Car Servicing

Sent my car for servicing today. Regular servicing, but I wanted them to check out my slightly-noisier-than-usual suspension. At least I suspected it was the suspension because of some creaky noise when I go over humps quickly.

Yeah, I am very sensitive to noise coming from my babe.

This time, instead of using "hello" to post photos, I have decided to use Flickr. Why ? Because of the ability to put comments on various parts of the photos. Looks better.

So here is the start. The rest of the photos are there.

The Beginning.


The Main Culprit.


Also discovered some oil seepage. Need a thorough check up next week, when the parts for the suspension arrives.

Flash Disk - 0 : ET - 1

I am missing my 256MB Flash disk (yes, the one that took a bath in my washing machine)again.

[paragraphs removed to prevent author from being sued for defamation]

Added 25th July 2005 :

Well, it seems to have disappeared from the surface of the earth. So I guess ET must have taken it with him when he went home...

[Ok. At least I don't think ET will sue me... I hope...]

My England very Powderful arh !

English Genius You scored 92% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 86% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go! Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 26% on Beginner You scored higher than 51% on Intermediate You scored higher than 74% on Advanced You scored higher than 79% on Expert

Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test

Hua ! First try. Of course, I expected 100%. Correct answers can be found here

Bet with a Friend - Conclusion

THE BET is finally concluded.

I have won a free McDonald's meal.. Muahahahaha.. *evil*

Ok lah.. won by technicalities of "timing" of the market. Another few weeks more, and I would have lost. But then, it is he who called the timing (though it was me who insisted on a timeline. Afterall, if we were to dabble in speculating stocks, timing and price limits are the keys.)

So moral of the story ? Do not try to time the market.
For those who can, all the best and wish you many many earnings.

Oh well, just my school of thoughts. May not be the best.

Justifying the Pay of NKF CEO

Many people are all rage and upset upon learning that Mr TT Durai earns about S$600,000 a year.

I felt equally upset and told myself that luckily I didn't make much donations, just a few bucks here and there.

Then, of course, there are those that defend his pay, by saying that comparing to private companies who manages $200 million fund, Mr Durai's pay is reasonable.

Well, Mr Durai himself said that he is running NKF just like any other business. I guess he is expecting business-type pay package.

Well, I agree to a certain extent. Of course, people who work for these organizations are treating it just like any other full-time job. We can't expect them to be paid "peanuts" just because they are charitable organization.

It is then up to the staff, to donate whatever they feel like. So in terms of work, yeah, I would agree that those workers should be paid market rate. Just like the CEO.

But just like any other business, Financial statements are available for view to the owners, shareholders, investors. Just like any business that takes money from the public (aka Publicly Listed Companies) , audited statements should be made public.

In any other Private Limited companies, audited statement should also be made available to any of the shareholders.

So, NKF takes money from the public, and like any other public business, should make their Financial Statements available to the public !

Ok. Now that is set straight, let's talk about pay.

NKF yearly income is (I estimate) to be in the range of $50-80 million. How do I get that ? Based on 4 shows per year, each show get about $6-8 million, and other public fundings.
Also, based on recent newspaper report on the court case, that NKF spends $60-65 million per year, but the patients pay about $22-24 million in their co-payment scheme. NKF revenue should be $36-$43 million per year to break even.

But in 3 years, they managed to grow their reserves from $187 million to $262 million. Thus their net profit per year should be about $25 million. Add that to their $43 million revenue and you get about $68 million in gross revenue.

So my estimate should be fairly conservative. They might be getting more in terms of annual donations.

So, to put it in business format :

NKF
Revenue = S$ 70 million
Liquid Assets = S$ 262 million
Net Profit = S$ 25 million
CEO Pay = S$ 600,000
CEO Pay as % of Revenue = 0.85%
CEO Pay as % of Liquid Assets = 0.23%
CEO Pay as % of Profit = 2.4%


That doesn't look too high, does it ? Maybe it is average of businesses ? Or below average ?

Hmm....


