"Countries with high rates of heterosexual HIV infection and low rates of male circumcision now have an additional intervention which can reduce the risk of HIV infection in heterosexual men." So says Kevin De Cock, director of HIV/AIDS of the World Health Organization.
With a name like that, there can be no one better to spread the message...
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
51 weeks on...
Three hundred and fifty eight days ago, I wrote about how Tim managed to find the plans for the proposed F1 street circuit in Singapore.
With rumors of the plan now being set in motion, the interest now is greater than before. That post is now the most-accessed on this blog, with most of the traffic coming from overseas. Perhaps having an F1 here is not such a crazy idea after all.
With rumors of the plan now being set in motion, the interest now is greater than before. That post is now the most-accessed on this blog, with most of the traffic coming from overseas. Perhaps having an F1 here is not such a crazy idea after all.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
To win, everyone else must lose
What is it about Chinese business mentality, where everyone else must fail so that one is able to succeed? Winner by default... that's the way Sam described it. He gave an example where he went to several Parisian souvenir shops selling mini Eiffel Towers for 20 Euros. And he was startled to see one store selling the same souvenir for just 5 Euros. Run by none other than a Chinese.
How did this practice come about? Can we trace it to some apocryphal tale where ancient Chinese got ahead by lowballing the competition to their bankruptcy?
Talking about competition. Recently, the cars known to frequent the workshop were called up for an LTA inspection as they were reported in by an anonymous source. It's pretty apparent that it is motivated by competing business interests because the dates on the letters were identical, and the only time they are ever seen together is at the workshop. Of course there was nothing wrong with the cars. And LTA allowed itself to simply be an instrument of such shallow schemers. As BK puts it, the basis of an open society is to afford the accused the opportunity to face the plaintiff in court. At least reveal the identity of the person who submitted the report. I wonder if LTA has any mechanism to review this process in a more objective manner.
As if that weren't enough, customers themselves contribute in inciting discord among workshops. Casting aspersions of incompetence or even blatantly lying about events. Spreading rumors. Backstabbing. Badmouthing one another.
With such a state of affairs, is it any wonder that our local motorsport scene is unable to raise itself to a higher standard?
How did this practice come about? Can we trace it to some apocryphal tale where ancient Chinese got ahead by lowballing the competition to their bankruptcy?
Talking about competition. Recently, the cars known to frequent the workshop were called up for an LTA inspection as they were reported in by an anonymous source. It's pretty apparent that it is motivated by competing business interests because the dates on the letters were identical, and the only time they are ever seen together is at the workshop. Of course there was nothing wrong with the cars. And LTA allowed itself to simply be an instrument of such shallow schemers. As BK puts it, the basis of an open society is to afford the accused the opportunity to face the plaintiff in court. At least reveal the identity of the person who submitted the report. I wonder if LTA has any mechanism to review this process in a more objective manner.
As if that weren't enough, customers themselves contribute in inciting discord among workshops. Casting aspersions of incompetence or even blatantly lying about events. Spreading rumors. Backstabbing. Badmouthing one another.
With such a state of affairs, is it any wonder that our local motorsport scene is unable to raise itself to a higher standard?
HDB parking confusion
There's an interesting thread on MyCarForum about the wording of the HDB car park regulations, ostensibly causing some confusion. It motivated me to look up the rules on the HDB website, where I found this...
Link
Always thought the full $2 had to be paid if parking was after 10.30 pm! UGH! :(
So the algorithm should be as follows:
Night Parking Scheme
Car parks that allow night parking by visitors are identified by signboards bearing the parking times and charges. For easy identification, the signboards are lighted up after 7pm.
For night parking charges at night parking car parks, motorists who park between 10.30pm and 7.00am can pay the half hourly rate of $0.50 up to a maximum of $2 or a flat rate of $2.00 depending on their parking needs.
Link
Always thought the full $2 had to be paid if parking was after 10.30 pm! UGH! :(
So the algorithm should be as follows:
- Pay $0.50 for every half-hour.
- If parking for more than 2 hours, but not beyond 7 am, and if the next day is not a public holiday/Sunday, pay $2.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)