tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85880200993937710332024-03-18T22:00:33.446-07:00Thoughts and piecesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger219125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-9461629983666599482012-02-22T18:38:00.000-08:002012-02-22T18:38:06.738-08:00Private transport (private bus, van or car)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am starting a new job in Changi South about April 2012 and I am looking for a private transport in the morning and evening. I need to reach office about 8.30 AM and leaving at 6 PM. I have been trying hard to find over the internet but can't find anything. So I hope this blog post allow people who are facing same issue to post and maybe I can work out something.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I am staying in the West (Choa Chu Kang / CCK, Yew Tee) and hope to travel to Changi South Street 1 (can be Expo, Changi Business Park or any other Changi South areas).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Please comment if you are also looking for one such transport (i.e. maybe we can pull enough people to start one service) or if you are the relevant service provider. Thanks.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-44495139329577576872012-01-31T08:28:00.000-08:002012-02-11T16:30:41.467-08:00Fishy breast milk - the scientific summaryI have wanted to write on the topic of fishy breast milk for some time but I have not had chance to do so since my boys takes quite a huge chunk of my time at night. Luckily today somehow I have half an hour to do so!<br />
The topic of fishy breast milk is something that I only encounter recently. My first son was literally fed with fishy breast milk that my wife produced for more than 1 year without an issue. She went back to work after 2 months of maternity leave and after that, the boy drank thawed frozen breast milk that is at least 2-4 months old. I noticed the fishy smell but did not really think about it as he still drank them and did not show any health problem at all. Well, recently he developed asthma syndrome but then there is no indication so far that this is the result of the fishy breast milk.<br />
I started to search on fishy breast milk topic as it was more apparent for my second boy. My wife had nearly four months maternity leave so by the time she went back to work, the frozen breast milk had already been 4 months in storage. I became aware of the issue of fishy smell and upon some searches in google realized that many mothers are facing the same issue. However, I have not managed to come across any article that talks about the issue using scientific references. So in this article, I would like to share what I can gather.<br />
Apparently there has been quite a number of studies that indicates that mother's food intake can modify the content of breast milk and thus affect the odor. Harris, W. S. et. al. in their study (http://www.ajcn.org/content/40/4/780.short) reported that mothers taking fish oil supplement reported fishy odor in their breast milk 1 to 3 hours after taking fish oil supplements. However, a recent study by Sandgruber, S. et. al. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814611004390) seemed to dispute this idea as they reported no statistically significant modification of the odor of breast milk upon fish oil intervention. It would seem that the jury is still out there on whether the smell comes from fish oil intake or not. I reckon it will be really difficult to conduct a double blinded study on this issue as mother's metabolism may potentially be a major variable including other genetic factors. In addition, it will not be easy to control diet of a big group of mothers concerned about their child's well being.<br />
However, Spitzer, J. and Buettner, A. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814609011935) in their study showed that odor active compounds are more active in stored breast milk. In addition, Sangruber, S. et. al. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814611009605) continued their study and reported that fishy smell was not apparent in breast milk stored at -80 C. They mentioned that apparent flavor change was apparent when the milk was stored at -19 C.<br />
Therefore, would seem that to prevent fishy breast milk issue, a -80 C freezer may be required. I have not come across a small unit of -80 C freezer though so it may prove to be a potential untapped market or simply further study on how to prevent appearance of fishy odor in storage of -19 C may be required.<br />
At this moment, I and my wife are trying to see whether the pasteurization mentioned in some sites actually works in preventing the milk to turn fishy. Will update this post when I have more information.<br />
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Update: I realised that at times my wife's breast milk will smell quite fishy before even I pasteurised it. Unfortunately the pasteurisation did not get rid of the smell. One possible factor that I would not be able to probe is the effect of direct freezing as my wife pumped milk at work so she has to keep it in a domestic fridge for about 8 hours. Amazingly my son seems to just gobble up whatever milk, pasteurised or not, that is presented to him. I guess it means good..Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-71503387084784467352010-10-22T21:49:00.000-07:002010-10-22T21:49:30.333-07:00Singapore on fire<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you think, based on the title, that I am going to write about haze, you are wrong. I am referring to the mess some of the industries are, especially those the Government hopes to foster. These are the current industries or perhaps employment in a drama and on fire:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Financial consultancy</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Property agency</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Private education</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Wellness clinic</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The industries are pretty much those that fits into the Government drive for more SMEs. However, typical of people falling into complacency, laziness or perhaps simply ignorance or even worse, gambling mood, there has been a kind of stand where these steps are repeated:<br />
- Sudden emergence of a business</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Noone cares as it looks like providing a good amount of SME</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Noone cares so lack to no regulations are set up</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Booming time, plenty of jobs - some of it goes to the so called immigrants because locals do not want to do it (for example those in wellness clinic)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Crashing time, plenty of problems</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Let's break it down one by one.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Financial businesses are very lucrative. After all, Singapore drives itself hard to be the leading financial hub. What comes with it is the financial consultant, people who are supposedly working hard to help commoners to plan for their finance. However, as the business rules go, profit is the main driver. So the client's interest go to the back, money making comes to the front. So far, does not seem that there is any regulation to put bad financial consultant to task (or even the agency) if they cause a big loss to the client, misrepresent product or even for hard selling. Unless of course, the client is so rich that they can hire lawyer and push it to court! Plenty of insurance product sold under investment linked features add up to the woe because let's face it, we all want to get more for less. So what happen? Plenty of people become one of such consultants, plenty of people including ah pek and ah mah who got burned. Let's recall Lehman brothers. What happen after that? Nothing, practically nothing that would really change the life of the ah pek and ah mah. I bet those financial industries remain banking on people with sweet lips and nothing is in place to ensure their agents know the products upside down and have system to check or audit for things like honesty. Is it so costly to set up 'mystery