Pity that young singaporeans belittle themselves

I was reading about a particular debate that happened over the previous weekend. The main objective of the debate was of a different topic but I was lamenting the fact that young Singaporeans (ok, I'm not THAT old) are belittling themselves that Singapore cannot make it big without foreign talent, saying that we cannot make our own version of iPhone or Toyota.

However, do they know that Creative made sound cards popular before a series of missteps caused their present predicament? Do they know that thumbdrive was invented in Singapore? Do they know that Razer is a homegrown brand? How about the X-mini?

Do Singaporeans belittle themselves too much? Judging from the summary of the debate, it seems so. Pity.

Mastering yourself

I quote from Lao Tzu:

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.

Cloud has limitless power?

I was reading an article recently which talks about the cloud computing having limitless power. I find it quite interesting that it mentioned limitless power because the cloud has nothing to do with limitless power. Cloud, like Web x.x, is just a mesh of technologies that were combined together with a jazzy word. Cloud just makes it easier to provision for services.

However Cloud computing like any other hardware, does not have limitless power. What Cloud can do is to attempt to fully utilise the existing computing power in the Cloud, especially using the thin provisioning concept. It is able to adjust the processing power of the applications within the cloud, provided it has enough reserves in place.

The cloud concept is largely use nowadays to increase the utilisation rate of the existing hardware, thereby resulting in savings. Therefore, it is quite unlikely that there are sufficient reserves in place to provide limitless power. More likely than not, the reserves are used in the event of any hardware failure so that the services can still be provided, albeit a bit slower until the faulty components can be replaced.

Not sure where did the writer got the idea of limitless power. That's not cloud.

Trivelis @ Clementi

The DBSS sales are coming up and fast since Belvia @ Bedok. I will not repeat what I have written in my other posts on DBSS and you refer to my other posts for more information.

DBSS @ Clementi has been named Trivelis, and is located along Clementi Ave 4. The indicative pricing and configuration are as follows:

3 room	60 sqm (222 units)	from $375,000 to $470,000	60 sq m: Big A/c Ledge (~3 sqm) 60 sq m: Big A/c Ledge (~0.9 sqm)
4 room	80-82 sqm (518 units)	from $530,000 to $650,000	80 sq m: Big A/c Ledge (~3 sqm); Living Room w/ Balcony (~5.9 sqm) 81 sq m: Big A/c Ledge (~3 sqm); Living Room w/ Balcony (~5.9 sqm) 82 sq m: Big A/c Ledge (~4 sqm); Living Room w/ Balcony (~5.9 sqm)
5 room	105 sqm (148 units)	from $658,000 to $770,000	105 sq m: Big A/c Ledge (~4.9 sqm); Living Room w/ Balcony (~12 sqm)

You can take a look for more information here. If you look at the DBSS @ Yuan Ching, the highest price is about the price of the 4 room flat. Judging purely from psf interior area pricing perspective, the flats are super expensive.  The interior area for a 3-room  flat is 57sqm to 59sqm; 4-room flat is 70sqm to 72sqm; 5-room flat is 88 sqm. Translated, the interior area of a 5-room flat is smaller than a typical HDB 4 room flat.

The other interesting thing was that based on the floor plan, it seems that there is a very odd-shaped balcony for the 4-room flat. Seems rectangular in shape, and doesn't fit the shape of the living room. Not sure why. Seems like there's also a built-in wardrobe included, which is interesting as the interior area is so small.

According to the map, the DBSS is about 450m away from Clementi MRT station so location wise, it is quite okay. There are a couple of primary schools like Pei Tong, Nan Hua and Clementi nearby (not next to the development like others) so that's also a plus.

The Centrale8 post includes some of the calculations I did to see if it fits into my affordability matrix so I will not repeat it here. One word (at least for me). No. Too expensive for a HDB flat. A private HDB flat (a.k.a DBSS flat) is still a HDB flat. It's not even an executive condo.

Inflation is up 5.5%

These are the Singapore inflation rates for 2011:
January: 5.5%
February: 5.0%
March: 5.0%
April: 4.5%
May: 4.5%
June: 5.2%
July: 5.4%
August: 5.7%
September: 5.5%

Transport and Housing are once again leading the pack, rising by 11.4% and 9.6% respectively year on year. The inflation was as expected in my previous post, most probably due to the slight reduction in pricing of commodities. The rest of the inflation rates for the other goods and services are stable, which is not quite good as it means inflation rates will remain high.

Judging from the inflation rate this month, I guess inflation may hold at 5.5% for this month or go slightly lower at 5.4%.

The perception of cheaper, better and faster

I read with great interest on the latest parliament debate. I find that it is indeed better to have more opposition within the parliament as it brings about different perspectives on the same problem.

Mr Low recently brought up the issue of cheaper, better and faster minister, which won a swift rebuttal from Minister Lim Swim Say. According to Mr Lim's speech, he said,  “What the NTUC and the tripartite partners and pursuing are cheaper, better, faster products and services, and a cheaper, better, faster economy, not a cheaper, better, faster workforce.”

