I thought I’ll just share with everyone two new sites that I have found whilst surfing the internet. The first one is a bags online shop which I think features plenty of interestingly designed bags, and on first impression, I found the feel of a crumpler bag, only more unique. The second one is this beta software which is free that allows one to add in a live chat in your website.

1) Slow Loris Messenger Bags (>)
This is a Singapore based start up (read: entrepreneurial) that design unique bags. I like how the website is designed, and I like the bag’s design too. They have a blog talking about their bags. One of the posts was talking about the amount of stuff that you can fit into the bag. What I noticed is that all the bags are going for S$182.40, which is roughly the price of a crumpler bag (not mine. Mine is a cheapo one), but it’s pretty worth it since its unique and you can support a start up!

2) Zopim (>)
Zopim is a free live chat software that is under BETA now. Which means it is not fully launched yet. There are probably bugs around, although they should be kept to a minimum by now. I think a live chat software is quite important especially for internet businesses. In a way, during certain times when you are online, you can answer the questions of people who are interested in your products, and the keyword is immediately. The good thing is that it is synonymous with what the web is all about – convenience. If I can, I would add it to an upcoming project that I am working on, and hopefully as the months go by, it’ll be of some use. =)

Update: I am not entirely confirmed that it’s free. There doesn’t seem to be any mention of charges on the site, and there’s a free signup available.

There’s this slight disappointment that you feel when you don’t get what you aim for. When you’ve been aiming for a certain grade since the beginning of the semester, it doesn’t feel right when you didn’t attain it, although people will probably slap me since my results arn’t bad at all.

If you have been diligently reading my blog, you’ll know I was aiming for a near impossible score of 5.0. It’s like the desire to achieve perfection when it’s most possible. I even got a Singapore Studies module which I had planned to slack and S/U it. Now speaking of this SS module, I’m really stunned.

For my SS lectures, I have been just attending but not really paying attention since the lecturer is really dry. For SS tutorials, I went there, talked nonsense with my friends during discussion, and when in 3 out of 4 of the tutorials, I did not contribute and get the participation marks. Only at the last tutorial when we had a replacement tutor, she made sure everyone contributed. For my assignments, the first assignment which I spent a week on, I got a B+. The second one which I spent one afternoon and evening on, I got a A-. For the exams, I didn’t really study properly since I was expecting that with a B+ and a A-, I can not put in so much effort and easily get a C and S/U. So it came to be an absolute surprise when I got an A. Especially when I had been telling people I’ll confirm S/U it. This is the same as last semester, when I said I’ll s/u marketing and it came out to be the one I didn’t S/U.

But I missed my 5.0 by a bit. The next highest score I can get is a 5.0, so I’m like the 2nd place guy. I wasn’t happy with my EE2012 Analytical Methods, which I had problems with for half the part. I ended up getting A-, and I’m very disappointed in it.

The other 3 modules gave me pleasant surprises. I was expecting A+ for EE2006 Digital Design, A for EE2009 Signals (I prayed) and A for EE2010 System & Control. I ended up getting A+ for all 3 modules, so I was shocked.

Why couldn’t there be a method to downgrade the A+ and pull the A- to an A? Haha.

People are probably cursing me but it’s normal. It’s just jealousy, really. But I must say I really put in a lot of effort, and anyone who wants to can do the same. It’s just the amount of effort you are willing to put in.

Although I was disappointed, I am ultimately glad for my results. My CAP is now at a cool 4.66. This is the first time I actually wrote about my results for the semester, because I couldn’t care less if people want to use that to justify themselves. I don’t care if they call me a mugger, because different people have different priorities and they should respect that. Besides, what’s the point of showing me that you’re jealous?

Anyway the second disappointment was for today’s IPPT. I failed again and I am seriously very disappointed in myself. There’s no reason to blame the fact that I’m a Guardsmen, but because I am a Guardsmen, I am duty bound to achieve that standard. And there’s no excuses for failure. Hopefully the next cycle I would have improved plenty.

I hope everyone have achieved the results that they aimed for.

My friends seem to have blogged about taking results tomorrow, and I think everyone else is nervous. Right. Because I’m not really feeling anything. I always tend to feel it on the day itself, especially when it’s going to be 11am, the time of collection of results. The worst thing is, we’re going to check after lunch so as not to spoil our appetite, and our desserts ordering will depend on what’s for results. Hence I’m probably going to check only like at 12plus, and I’ll be like waiting to death. Haha.