shopping' kind of thing for a check and balance system? Nothing comes from the Government so far. After all, the drive is for financial hub, profit, profit, profit. They will at most tell you, if you don't want to get burned, don't go in. Again, my fault. Indeed, so every single one of us has to take care of ourselves better. Know what you are going into and oh yeah, make sure everyone in your family is super smart and don't get conned unless you are rich and can get a lawyer to get your money back. *sarcasm intended* ( I simply wish for a better regulations and to make sure those people are responsible for their jobs. I am sure if I am one such consultant, I will not make too much sales per people but I am sure those clients will love me as I will never cheat them. But then again, I prefer honesty. :-) ) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Property agent is another issue. Lots of moonlighting meaning, potential lack of commitment. Plenty of cases to use for example where there is allegation that the agent won't help the client to save or earn few more thousands. Hey, wake up. What will make the agent help you with few thousands since it only translates to few more tens of dollars. Remember, you are paying 1%. Worse, if you are buyer, you are hoping to lower the price so you are hoping to cut the agent's fee? Dream on! What I would probably do next time I buy a house is to say to the agent that I will give him 20-30% of the savings should he succeed in reducing the cost. I hope no one kills me for disturbing the status quo in the industry. Then again, plenty of bad apples in the industry. Plenty of people who see their interest not represented. Even a case where the agent get a client, the client's tenant (for rental that is) not paying and got evicted within 2 months, the agent still pockets the money and small claim tribunal action has to be started. Gee..... where is the honesty? What's the rules anyway? Huh? Got rules meh? Again, where is the governing regulation or even framework for the industry?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Private education is one of the newest problem. Plenty of schools, into thousands. Yes, you read it right, thousands. Small ones of course. SME, remember? Small enterprises. Seems to be so easy to start one. Plenty of people from overseas coming in for education. Hey, the drive is to be another education hub. Heck care of the start. No strict regulations. Just register with Ministry of Education, get a CASE (Consumer Association of Singapore) and then run your business. My biggest question is why even with the involvement of Ministry level people and a consumer association, a so called accredited and approved institutes can still fold up so easily? What is in the so called requirement to get approval anyway? Simply has money to invest? Gosh... does anyone even start to sit down and think how many foreign students and poor hard working souls (especially those who really want education but got ignored by the other institutes) will be stranded? How many of the foreigners end up being exploited and becomes overstayer? There is even a news of a student who after schooling for a year, haven't obtained student visa. What's he staying with anyway? A work permit? Or simply an overstayer? Now, what does this seemingly mess produce? Some (or plenty perhaps) super rich and a dent in the image. Only after some folds up suddenly there is so called stricter requirements for registration. Gee.. why does it need to have some casualties before action?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wellness clinic is also another SME growth in the latest years. Plenty of gullible people who thought they can save money by buying a year worth of service only to find out that their money flies away and no service can be obtained since the clinic folds up. Why would you buy the package anyway? Is the risk so low? Who will even guarantee your money should the clinic folds up? CASE will never care even after providing so called accreditation. What is the requirement anyway? Is it a good list of requirement if so many can fold up after the consumer's money run away? Who benefits? Well, again some (or plenty perhaps) super rich. Lots of unemployed immigrants (since their jobs are not interesting for Singaporeans) and clients with money in the black hole. Some of the immigrants surely will contribute to the social ill at the end of the day. Perhaps simply the case of the honest people being pushed to the corner. And yeah, no new regulations yet.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I question the roles of CASE and will they ever do better in protecting the consumer? Perhaps one of the possibility is to start a more powerful consumer association manned by people who can better predict and come up with better accreditation system and who can be hold responsible in a way if there a mess despite their so called accreditation system.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The bottomline is that there should be a simply risk assessment. The Government agency who is the stakeholders in any emerging business should sit together and carry out a risk assessment. They need to assess the positive and negative risk and think about what framework and regulations are required to safeguard the population. What I am looking at now is a Government who is so reactive that I wonder what they are doing in the office day by day. Is that so difficult to wish for proactive civil servants? They are not exactly paid low, supposedly at better than market to get the best. Too much to ask similar thing from the Government to make sure sufficient regulations are in place before victims show up? Is that so difficult to do a risk assessment? The workplace safety and health council just release a code of practice on risk management. I am confident that the code of practice can be easily used for non safety issues, provided they want some changes to better governance.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-85579788447186709112010-10-09T06:53:00.000-07:002010-10-09T06:53:55.986-07:00Risk assessment in Singapore<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today's newspaper reported the incident of silts from building site leaking into two rivers feeding drinking water system in Singapore. While there does not seem to be a clear indication of preventive action, there is also no clear indication that the builder will even be punished.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What I come to realize in Singapore is how risk assessment has become an empty catch word. Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA) requires companies to do so, but there is no enforcement scheme. I never know of any requirement for environmental assessment before construction as well. All these, I suspect, are in the name of progress. After all, doing proper risk assessment require some initial investment (read: COST) which burdens the company. Worse, even saying that risk assessment will prevent further cost, the FUTURE COST is not something easily tangible and seen at present. Hence, things are easily ignored.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The case on silt which is reported is a highly probable sign that little to no environment assessment via risk assessment was carried out before construction. If they have carried out the assessment, most likely they would have realized that Singapore tends to rain all year long and the location of their site is near river feeding to drinking water system. Hence, there shall be a need to ensure no run off of building materials or waste into the rivers. Sadly, no such thoughts seem to exist. In addition, for PUB, nothing seems to have gone wrong. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It is also a sad practice that risk assessment becomes a task for a single person sitting down in the office. How would that person be able to cover issues from multi disciplinary field? Or is it simply for convenience sake when things go wrong? After all, it is easier to blame one than a group of people?<br />
