. We will use the Total Debt and Long-Term Debt ratios.
You may also be thinking how high is too high, this you will need to compare with different companies in the same industry, the lowest in the industry would be the low point, the highest in the industry would be the high point. Following I'm comparing REITs of different industries, later on you may want to try to compare maybe purely for Industrial, or purely Retail.
Lippo Malls Indonesia Retails Trust (2013 Second Quarter Results) - Retail
Total Debt / Equity = 462,875 / 1,245,720 = 0.37
For every S$1 of equity, they have S$0.37 debt.
Long-Term Debt / Equity = 318,371 / 1,245,720 = 0.25
For every S$1 of equity, they have S$0.25 long-term debt.
Equity is found at Unitholders' funds at page 4.
Total Debt is found at Total borrowings at page 4.
Long-Term Debt is found at Total unsecured borrowings at page 4.
CDL Hospitality Trusts (2013 Second Quarter Results) - Hotel
Total Debt / Equity = 676,094 / 1,555,751 = 0.43
For every S$1 of equity, they have S$0.43 debt.
Long-Term Debt / Equity = 383,725 / 1,555,751 = 0.24
For every S$1 of equity, they have S$0.24 long-term debt.
Equity is found at Unitholders' funds at page 10.
Total Debt is found at Total borrowings at page 12.
Long-Term Debt is found at Amount repayable after one year at page 12.
Cambridge Industrial Trust (2013 Second Quarter Results) - Industrial
Total Debt / Equity = 472,543 / 824,390 = 0.57
For every S$1 of equity, they have S$0.57 debt.
Long-Term Debt / Equity = (117,165 + 49,590) / 824,390 = 0.20
For every S$1 of equity, they have S$0.20 long-term debt.
Equity is found at Unitholders' funds at page 12.
Total Debt is found at Total borrowings at page 15.
Long-Term Debt is found at Amount repayable after one year for secured and unsecured at page 15.
Obviously these 3 companies are much less risky compared to Lehman Brothers.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Bought Cambridge Industrial Trust at S$0.68
Bought 10 lots today, wanted to buy with CPF too but DBS Vickers didn't raise my buy limit, I think maybe it's due to the SingTel fire, something wrong with their email, should have called them but was stuck in a meeting, or wait Monday see how, who knows it will drop, then even better to enter with CPF.
I like this trust because it has many properties in Singapore and the dividend yield is high at 7%+ and has an increasing trend so far, was thinking of buying Sabana or Lippo Malls, but their prices increased beyond my target, I thought maybe as we get closer to the US debt limit deadline on 17 Oct STI might go down, but well, it kept going up since 07 Oct, I guess people are very sure the US won't default on their debts.
But imagine the US went on to default on their debts, I think all stock markets will crash, so what will I do if STI crash? I'll wait, I won't cut loss, no point, instead I will buy more if I have spare cash, actually it doesn't really matter since I have fully paid for my shares, I'm not doing contra so I have the holding power.
I remember in late 2007, I bought this unit trust called "Fidelity South East Asia Fund (A-USD)", I bought it at the peak price of S$10+ using my CPF through the recommendation of a friend's colleague, then a few months later, world markets crashed, I saw the price drop to a low of S$2+, I didn't do anything, I waited till mid 2012 before I sold at S$6 or S$7+, but I still lost money, imagine that time I have the money to average down, buy more at S$2+, I could end up making a profit instead. Looking back, that time I was ignorant and poor, but I learned a few valuable things that no money can buy.
1. Always keep myself updated on world and business news.
2. Never trust other people with my finance.
3. Never buy a product without knowing it.
4. Never buy unit trust (again).
Luckily in 2006, I bought a China unit trust through the recommendation of a good friend (his colleague was the one who recommended me the Fidelity fund at peak price), forgot the name but it was during the China boom period, it's like anything you buy related to China will earn you big bucks, I earned enough to breakeven from the losses of my Fidelity fund, with CPF interest factored in all the way to 2012, I was damn lucky to get through the worst financial crisis seen by mankind without losing an arm or leg, but at time I read of people losing their entire retirement funds, 5 to 6 digit sums, very sad.
