Feed me shit...

You won't be able to prosecute your maid if she feed you faeces or urine as long as she boils it. See this report. Isn't it great to go home to a good meal everyday, knowing that the law is protecting you from poisonous substances?

Also, it is okay to beat up anyone into a pulp as long as you are a bodyguard. I should just get myself a few bodyguards. All I need to say is that my life has been threatened and no one will be sued, right?

And my eco-friendly, paper-saving of an employer have decided to make us fill up a form indicating which fax machine we will use and for what kind of documents. Most likely hoping to retire 1 or 2 fax machines in the process. I'm wondering if they will redirect the numbers from retired fax machines...

Everyday we get more shit admin work because some dick-shit up there want to save a bit (HKD100/day?!) of money through power-saving and reducing paper waste. All good... but better if they can reduce urgent deliveries!

Curse words in the army~~~

The hottest topic in the Singapore blogosphere, since I've already read 2 posts on it. One from Yamizi and one from Mr Wang.

Oh I miss the days when I could just belt out a string of profanities when I get any type of **** in the army... It's a matter of self control, right? I still belt out a few curse words here and there on a daily basis but I have a good reason... If you think you are working with sh*t or whatever genital parts, its not considered a profanity to call a person that, no?

And according to Mr Wang's site, that show got an advisory for those under 16. This Mdm Wee should have known better than to bring her own 14-year-old to that show...

I would LOVE to watch that show from myself~ Even bring a few boys in for that early baptism... Why protect them from something they will face in the future? Some 14 and 16 y.o. are much better versed in the profanity language than me!

Stupidity kills....

I always thought that working with stupid people will kill me someday. This post (not sure how true the article is) is my ally in this argument... But what can we do about those idiots in the company?

I have a massive change in mentality these days. As long as those idiots do not cause me to stay longer in the office than I want, they can mess up as much as they want. I'm just here to make a living...

Maybe its their shit that is keeping me employed... so I should say a big Thank You to those idiots~

J-SOX mail compliance

内部統制から見たメール保管
会社法、金融商品取引法（日本版ＳＯＸ法）、個人情報保護法の施行により、 内部統制、情報漏えい防止の強化が求められています。 不正行為や違法行為を未然に防ぐ方法はいろいろ提案されていますが、 指示、通達、報告、連絡のほとんどがメールで行われている現在の企業では、 不正行為を防止する最後の砦は、メールの完全保管であると言われています。 内部統制の基本は、情報の透明性であり、企業におけるメールの完全保管は必須といえるでしょう。

内部統制の観点からは、以下のようなメリットがあります。
- 送受信したすべてのメールは長期保存し管理され、検査することできるため、悪意を持った内部者による不正行為やメールによるパワハラ、セクハラを防止する効果があります。
- 不幸にして不正行為が行われてしまった場合、 過去にさかのぼってその不正行為を追跡・分析でき、 再発防止に有効な手立てを打てます。
- 外部から不正行為の疑いをかけられた場合、 身の潔白を証明する手段として、 情報管理部門による完全保存メールが役に立ちます。

Till now I've not been able to find a single clause in J-SOX specifying that mail retention is mandatory or what exactly do they mean by 長期保存. 10 weeks, 5 months, 2 years, forever? Anyone out there with any idea?

Note to self : Just let go...

Never ever ever let this happen to you... especially in front of a crowd...

Shanghai Shanghai

3 days in Shanghai and my perception of the city and China as a whole has changed. Generally for the better. The staff there are more professional, more polite and more hardworking than those in HK, at least for my company. I don't even want to compare them with the staff in SZ. I really think that SZ staff are overpaid and underworked...




Reached Shanghai office after lunch, a bit of introduction here and there before meeting. Before we left for hotel check-in and dinner, met the Shanghai IT staff for the first time although she's called me numerous times over the years for advice and instructions. Diligient girl, probably do 3 times as much work as my staff in HK. Her boss told us that she is hardworking but have no desire to do more, none of that extra something special. Which means she will probably never be promoted to a supervisory/managerial level. First night was dinner with the local managers in a restaurant serving Ningbo fare. Pretty good food but raw crab was a bit too much for me... loved the foie gras done Chinese style.


Second day started with a trip to a warehouse in Shanghai's tax-free economic zone. Any area outside the meeting room was between 37degC to 40degC. The warehouse was just as hotcooking. Without any air-conditioning it was like a human oven. People were dripping sweat all over the place. I was dry, even in my shirt, tie and suit... I'm weird...

After that was a Japanese lunch before a trip to my company's warehouse in the vicinity. Air-con and everything was great. Surely you need the right temperature and humidity to store your electronic components! Had a short meeting before I went about giving suggestions, asking how things are done in Shanghai and help them solve a little system problem which HQ Logistics failed to solve for years. Took me 15 minutes to figure something they failed to solve for years... *sigh* And right there and then I got myself a new set of fans. *take a bow*

Back to office in Puxi (opposite of Pudong, one is west one is east) for a short wrap-up meeting with the Japanese GM before I spent some time with the local girl on understanding her work, how to make her life easier and listen to some of her problems. And then we were off to XinTianDi the GM and another Japanese sales manager.





I loved XinTianDi. I love the charm of the old buildings and I love the cleanliness of the place. I didn't like most of Shanghai with all the cars and tall buildings in close proximity of each other but I loved XTD. I will live there if they have a 2nd storey unit for rental (that is if I work in SH).


