The One Percenters

They are CEOs and money managers, doctors and lawyers, as might be expected. But they are also computer technicians, scientists and even farmers. Some are singers and movie stars (even though they may not like to admit it) and the rest of them are spread among various professions.


These days they are also the most vilified members of American society – also known as the 1 Percenters, who control about two-fifths of the country’s wealth and fuel nearly 100 percent of the protests around Wall Street, through the rest of the country and around the world. 


http://www.cnbc.com/id/44960983/

Hotels fees

Hotels are now charging fees for services that used to be free. This bad practice should be disallowed. This is the bad side of capitalism and the free market. Regulators should now step in to discharge their responsibility to the consumers.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/31/pf/hotel_fees/index.htm?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29

Qantas grounds its flights

SYDNEY - Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is no stranger to clashing with unions. But his extraordinary move to ground the airline's global fleet over labor unrest is his biggest gamble yet and has angered unions, passengers and the Australian government.

The increasingly bitter dispute, which has dragged on since September, covers the sensitive issue of jobs in Australia being outsourced to Asia and even the very survival of the iconic 90-year-old national carrier nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo."

http://www.cnbc.com//id/45093268

MY VIEWS:

When the workers go on strike, they disrupt the operations and cause inconvenience to the public. In this interesting case, it is the management of Qantas that took the unusual decision to "go on strike" and ground its operations.

I respect the actions taken by the Australian unions in fighting for the rights and job security of their members. Many businesses find ways to increase their profits at the expense of their workers, and the profits can be absurdly large. I do not know if, in the case of Qantas, the airline has to reduce cost to survive, or just to increase its profits.

FISCA Financial Planning Workshop on 29 October

The workshop on 29 October was well attended with over 30 people, mostly young people. The participants told me that the talk made them more aware about the good and bad financial products and was very useful to them. I asked them go get their friends and parents to attend the next talk, which will be held monthly. It is important that they make the right financial decision and avoid giving away a lot of money on bad products.

Several participants said that they came especially to hear my talk! They must have got the recommendations from their friends!

More details of future workshops can be found at http://easyapps.sg/assn/Org/Event.aspx?id=5. Register early!

Speculators are increasing the prices of hard disks

Quote: "Speculators are gouging the market significantly and in some cases making enormous profits out of the people of Thailand's misery," Buckley told Reuters. He declined to say which distributors.

http://www.cnbc.com//id/45082719

My comments: It is bad to allow speculators to make profit by taking advantage of the misery of other people. This applies not only to hard disk prices, but to oil, food and most other essential products. The speculation should be stopped. The world system, under the control of financial speculators and the greedy banks and based on the "free market", has to be changed - to make a fairer world for the ordinary people.

Security at the airport

The security procedures at Changi airport is excessive and is causing a lot of inconvenience. Here is my experience.

1. On arrival at the airport terminal, I have to screen my bags. Why is this necessary when the bags are also screened at the check-in counter and at the boarding room?  I suspect that this is to prevent a bomb going off before check-in. Is this so important?

2. Before entering the departure hall, I have to show my ticket and passport to the policeman.

3. After going through the automated gates and have my finger printed, there are still people to look at my passport. I recall that this procedure was implemented when someone passed the immigration desk though with a wrong passport. Do we need to over-react to this mistake by introducing another set of check?

4. Before entering the boarding room, I have to go through a detailed screening. The laptop and mobile phones and other metallic objects have to be removed  In spite of removing so many items, it is likely that the metal detector will beep and subject me to a physical check.

5. I still have to show my passport to the staff who scan my ticket.

Altogether, I have to show my passport three times and have my bags scanned twice. I suspect that more requirements will be introduced to combat other security concerns. The question is - are these measures overdone?

In the name of security

In the name of security, we do many unnecessary things and cause a lot of hassle to the ordinary people. This makes life stressful.

Look at the excessive security in the airport. I do not mind the necessary security, but the excessive security does not make sense. I shall talk about some of these excessive measures.

Look at the need to register your particulars before you enter a building. It is a regular affair. Why do they need to spend the time to record people entering into a building? How many records are being kept? Are they of any use? In fact, I am worried that the records could be abused - as it is intrusion on privacy. Is privacy and the rights of the individuals important in Singapore also?