I was aiming for a 5.0 this semester after one s/u on Singapore Studies. However that seems quite impossible because of how horrible I felt in a particular module. With some luck, I am praying for 3 As for the 3 EE modules I felt comfortable with, that includes EE2006 Digital Design (which I am very pleased with), EE2009 Signals (scary but I actually felt thankful after the paper) and EE2010 (which I think I should do well too). Only EE2012 made me curse the lecturer. I don’t really see how I’m going to apply those concepts in real life. Honest.

But I guess there goes my only chance of attaining the “impossible” in my life. The next few semesters will be very different and chances like that don’t come often, and won’t come at all. I was hoping to attain the “impossible” and then tell everyone “nothing is impossible”. As long as you are willing to work for it.

I read something that gave me a greater understanding. It’s with respect to things that we feel are scams, in particularly internet sales where they tell you that it is possible to earn, and ask you to buy their software or ebook. Instead of dismissing it as a scam, why not research more, and find out if what they claimed is possible? In that way we won’t lose out. But I must admit, I used to think such things are scams, but those that I’m thinking of are not. In a way, teaching people how to make money is probably the best way of earning money. People are naturally greedy and they want to know how to make money, and most people end up not following because they don’t want to put in the effort and time. Hence they fail and they say it is a scam.

I have been feeling very entrepreneurial recently, with the attitude of go out and do it. Or an attitude of “why not”, “let’s do it”. I even went out to buy a book called “Make your money work for you”, and I’m going to take this holiday and try to learn as much as possible about financial instruments like bonds, stocks, derivatives, futures etc.

I came up with a sentence today, and I think it’s quite right: The reason why the rich get richer and the poor gets poorer is because the rich invested time in educating themselves on finances.

Same reason as to why the top 10% of humans eat more than 90% of the total income. Life’s never fair, so get out and work on it.

Tomorrow my JC clique and I will be going to Swensens for the 1 for 1 lunch deal, after which I have to go to Dhoby Gaut at 3.30pm to meet my CSM for a meeting for reservist, and then down to Ngee Ann Polytechnic to attend a piano concert by my Primary School friend.

Busy day.

I’ve always been wondering about this: Singapore is a secular state. Meaning there’s no one religion that’s governing us. All religions are equal, and we respect religious harmony. Yet, it is impossible to run away from religion.

What is the law? Personally I believe that the law is a set of rules that are put together because the majority of the people in a particular region, in this case Singapore, decided that the rules are fair and important. In our case, we elect people to represent us to make those laws. As such, they are highly dependent on our own value system, and on how we interpret if a particular action is wrong.

Hence it is difficult to run away from religion. Religion plays a part in many people’s lives. Religion also affect one’s moral viewpoint. Because of religion, a person may feel that action A is immoral, yet those in other religion may think otherwise.

Because religion is of such a nature, when there is a sizeable number of people of the same religion who feel the same way towards a particular issue, a law comes up, and that law is affected by religion, although Singapore is a secular state. That is why the repeal of 377A previously didn’t go successfully.

So where should we draw the line between being secular and being affected by religion? I thought about it for quite some time, and I came up with a viewpoint. It is fine if religion affects a person individually because of his own belief, and hence affecting a law. But it is not good if religion is used as a tool to amass people of the same religion together, to decide that something is wrong, and gang people up together against people who don’t believe the same way. It is not right for a normal non-religious issue to turn into a religious one. This is what had happened in AWARE. Homosexuality should not be a religious issue, yet certain pastors decided to use religion as a rallying force.

I never believed entirely in religion, especially organized religion. I find that human is flawed, and hence how can organized religion be perfect? I was wondering, if we assume that God is perfect, and hence we believe in him, how can we trust those humans who wrote about God’s words? By the nature of flawed humans, anything that we humans wrote about God is prone to errors and flaws. Hence, how can we be so sure that such words are God’s words? How can we be so sure that God decided something is wrong based on the words of humans who lived a long time ago? The best thing is, how can present humans know that their interpretation of such human words is true? Hence I find that I do not need to believe in any religion. As long as one does good, and has a clear conscience, that is enough.

Anyway the conclusion is that Singapore must remain secular, and religion must never be used as a rallying point. Who knows if the leader of the rally has misinterpreted God?

I’ve been reading books around me and looking at the businesses that happen in our daily lives. I think that plenty could be learnt by rethinking about the way businesses are done. Besides, businesses can improve through looking at the feedback given, and discovering what customers want.

Today I read a little passage in a book I borrowed from the library. It was talking about the plumbing industry, and how one company managed to distinguish itself from its competitors and even charge a higher price. The lesson to learn here is to know what customers want, and give it to them. It’s like a value add for customers.