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From what I can see, Singapore's risk management system is far than working. Unless remedial action in improving the safety culture and enforcement, I am afraid that we are waiting for big ugly event to occur. Hopefully it won't be as bad as the red sludge in Hungary.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-63209272395295651832010-10-08T17:45:00.000-07:002010-10-08T17:45:37.318-07:00Minimum wages for maid in Singapore<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now, there has been some argument that there should be a minimum wage for maid in Singapore. This is mainly triggered by Philippines' Government who wants USD 400 (~SGD 52</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5) as a minimum wage for their citizens who work as maid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I want to examine the case objectively. Since maid or housekeeper is a profession, it needs to be compared with other profession of similar nature. In Singapore, I would argue that cleaner in the coffee shop should have a job similar in nature to maid, i.e. keeping things clean. After all, Ministry of Manpower in Singapore theoretically says a maid should be asked to do only one job scope, i.e. if the maid is to keep house clean, he/she cannot be asked to take care of your kids.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I understand the cleaner in coffee shop is normally paid SGD 600. Considering that they are paid for 8 hours work while maid normally work up to 16 hours, the equivalent wage would be SGD 1,200.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Currently a maid from Philippines in general is paid SGD 350 a month. However, that would have included accommodation, meal and other expenses. If I put in monetary value into those:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Accommodation of one room without air conditioning and relatively poor condition (admit it, only very few employer give their maid an accommodation fit to be paid normal rental): SGD 300</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Meals, assuming SGD 3.00 a meal and 2 meals and 1 breakfast (SGD 1.00): SGD 7.00/day or SGD 210/month; say if you give fruits and others stuffs, maybe I will round it to SGD 230</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Toiletries and other expenses: assume SGD 30/month</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Travel expense: assume SGD 40/month</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The total expense for a maid excluding wage is then SGD 600. If I would to include wage, in total it will become SGD 950. However, there is still levy to pay, that is around SGD 170 (with concession). That means, an employer's effective cost is SGD 1120. That is not that much different from what will be earned by a coffee shop cleaner. In fact some coffee shop cleaner may be even paid less. In fact, if the employer does not receive concession, there will be around SGD 80 extra for levy, making the cost the same.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If the minimum wage for maid is upped to SGD 525. It constitutes a SGD 175 increase. Using the same argument of cost, it would mean that a maid will earn more than a coffee shop cleaner. Hence, I would urge the Government of Singapore to also implement a minimum wage for coffee shop cleaner and other similar profession similar to a maid. There should be equality, right?</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-28722113542839799562010-09-19T01:18:00.000-07:002010-09-19T01:18:36.723-07:00<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have visited Hanoi numerous times but I can't get used to the city yet. Many things remain confusing to me so I thought I may just write some of my experiences here in case someone happen to stumble upon this blog to learn more about dealing with Hanoi trip for first timer.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) Hanoi airport</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.1) Arriving</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the international airport, there are two baggage belts, check where your baggages will be issued from the TV screen hanging on the ceiling. The cart to wheel your luggage is available for free. You may or may not have to give the officials your custom white card. It all depends on the guy who watches over the booth near the exit from the baggage areas. Just in case, fill them up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.2) Money changer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Go around various money changers to compare exchange rate. It may differ nearly 10% among those service providers. I was told that the rate is better in town but I have not had chance to compare so pick your choice.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.3) Taxi</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taxi trips can be one of the most exasperating experiences in Vietnam in general. Do not try to get taxi from tout. Upon exiting the airport, look around and you will see simple marking indicating Noibai Taxi or Airport Taxi. Go to the stand (most likely there will be plenty of other people there as well) and ask for taxi. You can choose to pay fix rate or by meter. I am not sure what is better yet, even after numerous trips! For this current trip to the famous Hoan Kiem lake area from airport, I chalked up 300,000 VND by airport taxi. I had a feeling that I was had but I am not sure how to check. That is the problem. However, that is still better than the 30 USD rate quoted by some private taxi stands within the airport which translates to 570,000 VND. Taxi flag down rate ranges between 9,000 to 15,000 VND. In town, try your best to get Mailinh or Vinasun taxis. They are considered the most honest ones.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) Amenities</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.1) Shopping</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is not that easy to find supermarket in Hanoi. Appears to me that many relies on traditional market or small mini market. There are some supermarkets in the big shopping malls but the prices are slightly expensive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.2) Hotel</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are quite a number of decent hotels with the rate of 50 USD a night and above. I am sure you know more than I do.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-49304574575455263092010-08-17T07:42:00.000-07:002010-08-17T07:42:08.272-07:00Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD)I feel compelled to write something about Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) after listening to the woe of my friends whose children had or is having HFMD. The information I write here are a compilation from the internet with some analysis that I carried out.<br />
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1) Organism<br />
Wikipedia entry mentioned that Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a human syndrome caused by intestinal viruses of the Picornaviridae family. The most common organisms causing HFMD are Coxsackie A virus and Enterovirus 71 (EV-71). I understand that within that two species there are plenty of strains and new strain can also emerge. That should be why your child who has had HFMD did not develop immunity towards HFMD. Other strains may strike and when that happens, your child does not have immunity. If it is the same strain, most likely your child would be immune. Something in the line of why Flu vaccination has to be taken every year.<br />
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2) Victim<br />
Basically it is infant and children who can fall ill to HFMD. However, although uncommon, healthy adult can also get HFMD. I had one colleague who actually contracted HFMD and although it was mild, she was absent from work.<br />
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3) Incubation period<br />
The most commonly stated incubation period from infection to onset of symptoms are three to seven days although Singapore's MOH states in their website that the incubation period are between two to five days.<br />
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4) Symptoms<br />
From US CDC website:<br />
* The disease usually begins with a fever, poor appetite, malaise (feeling vaguely unwell), and often with a sore throat.<br />
* One or 2 days after fever onset, painful sores usually develop in the mouth. They begin as small red spots that blister and then often become ulcers. The sores are usually located on the tongue, gums, and inside of the cheeks.<br />