With all the excessive security in some places, why is SMRT not paying sufficient attention to prevent outsiders from entering into their depots? Surely, this is more important than checking all the visitors to a building?

We need to speak up on measures that intrude into our lives, and do not serve a useful purpose.

Investor's guide to investing in gold

http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=587

A friend sent me this guide to investing in gold. Reading through this document, one can see that there are many ways of investing in various types of gold products, but the investor should be careful about selecting the trusted parties, as there is a real risk that some of these products are fraudulent. I know of a product which offers a buyback guarantee, but the investor did not know that he is paying for the gold at 50% higher than its real market value!

A safe way is to invest in gold bullion, but it is a big hassle to store the gold. It may be safer to invest in the Gold ETF (e.g. the ETF managed by SPDR) or to invest in gold futures through a regulated exchange.

Desalination

TIANJIN, China — Towering over the Bohai Sea shoreline on this city’s outskirts, the Beijiang Power and Desalination Plant is a 26-billion-renminbi technical marvel: an ultrahigh-temperature, coal-fired generator with state-of-the-art pollution controls, mated to advanced Israeli equipment that uses its leftover heat to distill seawater into fresh water.


There is but one wrinkle in the $4 billion plant: The desalted water costs twice as much to produce as it sells for. Nevertheless, the owner of the complex, a government-run conglomerate called S.D.I.C., is moving to quadruple the plant’s desalinating capacity, making it China’s largest.


http://www.cnbc.com/id/45042111/

Top 1% are getting richer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- From 1979 to 2007, average household income for the nation's top 1% nearly tripled, while middle-class incomes grew by less than 40%, according to a new report from a research arm of Congress.

While those at the top have seen their incomes soar over the past three decades, middle-class and lower incomes have stagnated, the report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/26/news/economy/cbo_income/index.htm?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29

A successful shopping mall in Jakarta

Taman Angrek is a successful shopping maill in Jakarta. It has a large atrium and an indoor skating rink.

How income inequality harms society

http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2011-10-25&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email

Singapore fares quick badly on several indicators.

For decades, Richard Wilkinson has studied the social effects of income inequality and how social forces affect health. In The Spirit Level, a book coauthored with Kate Pickett, he lays out reams of statistical evidence that, among developed countries, societies that are more equal – with a smaller income gap between rich and poor -- are happier and healthier than societies with greater disparities in the distribution of wealth.

While poverty has long been recognized as an indicator for such social ills as crime, obesity, teen pregnancy, Wilkinson and Pickett have demonstrated that societal well-being bears no relation to per capita income. They’ve also found that the symptoms of inequality trouble all levels of society. Across the board, mental health, levels of violence and addiction, even life expectancy are affected by the psycho-social stress caused by income gaps and status anxiety.

In the UK, The Spirit Level won support from politicians both left and right. Wilkinson, who is Professor Emeritus of Social Epidemiology at the University of Nottingham, also cofoundedThe Equality Trust, a nonprofit that aims to reduce income inequality by educating and engaging the public while supporting political commitment to address the problem.

He says: "While I'd always assumed that an equal society must score better on social cohesion, I never expected to find such clear differences between existing market economies."

White House studies student loan relief plan

The White House is introducing a student loan relief plan. This will add to the deficit and shows how bad the debt situation has become. Many sectors, including the government, home buyers and students are not able to pay off their debts.

http://www.cnbc.com//id/45037241

Difficult to revive the housing market

This article explains the difficulty faced by the Obama Administration in reviving the housing market in America. If a country allows its property market to build into a big bubble, it will be difficulty to reverse the situation. This is a lesson for Singapore to avoid.

http://www.cnbc.com//id/45021347

Survey - forex training course

If you have attended a forex training course and wish to give your feedback or ask for a refund, please take part in this survey  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JS7F7XV

Global Financial Regulator

The Vatican has called for the establishment of a global financial regulator and a tax on financial transactions. It also recognises the excesses, corporate greed and other wrong doing that has been committed in recent years.

http://www.cnbc.com//id/45013499

How to make the PAP work in your favour

Dear Mr. Tan,


In 1993, the retirement age for Singapore workers was raised from 55 to 60, and then in 1999, it was raised again from 60 to 62. Amazingly, during these 18 years (1993-2011), a local university has stubbornly stuck to a retirement age of 55 for their academic staff. Only recently and as a sigh of relief to their staff, the university has finally raised the retirement age from 55 to 62.


