Suffer primarily from our illusions

I quote from Daniel J. Boorstin:

We suffer primarily not from our vices or our weaknesses, but from our illusions. We are haunted, not by reality, but by those images we have put in their place.

Stop second guessing ourselves and think up on ways on which we'll fail. Instead, look at the problem objectively and concentrate on finding the solution. Do not dream up of illusions and make matters worst.

Return Tray? Change the design of the table

If we're serious in getting Singaporeans to return the trays, we first need to start looking at what the hawker centres or food courts can redesign to make it easier for customers to do it.

2 main problems with customers returning the trays.

First problem: The tray return station is difficult to find, and if we find it, nobody clears it.

Next problem: The table is super small and most of the customers have to empty their tray in order to eat the food that they have purchased.


First problem is the easiest to resolve and some food courts and hawker centres have already started making the tray return station obvious and staffing people there to clear the trays when it comes in. That resolves the first problem. No one seems to be doing anything for the next major problem.

The next problem needs a radical rethink of the type of food sold in the food courts and hawker centres. The food that is purchased by any customer needs to first fit into the tray. That's easy. The next is more radical. Redesign the tables.

Best solution is to redesign the table such that the table top is the tray itself. Slide the tray into the table so that you can have your meal. Take the tray with you to clear it. The tray then becomes essential if you want to sit on the table. This is the easiest way to persuade customers to return their trays.

Don't you think so?

Inflation is up 1.6%

These are the Singapore inflation rates for 2013:
January: 3.6%
February: 4.9%
March: 3.5%
April: 1.5%
May: 1.6%

Last month's inflation is also abnormal compared to when I first started tracking the inflation. Healthcare and Housing are leading the pack, rising by 4.2% and 3.3% respectively year on year.

Transport started its downward trend, dropping by 2.8% year on year, which is a severe drop compared to previous month. Seems like there is still a downtrend of private transport pricing. As transport inflation occupy a part of the inflation basket and the other items are stable, inflation only rose by 0.1% compared to April. There was a general uptrend in inflation for the other items in the inflation basket.

Next few months will most probably see an uptrend in the inflation according to the trend I'm seeing from the results, and based on my observations on the private transport pricing.

Pollution tax based on country of origin

Seriously, I do not believe Indonesia will do anything to stop the fires unless the countries unite and start to hit them where it hurts. Money.

Why are they using slash and burn to clear the areas? Its because its a cheap way to do it. The only way is to make it expensive for them. Let's say,  if the countries seriously affected by the haze (e.g. in the very unhealthy range for more than a day) starts to invoke a 30% pollution tax on all goods where the country of origin is where the fires are for a period of 6 months, I believe Indonesia will start to do something serious about it.

You're responsible for your own mess, and if your mess affects others, you need to fix it. No one can fix it for you. If Indonesia doesn't fix it, then the other countries need to force them to fix it. We cannot put out the fires for you without your permission, but we can impose penalties on you as long as anything belonging to Indonesia reaches our shores.

This is where the affected countries need to show their unity.

Listen to your voice within

I quote from Elisabeth Kubler-Ross:

How do geese know when to fly to the sun? Who tells them the seasons? How do we, humans know when it is time to move on? As with the migrant birds, so surely with us, there is a voice within if only we would listen to it, that tells us certainly when to go forth into the unknown.

Listen to the voice within us. I learn to trust it far more than what others are telling me. You will know yourself best.

Looking into rigging of oil prices now

With the recent crackdown on LIBOR and SIBOR rates, it should be time now that the authorities look into the manipulation of oil prices. The oil prices are in now way in relation to what's happening on the ground. Look at the record supplies of oil in the US. Why is the WTI crude still hovering over $90, even though the shale oil supply looks like it's just going to increase further?

It doesn't make sense. If anyone wants to buy oil in advance, the simplest way is to treat it the same as stocks, using options to purchase. If someone wants to arbitrage against it, create something like contracts for differences (CFD). It's time to stop all this rigging of prices and all the nonsense of traders submitting their own prices of their "own free will" to determine the price. The technology is definitely already out there. It's just a matter of whether you wish to use it or not.