* A non-itchy skin rash develops over 1–2 days. The rash has flat or raised red spots, sometimes with blisters. The rash is usually located on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet; it may also appear on the buttocks and/or genitalia.<br />
* A person with HFMD may have only the rash or only the mouth sores<br />
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Hence, it is important to check for those symptoms if you suspect your child to have contracted HFMD.<br />
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5) Transmission<br />
The most common transmission route for HFMD is contact transmission. Meaning that the illness is passed through contact. So it is not something you get from breathing in the virus. It is something that has to get into your body. The virus causing HFMD can be found in nose and throat secretion, blister fluid, saliva and stool. Hence if a kid touch those infected fluid and get that fluid inside his/her body, he/she can be infected. Once the virus is inside the body, it does not necessarily cause a disease. However, children are with lower immunity compared to adult and hence, the chances of getting the disease after infection is more likely. It is also said that the first week of illness is the most infectious period. Disappearance of symptoms should also not be taken as a sign that the child is no longer infectious. <br />
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In fact, some people who are infected with HFMD may not have symptoms. Hence, it is very important to check your child's surroundings and friends to ensure that no one has had symptoms of HFMD and keep personal hygiene high. You should not let your guard down simply because there is no one with HFMD symptoms. This is specifically important if your child is in area where contact transmission is easier to happen, such as infant / toddler / child care, schools, etc.<br />
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5) Hygiene<br />
It is important to inculcate good personal hygiene from young. Good personal hygiene will reduce the risk of infection but will never fully eliminate the risk.<br />
Personal hygiene include (but not limited to):<br />
- washing hand with soap and water before meal<br />
- sneezing and coughing into tissue, handkerchief or the sleeves<br />
- cleaning articles which may have come in contact with the body fluid of HFMD sufferers<br />
- avoiding direct contact with HFMD sufferers<br />
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6) Vaccination<br />
There is currently no vaccine available for HFMD. I am quite sure the inventor will earn quite a handsome amount of profit considering the economic loss from HFMD (e.g. parents taking leave to bring their child to doctor or even hospital).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-63107181543351465752010-07-01T07:09:00.000-07:002010-07-01T07:09:38.026-07:00Singapore breakdown in rainSeriously, I think problems are surfacing in Singapore. The recent flood in Orchard Road smells of something wrong. They do good actually since after some work, the flood does not occur again. However, it does show that if they have done something before that wicked rain, the flood may not have happened. Now, other areas are flooded, or perhaps they have always flooded but have not been reported in news until just now?<br />
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I would think that a period of complacency has set in and has taken too deep a root in the public services in Singapore. My interaction with the ministries in my work seems to obviously point out to lack of coordination. Although it is an "expected behaviour" of public servants (I face nearly the same thing when dealing with US's government agencies), I would have thought that Singapore's system would do more justice. But then again, the government may have lost control. After a period of "nothingness" as in nothing bad happen, people stops thinking about improvement and they become reactive. That is what I think the main issue.<br />
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It would appear simple that risk assessment can be carried out on the drainage system for example, to examine the weak point. Then there should be more coordination from building authorities (BCA), public utilities (PUB) and natinal environmental agency (NEA) on issues such as sewerage. I would suggest maintaining active surveillance and issue long. That would really help point people towards common issues and making sure appropriate communication programme in place.<br />
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I really hope the situation improve. Other issues such as inflation has lowered the attractiveness of Singapore and creates mumbling among the residences. Hopefully, it will improve, for the sake of the next generation.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-7754402202834795222010-05-04T17:44:00.000-07:002010-05-04T17:44:04.279-07:00Nurturing employeesMany companies nowadays put forward programs to help their employees to develop. One interesting marketing campaign I have seen said "your development is your responsibility" implying that the employees have to take charge of their own development (I assume it means career and personal development). However, it does not seem to imply employer's role in it.<br />
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Granted that unless one is driving oneself, one would find it hard to succeed in anything. However, many times the employees' hands are bound by what the employers plan. How many employers would agree to fund and support their employees' development plan which is not aligned with the greater business objectives (aka making money)? I am not pessimistic to say none but I would say a great deal of them would say a clear "NO" although they may hide it under different disguise. In reality, a development plan means time and cost is required. A mentoring plan requires the mentor to spend the time and it is an opportunity cost where the time can be used to make money. A course will cost the department / company. These are the parts that are often forgotten. I would argue then that the employers have a bigger role in developing the employees. All comes to budget and thoughts within the organizations. All need management support. A company losing money will not be able to realistically fund for a course for the employees unless the course will make more money in a very short time!! However, I would also argue that the employers should look into a longer term and think about how the employees can be happier, more productive and when even leaving a company they may appreciate what have been done. These intangible values are somewhat lost, at least based on what I have experienced and through my reading of the newspaper. Sadly..Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-3684046248462841162010-05-02T19:38:00.000-07:002010-05-02T19:38:57.184-07:00Cost of salaryEveryone wants higher salary, doesn't it? Why? Because we think we deliver more value to justify that, right?<br />
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Now, plenty of us tends to forget several other costs of working. We always think about Profit = Revenue - Cost, aka Savings = Salary - Time spent.<br />
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However, what has always been forgotten are costs such as:<br />
- Family life<br />
- Social life<br />
- Rest time<br />
- Ethics<br />
- Integrity<br />
- Honesty<br />
- Morality<br />
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Those costs are intangible yet important as it provides the invisible support to allow one to work optimally. However, plenty of times we and our employers do not value them. It is pretty much a driven world, world driven by money. We have seen recently how those many costs are blowing up. Consider the financial crisis fuelled by irresponsible acts. But wait, who says it is irresponsible? It is the unfortunate. In a way, it is the lack of integrity, ethics and morality which has seem degraded our working life to just work, for money, money and money. Plenty of times other rewards, benefits and contribution from working life are not considered. A meaningful work should be those that help the world turns around and better other people. Consider the cleaner, the operator, the rubbish collecter, etc. We need all those but we rarely reward them just simply because they don't create the money. Wait, someone will say "the value". I am not exactly sure when we human started to equate value = money and only money.<br />