Can you imagine what it is like to be forced to retire at 55? During the past 18 years, is it possible that PAP were not aware what this university was doing? With regard to the recent change at the university, could it be to do with the 2011 GE results? So, what could not be changed in 18 years, has now been changed which coincide with six opposition MP in the Parliament. Can you imagine what could happen with more opposition MP?


So, do you know how to make PAP work in your favour?


Retired at 55

Electronic Health Records - advantages

There are advantages for consumers in storing their medical records online. There are some concerns about privacy, but these concerns can be overcome when consumers understand how the system works. The best way to to give it a try and experience the benefits.
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=586

Gaddafi in Advertising

American Airlines |Seamless

American Airlines is running an advertising campaign focused on the airline’s effort to create a seamless travel experience for its customers. Each ad communicates the message that American Airlines and its innovative products and services enable the enlightened, modern traveler to, “Fly without putting your life on pause. Be yourself non-stop.” Modern special effects were used to give the ads a contemporary, cutting edge feel. Shot on-location in the Bahamas and Los Angeles, post-production special effects matched the lead characters’ experiences in their personal lives to their onboard experience. These special effects and seamless transitions required extensive use of a motion-control camera and digital production.

After School opens on a mother and daughter discussing the youngster’s role in the school play as they sit cross-legged in their living room. But something’s a bit off kilter -- as the camera swings around the room, a pair of airline seats, which had been casual living room chairs in the previous shot, appear; then the soft glowing lights of a fasten-seatbelt sign blink on along the wall; and, very faintly, a droning voice states, “This is your captain speaking,” in the background. When the camera makes one final swing from daughter to mother and pans out, the elder is not in the living room with her daughter at all, but in the cabin of an American Airlines jet, engaged in the conversation via instant message on her laptop. 

Scuba follows a couple scuba diving through the rays of light, schools of fish and sea turtles off a sprawling reef. The first indications that this is not your standard reef appear in the form of a “Priority Access” sign lodged into the plant life, followed by a bank of screens showing the status of departing flights, which is just one example-in addition to text notifications and mobile boarding passes-of how American Airline passengers receive a streamlined, mobile boarding experience. As a school of fish darts in front of the camera, blurring the panorama, the water evaporates and the couple comes out in an airport terminal. “Fly without putting yourself on pause,” a narrator intones. “Be yourself, nonstop.

Credits

The Non Stop campaign was developed at TM Advertising by creative director Bernard Park, art director Brian Wood, director of broadcast production Hal Dantzler, producer Stephanie Murdoch.
Filming was shot by director Gerard de Thame via Believe Media with director of photographyMick Coulter, executive producer Michael McQuhae, producer Fabyan Daw.
Editors were Jack Waldrip, Artie Pena at Charlie Uniform Tango with executive producer Mary Alice, audio engineer Jake Kluge
Post production and effects were produced at Absolute Post by lead VFX/Flame artist Dirk Greene, VFX artists Warren Paleos, Krissy Nordella, Alex Gabucci, designers/animators Ed Manning, Jim Vidal, executive producer Sally Heath and producer Melissa Stephano.
Colorist was Ben Eagleton at Smoke & Mirrors, New York, with managing director Jo Morgan and producer Lauren Shawe

Toyota has launched “It’s Ready. Are You?”, an integrated advertising campaign promoting the 2012 Camry campaign. The campaign demonstrates how the seventh-generation model addresses changes in consumers‟ vehicle needs, expectations and driving habits through the combination of new innovations and improvements to interior and exterior vehicle styling. Six television commercials, print and out of home advertisements are joined by a microsite, the Camry Effect site.

“Built” highlights the Camry‟s new features and visually demonstrate the reinvention of Toyota‟s signature model. As the 2012 model builds around its driver, the spot touches on several of the key aspects midsize car buyers expect to get with their next car purchase. 