Many times we have ordered contractor services and they turn up in a old polo tee with many holes and stains, and pants of the same condition. They come with dirty feet, walking about in your home and after that you have to clean and mop the places they stepped because there were stains. Hence, in this view, the plumbing company in the passage decided to focus on cleanliness.

The plumber arrives in a neat and clean attire, and does his work. After finishing his work, he cleans up the surrounding areas such that it is even cleaner than when he first arrived. As such, customers are happy with the service, and they are willing to pay a little more for such standards.

I’m wondering why that in Singapore, nobody has seemed to be bothered to do such a thing. It’s almost like an old industry having no new blood flowing in to give newer ideas to revolutionise the industry and give it a cleaner, professional image. One that commands confidence and trust in customers. I think that for every businesses, it is important to self reflect every year and see what can be improved. In what way can they bring better value to customers to distinguish themselves from others.

On a side note, my house is undergoing renovation beginning from today, and the contractor has already caused some unhappiness and irritation. This is because the planning for the renovation was screwed up. Since they have to do the flooring in my room, I have to move all furniture and belongings out before they work on it. Today is Tuesday, and now they come telling us that the flooring would be done on Friday. If they had planned earlier and make it more effective, we would have not needed to inconvenience ourselves for that many days. We could only bring out the furniture on Thursday instead of on Monday. That’s a 4 days inconvenience we do not need.

Hence it is important to know how customers feel, because if they are not satisfied with your service, they will never recommend it to anyone else, and customer’s word of mouth approval is very important. It is especially so when there are numerous contractor firms out there with no real differentiation.

I hope such lessons would help anyone that’s reading this.

I refer to the letter written about Great Eastern’s Insurance:

Great Eastern’s Life Assurance’s reply last Sunday, “Policy excludes certain procedures” to my letter, “Insured but unable to make claim” (May 10), did not address my concerns.

My point was that the fine print embedded in GE’s policies stumps ordinary applicants like me when we file a claim.”

Let’s face it. most of us who buy health insurance do not wish to exercise any claim if we can help it because it means we would have fallen seriously ill.

One files a claim only because it is unavoidable, such as when one needs financial help suddenly. After all, this is the reason that one buys health insurance.

Now, on the issue of the “fine print”. Unlike previously angioplasty today can clear blockages completely. To do so previously requied a heart bypass operation.

So any rational heart patient will choose angioplasty instead of a bypass today, if he has a choice; which is why GE’s exclusion of an angioplasty and inclusion of the bypass is puzzling. I am also surprised by GE’s reply that “critical illness plans have been improved and upgraded and generally, the newer policy covers angioplasty”.

Mr Reeve Ong, the head of GE’s claims department who signed off on the reply, suggested that I was perhaps to blame for I would have been successful if I had signed up for its newer critical care policy which “pays as soon as it is proven that two or more coronary arteries have narrowed”.

His contention is baffling. If the newer policy covered angioplasty and mine did not, why wasn’t my policy upgraded automatically to include angioplasty?

The least GE could have done was to inform me, a loyal customer of 15 years, of its availability.

Furthermore, isn’t it a fact that arteries narrow as we grow older? Why should it matter whether a policy holder opts for an angioplasty or a bypass, as long as it does the job?

Having been involved in a little Insurance training in the past holiday, I can raise a few points to clarify about this issue. It is important that everyone knows of such issues, so that they have a better understanding when purchasing insurance.

1. Insurance amongst different companies will not have much difference
The first point, as stated in bold above, is that there is not much difference in terms of insurance coverage and pricing amongst different insurers. Naturally there will be slight differences. Some may be cheaper and some may be slightly more expensive. Some may cover more things, some cover less. However it is all due to competition. After some time, to keep up with competition, the insurers will try to cover the same things so as not to lose out.

2. Buy insurance from agents that you trust
I think trust is an important concept. Buy insurance only from agents you trust to do the job well. As my mentor frequently says, when you are standing at the counter in the hospital, which agent do you think you want to call to settle your bills for you? You have to have a responsible agent who will do everything nicely for you, and even update you on newer policies.

3. Your insurance agent is the one responsible for informing you on newer policies
After a period of competition, insurance policies evolve to include more things. To know what the differences are, you have to read the fine print. Your agent should be the one to call you and fix an appointment to let you know the changes, and whether you want to change or not, is up to the insured. The reason why insurers do not upgrade your policies automatically is because the prices of the policies would have gone up, and we all know we hate it when companies upgrade our policies automatically and charge us higher prices.