I like this trust because it has many properties in Singapore and the dividend yield is high at 7%+ and has an increasing trend so far, was thinking of buying Sabana or Lippo Malls, but their prices increased beyond my target, I thought maybe as we get closer to the US debt limit deadline on 17 Oct STI might go down, but well, it kept going up since 07 Oct, I guess people are very sure the US won't default on their debts.
But imagine the US went on to default on their debts, I think all stock markets will crash, so what will I do if STI crash? I'll wait, I won't cut loss, no point, instead I will buy more if I have spare cash, actually it doesn't really matter since I have fully paid for my shares, I'm not doing contra so I have the holding power.
I remember in late 2007, I bought this unit trust called "Fidelity South East Asia Fund (A-USD)", I bought it at the peak price of S$10+ using my CPF through the recommendation of a friend's colleague, then a few months later, world markets crashed, I saw the price drop to a low of S$2+, I didn't do anything, I waited till mid 2012 before I sold at S$6 or S$7+, but I still lost money, imagine that time I have the money to average down, buy more at S$2+, I could end up making a profit instead. Looking back, that time I was ignorant and poor, but I learned a few valuable things that no money can buy.
1. Always keep myself updated on world and business news.
2. Never trust other people with my finance.
3. Never buy a product without knowing it.
4. Never buy unit trust (again).
Luckily in 2006, I bought a China unit trust through the recommendation of a good friend (his colleague was the one who recommended me the Fidelity fund at peak price), forgot the name but it was during the China boom period, it's like anything you buy related to China will earn you big bucks, I earned enough to breakeven from the losses of my Fidelity fund, with CPF interest factored in all the way to 2012, I was damn lucky to get through the worst financial crisis seen by mankind without losing an arm or leg, but at time I read of people losing their entire retirement funds, 5 to 6 digit sums, very sad.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
SingTel Internet Exchange Fire
Wow, there really is a fire, yesterday I overheard my colleagues talking about SingTel on fire, I thought it's some kind of new F1 promotion they are running, seems like many people were affected, from consumers to corporates, even DBS and Starhub were affected, but how come I didn't feel the damage, I was still happily using my fibre connection yesterday, my dad was watching cable TV, or maybe my line wasn't damaged or they rectified very quickly.
I wonder if SingTel will be fined for this, I'm more curious as to how the fire started, how can it just start burning like this, maybe a sabotage?
Anyway, it didn't seem to affect SingTel's share price, closed flat at S$3.75 today.
I wonder if SingTel will be fined for this, I'm more curious as to how the fire started, how can it just start burning like this, maybe a sabotage?
Anyway, it didn't seem to affect SingTel's share price, closed flat at S$3.75 today.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Submitted My Wife's PR Applicaton Today
No hiccup, everything was smooth and we didn't wait too long until our turn, the officer said to wait between 4 to 5 months, I really hope my wife can get PR this time, if reject again, I will definitely appeal, I will want to know why, I will not allow them to happily reject me without giving any reason again.
While at ICA, saw quite a few Singaporean guys with their foreign spouse also applying for PR, have Chinese, Vietnam, Indonesian, Thai, and also saw many foreign families applying for PR, Indians, Filipinos, Chinese, I wonder who will be the lucky ones, almost felt like entering a lucky draw.
Looking back, this is the second time my wife is trying for PR, last time we tried was in May 2011, that time I was earning S$2850, now S$3480, my salary has increased about 18.1% over the course of 2 years and 5 months, I really hope this helps because this shows that financially I have no problem taking care of my wife, what else would I need to prove? If talking about years of residency, my wife has been staying here permanently since our marriage in Sep 2010, that's slightly more than 3 years, it is telling that we intend to settle down here in Singapore.
