As expected, the price of COE rebounded and I did not get my COE during the last bid. Gotta wait another 2 more weeks.
Anyway, I booked my black Latio Sport Base at $57.5k but did not get the best freebies after surfing thru the Latio Club forum online. But I only found the forum after booking my car, a little too eager to get maybe that's why my SE didn't put in more efforts.
If possible, I hope not to top up to get my car. In fact, the price of the Latio has gone up to $63.5k since the time I put in my order, so my deal is actually not bad, except that TCM may not bid high enough for me to secure my COE faster. Shrugz.
Not in a hurry too since my stay in period should last another continuous 5 weeks. By then my wheels will come in very useful when gg to Tengah et al.
***
On course at AFS hasn't been too bad. Except the compulsory stay-in sucks. But picking up old games like international chess which I haven't touched in years. Quite a few good players in my course too. Erm actually, this course is quite fun! =D
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
COE's down, it's the time!
Been test-driving for the past two weeks, tried avante, city, vios and latio sport and I've finally made my choice - LATIO SPORT!
Avante - handling is too light
Vios - has a cheapo feel
City - good mix of sportiness and family, but the pricing is not competitive.
Latio Sport - best value for money! Go test it!
It must be a god-given present that the cat A COE prices halved today to $8118. It is a signal that I shld go in now to get whatever I want!
A round of bargaining tmrw and I hope to emerge with more goodies! Haha!
Avante - handling is too light
Vios - has a cheapo feel
City - good mix of sportiness and family, but the pricing is not competitive.
Latio Sport - best value for money! Go test it!
It must be a god-given present that the cat A COE prices halved today to $8118. It is a signal that I shld go in now to get whatever I want!
A round of bargaining tmrw and I hope to emerge with more goodies! Haha!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Wakeboarding
Went to Marina Country Club at Punggol to try out wakeboarding with mostly my AEO colleagues and soon-to-be coursemates.
Actually I've wanted to try out wakeboarding for awhile, since the time when I was canoeing at Kallang. Water sports always appeal to me and wakeboarding is one of those look cool and great bods activity. Finally had my taste of it thanks to Jimmy who intro this lobang almost one month ago.
There were 9 of us and we booked 2 boats at $330 per boat for 4 hours, which worked out to about $73 per head. Not cheap considering that I row for free Haha but it was definitely enjoyable. And also a few guys flew us aeroplanes last minute and added to the per head cost.
Anyway about the wakeboarding proper, a few of the guys can already do it effortlessly after their first try last month. Weiquan and Tommy were pretty steady and had good postures. As it was my first time, I took quite a few attempts to even get on my feet, but I would give myself a passable grade lah.
The trick is really to be patient and not attempt to overpower the force of the water. I thought I have an advantage because of my canoeing experience and know the waves and have better balance, but still drank quite a lot of water. But it was real good fun, to hire a boat, sun tan while not wakeboarding, and guess what? We all took leave and played on a Friday morning.
Will definitely be back for the next time!
Actually I've wanted to try out wakeboarding for awhile, since the time when I was canoeing at Kallang. Water sports always appeal to me and wakeboarding is one of those look cool and great bods activity. Finally had my taste of it thanks to Jimmy who intro this lobang almost one month ago.
There were 9 of us and we booked 2 boats at $330 per boat for 4 hours, which worked out to about $73 per head. Not cheap considering that I row for free Haha but it was definitely enjoyable. And also a few guys flew us aeroplanes last minute and added to the per head cost.
Anyway about the wakeboarding proper, a few of the guys can already do it effortlessly after their first try last month. Weiquan and Tommy were pretty steady and had good postures. As it was my first time, I took quite a few attempts to even get on my feet, but I would give myself a passable grade lah.
The trick is really to be patient and not attempt to overpower the force of the water. I thought I have an advantage because of my canoeing experience and know the waves and have better balance, but still drank quite a lot of water. But it was real good fun, to hire a boat, sun tan while not wakeboarding, and guess what? We all took leave and played on a Friday morning.
Will definitely be back for the next time!
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Renumeration Woes
Renumeration is the fair value that an employer pays to the employee for the perceived capacity to contribute positively to the growth of the company (Beng, 2007).
It is a common practice for companies to adopt a renumeration scheme that compensates employees on a senority basis, rewarding them for the loyalty and the years of service rendered.
Increasingly, however, companies are moving away from rewarding seniority to rewarding work performance.
In perhaps the biggest industry in Singapore, a hybrid is created that seeks to rewards both seniority and performance. The consequent problem is that many a times the yardstick used is not consistent and lacks logical sense.
