Mindspeaker Returns

I’ve been reading alot about Starhub wanting to raise its prices. Basic subscription will go up by $4 and the Sports package would go up by $10. That’s an extra $14 I have to pay every month. Looks quite small huh…but multiply that by 12 and you get $168. Multiply that by 100 people and Starhub would be getting $16800 per year. But I don’t think only 100 people are subscribing to the same package as me. It should be a whole lot more than that.

But poor, old Starhub. They’ve been holding out on raising prices all these years and they have no choice but to do so now. I don’t see the reason though. They’ve been posting profits, so what’s the deal with that? How do they get away with raising prices when they are already making money? Are they monopolising their trade?

"How dare you say that!"  says Starhub. They’re not the only ones in Singapore providing such services anymore. They’re NOT a monopoly! Subscribers are free to move to other scintillating companies such as MobTV and Singtel’s IPTV (coming soon) if they don’t like Starhub. So…nope Starhub is not a monopoly!

I’m very amused by Starhub’s PR exercises. They’ve been repeating these words on various newspapers. Its like a cut and paste job. Same words all the time. But some questions remain unanswered. Such as:

Currently there are no other alternatives to watch EPL, La Liga or Serie A unless we watch them on Starhub. So to me….and to all the subscribers, that constitutes a monopoly. We don’t have a choice. We have to subscribe to Starhub if we want to watch these leagues. And if Starhub wants to raise prices, we have no choice but to pay for it. That’s a monopoly. No way you can say that its not.

Maybe I should sign up with Malaysia’s Astro and hook it up at my parent’s house at JB. Then we’ll go watch the matches on weekends there.

Starhub is pure rubbish. I’m cancelling my subscription unless the hooha that the New Paper has been creating causes them to backtrack. This is no mild threat. I’ve already cancelled my cable modem subscription with them. I’m using M1’s broadband nowadays. Its cheaper and it still gets the job done. So I don’t mind cancelling the tv subscriptions as well. Luckily I didn’t sign a contract with them… 

I used to allow people to comment on my blogs. I even had those tagboards. So I’ll get comments from lots and lots of people about what I’ve written…

But the reason why I blog is not because I want to get comments from people. No offence to my readers (if there’s any out there haha), but I’m not interested in your comments. If you have a comment, go write about it in your blog.

Most of the times, there’ll be people who write in useful comments. But there’ll always be someone out there who gets a thrill out of flaming others. They’d stalk your blog. Pick on your entries. Criticize your thoughts. Make fun of you. Insult you. All under the warmth and safety of anonymity.

If you don’t like me…just say it to me to my face. Writing comments on my blog won’t change things. I won’t know who you are. If I did something wrong to you and you’re so angry with me that you can’t sleep at night, tell me who you are. I’ll try to work things out. I promise. But if you’re not going to tell me who you are…then there’s nothing I can do.

I don’t pine for comments. Some people do. Not me. I used to write for the crowd in the past. But that’s not why I started blogging in the first place. That’s why I decided to stop blogging for awhile. 

The truth is…these are my thoughts. I didn’t write them down to please others. I wrote them down because this is how I feel. There’d be some anger, some happiness and sometimes, there’d be nonsense. I’m not out to impress anyone with my knowledge, creativity or wittiness. If you happen to read them and enjoy my entries…then I’m happy to know that. If you don’t like my thoughts, then just go to other blogs. There’s so many blogs out there. I’m sure there’s going to be others that you’d like.

I’m an introvert. I keep my thoughts to myself. But I still need an outlet for my thoughts. I need some place to vent my anger and frustrations. I also want a place to store my memories. I’d like to look back at this blog one day and laugh and cry at the good and bad times in my life. I’d like to reflect back on the things that were important back then.

So what if I look back and realise that my entries are not the award winning kind? Who cares? I just want a place to call my own. I take this blog as an extension of my thoughts. When you think or talk to yourself…you do not have people commenting right?  