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Similarly, moral degradation affects lots of facets of our lives. See how lavish some senior management is rewarded. It is time that more realistic and moralistic based salary calculation is implemented. Only then perhaps working life is considered sacred and really for the betterment of society.<br />
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Wait, even then this argument may turn against me because I am also talking about money here. :-) Then again, those other values ("costs") need to be considered as well. Why are we paying irresponsible and ethically incorrect people higher than the honest folk?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-68290629312349342882010-04-28T06:28:00.000-07:002010-04-28T06:28:23.618-07:00Singapore and music playerSingapore residents seem to have quite a romance with MP3 players. This morning I took an opportunity to count how many people actually hearing songs while waiting for the train. Out of 33 people waiting for the train in a single door, I notice 22 people wearing either ear phones or head phones! That is 67% of them. No wonder mobile phones in Singapore seems to have audio player as a default feature. Too bad it does not seem that any company is taking a significant market share in it although iPhone seems to be very popular, held by students, teenagers and young adults.<br />
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Some people even use their music player to entertain others, kind of anyway. They enjoy blasting their music on their tiny ears. At times the music sounds even louder than if I were to use my own music player. When the music is what I enjoy, it is not that bad but most of the times, it's a pure ear splitting drums, heavy metals or alternative music that are blasting off. So it is quite annoying. This morning was not that bad though. There was only one (a Secondary School boy) out of the 22 people with music player who was blasting his music. It strikes me that with such a number of music player user and a small number of people who over estimate their ears, the business of hearing aid should be good in 20-30 years down the road. Surely they would have problem with their ears after subjecting their ears to daily loud music. Some scientific studies have outlined the danger of amplified music regularly:<br />
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/03005369009077849<br />
and<br />
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WKR-4PYR4WN-5&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F31%2F2008&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1314709155&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=4a73119539abc420da390e0a9520aa7b<br />
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It would be interesting to understand whether the hearing aid companies actually know this case before venturing to Singapore. Quite a number of advertisements in the train actually.<br />
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Sometimes I have even thought of producing a T-Shirt with wordings "Listen less to music, Protect your ear" or "Keep your music to yourself" kind of T-shirt to wear in the train every morning. Haha... There are two big players in sarcasm T-shirt in Indonesia but none in Singapore. Anyone wants to join me?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-88593991952197903372010-04-25T07:07:00.000-07:002010-04-25T07:07:07.478-07:00Curriculum in NTUI studied in Nanyang Technological University for a total of 7 years ins the School of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering. So I have a good idea of what was taught. However, my several working years clearly indicate the insufficiency of what was taught suring the undergraduate study. I feel that they should have taught taguchi method and project management as core subjects. Plenty of engineer's work would need taguchi method and most of the time, engineer runs project so a good understanding of project management surely help. However, I do understand that there has been plenty of comments on how busy he study life is.I would think that simple weighting prioritization scorwe wilhelp determine which subject would need to bw compulsory. Subject such as human resource management is hard yo argue for its usefulness. When project management is in the curriculum, project team management would be inside anyway.<br />
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There are plenty of ways to reinvigorate the life of engineer in NTU and I believe the change is necessary for survival and to ensure survivabity and relevant to the world today. I don't think that would be other ways to do.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-21809530598164530852010-04-23T05:06:00.000-07:002010-04-23T05:12:56.608-07:00Singapore taxi driverI am continuously amazed by the taxi driver in Singapore every single time I take taxi. Most are generally quite talkative. They all offer unique perspectives of their lives and do not shy away from dishing some advices of how to lead one's life.<br /><br />I can however put them into three baskets generally speaking:<br />1. Super rich taxi driver. They are some sort of high level executives in their previous jobs before deciding to retire and instead of spending time doing nothing, they drive taxi. Simply as filling up their time. These drivers are generally of full praise of the government.<br />2. Normal taxi driver. They are simply driving taxi to earn a living. Nothing like the type in no.1. Perhaps since generally they are in the middle income range or slightly below middle income that they are the complaining type. Most rant about how the Government doesn't care about the people, how Singapore is terrible place to live, how things has become quite expensive.<br />3. The silent one. They are simply ignoring you and aim to put you where to go with the slightest conversation as possible. They just want to make their ends' meet.<br /><br />I think the drivers embodies typical Singaporeans. It is quite interesting to see how diverse the view that people have of the governance in Singapore. It is also a good description and wake up call that nothing is perfect in this world.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-44685919975027381892010-02-22T23:04:00.000-08:002010-02-22T23:26:22.447-08:00Clean room testing and containment laboratories<span style="font-family:arial;">I have been working in containment consultancy for few years and I still can't stop amazed by the confusion in the market between clean room and containment laboratories. Plenty times I have come across news and laboratories which are tested by clean room standards. Many times, the firms doing work in containment laboratories have been certified for clean room work, get the work in the laboratories for having such certification and well, deal with the laboratories as if they are clean room.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;"><br />As a start, clean room is to keep things from going in, although generally there are some that also keep things going out. However, the first and foremost key issue is to keep things from going in. On the other hand, containment laboratories (BSL3/4) are intended to keep things from going out. Although there are some BSL3 that also provide means to keep their facilities clean either with the intention to improve work quality or simply to improve indoor air quality (arguably unnecessarily at times). Hence, the key principles between clean room and containment laboratories are rather different (or opposite, if you like). Therefore, one has to be careful in choosing contractors to ensure that safety and not quality is the focus of the work in containment laboratories.