Correction: The officer said to wait between 4-5 months, not 4-6 weeks.
While at ICA, saw quite a few Singaporean guys with their foreign spouse also applying for PR, have Chinese, Vietnam, Indonesian, Thai, and also saw many foreign families applying for PR, Indians, Filipinos, Chinese, I wonder who will be the lucky ones, almost felt like entering a lucky draw.
Looking back, this is the second time my wife is trying for PR, last time we tried was in May 2011, that time I was earning S$2850, now S$3480, my salary has increased about 18.1% over the course of 2 years and 5 months, I really hope this helps because this shows that financially I have no problem taking care of my wife, what else would I need to prove? If talking about years of residency, my wife has been staying here permanently since our marriage in Sep 2010, that's slightly more than 3 years, it is telling that we intend to settle down here in Singapore.
Correction: The officer said to wait between 4-5 months, not 4-6 weeks.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Asiasons, Blumont and LionGold Share Price Continue to Plunge
Last Friday they suffered massive losses in their share price, today they took another hit. I hope nobody was doing contra during this time, the kind of losses we are looking at here is massive, more than 90% of your capital would be wiped out. These stocks are very risky, I have no idea how their prices even managed to get so high in the first place and the plunge last Friday was jaw-dropping.
I feel sorry for those who didn't get to sell before the plunge, or those who averaged down, even though I'm not invested but I feel heartache for their shareholders who probably are ordinary people like me, so much hard-earned money gone in just two days of trading. I hope SGX and MAS would thoroughly investigate this, there's just too much that has not been explained, a company's share price won't just drop from the sky for nothing, very fishy.
By the way, STI closed at 3136 today, seems like getting lower and lower thanks to the US government shutdown, I think as usual they will drag until 17 Oct which is their debt limit deadline before they panic and come out with a last-minute agreement.
 |
| Heavy Losses |
I feel sorry for those who didn't get to sell before the plunge, or those who averaged down, even though I'm not invested but I feel heartache for their shareholders who probably are ordinary people like me, so much hard-earned money gone in just two days of trading. I hope SGX and MAS would thoroughly investigate this, there's just too much that has not been explained, a company's share price won't just drop from the sky for nothing, very fishy.
By the way, STI closed at 3136 today, seems like getting lower and lower thanks to the US government shutdown, I think as usual they will drag until 17 Oct which is their debt limit deadline before they panic and come out with a last-minute agreement.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Asiasons, Blumont and LionGold Trading Halted
If you look at their 1-year charts, their share price surged so fast so furious, and then last Friday their prices dropped from the sky, I wonder what's going on, those who bought at the peak price must have had a heart attack, that's why never ride on a bull, last week I was still looking up on LionGold's business because I was thinking of investing in some gold products, lucky I never took action, but then again, even if I really want to invest in gold, I would probably open a Gold Savings Account at UOB and buy using my CPF.
Anyway, I promised myself not to dabble in such high-risk stocks again, my first and last such gamble was with Olam, lucky I only bought 1 lot so the impact was very minimal. Also note that this kind of stock does not give out much dividend, some don't even give, which makes it even more risky because when the price goes down, you have no choice but to hold on, or sell at a loss, but if they give decent and regular dividend, holding on might not be that bad.
 |
| Down Double Digit % |
Anyway, I promised myself not to dabble in such high-risk stocks again, my first and last such gamble was with Olam, lucky I only bought 1 lot so the impact was very minimal. Also note that this kind of stock does not give out much dividend, some don't even give, which makes it even more risky because when the price goes down, you have no choice but to hold on, or sell at a loss, but if they give decent and regular dividend, holding on might not be that bad.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Applying PR for Wife (Again)
The first time I tried, our PR appointment was on 23 May 2011, it was right after the 2011 Singapore General Election (held on 07 May 2011). At that time, anti-foreigner sentiments was strong so our government had to do something about it because the election results was shocking, they lost Aljunied GRC to Worker's Party, overall votes for the ruling party was lower when comparing to previous elections, obviously more people were unhappy with the government.
