Efficiency

The most important thing is to look at how things are done and ask why, and whether they can be done more efficiently.

– Brian Urkowitz, Merrill Lynch managing director and head of Global Transactional Client Services

You know you are a 70s baby when…

1. You grew up watching He-Man, MASK, Transformers, Silver Hawk, and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, My Little Pony and Smurfs.

2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school during recess time. You will squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brushed your teeth with a coloured mug. The teachers said you must brush each side 10 times too.

3. You know what SBC stands for.

4. You paid 40 cents for Chocolate or Strawberry milk every week in class.

6. You find your friends with pagers and handphone cool in Secondary school.

7. SBS buses used to be non-air conditioned. The bus seats were made of wood and the cushion is red. The big red bell gives a loud BEEP! when pressed. There were colourful tickets for TIBS buses. The conductor would check for tickets by using a machine, which punches a hole in the ticket.

8. Envelopes given to us to donate to Sharity Elephant every Children’s Day.

9. You read Young Generation magazine. You know who ‘Vinny’ the little vampire and Acai the constable is.

10. You were there when they first introduced MRT here. You went the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the seat to see the scenery.

11. Movie tickets used to cost only $3.50.

12. Strawberry ShortCake and Barbie Dolls fascinated Gals.

13. You learned to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street.

14. You longed to buy titbits called Kaka (20cents per pack), and Xiao Ding Dang (50 cents per box), that had a toy in and it changes every week not forgetting the 15 cents animal crackers and the ring pop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring.

15. You watched TV2 (also known as Channel10) cartoons because SBC never had enough cartoons for you.

16. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven are probably the thickest story books you ever thought you have read. Even Sweet Valley High and Malory Towers.

17. KFC used to be a high-class restaurant that serve food in plates and let you use metal forks and knives.

18. Catching was the IN thing and twist was the magic word.

19. Your English workbooks were made of some damn poor quality paper that was smooth and yellow.

20. CDIS was your best friend.

21. The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellised characters in 16 colours walking about trying to teach you maths.

22. Water bottles were slinged around your neck and a must everywhere you go.

23. Boys loved to play soccer with small plastic balls in the basketball court.

24. Teng-teng, five stones, chapteh, hentambola and zero point were all the rage with the girls and boys too.

25. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important plants of our lives, guppies and swordtail being the most important fish.

26. Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, eternalized in our minds from the textbooks. Even Mr Wally & Mr. Yakki. What about Miss Lala??? And Zaki and Tini in Malay Textbooks?

27. You carried out experiments of our own to get ourself badges for being a Young Zoologist/Botanist etc.

28. Every Children’s day and National Day you received pins or pens with ‘Happy Children’s Day 1993’ or dumb files with ‘Happy National Day 1994’.

29. In Primary six you had to play buddy for the younger kids like big sister and brother.

30. You wore BM2000, BATA, or Pallas shoes.

31. Your form teacher taught you Maths, Science and English.

32. The worksheets were made of brown rough paper of poor quality.

33. You went to school in slippers and raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet, and wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.

34. School dismissal time was normally around 1 pm.

35. There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost everyday.

36. Your friends considered you lucky and rich if your parents gave you $3 or more for pocket money everyday.

37. You saw Wee Kim Wee’s face in the school hall.

38. You freaked out when the teacher tells you to line up according to height and hold hands with the corresponding boy or girl.

39. Boys liked to catch fighting spiders.

40. Collecting and battling erasers was a pastime for boys.

41. Autograph books were loaded with “Best Wishes”, “Forget Me Not”, and small poems like “Bird fly high, hard to catch. Friend like you, hard to forget”.

42. Class monitors and prefects loved to say, “You talk some more, I write your name ah!”

43. There were at least 40 people in one class.

44. Large, colourful schoolbags were carried.

45. You brought every single book to school, even though there was one thing called the timetable.

Money Laundering

 

Washing dirty money involves three basic steps: placement, layering, and integration.

In the first stage, the dirty money’s illicit origin is attempted to be hidden by changing its form by having this money invested in cash-intensive businesses. Next, a number of shell companies are set up in countries known for strong bank secrecy laws or for lax enforcement of money laundering statutes. Then the dirty money is circulated within these shell companies until they appear clean.

For circulating this money, two age-old methods are used. The first is the loan-back system and the other the double invoicing system. With a loan-back, the criminal puts the funds in an offshore entity that he owns and then ‘loans’ them back to himself. According to researchers, this technique works because it is hard to determine who actually controls offshore accounts in some countries.