“Pit Stop” pays homage to the Camry‟s racing heritage with Toyota NASCAR driver Kyle Busch. The ad shows how Toyota‟s excellence carries from the racetrack to the roadway by transforming the car in the speed of a pit stop to highlight the Camry’s performance capabilities and intuitive mobile technology. “Pit Stop” will make its television debut on October 24. 

Two additional TV commercials will roll out later in 2011, followed with two further spots in the 2012 Super Bowl and the Toyota Halftime Report.The campaign also includes print ads, digital media, out-of-home boards and social media elements. Additionally, digital billboards featuring Camry imagery will run atop the Walgreens building in New York‟s Times Square to spark the public‟s interest and build intrigue for the 2012 model.

Beginning in November, consumers will have the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the 2012 Camry at over 125 events through March 2012. The Toyota Drive Center national ride and drive tour, along with activations at select Life Time Fitness locations across the country, will give the public a chance to experience the vehicle first hand.
The Camry Effect website is designed to connect the nearly seven million Camry drivers in the United States through an intuitive, interactive, online experience. The Camry Effect provides past and present Camry owners a platform to share stories, moments, memories and milestones of first dates, road trips, soccer games, interviews and college days while witnessing the collective “effect” each has.

Credits

The Ready campaign was developed at Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles by executive creative directors Margaret Keene and Chris Adams, creative director John Payne, art director Verner Soler, copywriter Graham McCann, director of integrated production/multimedia Tanya LeSieur, senior broadcast producer Gil DeCuir, project managers Angela Montoya, account director Andrew Corpman, management supervisor Erica Baker, account executive Kejal Crosson-Elturan, strategic planning director Evan Ferrari, strategic planners Skylar Wallace and Allison Farquhar, broadcast media director Gwen Conley, working with product information supervisor Paul Watson, business affairs managers Cara Orlowski and Ivy Chen, Toyota corporate manager Ed Laukes and advertising manager Colin Morisako.
Filming was shot by director Phil Joanou via MJZ with executive producer Jeff Scruton, president David Zander, director of photography Mauro Fiore and line producer Paul Manix.
Editor was Rick Lawley at The Whitehouse Post with executive producer Sue Dawson, senior producer Joni Williamson and assistant editor Brian May.
Special and visual effects were produced at The Mill, Los Angeles, by executive producer Sue Troyan, colorist Adam Scott, senior producers Melanie Wickham and Arielle Davis, 3D lead Andrew Proctor, 2D lead Paul O’Shea, 3D artists Yorie Kumalasari, Michael Panov, Lu Meng Yang, Kiel Figgins, 2D artists Gareth Parr, Steve Cokonis, Dag Ivarsoy, Nicholas Kim, Shane Zinkhon, Brinton Jaecks and Jen Stavish.
Music was produced at Mophonics by executive producer Michael Frick, head of production Shelley Altman and creative director Stephan Altman. Sound was designed at Trinitite Studios by designer Brian Emrich, and recorded and mixed at Lime Studios by Loren Silber.

KLM gets live and personal with Twitter

Airlines and Twitter have a chequered history. Some airlinebrands have embraced theimmediacy that themicro-blogging platform has to offer, while others have come in for very public floggings from disgruntled passengers.

This stunt is the latest example of KLM's social mediaexpertise. Unusually, this strategy publicised KLM's readiness to embrace customerconversations through social media, rather than promoting ticket sales.

Rather than using Twitter to promotea new ticket offer or service, KLM wanted to let customers know about itscommitment to customer service in the social media space. KLM's social media policywas to answer every customer message personally within one hour, twenty-fourhours a day, seven days a week. The results was a Twitter response campaignthat was people powered in more ways than one...

KLM wanted to letcustomers know about the service that KLM offered in the social mediaspace. KLM's social media policy was to answer every customer messagepersonally within one hour, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

In a move designed todemonstrate its commitment to customer service through social media, KLMdecided to spend a day replying to Twitter messages in person, or at moreaccurately, with 450 people.

Live reply involved the deployment of 450 KLMvolunteers working in three shifts to answer tweets, Facebook posts, or Hyves'scraps' using 140 characters at a time.

Followers and friendsof the brand could reach KLM through social media channels in Dutch orEnglish and ask anything regarding their travel or tickets. KLM also informedits followers about the latest airline news.