Allow me to illustrate a myopic view of the flaws in the system.
The cycle of economic boom and boon repeats itself, and the ability of an organization to retain its talents becomes crucial in good times when other competitors and industries present mouth-watering opportunities. While many insist that cultivating intrinsic motivation is key to retaining existing talents, few would disagree that an equivalent extrinsic reward forwards this cause and attracts more to join the organization.
To maintain and boost employee morale in the midst of rising workplace volatility, the carrots dangled to new recruits should rightfully be extended to existing members as well. This is important to maintain organizational equity for all, without which an unimaginable crisis await the management.
Firstly, unequal renumeration for performing the exact duties in itself is unjustified. Barring any performance-related indicators (or the lack of such measures), the employer seemingly implied that the work done by the new recruit is of greater value than existing employees. Is this performance-rated pay? I would think not. This inequity leads to employee discontent and resentment. Any normally motivated employee will find this difficult to swallow.
In a more severe case, the lack of levelling in payscale poses a potentially more serious problem for more senior employees who are performing work of clearly more importance and bearing more responsibility. This group of people witnesses a blatant disregard for their contributions to the organization and suffer the indignity of being similarly rewarded as fresh recruits. A logical deduction about their inferior payscale may be due to the wrong timing when they entered the organization. While year-on-year this group of people enjoys a slow but steady increase in renumeration, they are in fact far off the present market rate.
Our case study reveals that the management is fully cognizant of the situation, and they have implemented a market adjustment component, which is a one-time lump sum payment. Contrast this to a permanent adjustment to the top brass and the mistreatment is even more obvious. This is the middle-class crisis facing the sandwiched classes. This is, and will be a problem for the organization to cope with unless they take heed of the warning signs and arrest the slide at this early stage. Every delay at this juncture poses an exponential increase in rectification cost at a later stage.
A further peek into the problem shows that even among the new recruits, renumeration varies depending on the time of entry - The earlier you put pen to paper, the worse off you are. This is pretty silly and ironic that employees who committed earlier aren't rewarded for their loyalty, but instead have to make do with a lower renumeration with all else equal.
In the long course of tea break discussions, numerous counter arguements have been made in attempts to downplay the issue, and I would like to tackle these Greek myths one by one.
They are 2 years older, we will get it 2 years later. Age seems to be the overarching agreement on why we deserve less. As discussed earlier, a seniority-based renumeration scheme may be justifiable, but it is an individual's corporate seniority for his time served at the organization in a similar capacity. People argue that they did served 2.5 years for NS. But lest we forget, NS is a nation-wide obligation for all Singaporean males and they have only fulfilled their duty to the nation, and whatever experience they accumulated is most probably non-transferable as we embark in a new vocation.
They have study loans to repay. At first glance, it is a perfectly valid reason because our tertiary educations were funded differently. But the study awards are not given to us unconditionally. It was a mutual agreement by the organization to sponsor and the recipient to fulfill his degree and return for a bond period. No party owe each other anything at all to start with, since every awardee carries a quantified $X of liquidated damages in an unlikely case of bond breaking.
Kaputt!
Even more exasperating is the inflexibility of organizational policies and inefficiency of the administration to uphold equity for graduates of different university. It is not funny when you are financially penalized for an external system's doings. Little things add up to become really irking.
Why WHy WHY? What kind of deal is this?
It is a common practice for companies to adopt a renumeration scheme that compensates employees on a senority basis, rewarding them for the loyalty and the years of service rendered.
Increasingly, however, companies are moving away from rewarding seniority to rewarding work performance.
In perhaps the biggest industry in Singapore, a hybrid is created that seeks to rewards both seniority and performance. The consequent problem is that many a times the yardstick used is not consistent and lacks logical sense.
Allow me to illustrate a myopic view of the flaws in the system.
The cycle of economic boom and boon repeats itself, and the ability of an organization to retain its talents becomes crucial in good times when other competitors and industries present mouth-watering opportunities. While many insist that cultivating intrinsic motivation is key to retaining existing talents, few would disagree that an equivalent extrinsic reward forwards this cause and attracts more to join the organization.
To maintain and boost employee morale in the midst of rising workplace volatility, the carrots dangled to new recruits should rightfully be extended to existing members as well. This is important to maintain organizational equity for all, without which an unimaginable crisis await the management.
Firstly, unequal renumeration for performing the exact duties in itself is unjustified. Barring any performance-related indicators (or the lack of such measures), the employer seemingly implied that the work done by the new recruit is of greater value than existing employees. Is this performance-rated pay? I would think not. This inequity leads to employee discontent and resentment. Any normally motivated employee will find this difficult to swallow.