Therein lies the problem. When you talk about services, it's mostly driven by human resources. Therefore, it is highly difficult to get cheaper, better, faster services without affecting the services workforce. In reality on the ground, many bosses use this cheaper, better, faster keywords to drive ever increasing amount of work to the existing workers. This is the reality. Not many bosses will invest in technology to help in delivering better services, although there are a few good ones that do that.

Instead of dismissing this as "noise", instead I urge them to look at another idiom. There is no smoke without fire.

Wrong Assumptions lead to obstacles

I quote from Jeff Hawkins:

If you look at the history of big obstacles in understanding our world, there's usually an intuitive assumption underlying them that's wrong.

A very interesting quote that speaks volumes. Reminds me of work. Why is the expectation of the customers unrealistic? That's because that's an intuitive assumption underlying it that causes this unrealistic expectation.

How to resolve it? Try to correct that assumption before it goes too far ahead. Easy to do? Definitely not. :(

Lake Vista @ Yuan Ching

Never knew that there will be another DBSS sale so soon after the Belvia @ Bedok. I will not repeat what I have written in my other posts on DBSS and you refer to the my posts for more information.

DBSS @ Yuan Ching has been named Lake Vista, and is located along Yuan Chiong Road. The indicative pricing and configuration are as follows:

3 room	67 sqm (145 units)	from $360,500 to $399,500	67 sq m: Big A/c Ledge; Living Room w/ Balcony
4 room	86-91 sqm (279 units)	from $481,000 to $575,300	86 sq m: Big A/c Ledge; Living Room w/ Balcony 89 sq m: Big A/c Ledge; Living Room w/ Balcony 91 sq m: Big A/c Ledge; Living Room & Master Bedroom w/ Balcony
5 room	105-108 sqm (258 units)	from $584,300 to $680,400	105 sq m: Big A/c Ledge; Living Room w/ Balcony 105 sq m: Big A/c Ledge; Living Room & Master Room w/ Balcony 108 sq m: Big A/c Ledge; Living Room w/ Balcony 108 sq m: Big A/c Ledge; Living Room & Master Room w/ Balcony

You can take a look at the floor plans here.Although the flat seems to be bigger than Belvia, I find that the air-con ledge seems to be super long, as compared to other HDB flats. The balcony itself seems quite big too. The interesting thing was that based on the floor plan, it seems that the kitchen is bigger than the other flats that I've seen. Not sure if it is to scale. What's unique about this DBSS is that it includes a built-in wardrobe for the 5 room flat.

According to the map, the place overlooks the golf course and Jurong Lake park. It is also quite near the AYE, but the nearest food centre seems to be about 700m away. Quite far in my opinion.

The Centrale8 post includes some of the calculations I did to see if it fits into my affordability matrix so I will not repeat it here. The price is cheaper than the others but I believe it's because of the location. Based on what I can see on the floor plan, the usable space in the flat looks extremely small as most of the space seems to be taken by the balcony and air-con ledge. Personally, I also don't quite like the location, even though the scenery might be better than most. It's just too secluded for my liking I guess, and the price doesn't compensate that.

What about you?

Innovation means less productivity

I was reading something recently that struck a chord within me. This leads me to the conclusion that to be innovative, that will mean you will be less productivity, at least by the definition the government uses.

Why? Based on the article that I read, when workers focus on a specific task, they may find better ways of doing it. They might better schedule their days or invent something entirely new, be it software code written to expedite repeated tasks, or a machine that automates portions of a task.

This is exactly what I did back in my previous company. As I was focusing on a specific task, I grew frustrated with the limitations of the framework I was using so I created a whole new framework to automate tasks that will allow me to skip some of the repetitive work that I am doing. I could do it because at that point in time, I had the luck to only focus on a specific task.

As I think back to those days, now it seems that I can never find such luxury. The work nowadays seem to be that the bosses will force down ever increasing amount of work onto you so that you cannot even breathe. How can you innovate if you don't even have time to breathe, let alone think?

Seriously, I don't understand all that drive towards productivity. What happened to "More Haste, Less Speed"?

Professionals CAN'T clear leave, not don't.

Recently I read someone remarking that Professionals in Singapore don't clear their leaves for various reasons. I believe one of the major reasons is missing from that list. The fact is that some professionals CAN'T clear their leave, not don't.

Why can't? Reason is simple. All that drive for productivity is squeezing ever increasing amount of work each professional is suppose to do. And guess what? Because of the productivity drive,  no one is covering you. So if you go on leave, whatever that is pending your action, will still be pending after you come back from your leave. Some will think that the worker should never have any slack time, not knowing that it is during those slack times that people will need to re-charge, and yes, take their leaves.

Unless you really can find some "Kit Kat" time, do you think you can afford to take leave? I don't think so.