In the last 2 weeks, I have heard of several people getting heart attacks. These people are mostly in their 40s and fit. One of the sadder news was the death of Yasmin Ahmad, one of Malaysia’s influential Film Directors, from heart attack.
Here’s a link to: Heart Attack Symptoms and Warning Signs.
Take care.
Although Singapore is a small country and well connected by trains and buses, the most convenient mode of transportation is taxi. It also happens to be the most expensive. The flag-down of S$2.80 is comparable to taxis in Hong Kong and Malaysia but what makes it painful is all the surcharges. Peak-hour surcharge is 35% of the metered fare, surcharge for pick-up in the central business district area and airport is extra, booking fee is according to the time of call. When all the surcharges are added up, the fare may cost more than 3 meals in the local foodcourt. I found this really neat website that calculates the fare and gives you an idea of how much to expect.
Got this email from an unknown person, asking for my help in return for 30% of $19.5m. This isn’t the first time I’ve received such mails and it’s a good thing that I know it’s a scam. Popularised by the Nigerians, it is also known as the 419 Scam. It is amazing that despite all the publicity, there are still some unfortunate people who believe that they’ve won a windfall.
There are several variants of the same thing but it all has the same content, you will get an unbelievable amount for helping them transfer funds. All you have to do is pay for the legal fees, which according to them is meant to “legitimise” this arrangement. From some of the sad stories I’ve read, these scamsters can be very persuasive and that’s how people are tricked into sending the money. If you’re lucky, you won’t hear from them again, after the 1st payment… but some of the more unfortunate people were duped into sending money, again and again.
Let’s disect this mail.. just for the fun of it. (i) This “guy” said that he’s working in Hang Seng Bank – so why does he need MY help to transfer money (ii) The amount in question is $19.5m – too bad he didn’t say what currency, because if it is in Rupiah, at today’s rate of Rp1,600 = HKD1, Rp19.5m equals only HKD 12, 188. So 30% of HKD 12,188 is only HKD 3,656… hardly worth the trouble. (iii) He wants to know my age and sex, how is that relevant?
Anyway, if you ever come across such mails, just delete it. It’s hardly worth your attention.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Good Day.My name is Mr. Song Lile, I am the credit officer in Hang Seng Bank, HongYou can contact me on my private email:( song.lile18@yahoo.com.hk
(1)Full names:
(2)private phone number:
(3)current residential address:
(4)Occupation:
(5)Age and Sex:
Kind Regards,
Mr. Song Lile
I’ve been reading international newspapers and these papers have been predicting a recession since last year! The funny thing is, Governments and economist are now talking about restoring consumer confidence, but can they blame the consumer for the lack of confidence when the papers keep telling us, the worst is yet to come.
I’m sure many of us don’t really understand about the subprime mortgage crisis and how it caused all this mess. Luckily for us in Malaysia and HK, our exposure to subprime mortgage is minimal, because such ‘arrangement’ doesn’t yet exist. From what I’ve read and understood, the subprime mortgage crisis is generally due to 2 causes:
1) People who should not get loans to buy houses, were given such loans.
They were a credit risk, due to their low / unstable income-earning potential or lack of other forms of collateral. But it seems that a large portion of the American adult population falls into this category.
I also read that President Bush is responsible for this mess because during his tenure, he promoted housing for every American. Banks were encouraged to give out loans to such credit-risk customers, in return for their houses (as collateral) and a graduated interest-rate plan. Graduated interest-rate plans mean that banks entice you with a low entry interest-rate, which may be fixed for a few years. After the “honeymoon period”, the interest-rate will jump up and you’re basically “screwed”.
Alot of the people who bought houses, using such loans said that they did not know about these graduated interest-rate plans. As an observer, I think that these people only have themselves to blame. Remember the latin term “Caveat Emptor” - Let the Buyer beware. I don’t mean to be rude / crude, but we pay for what we get. Think of this – a person with an unstable income or in the low income bracket, buying a house which is normally beyond his/her means, but which was made affordable by the “low” interest-rate. Didn’t they stop to think – what’s the catch?