4. Change your own perception of the insurance sector
I think people should change the perception of the insurance sector. There are black sheeps and professionals in this industry. Insurance has become a taboo topic amongst the older generation, and perhaps the younger generation too, if they were swayed by their older relatives.

I also think that we should correct our attitude when our insurance agent calls to fix an appointment. How many people would gladly agree to a new appointment? Most people end up thinking that the insurance agent is just out to earn your money, and so reject the appointment. I was wondering if that is the case for this letter’s author. If that is the case, we can hardly blame the agent for not informing him on recent changes, because some people are just that stubborn.

While we are on this topic, I thought I should address a similar topic. Is it wrong for friends to earn your money? I have realized that some people are very disgusted with the thought that your friend is out to earn your money. Why is that wrong? As long as the friend has given goods or services that you desire, what is wrong with rewarding them with money? Why is it that if you are a true friend, you should not earn a friend’s money?

Back to the insurance issue, I think the person you should trust most to fix your problems for you is your family or your friends. So you’ll most likely end up buying from them rather than to somebody who just cold-called you. So to me, it is perfectly fine to earn money from friends and family.

The most important thing to learn is that insurance policies do change every few years, and so it is important to have a yearly meeting with your insurance agent to find out more. The decision is really up to you, whether you want to upgrade or not. I believe good insurance agents are sincere, and even if you do not end up buying from them, they are sure to continue meeting with you to introduce you to other policies. Of course, if you have the purchasing power, you should consider upgrading. As long as it’s within your means. Medical technology and practices evolve over the years, hence policies will change to include such treatment.

Who knows, maybe one day you need the newer technology to cure your illness? I think it is better to be prepared, than to be caught unaware like the gentlemen above.

Anyone who has been to my site once in the past year would have noticed that the blog design has changed. The whole inversion from the white background to the black background, and the black text that has been changed to the white text. In a way, perhaps it represents a wish to invert my life in the past year, and change some aspects of it that I have been rather unhappy about.

This time there is no real theme. Last year I put my favourite hobbies up as a theme, taking photos of it and making a header with those photos. Plus the theme was focused on my favourite Jap actress. Now, there is no theme, and it is just a simple blog design that’s easy for anyone to make.

I shifted some of the components below, including stuff like the tag cloud, archives, links etc. It can be accessed from the top navigational bar so people can minimize scrolling.

Anyway about the topic of inversion. The past year has been good to me in terms of studies, so that’s not what I wanted to invert. There has been a few things I want to change. Like trying out new things, taking the initiative in things, becoming more entrepreneurial, actually doing something out as a business etc.

But one thing I would like to especially learn in the next academic year is to change my attitude in a particular situation:
I realized how people tend to like to say “I think..” in situations where you hope for a clear answer to help you. Or in a situation that you expect that very person to be clear about his findings and his work. Or in a situation you hope that person will not think and just find the answer. But recently “I think..” has been happening pretty frequently and I thought that perhaps we should all be a little more proactive and find things out to help the people around us when they ask us questions.

And perhaps for something which I’m in charge of, I should get all the possible knowledge required, so that I can brief my friends, and when they ask questions, I can give them a satisfactory answer instead of “I think..” I think (LOL) this is a very important change that will greatly affect one’s life.

I also hope to invert my situation as a member of Jh’s club. Seeing that Zong has resigned from the club, I wonder if I will have my chance soon, though I don’t think so. But I’ve been hoping to feel special, but it seemed that friends don’t really care as much.

There are places I want to go, but sometimes it’s just plain moronic and retarded to go alone, so I’m waiting for someone special to accompany me, especially to the flyer, since everyone else that wants to go have gone already, and I’m like alone.

Anyway I’m glad I finished this blog skin. I can now concentrate on my other projects.

I watched this movie with Nelson and Mazin yesterday at the Cathay at Dhoby Gaut. The outing was lame from the start because the meeting point is station control, and there are two station controls at Dhoby Gaut. Naturally I realized that there’s this possibility that they are at the other side, because how can they not see me when I’m there already. So I asked to meet them at Cathay. After I reached, I got an sms saying they’ll meet me at the top. So I went up. They weren’t even there yet lo. I thought people will say that only when they reach first.

My other two friends Jiahao and Waikit also watched it before me, one week ago on the 14th when it officially opened. There are alot of people in the theatres though. Could see faint outlines of xmm(s) in the theatre.

But I must say that Angels and Demons is a freaking good movie. Kudos to the director for making it interesting from the start, and it goes right into the action without wasting time. I only remember starting to watch and then I never had the time to think about anything else.