In double invoicing – a method for moving funds into or out of a country-an offshore entity keeps the proverbial two sets of books. To move ‘clean’ funds into say, Singapore, a Singaporean exporter overcharges for goods or service. To move funds out of Singapore, a Singaporean importer is overcharged.

Other ‘layering’ techniques involve buying big items like stocks, luxury cars, travel tickets. The integration stage is the final point when the money is moved into mainstream economic activities – typically business investments, real estate, or luxury goods purchase.

Money laundering is said to have potentially devastating economic, security, and social consequences. It provides the funds needed to finance drug dealers, terrorists, illegal arms deals, corrupt public officials, and others to operate and expand their criminal enterprise.

Because money laundering relies to some extent on existing financial systems and operations, the criminal’s choice of money laundering vehicles is limited only by his or her creativity. Money is laundered through currency exchange houses, stock brokerage houses, gold dealers, gambling houses, automobile dealerships, insurance companies, and trading companies. Private banking facilities, offshore banking, shell corporations, free trade zones, wire systems, and trade financing all can mask illegal activities.

Memories of Murder

This is a true story.

1986 to 1991.

In a small town outside Seoul, over the course of six years 10 women were raped and murdered in a 2km radius. Korean society’s first serial killer took the lives of 10 victims, ranging from a 71 year-old grandmother to a 13 year old schoolgirl.

As time went on, the methods of the killer grew more bold and well-planned. One victim was stabbed 19 times in the chest, while another victim was found with nine pieces of a peach embedded inside her.

Other than the victims, the killer left not a single shred of evidence. Over 3,000 suspects were interrogated. At least 300,000 police took part in the massive investigation. But not a single person was indicted for the crimes.

This is a story about the detectives.

At a time in Korea when a murder investigation only meant grilling those who knew the victim, for these officers everything was a new experience.

There was no profiling mechanism, nor any idea of preserving the crime scene for forensic investigation. Only search and interrogation based on the detectives’ sense of duty and persistence.

In this age of ignorance, two detectives at the bottom of an ill-supported police force, have only themselves to rely on to face this horrific series of events.

The film reminisces about a time of innocence when the inability to comprehend such heinous acts led to unbelievable mishaps and harrowing nightmares.

Goldman Sachs Business Principles

 

The Goldman Sachs business principles reflect a set of ethics that has become ingrained in our firm’s character. They serve as the bedrock of our determination to provide clients with the industry’s best service. The business principles characterise not only the high standards and aspirations of the people who built this firm, but of our people today.

  1. Our clients’ interests always come first. Our experience shows that if we serve our clients well, our own success will follow.
  2. Our assets are our people, capital and reputation. If any of these is ever diminished, the last is the most difficult to restore. We are dedicated to complying fully with the letter and spirit of the laws, rules and ethical principles that govern us. Our continued success depends upon unswerving adherence to this standard
  3. Our goal is to provide superior returns to our shareholders. Profitability is critical to achieving superior returns, building our capital, and attracting and keeping our best people. Significant employee stock ownership aligns the interests of our employees and our shareholders.
  4. We take great pride in the professional quality of our work. We have an uncompromising determination to achieve excellence in everything we undertake. Though we may be involved in a wide variety and heavy volume of activity, we would, if it came to a choice, rather be best than biggest.
  5. We stress creativity and imagination in everything we do. While recognising that the old way may still be the best way, we constantly strive to find a better solution to a client’s problems. We pride ourselves on having pioneered many of the practices and techniques that have become standard in the industry.
  6. We make an unusual effort to identify and recruit the very best person for every job. Although our activities are measured in billions of dollars, we select our people one by one. In a service business, we know that without the best people, we cannot be the best firm.
  7. We offer our people the opportunity to move ahead more rapidly than is possible at most other places. Advancement depends on merit, and we have yet to find the limits to the responsibility our best people are able to assume. For us to be successful, our men and women must reflect the diversity of the communities and cultures in which we operate. That means we must attract, retain and motivate people from many backgrounds and perspectives. Being diverse is not optional; it is what we must be.
  8. We stress teamwork in everything we do. While individual creativity is always encouraged, we have found that team effort often produces the best results. We have no room for those who put their personal interests ahead of the interests of the firm and its clients.
  9. The dedication of our people to the firm and the intense effort they give their jobs are greater than one finds in most other organisations. We think that this is an important part of our success.
  10. We consider our size an asset that we try hard to preserve. We want to be big enough to undertake the largest project that any of our clients could contemplate, yet small enough to maintain the loyalty, the intimacy and the esprit de corps that we all treasure and that contribute greatly to our success.
  11. We constantly strive to anticipate the rapidly changing needs of our clients and to develop new services to meet those needs. We know that the world of finance will not stand still and that complacency can lead to extinction.
  12. We regularly receive confidential information as part of our normal client relationships. To breach a confidence or to use confidential information improperly or carelessly would be unthinkable.
  13. Our business is highly competitive, and we aggressively seek to expand our client relationships. However, we must always be fair competitors, and must never denigrate other firms.
  14. Integrity and honesty are at the heart of our business. We expect our people to maintain high ethical standards in everything they do, both in their work for the firm and in their personal lives.

