Something to ponder about

Take a look at this interesting article -> http://www.singaporeangle.com/2006/11/non-sequitur-economics.html

It really provided me with a better view of economics and the way it affects our lives. Wonder why we were never taught about such relationships back in school. Would have made the dull subject of economics much more interesting if we were shown how it linked back to real life.

Coming back to the crux of the article, the author stayed away from making conclusions and instead left the reader to infer his own based on the facts and figures that he provided. I think this is a good example of objective reporting. Of course, the article is based on a certain theme and the information will of course be linked to that. Hence no article can ever be totally objective but that's being too theoretically.

If you like the article, you might want to read the other interesting post about the recent Chinese movie (starring Andy Lau). And maybe check back regularly for other interesting posts by the author (have added his link on my page as well)

Ultimate sacrifice by dad

Read this article about how a dad saved his son and wife but ended up losing his life instead -> http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,118349,00.html?

Felt really touched, especially when reading the last paragraph about the reactions of the kids.

It is often difficult for a father to express his love and affections, and usually it is rather through actions than through words. It was the same with my dad, and I guess it will be the same with me. I might be able to say it now to Jarren since he is just a baby but I expect to be less open about my affections when he grows up...

I would want to have the courage to do the same should a similar circumstance happen but often this is decided at the spur of the moment and not something you can rationalize and predict before that.

And that's why I hate to answer those hypothetical questions that my other half like to ask.

Online Video sharing

Here's an interesting link with a comparison of various video sharing websites
http://www.lifegoggles.com/?p=150

Apparently, there's quite a number of them, whereas I was only familiar with You Tube and Google Video. You can take a look at the detailed analysis of each of the web portal as well as view the various embedded videos, then make your own conclusion.

Financial Planning

Lately, was inspired to do a little bit of financial planning. The impending GST hike, the gradual edging towards retirement age, together with the increased burden of our new baby, means that the purse strings might need to be tightened.

Besides, it is only fair that we provide some money to help Jarren ease into his adulthood 21 years later. Whether this is for his education or otherwise will depend on the situation.

Found a website talking about some steps to follow. Although it is specific to US citizens, some of the tips are generic.
http://financialplan.about.com/od/personalfinancebasics/a/AnnualCheckup.htm

I took the following steps:
1) Take stock of existing fixed deductions per month
2) Keep track of expenses for a month. It is sufficient to just track the bank account fluctuations. There are tools to track your everyday expenses as well but I find it too tedious to follow thru.
3) Total your monthly variable expense, add to the fixed deduction and verify the amount of savings you can expect to get per month
4) For better accuracy, the monthly expense could be averaged over a few months since it is normal to fluctuate (eg Wedding dinner ang-bao...)
5) Based on monthly saving, set a target for saving each year

With this yearly target achieved, I will feel more relieved if there is any extra and we can use this then for our vacation and special purchases (eg PDA phone, TV...)

On top of this, I also evaluated all my existing investments/insurance/fixed Deposit
1) Fixed Deposit - It is best to keep moving the FD around to "new" banks, since banks offer "promotion" rates for "new" funds. This can be about 3.0+% currently. Forget about the miserly 0.xx% you get normally.
2) Investment should be checked for the rate of return. This website is really useful -> http://www.banksite.com/calc/neir. Compare and ensure that the risk you are taking is worth more than the fixed deposit interest rates you can get, risk free.
3) Insurance should be checked if they are matching the projected return rates. Nothing much you can do here if it doesn't but at least you will be aware.
4) Take a look at CPF. For ordinary account, you can choose to repay the mortgage or invest in unit trust for example. Always compare with the CPF rates, currently 2.5% -> http://mycpf.cpf.gov.sg/CPF/News/News-Release/N_16AUG2006.htm. For Special Account, investing is another option but only if you think the returns are more than 4.0%. Remember that the CPF rates can change every quarter.

Just for fun, I checked how much fund I expect to accumulate by the retirement age of 55 (if possible). Let's just say it is not close to making me a millionaire yet. Maybe I should have started younger but you always think there is plenty of time more before you reach middle-age.

Barter Trade

Here's an interesting site -> http://wanttotrade.sg/

It's based in Singapore and might be a really interesting site if the traffic there starts to increase. At the moment, there appears to be insufficient offers to really attract my attention.

But, what the heck, everything needs to start small. Maybe will check back some other time in the future and see.

Fund transfer worries

If you are like me and worried about making a mistake during fund transfer, it appears that it is still legally possible to sue the receiver if he refuses to return you the money even after knowing it is a mistake.

At least according to this report on the New Paper.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,117981,00.html?

This should be given more publicity, both to allay our fears and also to make people aware of their moral obligations ;-)

Liverpool - Yawn...