The human tweets werestreamed live on a dedicated site, and archived on the KLM YouTubechannel.

Results

This stunt is one of a number that KLM hasstaged on Twitter. Live reply saw approximately 70 videoswere uploaded onto the KLM YouTube channel, each achieving between 200 and6,500 views.

External links

KLM YouTube channel

BRAND: KLM

BRAND OWNER: Air France KLM

CATEGORY: Travel/Airlines

REGION: The Netherlands

DATE: September - September2011

MEDIA OWNERS: Twitter ,Facebook ,Hyves

MEDIA CHANNEL: Digital,Online,PR

Top up CPF savings

Here are 3 reasons to top up CPF savings and some tips on choosing between the retirement account and CPF Life. To enjoy the tax savings, the top up has to be done before the end of the year.


http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=584&PK=6a9035fe4e91102f8aebde1ae83d78a1

Singaporeans are reluctant to protest

Signaporeans are reluctant to protest. They generally do not care, if some bad things happen to other people. When it happens to them, they find that the other Singaporeans do not care.

http://singaporemind.blogspot.com/2011/10/singapore-leads-occupy-rally-reluctance.html

Singaporeans should read and understand the meaning behind this story, "First they came for the Socialists" ....
hhttp://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392

Sephora Sensorium – Lucid Dreams from the Sensory World

Beauty retailer Sephora and fragrance manufacturer Firmenich have commissioned The Sensorium: Lucid Dreams from the Sensory World, an interactive, multimedia experience set in a pop-up museum, designed to explore the emotions and instincts behind scent. The Sensorium features interactive and immersive installations First Scent and Lucid Dreams, developed and produced by experience design and production company The Department of the 4th Dimension (The D4D) to transport visitors into the realm of the perfumer’s imagination. The Sensorium, located in a 3,700 warehouse in New York’s Meatpacking District, launched to the public on October 15 and runs through to November 27th, 2011. Tickets are available through the Sephora website.

Upon entering First Scent, visitors are surrounded by motion picture media inspired by custom fragrances emitted throughout the room that trigger collective emotion and connections. Dreamlike films of cutting grass, a morning breakfast and a visit to the beach correspond to fragrances Weekend Splendor, 6:01 am and Summer Vacation designed by such superstar perfume creators as Harry Fremont and Honorine Blanc. Here, elemental and unforgettable moments are manifested in an evocative cocktail of sight, smell and sound.

Next, in the museum’s marquee event Lucid Dreams, visitors can affect beautiful suspended images inspired by Firmenich’s master perfumers. Using a high tech flower sculpture, the images transform based on the power of the individual’s sniff – triggered by the unique sound transmitted by the physical act of smelling. The D4D created each room’s architecture, including the short films, beautiful floor-to-ceiling images, glowing sniff-registering flowers and the software that drove the entire soul-stirring experience.

Credits

The Sensorium project was developed at The D4D (The Department of the 4th Dimension) led by creative director Matt Checkowski and executive producer Ron Cicero, along with a team of architects, designers, technologists and writers.

During the production and design of First Scent and Lucid Dreams, The D4D team worked on the visual experience with the custom designed perfumes on hand, to ensure the visual and auditory elements were a perfect fit for each scent and would combine in a journey of heightened perception. The perfumers and The D4D creative team collaborated throughout, with imagery and scent choices and changes influenced by the other during the process. The technical production of the interactive elements involved significant research and development including an examination of wind velocity and other triggers before landing on the auditory solution.

Top 40 blue chips in Singapore

This table shows the top 40 blue chips traded in the Singapore Exchange. Of special interest are the drop in price from the recent high dividend yield and a stockbroker's forecast of the EPS (earning per share) and PER (price earning ratio for the next two years. These figures should be treated with caution. The stockbroker's recommendation has been removed. Before investing in any share, you should consult your stock broker.
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=583&PK=6e4c42184de0102f8aebde1ae83d78a1

Investing in a troubled world

Given the uncertainty in the global financial and economic environment, how should ordinary people invest their long term savings to earn an adequate income and to cope with the higher rate of inflation expected in the next few years?

