18:23 by FoxTwo Singapore is 43 years old today!
Labels: Singapore
13:11 by FoxTwo
Those Irritating Telemarketers
I was woken up today by a pretty interesting, if not irritating, telemarketer. Lord knows what she's selling, but she prattled on like a machinegun and I swear she never stopped to breathe.... not even once!
You know the type, I'm sure. They never asked if it's a "convenient time" to speak to you. They just ask for your name, then they introduce themselves (nobody ever bothers to remember their names 99% of the time anyway), then they launch into their sales pitch.
From what I can gather (remember, I got woken up by the call), they're peddling some home theatre system do-hickey, and it's supposed to be FREE. Yes, the word "Free" was thrown about very freely in the entire conversation. Remember, she didn't stop to breathe, so that's a lot of "free" words thrown inside.
Then, when she finished her scripted sales pitch, I could finally say "thanks but not interested". The next thing she said was "why? what is the reason? it's free!"
Why? Cuz I'm not interested!
So I asked her back "When you see a dress and then you don't like it, and even if it's free, would you take it?" she said "no". So I said "what's the reason?"
She said "Don't like lor"
My reply - "EXACTLY".
Good thing she gave up. Or else I'd have given her a runaround. After all I'm jobless and I have alot of time to play with people like that hahahah!
Note to all telemarketers out there - PAUSE once in a while. Don't launch into a sales pitch. TALK to the potential customer. Once you start launching into a sales pitch it turns people off almost immediately. As soon as you stop to breathe, the prospect will, 99% of the time, tell you "not interested". Some won't even wait for you to breathe. They'll cut you off mid-sentence.
Labels: quirks, random, Singapore, Singaporeans
19:44 by FoxTwo
The Aftermath of Mas Selamat's Escape
Simply Jean has posted the official findings from Straits Times regarding the escape of Mas Selamat, 2 months ago. At the time, there were jokes aplenty about the guards at the detention centre not having watched movies, of how prisoners escape from prisons.
Mas Selamat climbed onto the ledge located just below the ventilation window, pushed open the ventilation window and squeezed himself through it
So, one can see that there weren't any grilles at all on the toilet "ventilation window". After reading this part, I truly think they need more movie time :)
Then there's this part:
No one was actively monitoring the two CCTV cameras covering the outer and inner perimeter fences at the rear of the Family Visitation Block.
No one was monitoring?! I'd like that kind of job too.. to be paid to watch the monitors but actually not do the work I'm paid to do.
Why the heck install CCTVs anyway? Besides, nothing was mentioned about improving this part of the flaw. No recommendations to install motion-sensors or vibration sensors on the fences, for example.
In a re-enactment requested by the COI, a GC guard took 49 seconds to climb out of the ventilation window in the urinal cubicle, scale the fence, climb onto the roof of the enclosed staircase and walkway, and jump over the converged perimeter fences.
49 seconds by a combat-fit guard. Mas Selamat, who walks with a limp, probably took 2 minutes, if not more. Whatever the time frame, one thing is clear - the layout of the place sucks. If they had fences, weren't there guards on duty at guard towers? Do they even have guard towers? Perhaps they thought the place was a "Detention Centre" rather than a "prison" thus didn't post guards up at the fences. It goes to show - we view murderers and rapists as more dangerous than terrorists. We lock THOSE up in prisons with guard towers and where guards patrol the fences and the prison grounds.
There's nothing much to say about their "recommendations" except for the last one - to relocate the detention centre to Changi Prison. Should have done that a long time ago. Then, they can retrench some of the guards and tap onto the guards already working at Changi Prison :) Purely in the spirit of outsourcing, of course.
Labels: random, Rant, Singapore
16:20 by FoxTwo
Streetdirectory.com Is Back, But Mapless
Yes I know, old news.
For those that are clueless, catch up here.
Today I received an email from a company claiming to be Virtual Map's PR firm. The funny thing is, I wonder how they got my email address. I never published this particular email address anywhere. Or at least, not anywhere public. Just as a precaution, in case it was spam or fraud, I did a series of WHOIS and Traceroutes. Seemed legit.
This is an excerpt of the mail:
This is Melvin from 20twenty. We're Virtual Map's PR agency and we've been reading your posts regarding streetdirectory.com.
On behalf of the guys at VM, thanks for your interest in the website and how it's fairing(1).
We've been receiving a lot of comments about how the loss of the site has inconvenienced people, so we've decided to come back online with most of our features like the popular bus/mrt guides. Unfortunately, the maps will have to wait, but hopefully this will relief(2) your inconvenience somewhat.
Besides, Streetdirectory was "back" last week. I just didn't think it noteworthy enough to mention it in a blog entry, since it wasn't (and still isn't) functioning 100% yet. Notice the part I underlined in the excerpt above. They aren't ready for maps yet and they know it.
