Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Where's the logic?

Excerpt from newspaper:

Meanwhile, the HDB has relaxed its rules on shop tenants who sublet illegally.
Before yesterday, those caught subletting part of their shop without permission were fined two months' rent, while those caught subletting their entire unit were fined four months' rent. They also had their rent revised to the market rate. Repeat offenders faced eviction.
With the change, those caught subletting part of their shop will pay a $500 fine each time they are caught.
The HDB said it has reduced the penalty due to a decline in illegal subletting. It handled an average of 20 such cases a year before last year. Last year, there were about 10 cases. This year, there were just five.

huh? excuse me, just becos there r fewer offenders doesnt mean u reduce the penalty... it is precisely becos of the strict penalty that's why there are few offenders. This is like saying, since there r fewer murders, we shall reduce the penalty for murder... or since I have become slimmer, I can eat more again.......Reducing the penalty is like tempting people to break the law becos now the penalty fine is no big deal. $500 for each time u r caught.. imagine u sublet illegally for 1 yr, but was caught once... $500 is a small fine, u can still pocket the rest of your illegal rent payments. Or maybe the govt has a hidden agenda. By reducing the penalty and hence 'encouraging' people to sublet illegally, they can go out and catch more offenders, and collect more fines.. brilliant!

Monday, June 19, 2006

Budget Terminal and Budget Airlines

Excerpt from newspaper:LOW-COST carriers Jetstar Asia and Valuair have given up plans to move to Changi's Budget Terminal, swayed by passengers who voted overwhelmingly in favour of Terminal 1, with its good shopping, nice carpets and aerobridges.

People are so afraid of uncertainty. Thru my experience of flying budget airlines, budget airline's non-assigned seating works to our advantage. If u queue early, u can get the best seats - near the exits, with the most leg space.. but of cos, such privileges come with responsibility, the air stewardess will tell u what to do in case of emergency. U r supposed to open the door etc so that pple can evacuate. But hey, that also means u can escape first (if *touch wood* emergencies happen). Of cos, u may argue that u hv elderly / children and u cant move as fast as the youngsters to grab the seats, NO PROBLEMO... the airline crew will give priority seating to elderly and those with children. Even if u r pregnant, u and ur husband can also board first (provided u look obviously pregnant).. i doubt anyone would complain abt that.

Next, budget terminal. It's not that bad. We can self check- in customs the 'MRT way' - scan ur passport, gate opens, cross, scan ur thumbprint, open another gate, cross and voila! done. Abit slower than our MRT 'touch-n-go' that's all. There r some shops n cafe inside with free internet. The supposely non-sheltered path to the aircraft ? Its so short! Just that few tiny steps, the length of a zebra crossing... u hv to climb up the stairs to the aircraft though. But what's a short flight of stairs? If u r that frail, i am sure there's bound to be a good samaritan nearby, who would help u. Just make sure ur handcarry luggage isnt too heavy.

My complaint is : WHERE ARE THE SAVINGS? Tigerairways flies via budget terminal, yet I noted that my tax + admin fees are higher than airlines using Terminal 1/Terminal 2. Here's a sample of the admin charges + taxes for different airlines:
base on flights fm SG to BKK round trip, per person (exclu ticket fare)
Tigerairways - S$92
SQ - $101
Cathay Pacific - S$71
Swissair - $69
Jetstarasia - S$93
AirAsia - $84
ThaiAirways - S$85
Garuda - $50

Ok, so Tigerairways is not the most expensive, but how can its taxes / admin fees be higher than a full fledge airline or any other airline that operates at the higher cost Terminal 1 / Terminal 2 of Changi Airport?Another point to note: Jetstarasia and Airasia taxes / admin Airasia charges are pretty high too, more expensive than full service Cathay pacific, Garuda and Swissair airlines etc..

Yes, the ticket prices for budget airlines are lower than full service airlines. But u are paying peanuts for no-frills service on board, hence the low fare. The downside is, u pay more or unjustified prices thru taxes / admin fees. Also, budget airlines can cost much more than normal airlines if u book the tickets near to ur departure date . If u hv less than a month to ur travel date, its best u scour normal airlines for deals. The airticket prices of budget airlines would hv risen to ridiculous levels by then.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

mediacrap

TODAY newspaper reported that 'Mandarin TV channels praised but can improve', and that 'THE improved storylines and acting in locally-produced Chinese television dramas were praised by the committee monitoring the performance of two MediaCorp Chinese television channels.'

My gawd! Since when are the locally produced dramas good? Even the ones with overseas collaborations (Taiwan + China) sucks... the acting is exaggerated, or unconvincing and basically the actors do not hv a natural screen personality (except for the veteren actors). Most of the actors are just busy trying to act coy / act sweet / act bitchy / act stupid.. in other words, u can tell they are ACTING, and they are reading from a script. Worse, these days, they no longer dubbed the shows, and actors have to use their own voices... u get all sorts of lousy diction, poor pronounciation.. really makes me cringe to hear them speak mandarin. And for overseas collaborations which have the privileged of getting voiceovers, the dubbing is simply unnatural, u can tell that its dubbed....

more from the newspaper article:
Ms Ho Soo Fung, Channel vice-president, Network Programming & Promotions (Chinese Broadcast) and Network Programming & Operations for MediaCorp TV, said: "One of the reasons that our dramas are so popular among our viewers is because we're able to strike a chord with our viewers and the drama is actually a reflection of life.
"Our producers work very hard at fleshing out a variety of stories with different characters, and they're portraying these characters in a realistic approach."
.Since the merger, there has been a bumper crop of variety programmes — some innovative, but others still dependent on low-brow slapstick antics to win ratings, said the committee.

Pleeazeee la....... variety of stories? U can always depend on how predictable their shows are... loving husband / boyfren has affair. wife / gf is HOT HOT HOT.. lots of people going after them.... kids are long suffering and child prodigies....... the script varies with a deviation of + - 0.1%

bumper crop of variety programmes - I'll take my HKG dramas anytime. Dun give me anymore international collaborations (Lotus lantern sux), and the whatnot... just plain old good HKG shows + Taiwan variety shows..