Record HK$116m to take Buddha home

SCMP Sunday, October 8, 2006
BARCLAY CRAWFORD and FELIX CHAN

After splashing out a world record HK$116.6 million for a Chinese work of art, a mysterious mainland businessman claimed the bronze Buddha was a bargain and he would happily have paid double.

A beaming Cai Mingchao, manager of the Xiamen Harmony Art International Auction Company, outbid fierce competition to secure a rare Sakyamuni Buddha at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong’s Convention and Exhibition Centre yesterday.

Mr Cai refused to reveal the source of his funds and laughed off suggestions he was a Beijing official in disguise. The short, plainly dressed man from Xiamen claimed there had been no central government involvement in the purchase. All he would say was he was part of a “group”.

Mr Cai said he wanted as many people as possible in China to see the 72.5cm tall Buddha. “As long as I am alive I will not sell this and it will not leave Chinese soil again,” he said. “We will exhibit it in a gallery or maybe a temple in Xiamen in about one year. I am not buying this for myself, I am buying it for everyone.
Continue reading “Record HK$116m to take Buddha home” →

Quek Leng Chan

Wall Street Journal: Who gave you the best business advice?

Lillian Too: Quek Leng Chan, the head of the Hong Leong Group, of course. He said that in business there are no friends and there are no enemies and one must not become emotional. I remember on one occasion when I disagreed with him over something and I told him I was prepared to resign over this. He told me straight off not to be dramatic. I still remember his words:

“We are not a political party, we are a business.”

Ngiam Tong Dow: Be a Queen Elizabeth I

 

This is excerpted from a speech on Wednesday by Ngiam Tong Dow, chairman of Surbana Corporation, at the annual gala of the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association

The world’s first venture capitalist was definitely not a Singaporean, nor a male. In my book, the world’s first venture capitalist was Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Being single, she devoted herself totally to the affairs of the realm. But few would know that in her spare time, Elizabeth joined her courtiers in  business ventures. They formed syndicates to finance, build and arm men- of-war. These warships would lie in ambush at the entrance to the English Channel. When they sighted Spanish galleons on the horizon, they would close in and train their guns on these foreign vessels sailing home with their plunder of Inca gold.

When they were successful in looting the hapless Spanish ships of their gold, the buccaneers commanding the ships were knighted. When they failed, they were beheaded as pirates.

I have taken some liberties in the interpretation of the facts. I believe, however, that this event in history is a fair representation of the origins of the venture capital industry. All the essential ingredients are present – risking your own fortune and even your life for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Continue reading “Ngiam Tong Dow: Be a Queen Elizabeth I” →

Organic Food Singapore

Brown Rice Paradise
163 Tanglin Road, #03-15/16, Tanglin Mall. Tel: 6738-1121
Selling point: An established store with a vast range of certified organic products from many countries.

Bunalun
43 Jalan Merah Saga, #01-70, Chip Bee Gardens. Tel: 6472-0870
391 Orchard Road, #B2-01-3A, Ngee Ann City. Tel: 6735-2337
Selling point: A cosy grocery cum bistro in Chip Bee Gardens which serves breakfast and lunch till 4pm and also does takeaways. The Ngee Ann City branch has a range of products including jams and cakes.

Eat Organic
619H Bukit Timah Road. Tel: 6219-7156
Selling point: A wide selection of organic meat and seafood, and separate chillers for certified organic and non-organic vegetables so you can be sure of what you’re buying.

Fire Flies Health Farm
62 Lot 75 Lim Chu Kang Lane 2. Tel: 6793-7875
Selling point: Thirty types of vegetables at reasonable prices. Plus, you are free to wander about the farm to see how the greens are grown organically. Note, though, that it is not a certified organic farm.