In a more severe case, the lack of levelling in payscale poses a potentially more serious problem for more senior employees who are performing work of clearly more importance and bearing more responsibility. This group of people witnesses a blatant disregard for their contributions to the organization and suffer the indignity of being similarly rewarded as fresh recruits. A logical deduction about their inferior payscale may be due to the wrong timing when they entered the organization. While year-on-year this group of people enjoys a slow but steady increase in renumeration, they are in fact far off the present market rate.
Our case study reveals that the management is fully cognizant of the situation, and they have implemented a market adjustment component, which is a one-time lump sum payment. Contrast this to a permanent adjustment to the top brass and the mistreatment is even more obvious. This is the middle-class crisis facing the sandwiched classes. This is, and will be a problem for the organization to cope with unless they take heed of the warning signs and arrest the slide at this early stage. Every delay at this juncture poses an exponential increase in rectification cost at a later stage.
A further peek into the problem shows that even among the new recruits, renumeration varies depending on the time of entry - The earlier you put pen to paper, the worse off you are. This is pretty silly and ironic that employees who committed earlier aren't rewarded for their loyalty, but instead have to make do with a lower renumeration with all else equal.
In the long course of tea break discussions, numerous counter arguements have been made in attempts to downplay the issue, and I would like to tackle these Greek myths one by one.
They are 2 years older, we will get it 2 years later. Age seems to be the overarching agreement on why we deserve less. As discussed earlier, a seniority-based renumeration scheme may be justifiable, but it is an individual's corporate seniority for his time served at the organization in a similar capacity. People argue that they did served 2.5 years for NS. But lest we forget, NS is a nation-wide obligation for all Singaporean males and they have only fulfilled their duty to the nation, and whatever experience they accumulated is most probably non-transferable as we embark in a new vocation.
They have study loans to repay. At first glance, it is a perfectly valid reason because our tertiary educations were funded differently. But the study awards are not given to us unconditionally. It was a mutual agreement by the organization to sponsor and the recipient to fulfill his degree and return for a bond period. No party owe each other anything at all to start with, since every awardee carries a quantified $X of liquidated damages in an unlikely case of bond breaking.
Kaputt!
Even more exasperating is the inflexibility of organizational policies and inefficiency of the administration to uphold equity for graduates of different university. It is not funny when you are financially penalized for an external system's doings. Little things add up to become really irking.
Why WHy WHY? What kind of deal is this?
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Millionaire to be!!
In fact everyone should be a millionaire if you start investing young!
Target:
30 yrs old $180k
40 yrs old $700k
50 yrs old $1.8m
Conservative estimates! I will report back in 7 years time to tell you if I've hit the first milestone. =)
The flip side is - doesn't quite look like I can become a MULTI-millionaire. How??
Target:
30 yrs old $180k
40 yrs old $700k
50 yrs old $1.8m
Conservative estimates! I will report back in 7 years time to tell you if I've hit the first milestone. =)
The flip side is - doesn't quite look like I can become a MULTI-millionaire. How??
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Blogging once in a blue moon
Updates:
- I've gotten the Rosie Heng-Koh Poh Choo Gold Medal for Human Resource Management! A really big surprise and a great honour to get any book prize / gold medal, especially coming from Michael Heng and co!
- Convocation is on the 26 July at 10am, ceremony 10 at Nanyang Auditorium. Welcome all friends and gifts and bears and flowers haha, okie just kidding! Can take pictures together!
- Started work back at RSAF since May actually. Lamenting on my stagnated pay and admin inefficiency that cost me.
- Went on a short one week holiday to Bangkok and Phuket in June with Philifer to unwind, sightsee and shop!
- Rowed for NJ Alumni last wkend for SDBF at Bedok Reservoir. The 10-men 'B' boat got into the inter corporate final, while the other teams fought hard. Plenty of problems in the alumni team to be sorted out. Don't like politics I just wanna row.
- Minor ankle sprain during a casual street soccer game, did not warrant any MC :p
- Passed my IPPT before the ROVW deadline.
Want to
- Apply for credit cards with lotsa dining discounts!
- Buy a non camera PDA handphone with Wifi, GPS, good multimedia abilities. Dopod P800 looks good, any comments anyone?
- I've gotten the Rosie Heng-Koh Poh Choo Gold Medal for Human Resource Management! A really big surprise and a great honour to get any book prize / gold medal, especially coming from Michael Heng and co!
- Convocation is on the 26 July at 10am, ceremony 10 at Nanyang Auditorium. Welcome all friends and gifts and bears and flowers haha, okie just kidding! Can take pictures together!