Woke up in the middle of the night to watch the goalless display by Liverpool.
Hardly inspiring and the the team that came closest to scoring was Boro. I think Yakubu it was who somehow failed to stroke the ball into goal from 2m after Reina parried a header right into his path.
Thought Liverpool dominated, there was hardly any real goal attempt at the other end to make me feel justified to have sacrified the much needed sleep.

Creeping Crawling Video

Ok, here's the video of Jarren crawling forward.

Have to rushed out videos so that they don't become stale ;-)

Also, when we picked up baby from auntie today, found that a friendly neighbour has created a cute portrait of baby. Take a look



And he's only in primary three. Talented, right ?

I like the way he captured baby's "receding hairline" + slight Dou(4) Ji(1) Yan(3). For a young artist, this is quite a feat.

Daddy's life

As another weekend comes by, can't help but think about the changes that my life has gone through after the arrival of Jarren.

Have not joined my soccer kakis for months now. That's really contributed to my waistline.
Going for some jogging now but it's really easier to gain than to lose weight when you are middle age.

Have not installed any new computer games as well.
Instead my computer time has been concentrated on editing my baby's videos, besides the usual "housekeeping" stuff. Even my blog is mainly on my baby.

I can personally vouch that life after your first child can never be expected to be the same.
Your whole world seems to revolve around him.

Free time ? The only free time is when he is asleep or when my mother in law is around to help out.

My wife and I have divided our roles clearly. I am in charge of "entertainment" while she takes care of food and maintenance (housework...)
Not the most efficient division of labour but I'm comfortable with it.

Calin seems to feel that this makes Baby closer to me but I guess it's only fair since Jarren has been closer to her for the first 9 months of his life :-)

Registering online but afraid of SPAM ?

Here's your saviour -> http://2prong.com/

Once you click on the link, you will automatically receive a usable email address to use for such registrations.

Then simply wait on the webpage for the return mail and then do the usual activation procedure.
No worries then that your real email will be exposed.

PS3 dissected

Here's an interesting post about the internal "organs" of the PS3
http://blogs.business2.com/utilitybelt/2006/11/sonys_loss_is_a.html

Do take the costing information with a pinch of salt, since it is likely to be over estimated.
But we can safely assume that Sony is indeed subsidising the PS3.

I can safely say that subsidised or not, this is still way above my budget.
And better tighten the belt in anticipate of the GST hike.

Babying forward

Today, Jarren achieved another milestone. He is now officially able to crawl forward:-)

It all happened quite suddenly since he was still doing his usual "backstroke" and "merry-go-round" just the night before. But auntie said he was crawling on the mattress during the daytime and I decided to try him out when we were back home. And sure enough, he proved that he is now officially a baby crawler...

Took some videos of him but no time to get it ready for Youtube. Will post them on a later date.

GST Hike - Yes or NO ?

Heard about the proposed GST hike on the news (up from 5% to 7%).

I understand the rationale that the government needs to generate revenue to provide more support for the lower income (especially in view of the recent press coverage of MRT suicide cases). However, I'm just not sure if a GST hike is the right approach.

Found an online petition website at http://www.gsthike.com/index.php
I joined at 1292 and my guess is the number will shoot up quite quickly.

I am not anti-government or anything but my reasoning was this:
"GST does not necessarily tax the rich more than the poor.Businesses simply pass the cost down and this raises the cost of living. Unless necessities like food, transport, medical are exempted from GST, then both the rich and the poor suffers, Rich less since they are afford what they spend anyway. How about taxing the higher income more instead ?"

It's like telling an badly injured person that, "Yes, I would like to help you but to do that, I need to first cut you with a knife. Don't worry the bleeding will be minimal and I'll even bandage that up (NSS, Work Bonus...)"
I'm not sure if that would sound entirely logically.

Think about it. Then again, maybe the government's already decided and there's no turning back. I'm hoping they'll prove us wrong this time.

Wireless for free - Just be patient

Here's some info on the upcoming free wireless network for Singapore.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/node/7906

If you are thinking on getting a PDA-phone, this might be a good time to insist on one with WIFI.

And the poor student who got caught for stealing his neighbour's WIFI connection should be feeling really stupid now...

Good things come to those who wait.
And we will need to do that while the network get readied. Hopefully not because the free network is too slow ;-)

More on time share

An interesting article about the on-going time-share scams that continues to plague the heart of Singapore in Orchard Road.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,117341,00.html?

So it seems that the recent phone calls I have been receiving are not unique.
Besides the one I mentioned in my post some weeks back, have also received 2 more phone calls, which suspiciously sounds like the usual Time-Share trick again. Of course, I professed to be disinterested and hanged up on them.