Nature’s Glory
315 Outram Road, #11-03, Tan Boon Liat Building. Tel: 6227-1318
Selling point: Owner Peter Lim drives to Changi Airport every week to collect his imported organic produce, so there is no chance the goods can be tampered with or mixed by third parties.

NTUC FairPrice
Supermarkets around Singapore, including 12 which have dedicated shelves for organic food under its Simply Wellness line
Selling point: The Bukit Timah Plaza outlet has its largest selection of processed organic food, while its Tampines Mall outlet has the largest selection of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Super Nature
21 Orchard Boulevard, #01-21, Park House. Tel: 6735-4338
Selling point: Owner C.S. Chen is strict about selling only certified organic produce. Its cafe offers juices and a selection of soups, salads, sandwiches and stews.

The Organic Paradise
62 Temple Street, #01-01. Tel: 6220-8148
5 Koek Road, #01-25/27, Cuppage Plaza. Tel: 6736-2089
Selling point: Owner Lawrence
Hoong absorbs the 5 per cent GST, and offers a membership scheme which comes with a 10 per cent discount.

U Say Marketing
Block 1 Wholesale Centre #02-03. Tel: 6872-4868
Selling point: The company was established in 1936, and current owner Low Say Eam supplies organic fruit mainly from New Zealand under the trusted Enza brand.

The I

 

If you think, “I breathe,” the “I” is extra. There is no you to say “I.” What we call “I” is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale. It just moves; that is all. When your mind is pure and calm enough to follow this movement, there is nothing: no “I,” no world, no mind nor body: just a swinging door.

Shunryu Suzuki
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

Statement of the Far Eastern Economic Review

September 28, 2006

The Singaporean government today announced that it has banned the Far Eastern Economic Review from the country. It has explicitly warned that not only is the Review Publishing Company forbidden from importing or distributing the Hong Kong-based monthly, but Singaporeans will also commit a criminal offense if they import or reproduce the magazine for distribution.

In its September issue, the Review urged the Singaporean government to reconsider its decision to impose punitive regulations on the Review. These retroactive regulations furthered the interests of individual members of the government and harmed the magazine financially, but were never justified by the government under the applicable law. Today’s statement shows that the government has refused to reconsider its repressive approach toward the media.

We regret that this action infringes on the fundamental rights of our Singaporean subscribers and further restricts the already narrow scope of free expression in Singapore. The Review will publish a more complete response to the government’s actions in the next issue of the magazine to appear on October 6.

Revocation Of Approval For Circulation Of The Far Eastern Economic Review In Singapore

Revocation Of Approval For Circulation Of The Far Eastern Economic Review In Singapore

The Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts has revoked with effect from 28 September 2006 the approval given to the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) for sale or distribution in Singapore . This follows the failure by the publisher of FEER to comply with the conditions imposed under Section 24 of the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act (NPPA). FEER had not complied by the 11 September 2006 deadline, nor has it complied till today, despite a reminder sent to FEER on 14 September 2006 . The FEER remains a declared foreign newspaper under the NPPA.

2 With the revocation of the approval under Section 24 of the NPPA, it becomes an offence under Section 24(5) for any person to sell or distribute, or import or possess for sale or distribution, the FEER in Singapore . Reproduction of the FEER for sale or distribution in Singapore will also be an offence under Section 25(4) of the NPPA. It is also an offence under Section 28 of the NPPA for any person to subscribe to the FEER.

3 It is a privilege and not a right for foreign newspapers to circulate in Singapore . If any foreign newspaper fails to comply with the law, including the NPPA, they cannot expect to enjoy this privilege.

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS
28 SEPTEMBER 2006

Mahathir Slams Kuan Yew As Arrogant

Bernama, September 22, 2006 20:13 PM

KUALA TERENGGANU, Sept 22 (Bernama) — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad Friday slammed Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew for his insulting remarks about Malaysia and Indonesia’s treatment of their Chinese minorities, describing him as arrogant and disrespectful of neighbouring countries.

The former premier said Lee was arrogant because he felt he was in a strong position.

“He’s not bothered with his neighbours. That is why he deliberately raised something he knew to be sensitive in our country,” he told reporters after launching the building fund of the Kemaman branch of the Ex-Servicemen’s Association and the district Warriors Day Campaign at Awana Kijal, Beach and Spa Resort in Kijal.