- Started work back at RSAF since May actually. Lamenting on my stagnated pay and admin inefficiency that cost me.
- Went on a short one week holiday to Bangkok and Phuket in June with Philifer to unwind, sightsee and shop!
- Rowed for NJ Alumni last wkend for SDBF at Bedok Reservoir. The 10-men 'B' boat got into the inter corporate final, while the other teams fought hard. Plenty of problems in the alumni team to be sorted out. Don't like politics I just wanna row.
- Minor ankle sprain during a casual street soccer game, did not warrant any MC :p
- Passed my IPPT before the ROVW deadline.
Want to
- Apply for credit cards with lotsa dining discounts!
- Buy a non camera PDA handphone with Wifi, GPS, good multimedia abilities. Dopod P800 looks good, any comments anyone?
Friday, June 08, 2007
I got my FIRST class!
Hooray! Really a pleasant surprise and I'm glad I did not slack off for my final sem! The feeling is ecstatic, especially not knowing our own standing for the 4 long years at NTU!
It actually exceeded my own expectations. Gave me a sense of achievement for the 4 years spent working to this degree. =)
It actually exceeded my own expectations. Gave me a sense of achievement for the 4 years spent working to this degree. =)
Friday, June 01, 2007
Passed my IPPT!
Yah I know itz no big deal! Haha but after my ROVW last year it is a relief to pass at the first attempt this year, and almost getting a silver! Hmm, I will try harder to improve my 2.4 timing to get that extra 100 bucks, they come in handy! ;)
Met Benjamin Chew and some other AEOs at the IPPT at SBAB this morning. Not bad had a chance to catch up and understand more about how people are doing at base level. He got his Nissan Latio, pearl purple, quite chio! Haha I wish I can get one too!
FYP is finally done. I've submitted my hardcopy report to Prof Lee and the abstract through the library electronically. But it was a chore really, had to download the VPN to submit successfully. I supposed that's the end for my NTU life, as I walked through the south spine one of the last times on my way out today... Au revoir NTU et mes amies! Merci pour tout!
And announcement of 0.5 months bonus with $220 for civil servants! Hooray, but I think I will get peanuts again after pro-rating. Sianz. Hope my results come out soon, then I can fax to AMD asap and emplace me.
And I signed up to row for SDBF for NJ alumni. The club looks like in trouble and I hope a half-fit me can help. Actually kinda scared for the upcoming trainings - 25 mins slow run then 2 hrs sprint trainings. The last time I did these were in year 2. But I will try my best, as usual. Hope we can return to winning ways, if not perform respectably! C'mon we are NJ alumni! Everyone is a champion with so many extra db gold medals at home. We just need to ignite that innate potential to terrorize our opponents again! *ROAR*
Met Benjamin Chew and some other AEOs at the IPPT at SBAB this morning. Not bad had a chance to catch up and understand more about how people are doing at base level. He got his Nissan Latio, pearl purple, quite chio! Haha I wish I can get one too!
FYP is finally done. I've submitted my hardcopy report to Prof Lee and the abstract through the library electronically. But it was a chore really, had to download the VPN to submit successfully. I supposed that's the end for my NTU life, as I walked through the south spine one of the last times on my way out today... Au revoir NTU et mes amies! Merci pour tout!
And announcement of 0.5 months bonus with $220 for civil servants! Hooray, but I think I will get peanuts again after pro-rating. Sianz. Hope my results come out soon, then I can fax to AMD asap and emplace me.
And I signed up to row for SDBF for NJ alumni. The club looks like in trouble and I hope a half-fit me can help. Actually kinda scared for the upcoming trainings - 25 mins slow run then 2 hrs sprint trainings. The last time I did these were in year 2. But I will try my best, as usual. Hope we can return to winning ways, if not perform respectably! C'mon we are NJ alumni! Everyone is a champion with so many extra db gold medals at home. We just need to ignite that innate potential to terrorize our opponents again! *ROAR*
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Moving back home
After 4 years on my own in NS and university, I am back home again.
It's supposed to be good that I have dinner prepared and laundry done, and no more chores like sweeping and cleaning my room, but seemed to lose something.
Lost an independence. My handphone actually starts ringing if I hang out later with my friends. *shrugz* Yup I know my mother is concerned about me, but I know how to take care of myself.
Lost a privacy. Need some personal space at times but there's no longer a place I can hole up alone anymore.
Lost some friends. Okie not exactly a loss, but used to be able to find people go for dinner and jogging by shouting out loud, but now everyone is apart.
Oh well, oh well. May be back to living out soon if I opt to stay-in for my ALOC. A money-saving option, given that all meals can be indented. We shall see.
