One blanket policies

We went over to JB yesterday(actually afew days ago) for dental fixing for Doug. It went so well, and even sis had to give Roland Lim a go at fixing a crown. And we had a okay KFC lunch at the Holiday Plaza, where the dentist office was. And I got a couple of “tea eggs”…

The most vocal touts are those selling pirated videos and games. .. which I really didnt like… but otherwise, the Holiday Plaza was friendly, lively and bustling with a touch of old charm. I like seeing boutique shops selling snacks, cookies, clothes, shoes, etc. .. quite unlike in Singapore, where every mall feels like the same busy, brightly lighted, filled with glamorous looking products and lifeless souls. Yes, thats what I see is diff between malls across the causeway.

Well, but anyway… sometimes.. I just have to be irritated into writing a blog post… 😦 .. ok ok, so what happen now? …

Have you ever wondered why such primitive and backward policies such as no backpacks are allowed in some stores in Malaysia? I totally couldnt understand. This is totally so not cool in the new age of consumerism and is demeaning to the potential customer/shoplifter! I certainly refused to shop in any store that practices this. Especially not Tesco! A large UK chain setup in Malaysia adopting 3rd world security measures! Why does it allow itself to drop to the level of their local competitors!?

With all the instore camera, beepers at the checkout, staff and undercover security personal, if the shoplifting losses of the store continues to be high, then the question is integrity of its staff and effectiveness of the security. Why do customers have to take it if they enforce no backpacks policy and demand that all backpacks be placed in the 50cents lockers next to the entrance? Is this is scam for additional revenue or what!?

I, for one, refused to be treated like I am going to be a shoplifter! I refused to enter the store! I wonder how many people would actually behave like me? How much revenue is lost? Maybe insignficant, but no matter, loss of revenue should be added to the total cost of measures taken to reduce store losses.

On the other hand, if they allow me to enter with my backpack and not others who appears to be more in need than I am, that would be a form of discrimination. Is it possible to have blanket policies and have exceptions? I wonder how effective is this no backpack policy at preventing shoplifting. Does the store loss $200 or $2000 or $20000 less after this policy? Well, $200 would have been I would spend at the store, easily, if I went in there…. I wonder if they could be persuaded.. maybe if I flash my 3 Singapore issued platinum VISA cards…

Collaborative EXTORTION

Collaborative Extortion is what I’d call it. Crazy inflated prices of food over the Chinese New Year, happens every year, no matter if it had been a good year or lousy year. Why? Because there is a strange Chinese mindset about “face”, “luck” and “fortune”.

And those crazy jingles about making money, winning money, lucky and whatever! This crap is driving me crazy! Thats it, we are going into hiding!

Reality!

Was reading the property review last weekend… and I was run over by the great deal of local information that I didnt know. These are just daily life things that I never thought about, becos I dun have time to watch TV news, read the papers, local magazines or websites about local happenings.. I am truly shocked about how I am unaware of these things that are happening around me. I must emphasize, the happenings are just everyday city living realities, what shock me is my complacency and indifference to these happenings.

Local newsworthy event – resurgence of triads activities and young gangsters resulting in increase fights, stabbing incidents and 1 death …. My realization? Social unrest!

– Serial stabbing incidents in the North area resulting in 2 dead women (or more).. Young man was caught, these women are not related to him in anyway. His motive? Against them, none. It was anger from failed relationship. … My realization? Lunatics are amongst us!

– rising cost of car ownership. $39K COE! My, we havent seen that for quite a while.

– rising cost of public transport… to maintain 1st world transport system? … wait a minute.. do we still have a 1st world transport system?

– rising cost of housing. .. do people here really have that much money to put into a property asset? … how much do they owe?

These quotes from the property review disturbs me,

–  “Urban life for the poor will be increasingly unpleasant”

– “Clusters of living quarters around central common areas with shared facilities. Rooms rented out by the eight-hour shift with cubbies for private belongings. ”

Rising food, water and transportation cost will affect the less afluent far more than most. … I was just beginning to wonder if I am in the poorhouse myself, as I live in public housing and currently is “car”less, and I resent the rise in food prices. Although the cost of getting around is much reduced after I sold off my car, I resent that the transport system is not good as they claim it is, in certain areas. Granted that it is good in the residential and business districts, it is crap in the industrial zones.

Bottomline, this is Urban life and even while I grew up here, I am finding it “increasingly unpleasant”. So, does this mean that I am poor.. ..? By all government statistics, I am not poor… but am I being conned here? What is real and what is propoganda?

