Is the Singapore Flyer doomed to fail?

I came across a thread in the Asiaone forum titled "Singapore Flyer is doomed to fail right from the start". I got interested and browsed through the 18 pages (and counting I believe) of comments. http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=10569

Out of the 173 posts (at time of reading), less than 5 are positive encouragements. The overwhelming majority cast negative comments, most of which point to the following:

1. Too Expensive, cater for the rich only, hence the rich-poor divide debate...
2. Cater for tourists only, hence the local vs foreigners debate...
3. Another government initiated white elephant.
4. Comparison to well established attractions abroad, like the London Eye, Effiel Tower, etc.
5. Singapore do not have the rich heritage and landscape to attract crowds.

First, if I were to compare prices around the world, I think our price is fair. The reader can google the relevant websites for immediate information.

Second, I do not believe the builders of the Singapore Flyer at any time pretend that the Singapore Flyer is not primarily targetted at tourists. Go to the Effiel Tower any day and pick any of the crowd there and ask for their nationality, do you think you'd find a Parisan who was not working there?

*On a side note:
I recently travelled to Europe on holiday. Been to London, Paris, amongst other cities. And they were populated by tourists! Yes, most probably those places I went were meant for tourists, which is why I see primarily tourists. But it also mean that tourists, including me, are spending money and creating employment for the people of those cities.

I went to the shopping district in the city centre of Paris, and every shopping centres I stepped into, I see hordes of tourists, outnumbering the locals by at least 5 to 1. Of course, many of them are ( and there are many from Asian countries) buying "branded goods" (supposingly cheap, but i wonder how cheap can a prada bag get even at 30% discount off Singapore prices).

Walking along the streets of the European cities, at night or in the day time, I see tourists like me, in hordes, spending in shops, cafes, public transport, etc... I say to myself, yes, the people of London are fortunate in the sense that they inherited many buildings, structures, etc, that were built from times past, and those things are attracting people from all over the world to come to their city to spend. Taking advantage of their "inheritance", the people create shops, cafes, buses, and along with that a whole industry that is geared towards attracting tourists and helping them spend.

Also, I have no doubt that a portion of the money spent by tourists goes to contributing to the conservation of those historic monuments.

Now what is wrong with that?

Third, many well-known monuments, buildings, etc, were often disliked by the locals when they were first built. The city of Paris hated the Effiel Tower when it was first built. The population thought that the ugly mass of steel was a shameful thorn amidst their generally low-rise heritage buildings. The Empire State Building wasn't too appreciated when the idea was first conceived. I could go on, but.

Fourth, if we were to compare the Singapore Flyer to other well-known, well-established attractions, at least give it some time to become well-known, well-established in the first place! Surely Rome was not built in a day, and she certainly took quite some time to earn her reputation.

Fifth, (and those who gave comments pointing to this are the worst lot) for goodness sake, we are only 40plus years old, why would one wants to compare against cities like London, Paris or New York? Even a mundane transport infrastructure such as the London Underground began service more than 100 years before our independence! Let alone more distinguished national monuments.... What is there to compare our heritage with those cities?

Without rich heritage does not mean we give up on our ambition to build one. We have to look for other ways and we will. The Singapore Flyer is but one amongst many attempts to build something we can be proud of. If we will it, our Singapore Flyer is destined for success.

Bank Crises and Bankers' Renumeration

Fact: Major international banks are facing massive write-downs in billions.

Fact: Central Banks and at least one Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) I know have dished out rescue packages.

Fact: Money from Central Banks and SWFs come from tax payers, indirectly, and some would argue directly. That means your money and my money, directly, indirectly.

Shocking Fact: A recent research conducted by Breaking Views revealed that the total compensation at the 5 largest US investment banks total a little less than USD$66 billion in 2007.

More Shocking Fact: That $66 billion of renumeration managed to deliver a $50 billion reduction in the banks' aggregate stock market value over the course of 2007. Put it in another context: bankers at those banks were each rewarded with $350,000 for diminishing the value of their business by $247,000 EACH, over the course of 2007. And that reduction numbers are mounting still....

Enough facts to digest? Let me summarise for you: The average taxpayer like you and me are funding the high stakes gambles of the high-living high rollers.