Wonder why the authorities cannot put a stop to this.
I'm sure the foreign owners of such Time-Share companies are not the foreign talents we are trying to attract...

Time flies

Here's an interesting scientific study on time. And how it sometimes blazes away and other times drags like heavy chains.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18925371.700

Was reminded of this after reading an email about an ex-colleague's retired life in UK.
Filled with holidays, hobbies and time with loved ones. I think he must be wondering how to slow the passage of time so that these moments of joy can last forever.

Wonder how many local retirees can claim the same...
Looking at the poor uncle sitting motionless and staring into space in the void deck, I rather doubt it is the same. What will it be like when it's my turn ?

Soccer - Team Sport, or not ?

After watching Liverpool slumped to another defeat, and thinking about the key moments of the match (in particular the 3 goals we conceded), I come to the conclusion that soccer might not really be a team sport after all.

Sure, you need all 11 guys to make up the numbers but when you look at the defining moments of the game, it really boils down to the one or 2 individual that made the killer blow. The first goal comes down to really one splitting pass, one insightful run into space and a simple tap in. The 2nd goal was again from a great defense splitting pass and a (lucky?) shot through the legs of Reina. The 3 goal was a case of poor marking (theoretically a team effort but probably boils down to either Gerrard or Risse who did not pick up the run of Gallas).

Like in real life, the final result of a team is often decided by individuals, whether it is a stroke of genius leading to a miracle or a lapse of concentration leading to disaster.

And Liverpool's fate is aptly summed up by the dejected look on Gerard's face at the end of the game.

Baby Laughter

One good thing about Jarren is that he loves to laugh. I think he stared laughing since 2-3 months. Some say this is just reflex action but he usually laughs when you play with him so I don't think so.

When he laughs, you tend to forget the difficult times. Here's a video I took of him just yesterday, laughing along with his mummy. Actually he was already do this for about a minute before I rushed to get my videocam.

Thinking back, he's becoming much easier to handle nowadays, compared to the first 1-3 months. Back then, he used to get cholic sometimes and that was really hell. I remember the first times it happened, we were totally freaked out. He would cry non-stop for up to one hour. Nothing you do could relieve his pain and we felt helpless.

I once rushed to get my mother-in-law to help (after midnight...) and on one occassion, we even sent him to KK hospital in the middle of the night. By the time we reached the A&E, he was happily sleeping away. To top that, he got hungry while we waited for the doctor and we were feeding him halfway when the queue reached us.

The dcotor did a quick check and found nothing wrong. But that's expected since Jarren was already fed and these cholic "attacks" last only for a period of time. We later learnt that cholic could be relieved by rocking actions and maybe the car trip to the hospital did the trick as well.

Anyway, am glad that all those have past. Just hope to see more happy days ahead :-)

Blogging - why ?

This question popped into my mind when a friend of mine remarked that I will be the last person he imagined to do a blog.

Thinking back at his remarks, I do have to agree as well. I tend to be rather reserved, especially with regards to personal feelings. I'm not the type that will spill all my inner feelings, even when it is to close families and friends.

If you ask me why, I'll also find it hard to justify. It could be my inner belief that men needs to keep their feelings bottled up. Ok, so maybe this sounds too MCP, but we all have our own guidelines on what to do and what not to do.

I have found it uncomfortable to bare my inner thoughts to others, preferring to keep them hidden and to be explored alone, in my own privacy. This is how I deal with grief for example. And also anger. Friends and colleagues often say they don't see me getting angry but now you know why ;-)

I have to also agree that this might not be the best option but some things are just impossible to change.

Maybe this blog will be a step in the right direction...
But then again, even this post feels awkward at times. But what the heck, will post it anyway since I have already written it :-)

Baby-sitting

With the crawling video I posted, decided to do a sitting video of Jarren as well.
As the Chinese saying (or was it Hokkien saying ?), "Sit at 7 (months), Crawl at 8".
These videos were taken about a month back and just to clarify, we did follow the traditional order. So we taught him to sit, then followed that up with crawling.

Unfortunately, he seems to fall more often than he sits.
But he's improving now and can actually sit for quite a while. But a video of baby sitting is less interesting than a video of baby falling ;-)

There seems to be also a correlation between his tendency to fall and the flooring material. If he is sitting on bed or mattress, then he tends to fall over easily.

If he is sitting on the wooden platform, then he seems to know and doesn't fall that easily. Of course, we'll be there to grab him before he "kock" his head.

Goes to show he's an intelligent babe. Takes after me, of course.

Crawling Techniques

Here's a demonstration by Jarren on how to crawl - baby style.

Ok, so he's still learning but it sure seems to be an effective, though unorthodox way to get around.
Now he just need to start learning how to crawl forward instead.

