Calvin and Hobbes

Good Book

I randomly picked this up at the library and found it a really good read. The Art of Pricing gives you some insight to how you should think about price-setting, with the point being the need for price differentiation. As a seller, you have to think beyond the one "magic" price and try to capture the value of your product more effectively through a pricing policy that varies according to the type of buyer.

For those of us who are not CEOs, the book provides some theoretical basis for the discounts and package deals that we so often see in the papers. An example would be how restaurants typically price their main courses at a lower margin to entice customers to eat there. Once the customer chooses to eat there, the restaurant then makes most of its money off the over-priced drinks and desserts. Just think about N.Y.D.C (a cafe in Singapore): the budget main courses cost the same if not less than the desserts!

Car Wars

Botak Jones

Had dinner at Botak Jones this evening, Singapore's latest Ang-moh-run-western-stall-in-a- coffeeshop. My uncle's family went there yesterday night and had already warned us about the 45 min wait they endured, so when we managed to find a seat immediately upon arrival, we were suitably pleased. While the long queue for orders was rather daunting, it nonetheless gave us time to look through the extensive menu. When it was finally my turn, I put in the order and was soon informed that the wait would be about 1hr. "1hr"?!! It turns out that this ain't fast food. It is fresh food made to order, meaning a long wait, but also better makan.

My brother and I ordered the Botak Burger which was really good and imho, worth the wait, especially considering that it costs only $6.60. There is a monster version of the Botak Burger which is essentially the same thing but with 3 patties. That's 450 gms of burger. I think it's humanly impossible to take a complete bite out of that monster. :P

Anyhow, long story short, go check it out if you're in the area. :)

"Headshot!"

Last week I downloaded a 1GB+ demo of one of the most visually amazing games I have ever played. Company of Heroes is a WWII RTS (real-time strategy) that fully immerses the player in the heat of the battle, with stunning graphics and an incredibly interactive landscape. The transition from cut-scenes to game play is very smooth, and makes you feel as though you’re participating in this epic movie. Nonetheless, with all this fancy features, you need a pretty pimped out system to actually run the game in its full glory. My 1-year old PC was already struggling to keep up as its specs were below the minimum system requirements.

Still on the same theme, I so happened to watch TaeGukGi last night and was both shocked and amazed by the graphic depictions of war on the frontlines. After about 2hrs of death and destruction, I found myself wondering how one could actually make a game based on war. Ok, I guess the answer is obvious. In all honesty, when I was playing CoH, I was thoroughly enjoying mowing down the evil Nazis and dropping artillery on their advancing tanks. But after the movie, I started to feel rather guilty about having sent my computer troops to their untimely end.

I’m no stranger to violence in computer games. I’ve played my fair share of Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto, and I’ve never really thought that it was a big deal when you accidentally run over pedestrians in a game. C’mon, it’s a game! I don’t think shooting someone in a game today means that I’m going to be a serial killer in 10 years. But I do think that it’s troubling that killing people in games is actually entertaining. Whether it’s Ghost Recon or Hitman, whether you’re the good guy or the bad guy, there is a morbid joy in taking the life of your perceived “enemy.”

Back in the army, a practice that made me incredibly uncomfortable was when we had to do press-ups and shout “kill, kill, kill” each time. Don’t get me wrong, I think that Singapore certainly needs an army and that National Service is important for our country’s security. If the need ever arises, I think that it is acceptable to kill in self-defence. However, killing to protect your loved ones is different from killing people for sport, and the popularity of violent computer games certainly reveal that we (or at least me and a lot of other people) take morbid pleasure in killing people for fun. Indeed few sounds are more satisfying/annoying than the computer annoucing "headshot" during a Counterstrike session.

Now I don’t know what to do with this ‘revelation.’ Should I then switch from playing DOA to DOA Extreme Beach Volleyball? (though I think that would bring up a whole different set of issues). Or perhaps stick to FIFA and Championship Manager? Or maybe play games like Halo where you are killing aliens and not people? Does that really change anything?