Should I be relieved that I am not renting room in eight hour shift yet? Are we telling our youth today that the future is such that they will have no personal space? No wonder they are going around, stabbing and chopping. .. literally getting rid of competition.

I want out from urban living, and that means leaving the city state country. I am not gonna stay around till 1st world standards means living in a cubby hole, packed onto people movers like sardines and pay 1/4 of my wages eating cardboard food, drinking recycled water and taught to be thankful that the air that I breathe is only 50 on the pollution index.

My take on unemployment rate

Think worldwide unemployment rate can be 5% or less? Get real!

What is unemployment? Is it the count of people who are able and equipped with skills to work? Or is it a count of people who used to have work in the past 2yrs? To me, unemployment is the count of people who needs work, but is out of work for 3 months and have no possibility of getting any work soon.

Simply put, some people have no work and no income, but does it mean that they are hungry or suffering? May or maynot. Losing income is to some people, losing the ability to make payment on the 2nd home or something else equally frivalous. For some others, it might be mean a lesser education for a kid and cutting away some wasteful ways that one has developed. But it is not really about being hungry, or fear of being hungry and sick. Its the part about curbing desires and changing expectations that really hurts!

Now, where did the jobs go? In the past, to produce food, you need farmers. Now, we have machines that work 100x faster than a farmer, cost less and is more reliable. At the assembly plant, more machines and less workers. At the office, more computers, less clerks.

While it is true, that there is more people in this world today, and therefore there is more consumer and therefore more needs of consumer products and therefore more factories are built and more machines are hired … but

more CONSUMERS + less JOBS = less money = less spending = less sales

Anyway, thats not my point. So what am I saying? Simply, with automating the workplace with machines and computer, there is less need for people! The trend is definately going towards fewer jobs even if the world population is still growing! Its high time the governments recognize this and shift paradigms to get the people ready for this eventuallity.

Bottom line, its okay to have no income, as long as there is food and enough activity or entertainment to keep the people happy. As far as happy people goes, the robots can keep their job!

Get real people! Using unemployment rate to measure the health of a economy should be obsolete!

Fishy fishy…

Is there anybody out there that would pay a bank to carry its credit card? ..I seriously doubt it. I too refuse to pay for this “privelege” of plastic. S$180!! Blar! And I hate to have to call the hotlines to request a waiver every year, for each of the 5 cards that I currently hold.

… well… but I do need plastic, living in this era. Only 3 will be enuf tho.. so I took the trouble and called the O..C hotline. I only started using this bank 2yrs ago and this be my 1st time dealing with them on this waiver request. I have no real desire to continue holding this card, so I said to the person at the other end, to close my account. For those cards that I have enjoyed using, I will request for a waiver, but for others, I hate to even receive $0 balance statements as it is so un eco.

But as usual, the operator persuades me to reconsider and suggest that its no trouble to me, everything will be arranged to my satisfaction… oh well.. okay… i guess…

Next day, a lady from the waiver processing department calls me. Her message was, “Hi, we are happy to make this great deal for you. We are waiving the fee, if you will make the minimum payment of $30 which we will return to you in the form of cash vouchers for your next supermarket visit. Let me confirm your address and I will mail the vouchers to you right away.”

Hey, wait a minute… I didnt agree to this arrangement … yet. Do I get to decide not to go with your “super good” arrangements? So I declined her offer and requested for the account to be closed. She couldnt believe it! and so she gives some lame excuse about not being able to waive the fee totally now and besides I will be getting the same amount that I paid out in vouchers, so why not. “Its such a great deal!”

Okay, thats what got me really agitated. .. I may have sounded mean and nasty… truthfully, I regretted being so harsh on her, but really, its nothing personal. Yeah right..

Anyway, my reply was, “this sounds like a scam and I want no part of it. I am not interested in getting any vouchers and pls do not think that I am begging you to waive the fee. Just close the acct for me pls. ”

It took her only 5 secs to realize that I am seriously not going to pay any money for keeping the acct going, so her final reply was, “Okay, we will waive the whole fee… “.. she said it so softly that I could hardly hear her… … I felt sorry for her, that this is just a job and its so hard to please everybody. .. wish I had been more kind in my tone and language… still the outcome would be the same. Seriously, I would not pay even $0 to keep the acct going. .. I mean thats was just it, I refuse to pay $0. … a matter of principle…

sigh… I really do hate to be such a difficult person… 😦 … well, since I didnt want to upset her further, I will let this acct remain open for 1 more year… its a nice looking card, really…