Seriously though, if maps aren't ready, then what is the whole point? It's like saying "Congratulations you just won a car! Sorry, no keys though. You have to wait for those".
Having a bus/mrt guide without seeing where to get on, get off, walk, is almost useless. Google's maps have always been ready. Even their "driving instructions" work. We're just missing the bus/mrt info that Streetdirectory.com used to provide, but we can make-do with Google Maps (and other alternatives) for now. Google Maps even has MRT stations printed on their maps, so one can actually see the nearest station and make a guess how to get to their location.
If you were to actually go to the website now, and tried to search for a location, you'd get a blank green box. That's all. Only when you switch over to "Satellite" view, will you get - surprise surprise! - Google's satellite images. Google. Think about it.
As an aside, I also get irritated by incorrect/bad English used in official correspondence. This time it probably isn't even the author's fault - it's just the human reliance on automated spell-checkers.
(1) It's FARING not FAIRING.
(2) RELIEVE instead of RELIEF
See? That is why I don't use a spellchecker at all in any of my documents. The words above were spelled correctly, just used incorrectly. People nowadays just rely too much on spell checks, that they don't really check grammar and punctuation on their own anymore. Seriously, it's the same for myself regarding Chinese. I find that I can type almost anything in Chinese as long as I know the hanyu pinyin for it. Thus I don't bother to remember how to write it by hand anymore. Is this a good or bad thing? Hmm that makes for an interesting blog entry...
Anyway, it's interesting to think that they've actually bothered to engage a PR firm to do "damage control", and they actually wrote email to people like me. Personally I'm not very well known, and my blog is, according to the statistics, visited by more Americans than Singaporeans. Well slightly more Americans, anyway. It's like 50% USA visitors, 49% Singaporean, 1% rest of the world (like Greenland and Iran for example).
I should applaud Virtual Maps for this initiative though. It's a fresh approach, unlike other companies who either try to spin the media into saying "it's not our fault".
Labels: internet, Singapore, street directory
21:18 by FoxTwo
SMRT To Install Glass Doors By 2012
So what will Singaporeans complain about now?
For starters, how about more fare hikes? Sure, the doors will be installed. Don't tell me they won't put aircons into all the overhead stations? Singaporeans will definitely complain that it will be hot, especially on very sunny days where the sun will shine very brightly into the enclosed, glass-sealed overhead stations.
Where do you think the money for installing the doors, putting in glass walls, and installing air conditioning in the overhead station is going to come from?
Secondly, Singaporeans will no longer have an excuse to be late for work. They can't use the "someone jumped onto the tracks again boss, so I'll be 3 hours late" and waltz in after lunch.
Third, mommies with little boys can no longer tell the little boy to pee on the tracks when the little kid has to go to the bathroom RIGHT NOW.
Fourth, where will suicidal Singaporeans go now?
Labels: MRT, Singapore, Singaporeans
15:01 by FoxTwo
Sorry about the quality of the pic, it's taken with digital zoom (inferior to optical zoom) on my handphone camera. Yeah sorry, my real digital camera, the Canon Digital Ixus 60, was more inaccessible than my phone, so I just snapped this pic with the phone camera.
It was raining yesterday. It was cold.
Still there was this bunch of people downstairs at the "garden".
Yup, they are the usual typical kiasu Singaporeans. They're crowding around a BBQ pit, and since they've already paid good money to reserve this pit 3 months in advance, they aren't gonna let a little thing like a thunderstorm get in the way of their family BBQ! No Way Jose!
For what it's worth, whatever they're BBQ-ing smelt nice. With the rain yesterday though, I bet it was a pretty soggy affair.
Labels: quirks, Singapore, Singaporeans
16:59 by FoxTwo
Please Help Locate Missing Girl!
The missing girl is the one on the LEFT in the picture. So far there has been rumours that this girl might be in the west area. She's from Pioneer Secondary School.
Thanks for any leads or information! Please call Rinaz at 985 99746 if you do have information!
Addendum - THE GIRL IS FOUND SAFE AND SOUND!! Thanks to all who helped, and that was really quick too! Just a couple of hours :)
Labels: Singapore
13:56 by FoxTwo
10 Illegal Job Interview Questions - Is Singapore Ready?
I thought I'd comment on the 10 points brought up in the local context:
#1: Where were you born?
Say what? You're kidding right? It's such a common question here, and it's asked in the APPLICATION FORM you fill in before the interview - right under "Place Of Birth".
#2: What is your native language?
Hmm so they can't even ask our ethnic background eh? Cool.
#3: Are you married?
#4: Do you have children?
#5: Do you plan to get pregnant?