<br /><br />Unfortunately, clean room is heavily regulated with plenty of standards while containment labroatories are something new without many technical standards guiding it. For a start, the website of NEBB, a popular accreditation body that provide certification to firms doing work in clean room, does not list Biosafety Cabinet (BSC) in their testing list. BSC is in fact, arguably the most important equipment in a containment laboratory, providing protection to the personnel, product and environment. I have seen places where only the HEPA in the BSC and the BSC is called as "certified" although popular BSC standards such as NSF 49, JIS K 3800 or EN 12469 call for other tests such as downflow and face velocity, smoke test, etc. for the cabinet, both in factory and on site! There is also a separate BSC certification scheme organized by NSF which an owner of BSC has to take note of. Therefore, BSC is not simply the HEPA filters installed. The airflow performance has to be tested as well. This is a second issue which many firms dealing with clean room are not familiar with.<br /><br />The third issue is with the HEPA certification. Clean room has plenty requirements for HEPA and such facility puts a lot of scrutiny to the HEPA, which is good and similar to containment laboratories. However, sometimes, some clean room requirement would allow particle testing using atmospheric air. Owners of a containment laboratory should take note that such testing is not something acceptable for a containment laboratory! Acceptable HEPA leak testing in containment laboratories include DOP / PAO testing, scan tested or by overall penetration. Owner has to be clear as well that the testing is to establish a leak level and appropriate testing standards and methodologies acceptable to containment laboratories have to be specified by the testing firm. Unfortunately, technical standards for HEPA in containment laboratories do not exist. Many biosafety guidelines would refer to acceptable leak level but now how they are to be tested. Canadian guidelines goes one step further and require adherence to IEST standard which is essentially a clean room standard. However, the guideline is clear about the type of testing required and I can vouch that atmospheric testing is not something commonly accepted for containment laboratories.<br /><br />Last difference is on the sampling of indoor air. Sampling of bacteria in the air is not something commonly practiced in containment laboratories. Gaseous decontamination of containment laboratories also uses biological indicator to validate. The biological indicators are mostly in the form of spore strip or other proprietary products. However, clean room at times uses bacterial sampler. Again, this is a different practice.<br /><br />In conclusion, clean room testing standard is not directly applicable to containment laboratories and owners of a laboratory should question which standard they would want to comply with. Some testing commonly accepted in a clean room facility may not be acceptable in a containment laboratory setting.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-2272406071352085772010-01-27T00:04:00.000-08:002010-01-27T00:15:17.709-08:00Precious little family<span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Family is something precious. We hear that very often and it is something that we rarely stop to think why it is stated as such. Never have I reflect that point until recently when my parents left for home (some 1.5 hrs flight away) after coming here for a few days to attend my sister's wedding. I have never felt the feeling of "missing someone" but when my mother texted me to inform me of them reaching my hometown, I feel the surge of a sad feeling. The feeling that I will not see them for some time. Despite my constant quarelling with them for many little petty things and despite knowing those things and actions I dislike was there because of their loving me, it is not easy to imagine that I will miss them somehow. Yet, here I am realizing that they have made an impact in my life with just a couple of days being with them in the same house, without even mentioning that I only see them few hours a day since I am working! This really show me how much a human can make an impression on others regardless of what they are doing. Just simply having a chat and even those quarelling can really give a deep impression. In case of parents, talking to them face to face after separating for few months can be very insightful. Realizing how much things have happened back at home, what has happened to them when they are away, etc. are a mind opening experience. Hey, they do help me clean my house, cook and tend to my boy. They are not exactly big stuff. I still don't like them straining themselves over those "dirty" (few specks of dust) window. But their just being there is simply enough to change and indicate that there is something different. After taking them for granted, their leaving for home just strikes me as something I would feel sad. How much we as human can take our lives and family for granted is beyond comprehension. I vouch to be more aware of people's presence in my lives especially my parents.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-37866329414912249882009-11-20T19:27:00.000-08:002009-11-20T20:09:38.747-08:00Healthy companyThe working world is very dynamic. It is very rare to see a company without any staff turnover. Depending on the type of business, the turnover rate may easily reach above 50%, e.g. hotel and service industry. Part of the issue is the long hours in those industry which does not tend to translate into adequate pay for the employees. Despite whatever turnover rate existing, I believe the spread of employee service duration can be used to describe the effectiveness of the company.<br /><br />I would split the service duration in a company to short (0-5 years), medium (5 to 10 years) and long term (above 10 years). I believe that an effective company the spread of service duration should follow a kind of normal distribution where most of the employees should be in medium service durations.<br /><br />Young employees of 20s to mid 30s are known to job hop and change job regularly to (1) find a job that suit themselves better; (2) negotiate better working condition. However, some of those 'lucky' youngsters will land in their dream job from day one or near day one. These are the people that would stay in medium to long term. People in medium term would be expected to have master their work and be in good productive part of their life while not being paid excessively. Thus, they are the ones which would be upholding the effectiveness and productivity of the company. Employees serving less than 5 years would be expected to still learn the rope and still climbing in productivity. Unless the company attempt to keep more of this people, the company will experience high turnover for the young employees.<br /><br />Employees who have served the company for more than 10 years are known to be loyal and die hard fans of the company. They are the stalwart employees. However, their salary is often rather high compared to what they do. After all, you would have few people in the top management (normally people who has served for a long time). The rest would be low or medium level employees. Hence, their work would normally considered of lower value add but yet due to their long service, they are paid quite well.<br /><br />Therefore, I believe an effective and productive company would be those with employee in medium service duration followed by a short service duration. A company that experiences a hollow medium service duration employee , i.e. lots more oldies and youngsters, may not function as effectively as they should be since the employees are either still (i) learning the rope or (ii) paid overly high compared to their value.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-77988402214715291472009-11-18T05:49:00.000-08:002009-11-18T05:59:37.844-08:00Technology marketplace - a potentially better set up?I just visited A*STAR's website on a whim and I found an interesting link: <a href="http://www.a-star.edu.sg/Industry/TechnologyMarketplace/tabid/97/Default.aspx">http://www.a-star.edu.sg/Industry/TechnologyMarketplace/tabid/97/Default.aspx</a><br /><br />Looks like they are heading to a correct direction. They are offering technologies for licensing openly in the market. I wish there are more things listed there though. But then again, Singapore's R&D scene is still in the growing stage. The list there may even be considered impressive for the beginners.