This is the question asked by many people. I like to give my views.

http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=582&PK=b608b34c4da6102f8aebde1ae83d78a1

Haircut on Greek Debt

Private investors will be asked to take a 60% haircut on their investments in Greek bonds. This is much higher than the 21% agreed in August. I expect that the final figure will probably be 40% to 50%.

http://www.cnbc.com//id/44992798

The question is - why are the European banks holding so much Greek bonds? Surely, the jobs of banks should be to provide banking services and give loans to businesses. They should not be an investment fund, using their money (taken from the Central Bank or credit creation) to speculate on this type of investments or to fund foreign governments?

And why is Greece, a country, not able to meet its obligations? Surely, the Government has assets that can be sold - to repay the debts? If Greece is allowed to get away with 60% of its obligations - what about other countries? This will set a bad precedent. Many countries will continue to be bad risks. What about USA? We can expect an uncertain future and more volatility! And the structure of the financial world will be quite different.

The answer to these questions are - there is something seriously wrong with the financial structure of our global system. Our financial system is based on the illusion of market values and is fed by greed, speculation and corruption.
  

Pay of Government Leaders

This table shows the pay of Government leaders, compared to GDP
http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/Top-10-Highest-Paid-investopedia-1388928230.html?x=0

Invest in an indexed fund

When you invest for the long term, invest in an index fund (such as an ETF that is based on a market index) and stop trying to pick the stocks to beat the market. There are a few other good tips in this article.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/21/pf/expert/investment_returns.moneymag/index.htm?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29

Learn how to invest in an indexed fund. Attend the financial planning workshop organised by FISCA on 29 October. http://easyapps.sg/assn/Org/Event.aspx?id=5

Medicare in USA

The problem with Medicare in USA (i.e. the health care paid by the Government for retirees) is that it becomes very costly to give the best to the older people and the Government is bearing the cost. In Singapore, the Government wants the people to bear the cost - and they cannot afford it either. The solution? Educate people on what is necessary and what is wasteful and help them to find the right treatment at a cost that they can afford. 

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/11/pf/medicare_programs.moneymag/index.htm?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29

Small child who was street smart

A 2 year old girl, Yue Yue, was run over twice in Guangzhou, China. Many people passing by did not help her. Where were her parents?

I recall a horrifying experience some 20 years ago, also in Guangzhou. I stopped at a small town for dinner. After dinner, I was returning to the bus. I saw a small boy, also about 2 years old, on the opposite side trying to cross a busy road with many fast passing vehicles. There was no adults around to take care of the child. I was horrified that he could be hit by a passing vehicle, but there was nothing that I could do, as I was on the other side of a busy road.

After a while, the little boy saw a gap among the vehicles and run across the road safely to her parents who were nearby. I then realised that this boy, although very small, was street smart. He must have crossed the road many times safely. His parents knew that he could take care of himself.

This is so different from the over-protected children in Singapore!

Absolut Vodka: Absolut Vodka

“If you saw your life flash before your eyes, would you change the way you live it? Absolut Vodka thinks so, and to ensure people don’t get behind the wheel drunk, they introduce Absolut Life: a platform that allows people to watch a video of their Facebook lives flash before their eyes.”

Advertising School: Miami Ad School, New York, USA
Creative Director: Tara Lawall
Art Director: Lisa Zeitlhuber
Copywriter: Nick Partyka

France 24 Birds

French international news channel France 24 highlighted the power of internet freedom in “Birds”, an advertising campaign inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds. A commercial and print/outdoor advertising campaign featured a Gaddafi-like dictator and other powerful figures threatened by the Twitter-like birds of revolution. Three posters, emulating the style of the original 1963 Birds movie posters, feature Gaddafi, Mubarak and Ben Ali.

Online social networks played a significant role in spreading revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya earlier in 2011. France 24′s Arabic language version broke all audience records during this period. But the channel as a whole has benefited from an increase in audience. In March 2011 france24.com experienced a peak in traffic with nearly 14 million visits and about 59 million page views. The channel’s Twitter following grew quickly due to a large amount of tweets dedicated to the Arab Spring topic.