It's supposed to be good that I have dinner prepared and laundry done, and no more chores like sweeping and cleaning my room, but seemed to lose something.
Lost an independence. My handphone actually starts ringing if I hang out later with my friends. *shrugz* Yup I know my mother is concerned about me, but I know how to take care of myself.
Lost a privacy. Need some personal space at times but there's no longer a place I can hole up alone anymore.
Lost some friends. Okie not exactly a loss, but used to be able to find people go for dinner and jogging by shouting out loud, but now everyone is apart.
Oh well, oh well. May be back to living out soon if I opt to stay-in for my ALOC. A money-saving option, given that all meals can be indented. We shall see.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Team Gathering at Pan Pac Hotel
What can a big group of guys and girls do in a 5-star hotel room?
Team gathering lah. Haha... Met up njcanoeists at the Pan Pacific thanks to organiser Shihui, though her info dissemination leaves much to be desired. An upscale chalet really, with "I have never..." and lotsa drinks to intoxicate our livers. Unhealthy, but we don't really care.
Really had fun, with old and new jokes infiltrating the room. Bunch of greats friends to have! Too bad it's mother's day today and I didn't want to stay.
Team gathering lah. Haha... Met up njcanoeists at the Pan Pacific thanks to organiser Shihui, though her info dissemination leaves much to be desired. An upscale chalet really, with "I have never..." and lotsa drinks to intoxicate our livers. Unhealthy, but we don't really care.
Really had fun, with old and new jokes infiltrating the room. Bunch of greats friends to have! Too bad it's mother's day today and I didn't want to stay.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
I don't need a voyeur!
I hope you are reading this, because I am going to articulate in no uncertain terms for my bust-up.
Please for goodness sake show respect for people's privacy. Of course people are curious and dun mind a little gossip every now and then, but if you keep doing it despite being warned, you are asking for it.
We have our own reasons to keep things under wraps, and I don't owe anyone any reason.
In concrete terms, these are what I hate:
1. Peeping into my phone when smsing.
I confronted you about it before. Your answer of "unintentional" is totally unacceptable, though at that time I did not want to pursue. It is basic courtesy not to look when people are smsing, or is it not obvious to you? It has to be intentional to notice clearly who the sender of the msg is and what I am writing.
2. Announcement to the whole grp BEHIND my back.
I am not rich nor famous, I don't need paparazzi. My privacy is totally intruded! Please!
3. Constant probing.
You may not realise it, but your msn messages are prying into our privacy. Move on, we are an open secret why ask the obvious and keep harping on it?
4. Jumping to conclusion
God knows what kinda conspiracy theories you weaved to Phil. We are not what you make us out to be. And if you are MAN enough, it's men's talk! Don't have to go back to bug her! And then there's Jo last time too. C'mon, we settle it b/w us!
I have been tolerant enough. I ignored, acted blur and swallowed these crap. But there is a limit to how much I can stomach. What happened is a culmination of all the above and not your perception that I am unhappy you two chatted. We are all mutual friends, and I certainly hope that we remain so.
Spare me all these nonsense, PLEASE!
Please for goodness sake show respect for people's privacy. Of course people are curious and dun mind a little gossip every now and then, but if you keep doing it despite being warned, you are asking for it.
We have our own reasons to keep things under wraps, and I don't owe anyone any reason.
In concrete terms, these are what I hate:
1. Peeping into my phone when smsing.
I confronted you about it before. Your answer of "unintentional" is totally unacceptable, though at that time I did not want to pursue. It is basic courtesy not to look when people are smsing, or is it not obvious to you? It has to be intentional to notice clearly who the sender of the msg is and what I am writing.
2. Announcement to the whole grp BEHIND my back.
I am not rich nor famous, I don't need paparazzi. My privacy is totally intruded! Please!
3. Constant probing.
You may not realise it, but your msn messages are prying into our privacy. Move on, we are an open secret why ask the obvious and keep harping on it?
4. Jumping to conclusion
God knows what kinda conspiracy theories you weaved to Phil. We are not what you make us out to be. And if you are MAN enough, it's men's talk! Don't have to go back to bug her! And then there's Jo last time too. C'mon, we settle it b/w us!
I have been tolerant enough. I ignored, acted blur and swallowed these crap. But there is a limit to how much I can stomach. What happened is a culmination of all the above and not your perception that I am unhappy you two chatted. We are all mutual friends, and I certainly hope that we remain so.
Spare me all these nonsense, PLEASE!
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
The weighty issue about SAF
I'm in danger of losing my performance bonus and promotion! Heard from the chief clerk at ALS-UC that failing to pass the BMI will have severe penalty!