Greed is part of human nature, and therefore rules must be there to govern it. If you do not believe in that, try telling your government to tell the police to take a break for a week. You will definitely think otherwise then.

Horrible SingPost SpeedPost / POPStation experience

Below is an experience that I do not wish upon anyone I know.

Friday:	Customer received a parcel from Speedpost and was directed to collect the parcel on the next working day at a specific post office
Following Monday lunch time:	Customer was told by SingPost in the post office that the parcel was put inside POPStation even though the delivery slip indicated otherwise. Their records show that the parcel was taken out of POPStation and delivered back to their main post office on the previous Saturday. The officer then proceeded to inform the customer to go out to the POPStation lockers and look for the number to call and enquire more information from POPStation. Singpost did not volunteer to handle this mistake for the customer. Customer was directed to settle it.
Monday afternoon	Customer called the hotline and got redirected from Speedpost to POPStation and back, with no one knowing where is the parcel and why was it put in POPStation even though the delivery slip said otherwise. No one could also explain why is it delivered back to base even though it is supposed to be at a specific post office. Deadlines were given to call back the customer but this was not done. The customer was finally informed that they will call back after 6pm for an update, wasting the customer's whole afternoon.
Monday late evening	A postman came to deliver the missing parcel even though this was never conveyed to the customer, assuming that the customer will wait at home. The customer just happened to be at home. The postman had no idea of what went though earlier and was clueless of the origins of the parcel. SingPost did not call back the customer at all after 6pm.

PasarBella - A Farmers' Market

Recently managed to find time to visit Singapore's PasarBella, which is touted to be a Farmer's market. It's located in Singapore's Turf City at Bukit Timah Road, now better known as The Grandstand, at the North Grandstand. Below is the google map of the area.


View Larger Map

You can find out more information on how to get to the PasarBella from the link above. The easiest way to get there is by car, taxi or shuttle bus. However, if you're taking the taxi, you can tell them, "Turf City, Bukit Timah Road, where the Giant Supermarket is located". To my astonishment, I realised that some taxi drivers do not know where is Turf City. Oh well...

The main entrance to PasarBella, as shown below, is located near the carpark that is facing the Giant supermarket, near the area where you wait for the Shuttle bus.

 

Near the main entrance, you can see the directory of stalls within PasarBella. This is also found near the back entrance, which is near the entrance of the Giant Supermarket, as shown below.

PasarBella is a collective of farmers gourmet produces, craft retailers and food stores. If you're entering from the main entrance,  you will see the store that is selling mostly seafood sushi, and of course seafood as shown below.

 

In addition to sushi, they are also selling Japanese sauces, condiments, etc. There are many obvious areas where you can sit down to enjoy your food but do note that there area seating areas upstairs, as shown in the picture below.

As you walk in further, you will be able to see other stores selling other types of food, condiments, wines, beers and some craft stores too. 

It's quite an interesting place and it's crowded too. There are also many other food stores outside of Pasarbella. All in all, a place that you should visit. And no, this is not an advertorial. :)

Impress the subconscious with the conviction

I quote from Florence Scovel Shinn:

You will be a failure, until you impress the subconscious with the conviction you are a success. This is done by making an affirmation which 'clicks.'

You have to first convince yourself before you're able to convince others. Once you believe in yourself, letting others believe in you comes naturally.

Updates will only come when you're logged in as administrator

Recently I realised that my Mac has not been receiving any updates for some time. Upon investigation, it seems that my App Store is unable to detect that I have any updates, even though my iTunes clearly indicated that there is a newer version, and that Mountain Lion released a new update.

Tried googling and I couldn't get any answer to my predicament. At a last resort, I tried logging off my current user account and logging in to the administrator account. Walla. That did the trick. All the updates started to come in.

Problem? I guess one of the earlier patches/updates must have deactivated the updates from working if I'm checking it through a non-administrator account.

This will not affect most Mac users as not everyone is like me, creating a normal user account for normal usage and rarely using the administrator account. :) However if you face a problem like me where the updates are not coming in, try updating when you're logged in to your administrator account.