Credits

The Birds ad was developed at Marcel Worldwide, Paris, by executive creative directors Anne De Maupeou, Veronique Sels and Sebastien Vacherot, art director Souen Le Van, copywriter Martin Rocaboy, agency producers Cleo Ferenczi and Fleur Laruent-Bruzy, art buyers Jean-Luc Chirio and Aurélie Lubot, account manager Cécile Henderycks, account manager Michel Kowalski, working with France 24 communications director Nathalie Lenfant.
Filming was shot by director Philippe Grammaticopoulos via Mister Hyde, Paris, with producer Hervé Lopez.
Music is by Christophe Julien.
Illustrators were Marie Morency (Gaddafi), Souen Le Van (Mubarak), and K.I.M. Florence Lucas (Ben Ali).

New approach towards new media

The Government is likely to take a new approach and a more active approach towards the new media.
http://newasiarepublic.com/?p=33833

I have seen the bad side of the new media and how people can act irresponsibly when giving their comments (and untruths) and malicious attacks under anonymity. I like to see the new media being used in a more responsible manner and will welcome moves in that direction.

Subsidy for Japanese manufacturers

The Japanese government is introducing a subsidy to help its manufacturers to keep their production in Japan, in the face of a stronger currency. This shows that the system of free trade and open market is now under stress. http://www.cnbc.com//id/44983686

Communist Manifesto - 1848

I read some parts of the book by Karl Marx entitled the Communist Manifesto. He described the struggle between the proletariat (working class) and the bourgeois (capital owners). Today, 163 years later, it is a struggle between the 99% (ordinary people) and the 1% (elite). This can be seen in the "Occupy Wall Street" protest.

National Service Deferment

The Minister for Defence said that there was no preference treatment for National Service deferment. He explained in detail to Parliament how the process for deferment was carried out. However, the newspaper report did not carry the details. I hope that our MPs in Parliament would question the process, to ensure that the relevant questions have been asked and answered satisfactorily.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Parliament/Story/STIStory_725378.html

My preference is for National Service to be made fairer to male citizens, so that they do not need to sacrifice their time and opportunity. This can be done through reducing the duration of national service and/ or compensating them adequately for the time that they have to spend. The Singapore males have to compete with foreigners and females in the job market and should not be placed at a disadvantage.

List of contractors

The list of contractors have been updated to include plumbing, electrical and TV repair. There are now 13 categories of contractors. This list will be converted into a database for easy access at a later date. The contractors have been contacted to establish their responsiveness to calls or emails.
http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=579

Top-up CPF by cash

The charge (by eNETS) to top up a CPF by internet banking is too high. For an amount of $1,000, the charge is $15. For a larger amount, the charge is NOT specified.

To avoid this excessive charge, I decided to pay by cheque ($0.25 for postage). But I have to write a lot of detail at the bank of the cheque including an unweildly transaction number. See below.

This is not the only thing that I have to write. I still have to write the cheque and make sure that the amount in words and letters are correct, the date is correct, the payee is correct. I also have to make sure that the address of CPF is correctly written on the envelope.  This is a sad part of life in Singapore - so much hassle and over-charging.

Top-up CPF account

CPF took an advertisement to advice members to top-up their CPF account (for themselves and their family members). I responded and tried to do it at their website. My experience is shown in this report, which I sent to the Ministry of Manpower. My findings:

1. The CPF online process has bugs.
2. The administration charge is too high.

I hope that our Government will wake up and sort out the shortcomings and over-charging!

http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=581

Large bonus to bankers

Goldman Sachs pays large bonuses to its employees, in spite of making a loss for its shareholders. The amount of bonus is described as "ridiculous". http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/20/news/economy/goldman_sachs_occupy_wall_street/index.htm?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29

Too many investment choices

This article explains about the difficulty faced by consumers in investing their money, when they have too many choices. http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/20/pf/expert/401k_retirement.moneymag/index.htm?section=money_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_topstories+%28Top+Stories%29

My recommendation is for most consumers, who are not financially experienced, to invest in an indexed fund, such as the Straits Times Index Exchange Traded Fund. If you are financially experienced, you can make your own choice, i.e. DIY (do it yourself).

Sharing of medical records

There is law in USA regarding the rights of patients for access to their medical records and the duty of the health care providers to protect privacy of these records. We need similar laws in Singapore. http://www.tankinlian.com/Redirect.aspx?PK=2c77701b4c43102f8aebde1ae83d78a1