So when the high interest-rates kicked in, these people couldn’t afford the monthly payments and the bank had to foreclose and attempt to auction the house. The problem is there were so many of such foreclosures and no buyers. So banks now held houses which are not worth the loan given out and no cash inflow from loan repayments. Quite similar to the crisis in Malaysia in 1997, which gave birth to Danaharta and Danamodal. Such high risk loans were then packaged by some smart alec and sold to other financial institutions, so that everyone shared the risks.
2) People who took out a 2nd/3rd mortgage on the value of their houses
This is something I read yesterday in USA Today. They profiled several families who recently lost their homes to foreclosure. Their stories were so familiar - a few years ago during the property boom, the value of their homes appreciated sometimes double the purchase price. All of them took out a 2nd and sometimes, 3rd mortgage, maximising the increased property value and used the loan money to buy a car, go on vacation, buy a swimming pool etc.
When property prices started to drop and banks called, requiring the customers to pay-down their loan to the current property prices, many of them were caught without sufficient funds.
I couldn’t help but shake my head as I read and I don’t mean to be condescending when I say this, but perhaps what is lacking is planning and preparing for the (worst) future. Alot of us, never experienced the economic crisis of 1997 but I know that my dad was retrenched many times and money was tight. Luckily Mum’s job was more secure because she worked for the government. So in a sense, this is my first-hand experience during an economic crisis.
Of cause, there were some unfortunate people who lost their homes because they lost their jobs, largely due to the economic crisis. Those still in denial that it won’t affect them personally, please realise that this will affect all of us, the question is not if, but when. So save your money and don’t take on any loans for the time-being. I know the banks have been very enthusiatic with their personal loans etc. but don’t be tempted. Let’s ride out the “storm” and hopefully emerge without too much damage.
Since I returned last Friday, I’ve noticed that it’s cooler in HK. Must be the change from summer to autumn, and then to winter. It’s a good change from the hot, humid summer that we had and I couldn’t wait for summer to pass. The temperature during the day is about 29′c – 30′c… quite pleasant, with hardly any rain for the last few days. It’s quite windy and this cools the place, despite the high temperature.
I’m experiencing autumn for the first time in HK and find its quite a pleasant time to be in HK. So if anyone is interested in visiting HK, now or during the winter months are really nice months to be in HK. Yes I know that the summer sales is well known but did anyone warn you about the heatwave during that time???
According to some websites that I visited, here’s their seasonal patterns:
Here’s the link to the HK Observatory which post updates on the temperature, weather forecast etc and has been reliable, especially during the typhoon: http://www.hko.gov.hk/contente.htm
I hope all of you reading this will benefit from my ignorance.
I flew back from Manila last Friday, with a bad flu. As is normal when the plane is descending, our inner ear will adjust to the change in air pressure, by “popping”. Sometimes we help it along by swallowing or holding our nose. But what I didn’t know then was that, because of a badly congested nose (i.e. full of phelgm) courtesy of the flu, the air had no way to “flow” through and my ears couldn’t pop. This resulted in an excrutiating pain to both ears and a little later, change in my hearing. I was worried, I tell ya.
As it was late night by the time I reached home, I visited the doctor the next day. He examined both ears, and while shaking his head, said that there was blood in both. He said that I had quite possibly bust ear drum from the pressure… he couldn’t tell for sure, because of the blood. He also said that, if the ear drum had burst, it may or may not heal back and if it doesn’t heal, that could mean permanent damage to the hearing.
I am supposed to fly again today, but was strongly advised against it. So I’m grounded for at least a couple of days, until the flu heals. My hearing is still “out” and being the hypochondriac that I am, I’m hoping it’s not as bad as I think it is.
One thing that I’ve neglected or never paid much attention to is my ear… I always assumed that it would work fine as long as I kept it clean. Not much maintenance required. But after the episode with the air pressure, my hearing has gone all weird… I can hear sounds that are far away and they sound loud, but I can hardly hear sounds nearby. Not only that because of the difference in my hearing (I suspect both ears have different hearing capability), I am experiencing nausea, vertigo and sometimes break out in cold sweat. Having a bad ear can really mess with the rest of the body.
Maybe it’s time I took lessons in sign language which I’ve wanted to for the longest time.
You Take Care.
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