And may I be allowed to quote a certain man of deep insight: "....profits are privatised but risks are socialised..."

reference: http://www.breakingviews.com/

Past life and Reincarnation

Recently I come across an interesting daily column in Shin Min Daily News. The column has tables that describes a person's past life, based on the lunar date that they are born in the present life. For example, how a person looked like, or what his/her career was, or/and most recently how a person died in his/her past life!

We often see star charts, horoscopes in newspapers, magazines and so forth. I believe most of the population see such things as leisurely and nothing more. It is quite useless to provide contrary views as these "predictions" are mostly vague and "unprovable". Mostly, the charts encompass everyone who reads it. For example, one's birthday must fall within a day within a year, say 18th April 1998, and as such that person is a Aries. It is impossible to prove that a person does not belong to a particular horoscope.

But this particular column has a major flaw. Which can be proven wrong empirically. What is more, one can prove that it is wrong using simple logic. Here it goes:

The premise to determine how a person was in his/her previous life, according to the table, is the lunar date that he/she was born in the present life. For the latter part, regarding a person's lunar birth date, is a classic "all-encompassing" premise, and as such one cannot debate against it without being enveloped into a circular argument.

The problem with this particular column is that it assumes that a person has a previous life.

But, if every person has a previous life, that means the population must be constant. As such, the equation should be:

(Those who were living) minus (Those who died) = (Those who are still living) plus (those who are born)

Therefore, those who died = those who are born. This is explained by the consideration that those who died are reincarnated as those who are born.

But, the world population has been growing. The world population in A.D. 1970 was estimated at 3.7 billion, while the world population in A.D. 2000 was estimated at 6.23 billion. To bring this a bit closer, if i assume that the world population in 2007 was 7 billion, and that the world population in 2008 is 7.1 billion, then i must necessarily concede that the extra 0.1 billion "new" people has no past lives!

And, if those new 0.1 billion people have no past lives, then surely the column which purports to be able to tell how one was during his/her past life, must necessarily be missing out on the new 0.1 billion population.

Surely those new 0.1 billion population have a lunar birth date in their present lives. But since they have no past lives, then the column must be wrong when it provides a "description" of their non-existent past lives.

Da Mo and the True Path

This story I am about to tell you has been told and re-told countless times. I'm sure my version is somewhat different from the original one, if one could possibly trace back to it. But I hope the meaning is not lost.

During the Liang Dynasty in China, Da Mo went to see the Emperor Wu at the imperial palace.
Emperor Wu was a devout follower of Buddhism. Naturally, he was delighted to receive this traveller from afar.

Emperor Wu told Da Mo:" I have built many pagodas and temples all over my realm. I have toiled for a time as a monk at a temple. I have read as many buddhist sutras and scripts as I possibly can. How much merits have I gained from these acts?

Da Mo replied:" None."

"Why do you say that?"

"The true path is void."

"Then, what is the highest attainment one can achieve in the Buddhist path?"

"Since its void, how can there be any highest attainment?"

The Emperor was taken aback and immensely unhappy with the answers, and promptly sent Da Mo away.

Pluses and Minuses, Positives and Negatives

Hi,

If the world only has +,

E.g. A

+6 +7 = +13

+6 x +8 = +48

+8 / +2 = +4

in short, whatever you do to "+", you will always end up with "+"


On the other hand, if the world only has "-", you have a paradox, because you will invariably end up with "+" and "-".

E.g. B

-6 -7 = -13

-6 x -8 = +48

-8/ -2 = +4

So what can we draw from this?

I am sure there are many:

1.
+ = no change, or permanance. or no variety

- = change, or impermanance, or variety

2.
+ = no paradox

- = paradox

3.

?

My Brother Left for University of Queensland

My brother left for Brisbane to start his uni at the University of Queensland.

We sent him off last Sunday morning. Yes I can wake up early when it is really important. (so if i were ever late, you know where you stand... haha...). Kitiara's fans will understand the italics. But i digress...

The flight was at the new airport Terminal 3. Looks new.

My dad accompanied him. He will be there for 1 week, to help Tony settle down. My mum had to stay back because she needed to stay back to "bai ti gong" * on the 8th of the first month of lunar new year.

*to pray to the Heaven God. a tradition mostly conducted by Hokkiens in Singapore (needs verification).

I am certain she was sad to see Tony leave. I just hope Tony knows the extent (AND AS SUCH STUDY EXTRA HARD).