Some Thoughts on Financial Responsibility

As most the guys in my cohort begin seeing a positive cashflow for the first time in some 25 years, many of us are starting wrestle with the responsibilities of working life. All of a sudden you need to worry about things like buying insurance, investing your savings, and buying big ticket items like a house and car. I too have been trying to navigate through this sea of information, and for those of you who are actually reading this, here are some of my key learning points:

On insurance:

1) Make sure that you have Life Insurance that covers you both in the event of death, as well as in the event you get hit by one of the 30 major illnesses. The premiums start climbing really quickly as you get older, so it is very important to get in as soon as possible. You may be able to hold off on the accident and health insurance, as well as the hospitalization and surgery insurance, but you must buy into life insurance early. See this insurance as an investment that you make today for the benefit of your future spouse and kids in the event that something happens to you. But do not treat insurance as an investment for yourself.

2) Which brings be to my second point: It's probably not a good idea to buy investment-linked insurance. If you want insurance, buy insurance. If you want to invest, go buy some index funds or something. Don’t mix up the two because essentially you are buying into a unit trust over which you have very little control. Even if you have the option to switch unit trusts “for free” (as in the scheme offered by Prudential), your choice is still limited since you only have one option for each major sector. However, if you know you're lazy and are not going to invest on your own, then this might be a convenient way to settle everything at a one-stop shop.

On investments:

1) Avoid structured products like the plague. These are the special “savings accounts” that are hawked to you at banks, promising you the potential of super high returns. Most of the time, the banks are buying an option from you and giving you really crappy returns for the amount of risk that you are being exposed to. Always ask the bank what your worst case scenario is coz you can actually come out of the whole endeavor negative.

2) Unit trusts such as those purchased through fundsupermart.com are the most straight forward way to diversify your portfolio across countries and thus reduce your exposure to the risks in the Singapore market. However, unit trusts on average under-perform the market in the long run, so you are probably better off buying passively managed index funds that track things like the S&P500 or the STI. This is a much less exciting way to invest, but it will likely give you more stable returns over the long run.

3) Buying a house is NOT necessarily an investment. I first encountered this idea in Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad in which a house was classified as a liability rather than an asset. Today, most Singaporeans still think of buying a house as an investment. The argument against renting a home is often based on the assumption that the money you spent on rent is wasted since you end up with nothing at the end of the day. (See article) However, when you pay interest on your home loan, you also are throwing money away – money that could be better invested in other things. The important thing here is to separate an investment decision from a personal decision: should you buy the house that you want to live in, or the house that will give you the highest return? You need to realize that these two homes may not be the same. (I use “house” as a generic term since most of us, myself included, will scarcely be able to afford an actual house)

4) Having said that, HDBs are a whole different animal. The upfront discount given by the government means that your HDB unit will most likely substantially increase in value by the time you are allowed to sell it. So if you're sure you know exactly what type of place you want to stay in for at least the medium term, then a HDB unit is probably a good idea (if you qualify for it in the first place).

5) Nonetheless, the benefit of renting a place is that you will have the flexibility to change the location/size of your dwelling as your own needs change. For example, should you get sent overseas long term, there is no need for you to worry about servicing mortgages anddealing with tenants. Or you might want to rent a tiny place in the heart of Orchard Rd, and then shift to a larger place in Seng Kang once you start having kids.

6) Don’t buy a car if you can help it, coz in Singapore, it’s just way too costly in terms of depreciation and upkeep costs. (See article) Calling a cab is still far cheaper than owning a car when you factor in things like parking, ERP and time wasted finding parking.

Ok, that was quite a mouthful. Now must put disclaimer: "The above listed information does not constitute financial advice and should not be relied upon as such." I do not claim to be an expert and I would certainly welcome any comments and objections. It's only through talking more about these things that everyone gets a better idea of what's going on.

Live and Love

Our dear Quanhui is having a concert in Singapore at 3pm on 27 August at the YMS Auditorium (54 Waterloo St). Tickets are going at $8. You can watch a video of his singing talent, or check out his concert blog for more information.

Child Molesters Beware!