After the GE, they implemented several changes so as to pacify the people, one of it was to reduce the number of foreigners in Singapore, reject immigration and work passes, I'm sure you felt the impact regardless of whether you are a Singaporean or foreigner, I think my wife's application was rejected due to that, otherwise I can't think of any good reason why it would be rejected.
At that time, my salary was S$2850 thanks to a full-time employment in a good company i.e. I had a stable job, my wife doesn't have any bad record, she's definitely not a serial killer or armed robber or anything bad, she's just a normal Thai lady. As for me, I'm just an average joe, yeah well, I did have a few brushes with the law when I was a teenager, I even AWOL for ten days during army, but that was all in the past, if they look at me now, I'm a changed person. Maybe I would write a post about my past, anyway I don't think they would or should penalize my wife for that, but it's hard to say when they rejected her application without stating why.
I just hope it will get through this time so I can apply BTO with my wife, resale is just too damn expensive, I would feel really stupid about myself if I ever bought resale, but then again, people don't really have much choice in Singapore, unless you are filthy rich.
After the GE, they implemented several changes so as to pacify the people, one of it was to reduce the number of foreigners in Singapore, reject immigration and work passes, I'm sure you felt the impact regardless of whether you are a Singaporean or foreigner, I think my wife's application was rejected due to that, otherwise I can't think of any good reason why it would be rejected.
At that time, my salary was S$2850 thanks to a full-time employment in a good company i.e. I had a stable job, my wife doesn't have any bad record, she's definitely not a serial killer or armed robber or anything bad, she's just a normal Thai lady. As for me, I'm just an average joe, yeah well, I did have a few brushes with the law when I was a teenager, I even AWOL for ten days during army, but that was all in the past, if they look at me now, I'm a changed person. Maybe I would write a post about my past, anyway I don't think they would or should penalize my wife for that, but it's hard to say when they rejected her application without stating why.
I just hope it will get through this time so I can apply BTO with my wife, resale is just too damn expensive, I would feel really stupid about myself if I ever bought resale, but then again, people don't really have much choice in Singapore, unless you are filthy rich.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Google Changed Quick Link Location
Just noticed that they changed the quick links, all the buttons are now located as a quick-dial button so that means I have to click at least twice to go to for example YouTube, I still prefer the old rows of buttons at the top left, and I only need to click once, should at least ask me if I wish to change.
 |
| Quick Links Now On The Right |
NS.SG Error 500--Internal Server Error
Yesterday I complained the website super slow, today it totally down, power la, now everybody cannot book IPPT, RT or IPT, I think have to call their hotline, must be super congested. I wonder how come they don't have a failover server i.e. when server A is down, server B can continue to provide service.
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| NS.SG Down |
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
NS.SG So Slow
Aiyoh, just want to check my IPPT award payment date, this ns.sg really cannot make it, been really slow recently, other times also slow, I think they are doing maintenance or something, shouldn't they at least let me know what's going on, let me know what to expect, or simply tell me to try again later, first thing that greeted me is always the slowness, I'm sure they also know it's damn slow.
I know it's a free service but free doesn't mean it's ok for it to suck, see, from typing this post until now, it's still loading, what the heck, if the server can't deliver the content within an acceptable time frame, just show a maintenance message, don't make people wait for nothing, that is like so basic. Or not enough bandwidth, seems like the website is shared by Mindef, Police and Civil Defense personnel, I think it could be overloaded, there are so many national service personnel in Singapore, must be overloaded.
I know it's a free service but free doesn't mean it's ok for it to suck, see, from typing this post until now, it's still loading, what the heck, if the server can't deliver the content within an acceptable time frame, just show a maintenance message, don't make people wait for nothing, that is like so basic. Or not enough bandwidth, seems like the website is shared by Mindef, Police and Civil Defense personnel, I think it could be overloaded, there are so many national service personnel in Singapore, must be overloaded.
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