My brother will succeed in anything he set out to accomplish if he tries hard enough. This trip will no doubt be a stern test to his resolve. If he comes back with good grades, he comes back not only with good grades but a never-before-gained self-confidence of the first sentence of this paragraph.

Hmmm, looking back it was 11 years ago me and my brother were in opposite shoes. 11 years.

I hope he enjoys the full experience of oversea study, as I did (and yes that includes sleeping all day and waking at 7pm to watch the Simpsons; and to those who fail to appreciate that - it's your loss).

I wanted to wish him all the best, but i don't remember I said that to him. As we were walking back to the carpark to collect my car, I was feeling quite down. But suddenly, a thought came to me as vividly as it happened some 11 years ago - when I wished a friend "all the best", and he replied in his youthful conviction:"Don't worry, I'm in Good Hands!".

Annual Buy New Clothes for Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year around the corner!

Well, this year my wife refuses to buy new year clothes for me. I can only speculate on the reasons: 1. She thinks she has bad taste for clothes, so leave the choice to a better judge - me - instead; 2. I'm getting fatter and as such, and naturally, I am more picky on clothings - must not be too tight, otherwise it will be uncomfortable, or, must not be too loose or I'll look fatter than I really am.

During much younger days I used to shop for new year clothes with my friends (in some years with cousins). A full day event. I would receive about $100 from my mum (the amount would later be hotly debated and fought for as I got older...). It was the only time of the year where I got to spend more than $100 on clothings at one time. And with so much money in my pocket and the complete freedom to buy any clothes the budget allowed, I got to experience the full effect of consumersim and marketing attention. That kind of makes one feel important and adult dont' you think so? Definitely a major highlight of a year.

Now the scenario has somewhat changed. I mean, who'd shop with me? Everyone I know have partners or families to occupy them. It kinda feels weird to go shop alone.... but on another note, I think it feels weirder to have another friend accompanying me to shop. I mean, can you imagine 2 or 3 guys in their 30s shopping together along Orchard Road joustling with kids half their age? I can.

Also, my attention span for shopping has been lacking somewhat as the years roll on. My lovely wife can attest to that. Wait till she relates to you my Ultraman Syndrom. I'd probably spend less than half an hour on this shopping trip: walk-in, choose, check price tag, pay and go.

Or, maybe I should try to re-kindle the exhiliration of my younger days, by pretending like I'm 15 walking down Orchard Road with $100 in my pocket trying to decide how much to spend on a rare McDonald's meal so I still have enough left to buy the clothes I have been eyeing for months.

Rambo

I watched First Blood Part II when I was still very young. I remember watching it with my family in a now-defunct cinema in my neighbourhood Ang Mo Kio (when it was still called a New Town in those times). The movie literally blew my mind away.

I remember coming across the newspapers in which the movie advertisements cried out:" Rambo is King!", "No. 1 in Singapore!" For months I would imagine myself as Rambo fighting imaginary enemies, with his huge machine gun and bow and explosive arrows.

For me the movie had Everything - an outcast hero, a beautiful damsel who could more than hold her own (and familiarly Asian), unambiguous enemies, helpless POWs waiting to be rescued, plenty of instant punishments for the wicked, ungrateful people whom Rambo worked for (and whom in the end got their just deserts), superb songs, and a happy ending. I couldn't have asked for more. First Blood Part II was for many many years my all-time No. 1 movie. And after more than 20 years, it still lists amongst my all-time favourites.

Years later I watched First Blood (Part 1). My now older senses connected straight away with this movie. Once again there was the same formula which made Part II a success, albeit without the damsel, less firepower (but nonetheless still instant punishment for the wicked).

Then came First Blood Part III. Again another superb movie. This time more firepower, more arrow explosives, and still the same Rambo cloaked in the armour of invincibility.

Despite many bad reviews by the press, and also by adults saying the movie was too incredible, too political (democracy vs communism, or what-have-yous...), I was never swayed. In fact some people even went as far as to suggest the whole series was to promote America and to demean her adversaries. Or in Part II, sour grapes because America kinda lost the battle in Vietnam.

While acknowledging that those could be the reasons of the producers, or that the movie could be used as a propaganda, I refuse to let them take away the merits of the series. What my mind does not accept cannot affect me. If I focus on the good things the movie has to offer, the bad ones cannot influence me. To me the series is about self-sacrifice, helping the weak, and blowing away the bad guys, and in the process Rambo being invincible.