All the above are meant not to discriminate against the applicant if they are married or have a family. In Singapore, I believe many employers would consider these are "critical" questions. I hate to say it, but my own boss refuses to hire women just because "they're too much trouble to worth it".
#6: How old are you?
Again, this one's right there on the application form, right under "Age" column.
#7: Do you observe Yom Kippur?
In local context, it'd be asking the applicant if he/she observes Christmas, or Ramadan, etc. Very few employers I know ask this, but I never knew it should be illegal...
#8: Do you have a disability or chronic illness?
Ok this one got me too.... I believe this is also listed on some company's application form too, ie you must declare yourself fit and healthy BEFORE the interview....
#9: Are you in the National Guard?
In Singapore's context, it's asking the guy "Are you still doing Reservist?". I don't see many employers in Singapore asking this, but mainly cos it's a pointless question - 90% of the time the answer will be "YES" heheheh!
#10: Do you smoke or use alcohol?
I agree - this question should be illegal. As long as I get work done you shouldn't care how I live my life.
All in all, if these 10 questions were to be outlawed in Singapore, I bet employers would run out of questions to ask, and I guess it *would* level the playing field for candidates. In an ideal world, these questions would never even need to be asked. In Singapore.... *chuckle* I don't see it happening in my lifetime...
Labels: business, company, employer, Singapore, workplace ethics
14:29 by FoxTwo Normally I'm pretty open to ideas.
I don't really give a hoot if my friends are straight or gay. It's just their sexual orientation and it has no bearing on me, as long as those who are homosexual understand that I am HETERO-sexual and leave me out of their relationships. That applies to both the male and female variety of homosexuals, popularly called "gays" and "lesbians" by the masses respectively.
But this petition to repeal the law against homosexuals, somehow I do not agree with it in principle. While homosexual people have feelings too, making it legal is not the way to go. Here's an analogy. If you are a drug user and you're hooked on heroin, and you know a few hundred other people who are the same as you, would you get a petition going and try to get heroin legalised?
I'm not going to quote religious texts. I know many of those who are opposed to this (like I am) saying being homosexual is satanic etc. I'm usually logical, and believe more in science than in religion. In this case, a species has a male and female component, and they both need to be attracted to each other to achieve one thing - produce offsprings, "new versions" of themselves. It's part of the evolutionary process.
I believe homosexuality also may exist in the animal kingdom too... and I regard those as "defective genes". Animals that are homosexuals will not produce offsprings, and their line will die out due to natural selection. This is how nature keeps a balance - those "weaker" ones will fail and die off.
Now along comes the human. S/he's homosexual, and s/he wants to mate with the same sex. I say, let 'em go do each other. They'll die out eventually, and this time, LEGALLY (but it's actually a bit of a waste - some lesbians are really beautiful... too bad they only like other women, ah well!). While they're at it, it'd be a good idea to make some money along the way - open up gay porn sites and charge memberships :)
As for me, I'm not signing the petition to repeal it. I'm betting it'll fail anyway, and the law stays.
Labels: gay, law, lesbian, porn, Sex, Singapore
09:46 by FoxTwo
Singapore - Commercial sex with someone under 18 to be made a crime
First things first. If you are "sowing your wild oats" and your partner(s) are 17 or 18 yrs old (Polytechnic/JC age), DON'T PAY for it! :)
Heh I'm just kidding. But indeed, this new amendment does sound weird, at least to me. The intentions are good, of course, but now what it means is:
1. If you pay for sex with someone that's 17 yrs old (for example), it's ILLEGAL.
2. If you DON'T pay for sex with the same said someone, it's LEGAL.
Hey man, the same someone is still the same age, 17.....
09:46 by FoxTwo
NSF Went AWOL, Found With Wife at Orchard!
Later on the same evening, news finally broke that 200 cops went on a manhunt for this guy, and finally tracked him down via his mobile phone in Orchard Cineleisure. No details were given by the media.
However the blogosphere was abuzz with details. It is said that his girlfriend broke up with him in April this year (her blog has been deleted as of this writing. Poofed, vanished). Not only that, she left him for a GIRL (butch). Man he must be feeling like hell, to be dumped by a girl, FOR a girl.
He only has just one more month before he completes his full-time service. Just ONE more month. Now, I don't know how it is now, but back in my day, when you have 1 more month to go, you don't get *any* sort of duties. Everyone will know you already have "switched off" and they don't really plan you into any sort of duty rosters.
So how did he get arrowed to guard duty? I suspect he must have "volunteered" for it, by "buying" the duty off another guy. So, it appears he might have planned this, so, pleading insanity in court probably won't work. Also, it is said that he jumped a back fence and there was a vehicle to pick him up. Smacks of "pre-meditation" to me. Sounds like he knew he was going to ORD soon, and doing guard duty was the last chance he'll ever get to obtain a weapon and live ammo.