<br /><br />However, I feel that more should be done for those patented technologies. They should be actively offered to targeted businesses or industries. A team of people whose job scope comprises of listing and finding potential companies who may find those technologies useful will serve any R&D institute well. Not many companies embrace the idea of searching technologies to buy online so to wait for one to stumble upon the webpage seems complacent. Active searching of buyers should still be the main activity.<br /><br />The webpage set up could be improved as well by allowing companies to search based on their need, e.g. searching based on the type of the company, the type of technology and trying to categorize the technologies in wider manner. A technology would normally fall under several categories so they should be listed under those categories at the same time.<br /><br />Another issue that can be taken up is to reduce patent applications. Patenting findings seem to be a pastime of Singapore's researchers. Unfortunately, not many of those patents really worth patenting. I think this is a credible explanation to the lack of commercialization. In fact, patent application may serve as the end point of the research without afterthought put into what will happen after that. Money spent for patenting nearly useless research findings could be well spent into bettering the technology or even channeling them to better use. Before a patent is applied, potential for commercialization should actually be assessed first. I would think that having 100% commercialization success of 100 patents are better than having 10,000 patent with 10 commercialization success.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-92101738277310212632009-11-18T05:37:00.000-08:002009-11-18T05:46:09.984-08:00Good idea for mall managementI went to West Mall today and I must confess that I am impressed with whoever has the idea for the escalator arrangement. The Mall is roughly a rectangle and runs two stacks of escalator at the opposite long side. It used to be set such that one stack is for going up while the other stack is for going down. In this set up, the shoppers simply walk along a side to reach the escalator for continuing their trips up or down.<br /><br />Today I saw the escalator being set in a crisscrossing manner. The escalator on the next level is running to the opposite direction of the previous level. In short, the shoppers has to circle one short side and one long side of the Mall to reach the escalator to the next level. Hence, the shoppers are required to pass through 50% of the shop in one level just to get to another level regardless of whether they are going up or going down! It is a simple but really good idea, for the retailers of course.<br /><br />As for the shoppers, they have to travel far longer than they are used to. In fact, more than twice the previous distance, as previously one only need to go through one of the short side.<br /><br />Who wins here? I guess both as the shoppers who need to reach the level would normally know where they want to go and they shouldn't really mind the extra trips while the shop owners are also happier (especially shop owners at the long side of the Mall) since more shoppers pass their way (although most will not go into their shops, at least higher chance of having shoppers). The definite winner is clear, the Mall management, for satisfying the shop owners while not terribly turning away the shoppers.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-54479077445146482372009-11-18T05:25:00.000-08:002009-11-18T05:37:20.008-08:00Customer satisfactionRecently, there has been quite a hot discussion the results of customer satisfaction survey in Singapore. The key issue is the finding that Singapore's customer satisfaction index has declined! It means that customer is less satisfied with the service this year compared to last year. In response to that, the so called Singapore Retailers Association (SRA) blames the customer! It is said that the frontline service personnel has been given training and they have improved. The customer is now to be blamed because they have increase their expectation.<br /><br />How far can the retailers be from the current denial? Are really customers to be blamed for desiring more? Who are the customers? I thought customers are what the retailers want to gain. The world is dynamic and so are customers. It is inherent that people desire better situations, better products, better service and so on. The key point of winning customers is to fulfill their expectations or even winning them. So, customer satisfaction is a moving target. To say that the service improve while not managing to satisfy customers or clients are like saying that one is prepared to catch a 1 tonne fish with a makeshift wooden fishing rod (forgive my analogy, I can't find better example than this :-P). The inability of the retailers to understand what the customer wants or expects should not be turned around to the extent that customers are asked to lower their expectation. Who are to be served here at the first place? Service should not stagnate and should aim higher and higher to fulfill and exceed customer satisfactions. Efforts should be put forward to really understand customer's needs, e.g. maybe better ambient, better store set up, wider product line up or simply staff that speaks the language. Instead of complaining, the energy should be better spent on interviewing and seeking feedback to formulate real actions.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-18793947968897067252009-11-14T05:31:00.000-08:002009-11-14T05:40:07.286-08:00Ineffective advertisementAdvertisements on "encounter of the nice kind" aka "closer" (if I remember the title correctly) that are normally put up in the MRT station have quite good stories. It talks about friendship of people from different background. However, I don't think it is effective. I would love to take a poll of how many people actually know which advertisement I am talking about. I bet there are not many people who are aware of that.<br /><br />The only appealing thing (or repealing) on the advertisements are the huge number of words they use. I don't count but a simple glance can tell anyone it's far too many. Not surprising that people will not remember the advertisement or know what it talks about. MRT station is where people pass through and it's rare to see people stopping. It'll be difficult to expect people to stop, stand still and takes half a minute to read! In fact, people may actually remember "oh yeah, wordy advertisement with weird fonts and random highlights" but does this constitute effective advertisement? I don't think so. Effective advertisement is one where people know what the advertisement is about, remember clearly what it looks like or hears like and it's best if people involuntarily recall the advertisement. The advertisement on "encounter of the nice kind" (or maybe some other title... if you get what I mean here) does not seem to fulfill any of those requirements.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-60611950495369531322009-08-01T16:08:00.000-07:002009-08-01T16:15:54.880-07:00Fair companyNowadays we are flooded with news about pay and bonuses in the big bank where the bonus pool is larger than profit. Then there are the other side of the stories where employers run away with pay and leave the employees without pay.<br /><br />I am wondering, have been wondering for long in fact, whether it is possible to set up a fair company. Seems logical and easy but haven't even found any that is built on such principle. What I mean by a fair company is where the profit is shared from the top to the bottom. Where say a profit of 1 million goes to the CEO for about 10%, the rest is to the say, 50 employees. There must be a way to work out a fair proportion where employees feel the CEO worth getting paid that much. Doing so, everyone in the company will be spurred to work and feel ownership. This is very ideal, I realize. How do you find a CEO nowadays that care less about his pay and bonuses? How do you find a married man with less worry on how to feed his family?<br /><br />But I do strongly feel that unless we as human dare to stand up and share earnings in more equally manner, all of us stand to lose. The violence in Africa is a living testament of such issue and as the few corporation complexes (fortress like) in Indonesia where the surrounding is still forest like.