Rumours say that the BMI passing mark will be lowered from the current 27 to 25 after the new CDF took over! After some calculation, I still need to cut 3 - 4 kg to pass my BMI... Haiz why why...
Actually BMI doesn't measure much. It doesn't account for pple with greater bone density, or people who are more muscular and hit the gym more often. Maybe SAF should consider using a combination of BMI and body fat percentage to determine the status of a serviceman's healthy weight.
Hey, I am not only defending myself okie! I am trying to speak in all fairness and as objectively as possible!
Rumours say that the BMI passing mark will be lowered from the current 27 to 25 after the new CDF took over! After some calculation, I still need to cut 3 - 4 kg to pass my BMI... Haiz why why...
Actually BMI doesn't measure much. It doesn't account for pple with greater bone density, or people who are more muscular and hit the gym more often. Maybe SAF should consider using a combination of BMI and body fat percentage to determine the status of a serviceman's healthy weight.
Hey, I am not only defending myself okie! I am trying to speak in all fairness and as objectively as possible!
Friday, April 27, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
"Noise travel upwards....." What a joke!
Getai noise should be assessed objectively
by Richard Seah Siew Sai
Published on ST on 21 April
"In my earlier letter, I pointed out that there are objective and scientific ways of measuring sound levels, in terms of decibels. Why is getai noise assessed subjectively by police officers? Are these officers aware that noise travels upwards and what might sound acceptable at ground level is much louder on higher floors?"
Hahaha, I just can't help but start laughing when I read this paragraph. If this joker can prove that power increases with distance and height, he will win the next Nobel Prize! What a dumb comment, and ST Forum actually publishes such a lousy article!!
by Richard Seah Siew Sai
Published on ST on 21 April
"In my earlier letter, I pointed out that there are objective and scientific ways of measuring sound levels, in terms of decibels. Why is getai noise assessed subjectively by police officers? Are these officers aware that noise travels upwards and what might sound acceptable at ground level is much louder on higher floors?"
Hahaha, I just can't help but start laughing when I read this paragraph. If this joker can prove that power increases with distance and height, he will win the next Nobel Prize! What a dumb comment, and ST Forum actually publishes such a lousy article!!
Friday, April 20, 2007
A lazy student's dream...
I was talking to Kenneth yesterday. He is from our EEE batch, skipped IA went for IO and has already finished all his modules. Although I knew he was good, I didn't know he is THAT good - First Class honours, with 65% As.
As he was saying, maybe the fact that he is from the poly batch, went for overseas exchange, and hence taking lesser NTU modules helped him secured his first class more easily. I never thought about this point before, yah maybe, but still kudos to you dude!
Then I started calculating, and I don't have 65% As. Only 50% I think, and took a lot more common engine modules. I think I should be glad to get a 2nd upper...
I think I made things difficult for myself by getting involved in so many activities. The first two years were crazy from a student's point of view. Four times a week training, then was bizmag for hall, all these took up precious time. Sometimes I do wonder, will I be in a better position now if I had just put in some more efforts for my studies. Regret? Maybe.
I think scoring that few more As were within my grasp if I worked harder. Then maybe first class is not so elusive then.
On hindsight, I think I would be better off at NUS with their cap system. If one is consciously aware of maintaining their cap at 4.5, I will plan and study and make sure that I get that 4.5 in the end. Afterall, I consider myself quite systematic and methodological to carry out my plans.
Bleah, just moaning. And dreaming too! I think this semester has been really good, and I am hopeful of doing very well indeed. Will a last surge send me up a notch? Hmm cross my fingers and pray.
If if doesn't come true in the end, at least I left NTU with a minor in CS, fluency with French, knowledge of German, and a double IVP athlete.
As he was saying, maybe the fact that he is from the poly batch, went for overseas exchange, and hence taking lesser NTU modules helped him secured his first class more easily. I never thought about this point before, yah maybe, but still kudos to you dude!
Then I started calculating, and I don't have 65% As. Only 50% I think, and took a lot more common engine modules. I think I should be glad to get a 2nd upper...
I think I made things difficult for myself by getting involved in so many activities. The first two years were crazy from a student's point of view. Four times a week training, then was bizmag for hall, all these took up precious time. Sometimes I do wonder, will I be in a better position now if I had just put in some more efforts for my studies. Regret? Maybe.
I think scoring that few more As were within my grasp if I worked harder. Then maybe first class is not so elusive then.
On hindsight, I think I would be better off at NUS with their cap system. If one is consciously aware of maintaining their cap at 4.5, I will plan and study and make sure that I get that 4.5 in the end. Afterall, I consider myself quite systematic and methodological to carry out my plans.