However (tadashi), there are quite a few missing elements or edited elements in the movie as compared to the book. Of course it is expected since there is so much extra information. I am perfectly fine with the director not including the BBC reporter section. But I am a little confused with the Illuminati guy. In the book that guy believes in the Illuminati and believes in what he is doing is right. This actor doesn’t seem to give me that feeling at all. Perhaps the director didn’t want that to happen.

The director of CERN is also visibly missing. And the structure of the Swiss Guards is different. The one driving Langdon around should be the head of security. Not the guy who is framed by the Camenlango (spelling not sure). That’s only a Captain.

During the show I also knew Langdon wouldn’t be able to go up the helicopter as written in the book, because it’s really hard to include that in and explain how the hell he is still alive from a free fall with no chute.

But I must say the director wrapped things up very nicely. Although the plot is changed in a major way (how they found out the Carmenlango was the bad guy), the whole thing actually flows like a nice story.

I have some complaint though. I wanted the Illuminati Diamond. That’s the best brand. But they had to change it so that they can immediately know its St Peter’s tomb. I would very much would like it that the Carmenlango goes into a trance and keep shouting “Upon this rock I will build my Church”, and then running into the tomb. Greater effect and the movie length only increases slightly. And at lease you get the best brand in the entire movie. Earth Air Fire Water in a perfect Diamond.

Langdon is also supposed to receive the brand as a reward, not the Galileo’s text (which he koped one page from). And that page is ruined when he saved the Water preferatti. So even in his last will and testament, that page cannot find its way back to the Vatican. Plus the water guy is not supposed to be alive! But if you kill him, Langdon probably cannot find his way to the Church of Illumination so quickly. It would be interested to have a branded Pope. Haha.

But it all flows nicely in one good story, and that is what good movies should be. Good movies should not follow the book too strictly because sometimes they become lousy movies. Movies are for entertainment, and people should read the book for more information.

Angels and Demons is probably the best movie I have seen so far this year. 4.5 stars out of 5.

But yesterday there was a huge bomb thrown for the July holiday trip. We got fed up again with the lack of planning, and yesterday night we stayed up to settle the budget and plans for KL, and issue a deadline of Friday for the Jakarta plan. We shall see how it goes. Hopefully it’ll be planned well with no sudden increase in budget.

The lessons learnt are enormous. We should always not waste money, and plan first before sinking in the money. Always set a budget and work with it. Don’t assume everyone is a rich kid who has plenty of money to spend. Besides, we have been digging a hole to fill an existing hole. That’s wrong. We should solve the problem and fill the hole and not create another hole!

Always plan the itinerary and then decide the duration. This is because why book a long duration if you only need a few days to see everything? In the end you add stuff and that adds to the budget. And never ever think there is time for planning in the future. You don’t know what is going to cock up in the future. So what if the plan may change? At least there’s a plan to begin with, something you can be sure that works. Better than when problems come up and there’s no plans to edit, causing problems for everyone.

Anyway I hope it’s going to be settled without any future problems. I think it is hard for other people to become what I expect of them, and I guess if I’m ever going for a grad trip, I should find people who can fit my expectations.

I’m in the middle of getting inspirations to revamp this site. It has been a year already and it needs a new look! Kthxbye

I’ve recovered from my fever for last week and now I’m itching to do a few things, and for most of them I haven’t found anyone to go with me.

1) Eat Ramen @ Central
There’s this supposedly (I say supposedly because I haven’t eaten it yet) great Japanese Ramen place at Central. It’s called the Ramen Santouka and it seems really great from this blog post. I really want to try the ramen there but its not that cheap, so I haven’t had the chance to find anyone who’s interested in eating that.

2) Eat Ramen again at Tampines One.
There’s a new shopping center called Tampines One, if I remember correctly. There’s this stall in The Sunday Times today that showed a new Jap restaurant that is cooked in the same way as in Hokkaido, except they only use 1/2 the lard. I’m also itching to try it because it’s difficult to find great ramen places in Singapore. Most places, like Ajisan’s have ramen that’s totally different from Hokkaido’s. Zen zen oishikunaindesu!

3) Watch Angel’s and Demons
This is a no brainer. I want to watch this.

4) Watch Night at the Museum 2
I liked the first one so I want to watch the 2nd one too.

5) Go to Marina Barrage to see
Marina Barrage can be seen from the Singapore flyer, and it would be interesting to go visit since it’s a man made reservoir right at the heart of the city!

6) Singapore flyer
I missed the outing with my friends last week due to the fever, and it’s been a little sian because I may end up going alone. Still have to see how.

That’s all at the moment!