I've been meaning to put this image up ever since I saw this poster on my first day of work (which was a month ago). I just feel that this is such a ridiculous poster and it certainly joins the ranks of Singapore's earlier campaigns to make people smile more. First of all, who is the target audience of this message? There aren't many kids running around Singapore's CBD where this photo was taken. So perhaps we trying to educate the parents or scare off potential wrong-doers by showing them that the young kids have caught on to their evil ways.

Ninja Turtles!

After-party

About 10 hours ago, I landed in Changi Airport and was greeted by the friendly sounds of Singlish that filled the air. I've spent the last couple of weeks on a mad rampage to see the world before I get confined to a life of no more summer vacations :P After graduation, I headed down to Peru with my brother to embark on a 4-day hike to Machu Picchu along the Inca trail, an endeavor that was preceded by 3 days of altitude sickness which involved masive headaches and some degree of nausea. (Interesting fact: The best way to deal with altitude sickness in Peru is to drink coca tea or chew coca leaves. Incidentally, these leaves are one of the components in the manufacture of cocaine. No, you don't get high chewing the stuff itself.) Nonetheless, Machu Picchu and the other Inca sites are pretty darn amazing. The sheer scale and intricacy of the construction is truly a testament of what alot of people can do with alot of time. The jigsaw puzzle-like walls carved from stones dragged over from faraway mountains have even led one guy to theorize that the Incas must have had help from aliens. The Incas were also really into building terraces for agricultural purposes -- to experiment with plants and to acclimatize low altitude plants to higher altitudes. Now that's some pretty neat stuff! For anyone thinking of heading to Peru, I would highly recommend going on the Inca Trail, especially if you get hooked up with a decent company like SAS or Andean Life. The trek itself was pretty demanding since we didn't hire personal porters, but the service (which included hot tea during your wake-up call) was simply mind-boggling. It's luxury camping that well worth the price you're paying.

After Peru, my brother went back to Singapore (earning $300 along the way due to an overbooked flight), while I flew to Tokyo to meet up with my girlfriend. Having flown through Narita Airport on the way to the US about 3 times now, I've always wanted to see what Japan was like outside the terminal. In reality, not much is happening outside the terminal since it is about a 1.5 hr ride to the northeast corner of the city. We hit most of the major locations in Tokyo then headed out to Nikko for a day, which was an altogether more rural-esque escape. Highlights of the trip for me were the Tsukiji fish market (where we ate supposedly the best ultra-fresh sushi available), staying at a ryokan and looking at all the crazy food like US$157 watermelons and desserts that look like main-course items (e.g hamburgers, sandwiches, cod roe...)

So now I'm back in Singapore, exhausted from planes and trains, and starting work the day after tomorrow. Fun times :)

Graduation

The Passing of an Age

For some 2 years now, I have been served by my faithful Merrell Chameleon (left), which I have worn pretty much everyday. Now it is time for a change. The shoes have lost their water-repellent properties and the soles are completely worn out at the heel. These puppies have been replaced by a Merrell Ventilator II, which will hopefully aid me in my upcoming ascent of Machu Picchu :) I love Merrells!

Graduation Pre-game

After some 9 months of separation, I am finally reunited with my kin :) I first took an extremely boring bus ride up to Montreal to meet my mom and we spent some time hanging out with my aunt who's living there. After a couple of days in Montreal, we took a less boring (since it was overnight) bus ride down to New York to meet up with my brother who's finally done with his National Service obligations. Now, the 3 of us are back in Boston and will be heading out to Connecticut tomorrow. ~Whew!

Missing in action here is my youngest brother who unfortunately had to stay back in Singapore to wrestle with his upcoming exams :(

Washington DC

After having spent the past 4 years in the US, I thought it would be rather silly if I never visited the nation's capital before heading back to the motherland. It turned out to be a pretty good time to go down to DC coz it's Memorial Day weekend, so the city was filled with lots've Vietnam veterans walking around proudly displaying their military patches and other paraphernalia. My trip was made all the more awesome by my gracious hosts Wayne and Jason, whom I stayed with on different days.