Bleah, just moaning. And dreaming too! I think this semester has been really good, and I am hopeful of doing very well indeed. Will a last surge send me up a notch? Hmm cross my fingers and pray.
If if doesn't come true in the end, at least I left NTU with a minor in CS, fluency with French, knowledge of German, and a double IVP athlete.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
I am bored
Today is my last technical paper in NTU - Digital Communications! By 3pm I will be FREE! Haha
Yup and I am very bored now. I don't think I am very good in this module, but I have done all the revisions, looked through the notes and tutorials and did a lot of past year papers! So if the profs come out with the routine questions, I should be able to do well.
That's the beauty of the Singaporean system isn't it? Not too smart, but practice make perfect. Yup I am officially quitting this system soon!! Haha, can't wait to graduate!
Yup and I am very bored now. I don't think I am very good in this module, but I have done all the revisions, looked through the notes and tutorials and did a lot of past year papers! So if the profs come out with the routine questions, I should be able to do well.
That's the beauty of the Singaporean system isn't it? Not too smart, but practice make perfect. Yup I am officially quitting this system soon!! Haha, can't wait to graduate!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Focus, it's the final lap!
In 15 days! That's the amount of time for me to finish my FINAL exam in NTU!
17 April:
HW310 - Prof Comm
EE4110 - Optical Comm System Design
18 April:
EE4839 - Fiber Optics Comm
19 April:
EE4152 Digital Comm
26 April:
LG80 - German 1
Yup actually the first 3 days are the most difficult, with all my technical subjects! German is pretty much in cruise control.
Final semester, a little nostalgic of school life actually, but at the same time looking forward to starting work. At least Ah Lee is going to give me a little pay rise after giving himself $0.6million more.
Surprisingly, I don't feel the stress this semester. Partly because I followed the courses very closely the whole while, started revision early, and simply because this semester is peanuts compared to the last when I had to labour through 8 modules!
I am actually done with all the theory and lecture notes, though some parts do require a little more attention. I think all that's left is to do the Singaporean ten-year-series method, work through the past year exam papers, need to be fast and accurate!
I need a target: 6As! I haven't been a bang these 4 years, but at least let the final burst be that big bang!
17 April:
HW310 - Prof Comm
EE4110 - Optical Comm System Design
18 April:
EE4839 - Fiber Optics Comm
19 April:
EE4152 Digital Comm
26 April:
LG80 - German 1
Yup actually the first 3 days are the most difficult, with all my technical subjects! German is pretty much in cruise control.
Final semester, a little nostalgic of school life actually, but at the same time looking forward to starting work. At least Ah Lee is going to give me a little pay rise after giving himself $0.6million more.
Surprisingly, I don't feel the stress this semester. Partly because I followed the courses very closely the whole while, started revision early, and simply because this semester is peanuts compared to the last when I had to labour through 8 modules!
I am actually done with all the theory and lecture notes, though some parts do require a little more attention. I think all that's left is to do the Singaporean ten-year-series method, work through the past year exam papers, need to be fast and accurate!
I need a target: 6As! I haven't been a bang these 4 years, but at least let the final burst be that big bang!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Need to do some critical thinking
The topic for today is - Ministerial Pay.
I googled and did a short research on the salary of some world leaders.
British PM: £127,334 + £60,277 as a Member of Parliament
US President: US$400 000
French President: 6 594 € per month ~ 80 000 € per year
Singaporean PM: $1.2M or there about
Anyway, I happened to find an explanation to this by the ministry of finance as well. Not very convincing in my opinion.
The formula currently pegs the salary of our ministers to the median of the top 8 earners from 6 professions. (FYI, the engineers are the worst paid group of the 6) As PM Lee recently pointed our, the ministerial salary should be $2.2M should the formula be applied stringently.
Honestly, I have no doubts about the capabilities of our leaders. We have to acknowledge that these men and women are able to command a salary in that range should they have decided to go into the private sector. The purpose of this salary peg is then to retain talent for the civil service to chart Singapore's growth.
Sounds pretty logical, except that the civil service is perhaps driven by different set of motivations. If money is the motivation, why be a politician? A top-rung insurance agent can also earn that amount of money, and I am pretty convinced that our ministers got great persuasive powers.
The civil service has an altruistic dimension, in improving the lives of people, in making this place a better home for all of us. All these are invaluable and can never carry a tangible price tag. Nobody would disagree about the importance of their excellent work, yet when a price has to be put on that, people shudders at the thought of top of the scale renumerations.