Dinner at Paulaner's. The waitress who served us spoke fluent English. Nothing like what one will get with local staff in SZ (or even HK) or I haven't been eating around enough. The food was great, beer was sweet and the company of the 2 Japanese staff was surprisingly enjoyable. Really amazing how a few drinks will remove that invisible mask.


After dinner the driver drove us around for a look of the city. Too many works for the Expo next year but I'm sure it will be a fanastic event when everything's ready.


Final day in Shanghai. Took this picture as our driver weaved the car through thousands and thousands of bicycles/tricycles/x-cycles to bring us to the office.




A final meeting in the morning and lunch in a pub nearby before we set off for the airport. The last photo above was a shot of the site for the Expo next year. Notice the pollution? The really big minus point for me. That smog was there throughout the 3 days we were there.

And just now I got to know a fellow blogger with a new site : Alex Hofford Photography. I think the section on China Air Pollution under Portfolio is very meaningful. If you're a Chinese or a Hongkonger then perhaps you would like to take a look and see what you can do for your home. I'm not going to stay here forever.

10 Photos, 5 Days

Another trip... another buy...

5-day trip back to SG. The skies were clear and the heat was comfortable enough for me. The highlight of this trip must be the Segway rides in Sentosa. Here's the trip in chronological order :

Day 1 :
Touchdown at noon. Collected the car and went to this place in Toa Payoh in search of some textbooks. Reached MIL home, napped, off to Jubilee Hall @ Raffles Hotel to catch the last bits of a dance rehearsal. Buffet dinner at Oscar's (Conrad Hotel). Watched Twilight on DVD. Teen movie. Not crazy over the show but it was alright...

Day 2 :
Early morning school bus. Breakfast of teh and fried beehoon noodles at Commonwealth hawker centre. Haircut. Haircut. Haircut. Lunch with HL @ foodcourt opposite Commonwealth MRT. Drove past crazy number of new shopping centres along Orchard Road (and there's an underground mall?!?!). Reached mum's(my?) shop. Played coolie, fixer and deliveryman for display rack, tower fan and steam iron. Went uncle's place in Tampines to get bowling ball + durian. Went bowling at Hougang Mall. Fetch crying girl in AMK. Had dinner at Chomp Chomp (after waiting/standing for 30 minutes). Bought 2 tubs of ice-cream at NTUC.

Day 3 :
Woke up to breakast of mi-chiam-kuay and fried carrot cake(black sweet sauce!). Vivocity for water-friendly bermudas, snacks and lunch @ Swensen's. Checked-in Siloso Beach Resort. S$32/4pax Segway funride. Had so much fun we booked a guided tour for another S$128/4pax. Walked along the beach and took some pictures before the 5pm ride. The guided ride took us from the train terminal to Rasa Sentosa Hotel. The guide even showed us how to go down steps on the Segway. Didn't have the chance to try the Megazip or the flying trapeze but its a good excuse for a return trip~ A short rest in the hotel room before we went for Songs of the Sea. In more ways than one I prefer the old Musical Fountain. Too fancy for my liking and I didn't like the lip-synching actors/actresses on show. After the show we made our way to the beach in front of the hotel and succumbed to the lure of the sea. Returned to the room all wet. Had sandwiches for dinner and watched Anaconda before turning to bed.

Day 4 :
Breakfast and then the pool~ I love the pool. A man-made waterfall, a pair of waterslides and a long pool. We shared the pool with contestants of the Miss Earth Singapore pageant and a bunch of U.S. marines. After 2 hours and a tan later, we left Sentosa for Beach Road prawn noodle @ East Coast Road (?!?!). And then I got a call from my property agent sec sch friend who told me a place was on offer. A call to another agent gave us more information and we dug deeper. My brain was spinning with the math while we had prawn noodle (didn't really savour the wonderful soup thoroughly enough... damn!). Paying more than what we had planned for but its a bigger and better unit. Drove to Kallang Leisure Park for a look-see before agent came back with more information. Called my sponsor for his investment money and offered. Reached a middle point and we made an offer. Played bowling and watched Ice Age 3 with my heart racing... Apparently the owner was in Johor... and couldn't reply if it was a yea or a nay... A trip to MIL place and a few calls later it was a deal! Signed the papers that night at Tampines, had roti prata and mee rebus for dinner, bought Inkheart DVD, dropped the car + mum off at Tanjong Katong, took MRT train back to Tampines and there was it, the letter of offer all signed. Watched Inkheart before we head to bed.

Day 5 :
Early morning flight meant very little sleep. Flight back to HK, had lunch at Elements and a taxi back home. Still excited about the new property buy. Basically slept Sunday away...

Day 6 :
Here writing this now... recap of some of the headlines over the past week:

Owen to Man Utd. Great move by Sir Alex. Free and cheap. Hopefully Owen can make it back to the England squad by next summer. Nothing will please me more than to see Gerrard, Owen and Heskey lift the World Cup in S.A. next year.

New bowling sensation in Singapore. This New girl is outstanding. Her stance is great, mental strength good and her consistency will see her go far.

Property market in Singapore is still glowing. No... its glaring! I'm glad I got such a good price for a freehold property in a very good district (in my opinion!).

Watched alot of news on MJ during the past few days. A real pity he didn't get at least 1 show for his latest tour. The kids were going "did he sing that?","that's a really nice song!", "how did he do the moonwalk?"... death was the best marketing stunt for him...