All in all, DC is a rather exhausting place to visit if you don't have much time because there's simply so much to see. The Smithsonian museums alone would occupy a couple of days if you actually took the time to read the information next to the exhibits (I sped through millions of years of evolution in some 5 minutes). The major memorials are all pretty spread out too and I would recommend buying a Tourmobile pass from Union Station or any of their busstops. This would allow you to hop on and off a shuttle service thats hits all the major monuments. Washington is certainly filled with memorials, but I think the sad thing is that in the process of becoming tourist attractions, these memorials do lose some degree of the reverance that should be associated with them.

MI:3

As some of you might know, this film has faced some degree of resistance from the Chinese censors who feel that certain scenes in the movie were "detrimental" to the image of Shanghai as a metropolis. 3 days ago, the South China Morning Post reported that MI:3 will be allowed in China on the condition that some scenes are cut. These scenes include shots of laundry hanging on bamboo poles in the foreground of the establishing shots in Shanghai, as well as the downtown car chase scene. Demands have even been made for some footage of elderly people playing mahjong in Xitang to be cut as well. Yet despite these unpleasantries, this installment is most certainly the best of the MI series so far.

Firewall

Just spent the past hour and forty minutes following Harrison Ford's attempt to relive his action hero days and give Jack Bauer a run for his money. Despite terrible reviews, I found Firewall to be sufficiently interesting and engaging despite the somewhat ridiculous storyline (willing suspension of disbelief eh?). Honestly, I much preferred this to Capote, but that's just my low-brow taste. Ford plays Jack Stanfield, security specialist at a Seattle bank. His home is soon overtaken by evil men who force him to hack into his own bank's computer system and transfer some huge sum of money into an off-shore account.

Anyhow, one thought that did cross my mind as I watched the film's climax was how evil masterminds in movies tend to also have some kick-ass martial arts abilities up their sleeves as well. What are the odds that this brilliant guy who is able to devise this crafty scheme is also some kung fu expert. Unlike the villains in computer games, I would expect a real mastermind to be someone physically less capable. If you spend all your time thinking of evil plots, where do you find time to go practice your wu shu? Think Napoleon: brilliant strategist and leader, but probably crappy street fighter. There is a difference between being ruthless and having lightning reflexes.

Hard Rock Hallelujah

While randomly going through YouTube, I came across this group called Lordi which recently represented Finland in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, and claiming top prize with their song, Hard Rock Hallelujah. If you think the title is bizarre, wait till you you see their costumes, and if you think that is bizarre, just listen to the lyrics. Invoking words like "Arockalypse" and "Day of Rockoning", the song seems more like a joke than the hardcore metal stuff that the name seems to imply. The chorus that goes "All we need is lightning with power and might" is downright hilarious! But what truly astounds me is how they can play their respective instruments with all that make-up on. You can also watch their music video and *gag* press conference.

Brian and Helena's Wedding

Here are some photos from the wedding of one of my bible study leaders, Brian Anderson. It was a really simple affair, with none of the pomp that has led to TV programs like Bridezillas, and I think many people really appreciated the unpretentious and relaxed atmosphere. In Singapore, it almost seems like a crime if you don't have some insanely expensive wedding dinner to match this once-in-a-lifetime event. The sermon preached today addressed this issue directly and stressed that a marriage is less a commitment to each other than it is to God. On some level, turning your wedding day into this spectacular event focused around yourself is tantamount to idolatory. Now that's a thought...

Dancing with their parents

Highrock

For the past 8 months or so, I've been attending Highrock Church twice a week, and during that time, I have truly been blessed by the various members of the Highrock family (aka "Highrockers"). Highrock is an amazing church seriously committed to the task of building up a community of believers that cares for one another and supports each other in ministry. Through the various small groups I attended, the very insightful sermons by Pastor Dave, and the friends I've made in the process, Highrock has certainly opened my eyes to what a loving community might look like and it is my prayer that I will be able to find a similar community back in Singapore.

Some friends from Highrock

New York Meet-ups

Having some time on my hands, I headed down to NYC to meet up with a couple of friends, some of whom I may never see for quite a long time once I return to the motherland. Good times.

(Clockwise) Camille & Koksiew, Abilene, Xinghong, Andrew