'Cake' - Cutting (Edge) Science

Forgive the pun but there really is a scientific theory dedicated to cake cutting. Read this link if you don't believe
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10452-solved-the-perfect-way-to-cut-a-cake.html

Makes a whole lot of sense if you ask me.
I would gladly give up a slice of strawberry in exchange for more chocolate coating ;-)

Baby Outing

Here's another Baby video for you to enjoy
This time, it's a compilation of 2 outings we had. One to West Coast and the other to the Botanical Garden.

Tools of the trade ?

Here's a list of interesting websites that I have found useful while maintaining this blog. Best of all, they are all free :-)

http://lilypie.com/index.html - Interesting baby related milestone chart, also for those important anniversaries you need to remember (to avoid being skinned alive by your other half...)
http://www.statcounter.com/ - Counter with actual usage data logging (country, ISP, referring page)
http://www.mediamax.com/ - Web-hosting of files (eg photo, video. Free 1GB)
http://www.youtube.com/ - Popular video hosting site (for most of Baby's video)

Still new to this blogging business but these websites have provided most of the tools I need, for now.

Scientific Diet

Here's some interesting research on obesity.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/mg19225760.900

If the research is correct, then the top diet plan would consist of:
1) Sleeping more
2) Turning off the airconditioning (and work in this sweltering heat ???)
3) Smoking (and maybe die from lung cancer ?)
4) Stay young forever (Like Alan Tam ?)
5) Take less medicine (And die from your sickness ???)
6) Avoid the haze and pollution (As if we don't already know this...)

The rest of the research about genetic inheritance doesn't bode well for any diet plan. Basically you are screwed (pardon the language) for life if you have fat, older parents...

Come to think of it, what exactly is the use of this research results if we can't really apply it to our life ?
Ok, maybe sleeping more is a great idea but it's kind of hard given the new addition to the family.

Jarren's progress

Got this new ticker tracker for Jarren (See top of page). So he's already 7 months old. More than halfway towards his first birthday.

Well he's starting to "crawl" a bit, I guess, but it is all backwards for now. And he likes to turn around in circles... I like to place him on the wooden platform in our living room and watch him do his exercises. Normally, he'll play with the "Alphabet Pal" caterpilla toy for about 10 minutes, then get bored and start yelling to be carried.

Not much vocalisation, just the usual yelling. Wonder when he will start calling me Papa...

He's starting to be more demanding though, using his small hand to beat you when he wants you to carry him over to somewhere else. Guess that's what daddies are for :-)

Comments ?

Well, was wondering if any of my friends are visiting this blog.
Sent out the invites, saw the visitor count increase but not sure if these were my friends or if they were just passer-bys.

If you are a personal friend of mine, feel free to drop a comment so I know you were here :-)
Was hoping this blog could serve as a point of contact for us, given how busy we all are...

As a start, maybe you could comment if you could view the wmv file format that I use for my videos.

If so, might prefer to host that on mediamax instead of using Youtube.
Youtube public videos might not be appropriate for some of my private videos...

Any other comments will also be fine, or maybe even just a hi.

New Scanner - Epson CX3900

Just purchased a new scanner, an Epson CX3900.

Initially, thought of buying a normal printer but found that these all-in-one printers (photocopy, scan, print) were well within affordable price range. We managed to get it for only S$175 at Sim Lim, which was a good bargain.



The first thing I scan was this studio photo of baby. Cost us $18 to purchase from the studio but now I can scan and print an 4R copy for only 20 cents, which is the price of the glossy print paper.

Don't you think he looks stylo ?

A chip off the old block ?

Here's a photo of mini-me in a similar position to me-mini.
Any similarities ? Similar smile but my forehead seems higher...

Lie Detector

Read about a lie detector software that works on Skype phone recordings
http://www.kishkish.com/sam/vsa/

Now, imagine if this could be done on any voice recording.
Technically, this should not be too difficult since the Skype phone recordings are nothing special as well...

Will that be a boon to society or will it create even more conflicts ?

Ever heard of white lies, and that "a little lie never hurt anyone" ?

Funny Singapore Comics

Found 2 interesting blogs that provides alternative Singapore style comics. Have fun :-)
http://www.insanepoly.com/blog/
http://seijieiga.blogspot.com/

Also take a look at this interesting Youtube video, a parody of the recent "Elitist" saga online.

Test Post

Testing the email posting method provided by Blogger.

Probably should come in useful if you need to post something but do not have internet access, but do have email access.

Search other than Google ?

Found an interesting link with suggestions for unique and less known search engines. Guess most of us already use Google by default (and maybe a Yahoo, or MSN search)

http://oedb.org/library/college-basics/research-beyond-google