This is because the civil service is a not-for-profit organization. The performance of a politician cannot be measured solely on economic terms. Maybe a distant example, but the pay package of TT Durai should serve as a reminder of how people change their perception of renumeration for non-profit organisations' leaders.
Now, pegging the salary of the ministers against the top earners in the private sector is dangerous. Already, people question about the "ironness" of a civil servant's rice bowl. If this iron rice bowl is now gold-plated with the riches of the private world, would we be attracting the wrong kind of people into politics?
The earning potential in the private sector is probably unlimited, and their salaries can only get expectedly bigger. But the Government's budget is limited, and the general rate of salary increase of the taxpayers cannot surpass this elite group. Simply we will have a population which enjoys moderate income growth paying for the supersonic increase in ministerial pay. In this light, this formula is doomed to fail, and is made for creating stirs the day it was approved.
Strange enough, the notion of civil service pay increase seems focused on the top brass until now. It is as if that the work of the top hierarchy is all that matters! As the largest employer in Singapore, it is too easy to demean the work of all the other rank and file civil servants. If the leaders produce stellar results year in year out, doesn't that mean that he has a capable team under him. Then, shouldn't we peg their salaries to the top 48 earners in their domain too? Yet it is an open secret that civil servants' overall pay package tapers off and lags significantly behind their private counter parts.
I think the rhetoric is clear. If the entire structure of civil servants has to suffer from lower renumeration, why should it be any different for the ministerial leaders? In fact, anyone of a good calibre who works for the civil service can possibly get a better-paid and similar position out there in the private sector. The civil service is effective and efficient as a WHOLE, so stop differentiating the ministers as if they were superhuman beings!
I googled and did a short research on the salary of some world leaders.
British PM: £127,334 + £60,277 as a Member of Parliament
US President: US$400 000
French President: 6 594 € per month ~ 80 000 € per year
Singaporean PM: $1.2M or there about
Anyway, I happened to find an explanation to this by the ministry of finance as well. Not very convincing in my opinion.
The formula currently pegs the salary of our ministers to the median of the top 8 earners from 6 professions. (FYI, the engineers are the worst paid group of the 6) As PM Lee recently pointed our, the ministerial salary should be $2.2M should the formula be applied stringently.
Honestly, I have no doubts about the capabilities of our leaders. We have to acknowledge that these men and women are able to command a salary in that range should they have decided to go into the private sector. The purpose of this salary peg is then to retain talent for the civil service to chart Singapore's growth.
Sounds pretty logical, except that the civil service is perhaps driven by different set of motivations. If money is the motivation, why be a politician? A top-rung insurance agent can also earn that amount of money, and I am pretty convinced that our ministers got great persuasive powers.
The civil service has an altruistic dimension, in improving the lives of people, in making this place a better home for all of us. All these are invaluable and can never carry a tangible price tag. Nobody would disagree about the importance of their excellent work, yet when a price has to be put on that, people shudders at the thought of top of the scale renumerations.
This is because the civil service is a not-for-profit organization. The performance of a politician cannot be measured solely on economic terms. Maybe a distant example, but the pay package of TT Durai should serve as a reminder of how people change their perception of renumeration for non-profit organisations' leaders.
Now, pegging the salary of the ministers against the top earners in the private sector is dangerous. Already, people question about the "ironness" of a civil servant's rice bowl. If this iron rice bowl is now gold-plated with the riches of the private world, would we be attracting the wrong kind of people into politics?
The earning potential in the private sector is probably unlimited, and their salaries can only get expectedly bigger. But the Government's budget is limited, and the general rate of salary increase of the taxpayers cannot surpass this elite group. Simply we will have a population which enjoys moderate income growth paying for the supersonic increase in ministerial pay. In this light, this formula is doomed to fail, and is made for creating stirs the day it was approved.
Strange enough, the notion of civil service pay increase seems focused on the top brass until now. It is as if that the work of the top hierarchy is all that matters! As the largest employer in Singapore, it is too easy to demean the work of all the other rank and file civil servants. If the leaders produce stellar results year in year out, doesn't that mean that he has a capable team under him. Then, shouldn't we peg their salaries to the top 48 earners in their domain too? Yet it is an open secret that civil servants' overall pay package tapers off and lags significantly behind their private counter parts.
I think the rhetoric is clear. If the entire structure of civil servants has to suffer from lower renumeration, why should it be any different for the ministerial leaders? In fact, anyone of a good calibre who works for the civil service can possibly get a better-paid and similar position out there in the private sector. The civil service is effective and efficient as a WHOLE, so stop differentiating the ministers as if they were superhuman beings!
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