Efficiency of World class Govt.

And so I waded into the red tape.

Murking through the tons of technical terms and legal jargons, I can't find the answer I need from the business registration website, ACRA. So I did the next best thing, or so I thought.

I emailed them.

My very first reply comes in the form of giving me lots of urls. All pointing to pages within ACRA.

NABEI. You think I emailed u for fun is it?? Obviously I already read all your websites and can't find what I'm looking for!
These govt pple think I can't even do a simple job of browsing their websites? can't they just answer my queries straight to the point?
civil servants!

So I did the next best thing, or so I thought.

I replied their email.

And this time, it was better.
The officer called me up. (I left my handphone number in my email)

Nice, except that .....

officer: Hi sir, is this cherub? I'm calling from ACRA.
Cherub: ACRA?
officer: you sent us an email.
Cherub: Oh, that ACRA. Yeah, I had some enquires.
officer: Yes sir, I am here to help you. Let me give you some hyperlinks...
cherub: huh?
officer: take down these hyperlinks...... you can go there and read them.

!%$#!@$@ *VOMIT BLOOD*

So he called me personally on my hp to give me hyperlinks?

I already read your first email, I already told you I cannot get the answers from the websites.
And the govt officer called me up for.....?
These pple think that I can't read properly?
Civil servants!!

So I cut him off and used very simple english (just in case he's a PSC scholar).
Told him that the website doesn't give me the answers, and I gave him my scenario and questions.

He replied matter-of-fact that the agency cannot give me the answers I am looking for and does not advise me on those matters.
Sigh.


And great, after our conversation ended, he proceeded to email me again....

....to give me the hyperlinks.
ARGH, CIVIL SERVANTS!!!


Alright, now now, I hope you guys finally realise why I refuse to work for the government.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr Miyagi pointed out that the e-filing for taxes has operating hours.
Wow, and we thought that the internet is 24-hours monster!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hmph! suspiciousbastard thinks that "saving money" is a no-brainer.
you would be surprised at my clients. People who are totally lost.
But those are not the annoying ones.

what annoy me are clients who think they know it all, and when I try to explain more of it to them, they dismiss it off as "i know already why don't u just do this and this"

madam, trust me. if i can just "do this and this" for you, i would.

And yes, an hour later, she would inevitably goes "oh, why like this, is like tat, meh?".

You already said "i know i know", wad.

Or they would give me "disclaimers":
eh, i am not confirming to buy leh, u don't need to put in so much efforts. u just help me "this and this" can liao.
"u don't need to do those, i may not buy in the end, just help me "this and this"
"i may not buy leh, don't do so much"

Eh, what is "full effort", what is "a little bit effort".
Sorry, I economist, i don't know how to quantify efforts.
I am just helping out, and i know u won't buy (I already knew you won't buy when i know u're a female), but if I am to advise you, i'd better help.
You can't expect me to give half-baked help, right?



Nothing beats the client that purchased and cancelled the plan in the same day.
Because someone else told her its not a good idea.

Red tape binds us all

Absolutely the best tetris I ever played.

Go look at it, trust me.
Try beating the highscores.

via Buttermilk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Been tied up with red tapes and accounting issues lately.
Now I know why accountants are paid so much. Those sharks. wait, thats the lawyers.

So to make it easier for us heartlanders to own and operate our business, HDB and URA started the "Home-Office Scheme"...

i see.

So in order to register a home-office, i need...

1. to install one 1 x 2kg ABC Dry Chemical Powder fire extinguisher to the office area
2. to install one single-station smoke detector to the office area.

Smoke detector?
Can my maid be considered a smoke detector?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

how not to be a spy.

The guide (Click here) to our splinter spy-wanna be.

Absolut Hilarious.


How to react if you get 'discovered' by the Jaga.

Again, via Buttermilk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I got this impression when I first joined the insurance line.
And this is getting reinforced as I started researching to try a new business.

Apparently, the more education u have, the more risk-adverse u get.

The highly educated are the one with more at stake, they tend to lose more if they fail.
Having invested so much in their current status, they have a larger incentive to protect themselves.
In addition, they have more choices available for them.

In any job, they will tend to look for better jobs. Look for better future.
If u always look at Recruit's job section, you can never do well in your current job.


So these pple, how do you expect them to venture, to start their business?

As a friend of mine put it,

"the n'levels, the o'levels pple, u think they care a hoot abt their jobs and what others think about their job? they don't think about the future. their concern is NOW. They want to work now, and earn now. they don't hesitate when they see an opportunity. they know risks, they know danger, but they just know they have to do it. Its NOW or never."

That, my friend, is the driving force for the uneducated. (and the "never" for the graduates)

Cherub Finance 2

For those who got inspired to bring out ur fixed deposits for better deals, save a few grands for this great UOB deal.

From 9th April till 30th April, if you open an UOB FlexiDeposit, an inital deposit of $5000 would net you $50 cash.

Minimum requirement is that you need to leave the $5,000 there for at least 3 months and they would credit you with $50.