Okay, Part 4 is coming out soon. I have watched the trailers. Rambo is bulkier and much older - Part III was produced in 1988, so it has since been 20 years... The movie promises to be super-gore, because as Stallone puts it, he wants to present the grim nature of the situation in Cambodia.

I'm certain the movie will attract some controversies, or maybe lots of controversies. But, by now, the readers should know the state of mind I bring with me when I watch this movie.

Ah Loong Business

The recent news of loansharks being arrested set me thinking about their predicament, and of what could have been different if certain sets of parameters are changed, if at all plausible.

But first let me make several assumptions:

1. Customers
Those who go to loansharks cannot get a loan from the banks, or do not realise they might actually be eligible for a loan from the banks.


2. Suppliers
Loansharks are operated by hoodlums. The entire operation may be owned (or financed) by ordinary, on-the-surface law-abbing persons (OTSLAP), but at the groundlevel the operations are handled by hoodlums.


3. Basic Premise
Loansharks satisfy the demand of a section of the market. As long as the demand exists there will be loansharks.

Loanshark operation is profitable enough to justify its existence outside the law. Not every loan-collection results in the hoodlums having to take drastic measures. Some clients pay on time.

Loansharks operate at grassroots level, to a certain extent, they depend on the neighbourhood for cover.



So, why would the loansharks want to destroy the "goodwill" of the neighbourhood, and bring unwanted attention to themselves? Surely the OTSLAPs would benefit by instructing the hoodlums to adopt more civil methods to their operations, like:

1. Be more courteous
2. Dont' get angry so easily
3. Don't disturb the innocent bystanders.
4. Set up a commission with the power to punish the errant loansharks.

If the OTSLAPs can achieve that, and get the customers and neighbourhoods over to their side, things might turn out more rosy.

But this is not possible.

At present, the "pool of talent" amongst the loansharks is sadly wanting. There are simply not enough talents to implement and enforce the above pointers. The local environment does not make it worthwhile for any person capable enough to accomplish the above 4 points to enter the loanshark business.

As such the future of loanshark business here is bleak, due to lack of sufficient talent pool. Business will continue because of the demand, but it will still to be a frantic cat and mouse game with the law-makers.

Teck Ghee Primary School Library

When I was 9 year old, I was granted privilege to stay in school for one hour each week after classes to visit the school library.

The library was located on the 2nd floor of the only building of my school. It occupied an area the equivalent of 4 standard classrooms (which adds up to be roughly 2,700sqft). It was one of the few areas in my school which were air-conditioned (the others being our Audio-Visual (AV) room, and my principal's office, which i have had the misadventure to set foot on one occasion, but that is another story).

I remember the library being like a cocoon, a world of its own. Being air-conditioned, the library had to be enclosed. The shut windows were lined with pleated sky-blue curtains that blocked out a good portion of the sunlight. The mixture of fluorescent lighting and sun-lit curtains, in addition to rows and rows of bookshelves, plus a rare 20 degree-celsius temperature, gave the library a surreal ambience. The library was always quiet and orderly. The children went about their business coyly, almost out of obeisance to the wondrous secrets that were contained in the towering bookshelves that lined the walls. There was never a need for the teacher-in-charge to raise her voice to maintain order. Quite a stark contrast to the bright, airy, and sometimes very hot, classrooms populated by boisterous children and nervous teachers.

It was in that library where I first introduced myself to the ancient mythologies - Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian and American. The stories opened a whole new world that was previously unbeknownst to me. I learnt of the 12 labours of Hercules, the battle of Perseus and Medusa, Achilles' heels, long before most of my contemporaries. I learnt that the Greek gods and their Roman counterparts are actually the same, but only differed in names (e.g. Mars is Ares, who was the god of war, and Jupiter is Zeus). I read of the anger and jealousy of Junos (Hera), and the playful little kid that was Ganesha (Indian elephant god). I journeyed with Momotaro and his pets(!?) as they waged battles with the demons......

On hindsight, I am glad I was exposed to such wondrous stories at a young age, when I could accept the stories wholeheartedly, without worldly prejudice, and before material skepticism creeps inevitably into the teenage years and adulthood. I must admit that over the years I have forgotten most of the stories and their contents. I am sure there must be many more hidden meanings that are contained in these stories which I never uncovered. But the most enduring quality that i inherit surely must be the willingness, even eagerness i think..., to believe in the wondrous, the impossibles.