Microsoft
Revenue = US$ 32,187 million
Liquid Assets = US$ 49,000 million
Net Profit = US$ 9,993 million
CEO Pay = US$ 542,000
CEO Pay as % of Revenue = 0.0017%
CEO Pay as % of Liquid Assets = 0.0011%
CEO Pay as % of Profit = 0.0054%

Check out Bill Gate's Pay Here


Berkshire Hathaway
Revenue = US$ 74,300 million
Liquid Assets = US$ 102,929 million
Net Profit = US$ 7,000 million
CEO Pay = US$ 100,000
CEO Pay as % of Revenue = 0.00013%
CEO Pay as % of Liquid Assets = 0.000097%
CEO Pay as % of Profit = 0.014%

Who is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway ?
Warren Buffett


Ok.. So these people may have share-ownership in their own companies and may not take that high a pay. And they are the top 2 riches man in the world, so they don't need the money.

Something local...

DBS
Revenue = S$ 4,928 million
Total Assets = S$ 175,553 million
Net Profit = S$ 2,435 million
CEO Pay = S$ 5,249,999 (Max. Not Exact)
CEO Pay as % of Revenue = 0.11%
CEO Pay as % of Total Assets = 0.003%
CEO Pay as % of Profit = 0.2%

Check DBS out HERE

(in case scrolling up and down is hard for you to see these huuuuge figures, I will copy NKF data below)

NKF
Revenue = S$ 70 million
Liquid Assets = S$ 262 million
Net Profit = S$ 25 million
CEO Pay = S$ 600,000
CEO Pay as % of Revenue = 0.85%
CEO Pay as % of Liquid Assets = 0.23%
CEO Pay as % of Profit = 2.4%

And we all think CEO of DBS is earning big bucks ; but compare it in terms of percentages, is still way below NKF CEO's pay.

Apple to Apple comparison : CEO of DBS is managing funds that is 67,000 times more than NKF, and profits that are 9,740 times higher, but pay is only 8 or 9 times more.

DBS is also in the business of managing funds and money, and trying to make more money.

Also, if you look at our Mutual funds, management fees range from 0.5 to 1.2%. But then, that percentage is not only for the fund manager's pay but for all other expenses as well. And their target profitability performance is quite stressful.

We haven't included NKF's other expenditure and pay of the several hundreds of employees... and Directors' fees...


Hey, how about comparing it to our Prime Minister ! Since his pay is higher than that of the President of USA. Surely, if compared to our PM's pay, Mr Durai's pay should be "peanuts" , right ?

SINGAPORE INC (2004)
Revenue (Taxes Only) = S$ 26,346 million
Liquid Assets (Official National Reserves) = US$ 112,807 million = S$ 186,131 million
Net Profit (Based on Taxes Less Expenditure of S$19,936 million) = S$ 6,410 million
Current Account Balance (I don't know what that is, but I am thinking left over cash) = S$ 47,122 million

PM's Pay = S$ 3,000,000 (We all know is slightly above US$1 million. Too bad I can't find official numbers, so lets take the higher guesstimation of his pay)
PM Pay as % of Revenue = 0.011%
PM Pay as % of Liquid Assets = 0.0016%
PM Pay as % of Profit = 0.047%
PM Pay as % of Current Account Balance (whatever the hell is that) = 0.013%

So you see, even if we jack up our PM's pay, it is still much lower compared to Mr. Durai's.
And our PM's pay is already pegged to top-end Private Sectors, so as to prevent corruption, etc etc.

So people of Singapore, when our Ministers say that their pay is "peanuts", they really mean it. Our Ministers' pay ARE peanuts, compared to Mr. Durai's.

Damn, I have joined the wrong industry. Charitable Organizations earn much more compared to private and public sector !!!!

Wait.. I can see it coming. Our Ministers' pay are peanuts. We should increase their pay !

Revenge, Sweet Revenge.

I remember reading articles of people being chased and neighbour's dog being bitten by this rottweiler in Bt Timah.

That dog had 2 incidents of hurting people and other animals, and the owners were warned to muzzle the dog, but did the owners car ? NOOOooooooo.

Sweet revenge. To quote someone I heard long time ago , translated from Mandarin : "If the flesh is not yours, of course you will not feel the pain."