$50 for $5000 (3mths), a simple calculation means an interest of 4% per annual.

There is a surcharge of $30 if you close the account before 6mths. And a surcharge of $2 per month if your average daily balance falls below $3000.

So even if you factor these in & u leave $5000 for 6 mths, a $50 interest means 2% per annual.
This 2% excludes the additional interest rate they give u for your account.

Thats pretty good. And thats not including an 514mbytes Ipod Shuffle that you can get at a special price of $129. (although I don't like the Ipod Shuffle)

The ipod Shuffle, with no LCD, no ability to select songs, no HDD, only flash memory. A lack of feature promoted as a feature, only Apple can do that.


I really like this UOB deal a lot. I'm setting up a sole account and probably a few joint accounts with my siblings. And no, I'm not working for UOB (or whatever banks). I just like to share some good things. So if u have some funds, go get some higher-interest stuff like this special deal.

And thanks to KnightofPentacles for his earlier comments on bonds and securites.

See? information is wealth.

Cherub Finance Pte Ltd

Have been checking out all the Fixed Deposit Rates in Singapore, so thought of sharing all these information with people like you and me.

information is wealth.

But cherub, you say, I thought u are a risk taker! I thought u always put your money in units trusts and shares.

Its always good to put some money in the most liquid investment, and Fixed Deposits offers slightly better rate than saving accounts, don't they? And with a few months of adjustment and planning, you can have a good financial plan of liquid fixed deposits.

Beside some pple just can't take risk. *stares at beloved mother*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read in the Straits Times a few weeks ago that "Bank of East Asia" (BEA) offers the highest interest rate in town, for a minimum $1,000 deposits. (thanks BeeKuan for the verification!)

1 month 1.56250%
3 months 1.68750%
6 months 1.75000%
9 months 1.78000%
12 months (forgot, but slightly higher than 1.78%)

I think most of our families put our fixed deposits with local banks and/or Hong Leong Finance (Singapore's largest finance companies) but their rates are really pathetic. The BEA's 1 mth interest is higher than HongLeong's 12 mths interest.

In fact, when I went to liquidate Hong Leong's fixed deposits, even their own tellers were surprised at the interest rates. They even asked me to verify that the rates are not investment-linked.
Oh pls.


For the higher-heeled.
Citibank offers 2.0% for $200,000 for 2 years Fixed Deposits.

If you prefer local banks (i always prefer Singapore institutions, support them because of national pride. lol), you can go to UOB.
UOB offers less than 2.0%, BUT...here's the trick.

Just go to any UOB branch, inform them of your plan, let them know that you are aware of Citibank's 2.0% rate for fixed deposit.
They will then match Citibank's rate.

Cherub says, support local business!!

Tips from Cherub Loanshark Finance Pte Ltd.

Water on Mars

NASA's Mars probe just sent back the latest picture.


They have discovered water on Mars!!!


They found water on mars, finally.


Got it via AcidFlask.

After Thesis

If I am to establish an internet business that sells goods online...

What kind of goods should I retail online?

I'm pondering over internet business and internet retailing, and I want to get some ideas of what goods are suitable to sell online.

Leave your comments, pls!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thought of the day:

I wrote 5 articles (7 if u include the 2 April's Fool articles) in the crucial last 2 days of my thesis submission period.

And I wrote nil for the days after liberation.

Funny that I got all the motivation to write during the most "busy" and supposedly most "stressful" period of my academic life.

Funny that I couldn't find time to proof-read my thesis for the 2nd time (its 40 freaking pages, for pete's sake) and yet wrote 2 blog entries in a span of an hour.

I guess this goes hand-in-hand with my avid observations that most things are fun to do when you can't afford to do it.

During exams, that flash game seems to be the most enjoyable thing on earth.
After exams, u wonder aloud who the hell play such a boliao game.

Shopping before exams seems soooo therapeutic.
Shopping after exams seems so tiring and a terrible waste of time (note: This does not apply to some all girls.)

And you have no idea why there are tons of brilliant must-watch blockbusters during examination.
and immediately after exams, nothing to watch liao.
not even the "TV-infommericals" that you are so drawn to it during your late-nights examination period.

And yes, I got totally nothing to blog about.
Nothing to do.
Bored.
I'm directionless.

Give me another thesis to do.
oooooooonly kidding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Funny that my own personal friends are those who don't leave comments nor tags.
Only those who got to know me via the blogs leave comments.

Funny.

Happy April's Fool

Happy April's Fool!!


I'm really touched by some of my friends who called and sms-ed just to check on me.
and lots of regards about me closing the blog
I'm really sorry, I won't have played this joke if I realised you guys thought I was collapsing and was concerned about me.

And those who thought I was going to OZ...(lol...MSN nick of the year)
and I promised chocolates and Havaianas slippers for lots of pple.


sorry! Happy April's Fool!

Once again, sorry if these jokes I played offended you.
Special thanks to Sheena, for your concern and encouragement.
And thanks Fishie, for your overseas call. :)