Finance Ministers Meet

The Ministers of Finance from Old Fort, Fief-teem and Tweeny Toot met with the Warden of Piggy Bank earlier this morning at 9am in Room 1135 to finalise the funds allocated to each country.

PB$6.9m have been made available in accordance to the guidelines set months ago at the Summit. Each country has been granted PB$1.35m and the Warden will hold on to PB$3.05m to be awarded as Book Prizes.

This monetary aid would boost the countries economy in the Short Run, but in the Long Run, drastic measures have to be taken to ensure the recurring structural problems of Non-English In Class (NEIC), Vulgarities In Class (VIC) and No Readings In Class (NRIC) do not impede the progress of any nation.

The Straight Time

Face Off

Doesn’t this sound familiar?

–from ST Aug 17, 2008

Big Sweep Prize for Good Arguments

If things carry on the way they are, Singapore Pools will be losing money for each argument made better than theirs.

From the Straits Times Friday Aug 15, 2008:

Astounded by Singapore Pools

I REFER to Wednesday’s letter, ‘S’pore Pools defends Nets charge”. I was astounded by the reasons Singapore Pools corporate communications manager, Mr Chan Chong Meng, gave to defend his company’s right to pass Nets charges on to its customers.
If indeed, Singapore Pools does things ‘in the spirit of our responsible gaming policy’, then why did it implement new gambling games like ‘Scratch It’ cards?

First, it was the $1 card, followed by the $2 card and then the $5 card. Singapore Pools dangles tempting carrots of $10,000, $20,000 and $60,000 respectively for the three different cards.

These card games are popular with housewives and other gamblers. It does look addictive and it is common to see gamblers buying not only single cards but five or more each time.

Most ‘winning’ cards earn a paltry sum, and even when ‘big’ prizes are won, the unsuspecting gambler is none the wiser.

Singapore is, to a certain extent, a gambling society.

I remember when I was young in the 1960s, a hawker selling braised duck would ply my neighbourhood. With his two baskets supported by a bamboo pole hung on his shoulders, he had more than braised duck to offer.

Customers could choose to play a ‘three-dice game’ called Si Goh Lak, which translates loosely from the Hokkien and Teochew dialects to mean the numbers three, four and five.

There were times when the customer won and he got the duck for free and sometimes his duck might cost him three times the original price.

The hawker was in on the gambling as well. On a bad day, he ended up losing his duck and his takings.

With 4D, Toto, football betting, the Singapore Sweep and now Formula One. betting is ‘plied’ all over Singapore all right. But introducing other tempting games cannot be a responsible act.

Lim Hong Ghee
————————————————————————————————-
‘Shouldn’t Nets respond as it adopted the double standard?’

MR KHONG KIONG SENG: ‘I refer to the reply by Singapore Pools on Wednesday, ‘Singapore Pools defends Nets charge’. This must be the most flawed argument to expound on the service charge levied on the use of Nets. By the same token, the shopkeeper who got rapped by Nets for passing the service charge on to customers can apply the same argument that, in the spirit of responsible expenditure policy, passing on the Nets service charge to customers is to remind them that shopping is an expense, and they should spend within their means. By the way, shouldn’t Nets be the one to respond as it adopted this double standard in service agreements with merchants, that it is all right for Singapore Pools to levy a charge, but not others.’

Consultation Slots in the ‘Holiday’

Dear 0408, 1508 & 2208,

The long-awaited moment is finally here!

The venue has been booked, the days have been decided. Are you decided?

Come join us for a wonderful time in AJC this September holiday for a most fascinating ride to GP Land!

Here are the details:

Destination: Rm 424

Dates: 1 Sep 2008 (Mon) & 4 Sep 2008 (Thu)

Time: 7.45am to 11.45am & 1.15pm to 5.45pm

Please come at least in pairs, at most in threes. (There’s a reason for everything.)

Each consultation will take half an hour. There wouldn’t be extra-time for late-comers.

Finish all your assignments (including Sem 1 assignments)–that is the prerequisite.

Prerequisite #2: Bring your up-to-date reading file. You should have at least 24 reading articles by the time you meet me.

Bring along anything you need help in,  or any extra work that you had done (for this, let me know in advance).

So what are you waiting for? C’mon! Sign up now!

Free! Pat-on-the-back for the first 10 participants. While stocks last.

Yours truly,

Doctor K.

*Sign up through my course page’s Forum on IVLE; a new forum has been set up for this booking. Remember to indicate who are coming along for a particular slot.

For those who feel there aren’t enough materials for you to work with, check out the IVLE GP main course page:

Political Incorrectness

Saw this headline and decided to post a quick one:

Correct me if I’m worng, but I thought one can’t launch a “jihad” against a fellow Muslim?

Sensationalism, perhaps.

Singfest 2008 (Aug 3)

Singfest has been great! But the trouble with a great weekend is the withdrawal symptom one gets when one gets back to the mundane trudging of weekday work.

OneRepublic was creative in their medley.

Jason Mraz was witty and engaging.

Alicia Keys was professional all till the end at 1am with her encore number, No One.

Thankfully it wasn’t “no one”; some one’s still around–in fact, many people were still around even though quite a lot left even before her encore.

I like the venue, I like the music, and although I didn’t quite like the way we were treated (like caged chicken for a few hours while waiting for the show to start), I’d still very much love to go for another such concert-at-the-park. Soon, I hope.

(If you zoom in, you will see me in my blue jersey in this picture! Well, just the back view. Mr Ivan Ang’s just behind me.)

***

On a separate note, here’s Keys in the news (ST Aug 1, 2008):

“Keys’ ads pulled out”

Alicia Keys protested against cigarette firm Philip Morris’ sponsorship. — PHOTO: REUTERS UP IN SMOKE:

JAKARTA – Philip Morris International has pulled down billboards and posters promoting an Alicia Keys concert yesterday in Indonesia’s capital after the singer protested against the cigarette company’s sponsorship.

The logo and slogans of A Mild cigarettes, produced by a Philip Morris affiliate, featured prominently in promotional materials for the concert.

The Washington-based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids anti-smoking organisation initially drew Keys’ attention to the company’s association with the show.

In a letter released by her record company, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, she said she had asked the company to stop the branding.

‘I am an unyielding advocate for the well-being of children around the world and do not condone or endorse smoking,’ she said.

Philip Morris International did not say whether it was demanding its money back. Neither did it reveal how much it had paid to sponsor the event.

‘Whether tobacco sponsorship of music events leads to youth smoking is a matter of serious debate,’ the company said in a statement received yesterday. ‘Having considered the facts in this specific instance, we have decided to withdraw all branding associated with this concert.’

More than 30 per cent of Indonesia’s 220 million people smoke, making it the fifth-largest tobacco market in the world, according to the World Health Organisation.

In the United States, Philip Morris USA and other major tobacco companies are banned from sponsorships of concerts, but there are no such regulations in Indonesia. The affiliate, HM Sampoerna, regularly sponsors sports events and pop concerts in Indonesia.

Philip Morris was not the sole sponsor of the concert, but the event is billed as an A Mild Live Production, suggesting it is a major backer.

AP