Bite other people's dog , never mind lor.
Bite other people, never mind lor.
Even the post-man had to be on "high-alert" everytime he delivers mail to that particular house.

So imagine my "surprise" when today's Straits Times told me that the said dog mauled the owner's 7 (or was it 9) year old son in their own backyard.

Neighbours armed with sticks tried to save the boy. ( Really nice neighbours. I would have locked myself home in case the dog turned crazy.)

When the mother came back and heard the screams, she cried and shouted to the dogs to get away, and she fumbled with her keys to get the gates open.

(I will attach a scan of the newspaper tomorrow)

AVA said that since the incident happened on the owner's property, they have no "authority" to comment. Haha. I wonder whether I will read the news next week that a dead rottweiler is found in a drain nearby. Or that the dog died of "natural causes".

Pissed Off.. Major...

I don't like to bitch about traffic, as I try very hard to be nice and non-chalent and drive defensively and make my day a good one.

2 very recent incidents just pissed me off :

(1) Monday morning. I got in my car, started the engine, and waited a while (take my sunglasses, turned on the air-con, put on seat belt) for the engine to warm up a little.

I looked left, then right. The carpark exit is on my left. On my right, not many vehicles left, and it is one straight road for about another 30 meters before it bends to another block. No vehicles moving, no one in the next few cars beside me. (There were less than 10, I think, parked to my right.)

I looked left, made sure no one coming at me from the exit/entrance. I eased off the brakes, turned to the left. Car inched forward a little. Then it came from my right : Boooooorrrrrrrrp. And stopped right in front of me.

Of course I stopped and immediately waved "sorry" and smiled a bit.

White Nissan Sunny, driven by a bitchy lady, with her daughter (I assume), both looking at me. Daughter was less than 6 years old, no seat belt, no child-seat and face at the window.

I expected the bitch to move off, but NOOOooooooo... She stared/glared at me for 10 seconds. 10 whole seconds !

Yeah, my fault I didn't double check my right again. (Still very used to the look Left-Right-Left then move off. Furthermore, I was moving towards my left.)

Yeah, my fault that she must have driven like 60km/h in a car-park and came right into me.

My foot didn't even touch the accelerator yet.

I have came across situations like this, with me on the opposite side of course. I just honk a warning and once the other vehicle stopped, I moved off. Lets just get on with our lives.

So what did the bitch want ? Me to go and kow-tow to her ?

(2) This evening heading for dinner. Was driving slowly into a carpark. Tight corners and small lanes.

Open-air carpark , with multiple blocks of lots behind different blocks of flats.
Turned in, trying to look for a lot in front of me, slowed down a bit as I didn't want to reverse out if there is no lots in front. No lots, I should turn to my right. I signalled right.

Just as I hit my signal, the car behind honked. I never stopped my car at any time. I turned. He followed closely behind.

I passed one lot, shit. Ok, just passed another lot, so I wanted to reverse into the lot. Moved ahead of the lot and stopped. Looked at my mirror and this guy was right at my tail. Damn.
And he honked. Longer. And passed me on my right. Glared at me. I glared back.

What the heck ? I can't park ? You can't wait 5 seconds for me to park ? Was my turning right just now too slow for you ? Rushing to attend your own funeral at the void deck is it ?

All these drivers driving so fast in carparks. Bloody dangerous. When I got down, I was very very tempted to bash his head in, and smash his face into a pulp.

My 2 minutes walk to the food centre, I acutally visualized myself having a verbal-then-turned-violent-till-he-ended-up-dead-with-my-steering-wheel-lock-lodged-in-his-skull scenario. My heart rate went up, I was breathing quick. short, sharp breaths. Signs of adrenaline.

Now I know where road rage came from.

Wedding in My Family Part 2

Meet-the-parents session dinner 2 weeks ago was cancelled.

Today, my parents told me that my brother said he cancelled the wedding because my parents made this difficult for him.

I have nothing to add on to what I had said in my previous post of Wedding in My Family Part 1

I will just pretend nothing has happened. Afterall it is not my life. I can just don't care... or can I ?