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-68429531598326450782009-07-18T20:40:00.000-07:002009-07-18T20:51:38.173-07:00SMRT fine for eating or drinking - ungracious SMRT?The SMRT is embarking on a new campaign, fining all passengers caught eating or drinking.<br /><br />As of now, it appears that the following falls under the definition of an offense:<br />1. Breastfeeding<br />2. Baby drinking from milk bottle<br />3. Sucking lozenges not from doctor - someone actually has been fined<br />4. Sipping a drink from your bottled water - someone actually has been fined<br /><br />Now, the argument is that all kind of eating or drinking is an offense unless it is a medication. It is quite easy to define, isn't it? Unless you bring your MC or something labelled as prescriptive medicine, you'll be fined. What a convenient way.<br /><br />I think with the new campaign, SMRT is being totally ungracious. Does it mean that they are suggesting someone with itchy throat or sore throat to tap out of the MRT, walk out to outside station to eat or drink before continuing the journey? That's absurd. I can understand the fine imposed to people eating bread, curry puff, nasi lemak, or drink from McDonald etc. However, fining a simple sweet eating and drinking from bottled water is bordering on over zealousy. The train is by itself not a bullet train. For me who takes 1.5 hours journey one way every morning and afternoon for work, I have experienced dry throat and sort. Demanding such a customer not to take a simple sip of water during that long journey is really too much. I wonder whether Health Promotion Board or Ministry of Health can even bother to put up comment on the health benefit of drinking water. Ha ha... No way.<br /><br />For now, I suggest purchasing SMRT stocks. It is one of the company that won't fail and it's stock will always increase. What you earn from dividend and stock price is guaranteed. After all, everyone is bound to take MRT, the MRT price increases over time, more leasing of F&B outlet, and hey there are always ways to earn more money. Some time ago, after complaining of price not increased over some time, they are allowed to increase the price and hey, they posted a record profit after that. So much for "public" transportation.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-87179646393066275292009-07-17T18:37:00.000-07:002009-07-17T18:49:33.308-07:00The patient flight to SingaporeJW Mariott and Ritz Carlton hotel was bombed yesterday morning. Soon, the news report in Indonesia reported the flight of foreign patients, bomb victims, to Singapore to seek hospitalization and cure. The news highlighted the advance of skin grafting and burn victim care in Singapore. Salute to Singapore.<br /><br />On the other hand, it exposes once again the perception (and I would think, the reality) of poor health care in Indonesia. Coming from Indonesia, I know clearly doctors are among those that make tonnes of money. Lots of smart doctors but the infrastructure and the investment are just not supportive of getting some good surgeons. Unless you are very nationalistic or very dedicated to human lives in Indonesia, there seems to be nothing that prevent the doctor leaving for a better place. Yet, I would tend to think that not many countries would recognize medicine degree from Indonesia. Then, if that is such, there is a slim chance of medicine graduate in Indonesia to work somewhere else. Perhaps it is the insufficient medicine education in Indonesia to produce good skin doctors that pulls down the quality care.<br /><br />Considering the chance of more attacks in time to come, more disasters, it is imperative that the government or private institution to look at bettering the healthcare of the country. I would believe that a hospital that manages to pull themselves out beyond the average hospital and claims the best doctor would at the end be able to sell the value and serve the crowd more. It is quite unimaginable why no hospital has clearly done so. What has transpired recently is more like a wanna be 'international' hospital suing a patient who complains. Then, plenty of report how those 'international' hospital is not really 'international'. I can't comprehend the wish to be 'international'. There is in no way any international hospital standard. The standard of care between Africa and western countries are definitely beyond imagination. The fundamental issue is more on the line of perception and obtaining the instrument capable of helping doctors providing the best of care. And of course the medicine education must be reviewed to get them up to date from time to time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-6286189762630121952009-07-13T06:15:00.000-07:002009-07-13T06:23:50.142-07:00SSO advertisement in MRT can be betterSaw Singapore Symphony Orchestra's new advertisement in MRT train. Impressive and educative. Lots of new musical terms to learn! Simple graphics and the message is that classical music is not that complicated. The advertisement is pasted in the exterior and interior's overhead advertisement board. In addition, it is also pasted on the panel at the end of the seating row. The ads on the panel could have been improved though. It seems that the ads pasted on that panel is with graphics on the top part and sentences on the lower part, which ends up at the side of the person sitting on the seat at the end of the row. Meaning.... noone can read the sentence at all. In other words, the poster on the panel is totally useless unless noone is sitting at the priority seat, which is always at the side of the poster. The graphics could have been at the lower part and the sentence at the top part? Or perhaps change the design?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8588020099393771033.post-57293940718663889182009-07-06T17:00:00.000-07:002009-07-06T17:11:36.031-07:00Surgical mask and N95It seems that there are quite a number of article perpetrating wrong information on the use of surgical mask to prevent from getting flu.<br /><br />Referring to http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/masks.htm<br /><br />It says that surgical mask is for ill people. The mask captures whatever expelled out from the nose and mouth during coughing and sneezing. It does not seal tightly so it only blocks large droplets. However, it is still useful for the ill people to prevent them from infecting others. They are not supposed to wear N95 because they are already with nose problem and wearing N95 may as well kill them due to additional breathing difficulty.<br /><br />If you want to prevent yourself from catching flu, wear N95. N95 is supposedly fitting tightly to your face. In occupational setting, there is respiratory fit testing you are supposed to take to test how fitting N95 can be on your face. They will get you to breath lots of smell to test. On the other hand, in community testing, at least you have to cup your hand around the seals and inhale or exhale deeply to ensure that no flow is felt around the edge connecting the mask to your face. N95 then will protect you from breathing aerosols containing the virus. The big problem with N95 is that it won't fit in small face (e.g. children) since it's only produced in one size and it won't fit in people with facial hair (no way to create seal around the big mustache and beard.<br /><br />So if you are the sick one, surgical mask is your choice. Ensure the flexible adjustment around the nose is pressed around your nose and check properly.<br /><br />If you really feel you need to wear N95 since you are within 2 m of the sick all the time, wear N95 then, don't just wear surgical mask. In your household with flu infected person, just isolate that person and get him to wear mask when he is to common area. Stay away from him 2 m apart. You won't really need N95 or mask then.<br /><br />Best precaution is still personal hygiene and get away from people displaying flu-like symptom (sneezing, coughing). But remembers, still help them if they need to. Just don't breathe in their direction if possible. The suggested steps if you see people sneezing or coughing near you is to exhale and then move away before inhaling and continuing with normal breathing cycle.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0