Lee on Friday told a forum held in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund conference in Singapore that Malaysia and Indonesia had problems with their Chinese minorities because they were successful and hardworking and therefore they were systemically marginalised.
Continue reading “Mahathir Slams Kuan Yew As Arrogant” →

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean –
The one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down –
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what do you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver

Haunting tales

Straits Times, Sep 17, 2006
An ongoing court case has sparked an interest in exorcism, and Catholic theologian William Goh’s talk on this topic last week attracted quite a crowd
By Leong Su-Lin

FATHER William Goh has a suggestion for all Catholic travellers wary of haunted hotel rooms: Never travel without a supply of holy water.

That way, if you encounter strange noises, shifting tables or flickering lights, you can sprinkle the water and say a prayer to appease the spirits, says the theologian, who is a resource speaker for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore.

‘A hotel is probably haunted because a person was murdered there and his spirit cannot rest in peace,’ he says.

When he encounters ‘a strange presence’ in a room, he too will sprinkle holy water and bless the room, he adds. Any water blessed by a Catholic priest is considered holy water.
Continue reading “Haunting tales” →

Plasma better or LCD?

Know your needs and room before picking LCD or plasma
By Seán Captain The New York Times

Published: September 14, 2006

In the old days of digital television, a year or two ago, choices were simple. If the screen measured less than 37 inches diagonally, it would be a liquid crystal display panel. From about 37 to 50 inches, it would probably be a plasma panel. And larger sizes would be rear- or front-projection sets.

But as flat panels have grown, categories have blurred. For 60-inch, or 152- centimeter, screens, plasmas starting about $3,000 are an alternative to projection models starting about $2,000. A bigger rivalry exists between LCD and plasma panels of about 40 inches, where prices are virtually identical. For example, the most popular plasma from LG Electronics, the 42-inch 42PC3D, sells for $2,000; and its 42-inch LCD, the 42LC2D, sells for $2,100. (Model numbers and availability may differ slightly in Europe and Asia.) Continue reading “Plasma better or LCD?” →

When should a company issue debt instead of issuing equity?

First, a company needs a steady cash flow before it can consider issuing debt (otherwise, it can quickly fall behind interest payments and eventually see its assets seized). Once a company can issue debt, it will do so for a couple of main reasons.

If the expected return on equity is higher than the expected return on debt, a company will issue debt. For example, say a company believes that projects completed with the $1 million raised through either an equity or debt offering will increase its market value from $4 million to $10 million. It also knows that the same amount could be raised by issuing a $1 million bond that requires $300,000 in interest payments over its life. Continue reading “When should a company issue debt instead of issuing equity?” →

Practice to be like the earth

The Buddha said, “Suppose you have a cup of pure water; if you have a handful of salt, and you pour it into that water and stir it up, you cannot drink it anymore, because it’s too salty. But if you take the same amount of salt, and pour it into the river, then the river is so large that it is not affected, and all of us can continue to drink the water from the river. The river is enormous, that is why it has the capacity to receive, to embrace and to transform. If our hearts are big, we can do very much the same thing. We suffer because our hearts are small; it means that our understanding and compassion are too limited.”

“Rahula, practice to be like the earth. Why? No matter what people pour onto the earth, whether it’s milk, cream, flowers, perfume or urine, excrement, the earth will not discriminate. It will receive them all, and the earth will not suffer. Why? Because the earth is large, and in no time at all the earth can transform all these things into flowers and green leaves. So practice, Rahula, in order to be like the earth. You can accept, receive, and embrace everything, and you don’t have to suffer. Sometime later you can transform all this garbage into flowers again.

Practice like the air; no matter what you throw into it, the air can receive, embrace and transform it, and that is because the air is large.

Practice in order to be like water. Water has the same capacity of receiving, embracing and transforming. And practice to be like fire, because whatever you give to fire, whether it’s beautiful or ugly, clean or dirty, the fire will burn them all, and reduce everything to ash. Because the fire is large, the fire has the capacity to transform.

That is why, Rahula, you should practice like the earth, like the water, like the air, like the fire, so that your heart becomes unlimited. Anything negative, any insult, any action that is unkind to you, you can embrace all, and you don’t have to suffer, because your heart is so large. That is why it is said in the sutra that if you suffer too much, that is because your heart is still not large. In order to make your heart large, the practice of looking deeply will help, because it will bring understanding. When understanding is there, compassion and forgiveness will be possible.”