Then he shows up in Orchard Cineleisure, a known haunt of his ex-gf. With a SAR21 rifle and ammo? Doesn't take a genius to work out what he wanted. Many people just think he wanted to "scare" the ex-gf and her current beau. A colleague was saying, if he wanted to kill the girl, he could just have used a knife. True. But, I'm thinking he didn't go through all this trouble and risk being charged for a "scare tactic". I think he was planning to SNIPE the butch, not the ex-gf. I don't think he wanted to be up close and personal when he goes through with the deed.
The SAR-21 he stole from camp has a built-in scope on it. Yeah, not a very powerful one, perhaps 2x or so, but in Orchard Cineleisure, it's enough. Also, 5 rounds ammunition really won't be enough for a auto-burst anyway, but probably just nice for sniping. Since it's an ASSAULT rifle.... it'll do quite some damage if he put it into burst mode. Innocent bystanders who happened to be near his "kill zone" will be hurt and/or killed.
I'm just glad the cops managed to get him before anything happened.
If he does get convicted (HAH! Who am I kidding? This is SINGAPORE. He'll get deep fried and hung out to dry), he'll get jail time and a few strokes of rotan. He is at least lucky to be caught NOT brandishing the weapon, or else it's automatically a death penalty.
Labels: AWOL, NSF, SAF, Singapore, Singaporeans
14:52 by FoxTwo
Singapore's New Trend - MRT Track Jumping
What am I talking about? These *#^%^$# MRT suicides.
Yeah, one happened on 7 Aug 2007 at Tampines. I knew it happened cuz I was on the subway. When I exited, I saw the signs flashing "Service Disruption between Tampines and Pasir Ris". Instinct told me it was another jumper. When trains are faulty, they don't shut down stations or stop services to any station for it. They just pull the faulty train off the tracks and run a new one on it.
So, the only way to jam up a line and deny services to a station is for someone to physically jump onto the tracks and die. Then, he'll get the cops, the medics and everyone else to mill about the station, all pointing at his mangled body.
Which brings me to another point - these suicidal idiots are totally inconsiderate and utter morons. If they wanna die, sure, go ahead and kill yourself. Just don't kill yourself and cause a jam for thousands of other people! Trust me, if I knew you were gonna kill yourself, I woulda helped you. Gimme a bat or something, I'll whack you silly. And, I'll make sure you die ON THE PLATFORM, off the damn tracks, so I can continue to get to where I was going.
Strangely enough though, the media hasn't actually reported on this incident yet. It's been 3 days. Perhaps they realised that suddenly ever since the first suicide jumper, there has been 3 more cases of copycat suicides. SMRT refuses to put up barriers, citing "too expensive" as the reason.
Too expensive to prevent loss of income due to closure of the lines for a couple of hours huh? I wonder who's the big boss at SMRT, and did anyone ever show him the cost of these suicides? Well, I'm no financial analyst, but I'm thinking it might actually be cheaper to just put the barriers up.
Or, like a colleague suggested - re-train the drivers to slow to a damn crawl BEFORE entering overhead stations. So slow that any jumpers only get a broken leg or some minor injuries if the trains were to hit them, instead of killing them. So slow that even if some guy jumps out in front of the train at the last minute, hitting the brakes won't kill the jumper. THEN, maybe the jumpers will decide to go jump off Westin after all, where they should have gone in the first place! Yes, DENY the jumpers access to this mode of execution, and they'll look elsewhere. Spare the rest of us who value our lives the inconvenience of being late cos of a jammed track.
Also, if the jumpers aren't dead, the cops can fine the hell out of them for attempted suicide. "No suicides - fine $50,000" signs should be put up all over. Heck, make it known if they are successful (ie they actually managed to kill themselves), the fines will be imposed on their FAMILIES.
Oh yeah, btw, the guy that jumped on 7 Aug was a 48 yr old Chinese male. Makes you wonder huh? Why no females ever jumped? Why always middle aged?
I'm guessing a simple answer - loansharks.
Labels: jumper, MRT, Singapore, suicide, Tampines
15:59 by FoxTwo Hah! Got your attention huh?
You know, I haven't really been looking at my site statistics until lately. Guess what I found?
- Majority of my visitors are Singaporeans
- They come via Yahoo Search
- They are ALL looking for "Tammy" and "NYP video"
- The only reason why they even arrive here is because I wrote about it LAST YEAR!
- Sorry no links to the video here. I don't even have it, although I have seen it.
- Believe me, it's nothing special.
Come on guys... Tammy's last year's news. Why are you guys still hung up on that? Move along, nothing to see here....
Labels: NYP, Sex, Singapore, Singaporeans, Tammy, video