So that’s why there’s no comment box.  

I believe most laymen would not be familiar with this phrase that is bandied about in schools in Singapore. The phrase is Innovation and Enterprise, or I & E for short.

I & E simply means to get students in Singapore to be more innovative and entrepreneurial. Singapore has been known to produce the best textbook memorisers, but we are sorely lacking in the entrepreneurs column. Basically, our students are robots. If its found in a book, they can do it. But if it has to do with thinking out of the box, or book for that matter, they can’t do it.

The government wants our future generation to be brimming with new ideas and produce new innovative products. We want the next Hotmail, MySpace or Youtube founder to be from Singapore. So who do we turn to to make this happen? Why, the teachers of course!

Aren’t teachers supposed to be good at everything? Aren’t they good at Maths, Science, English, Social Studies, Arts & Crafts, Music, Health Education and PE? So they should be good at I & E too what…Just one more thing to think about. Can la…

Now the reason why I’m writing about this is that in every school in Singapore, there’ll be this one day which is called the I & E Day. On this day, pupils showcase their innovative and entrepreneurial side. Parents can then come down and see the fantastic ideas that these students come up with. 

Now…as teachers are supposed to help nurture these ideas, most of the times, the ideas are nothing to be proud of. I’m not trying to put down the teachers, but seriously, why are teachers, teachers? Do you think they’d be teachers if they are entrepreneurs? How come these people who are supposed to impart their knowledge in I & E are not entrepreneurs themselves? Wouldn’t it be like a case of the blind leading the blind?

That’s why, when you go to these I & E carnivals, it looks like a mini pasar malam. You’ll have people selling food. You’ll have game stalls. Yeah sure they are making money. But what’s so innovative about selling chicken nuggets? Or throwing balls into hoops? I don’t think the government wants to create Pasar Malam people right? There’s already one too many people selling food in pasar malams.

One thing for sure though…you won’t see the next YouTube. I & E is just another idea from the upper echleons of the MOE. They push their ideas down the throats of the people on the ground and they expect these ideas to work, as always. 

Here’s an analogy. One day…the government wants all the students to be able to fly. MOE has to create flying pupils. So how? MOE comes up with idea. Ok…got idea already. Buy lots of feathers for ALL pupils in Singapore. Hand them to the teachers (who don’t know anything about flying) and hope that these teachers would be able to make the pupils fly at the end of the day (They’d better…we pay so much money for the feathers already!).

Personally, I think that if you want people to become innovative, they need to meet with real-life entrepreneurs. Let them listen to these people. How they think. What are their motivations. How they come up with ideas. They’re the ones who should be planning I & E carnivals with the students, not teachers.

Leave the teachers in peace. Let the teachers go mark books, plan lessons and do all the other things that they are qualified to do. Don’t expect the teachers to be good at everything.    

Note: To all the teachers out there…I’m not flaming you. That’s the last thing on my mind. I’m saying all this because it sickens me to see you people having to do everything in school. We’re like jack of all trades, but a master of none. If you don’t do a good job, it would reflect in your work appraisal. This sucks. I wish all this would change one day. But looking at the kiasu attitude adopted by the powers-that-be, I find this to be a pipe dream.

On the flip side, if you enjoy nurturing innovative students, then good for you. I’m not against you. My best friend is a fantastic teacher. Appeared in Contact magazine some more. And I’m happy for him. However, I’m speaking for all those who are not good at it, but are forced to do it nonetheless.

Enjoy your holidays while they last.

Yet another cyclist story…but its one with a twist!

But before that…I’d like to add on to my many grouses about cyclists.

There’s a ramp at my house which slopes up from the walkway from the road up to my block. Now this is to make it easier for ALL wheel bound things like bicycles, prams and wheelchairs. The thing is…by right, you’re supposed to wheel your way up or down when you’re at the ramp. However, most cyclists refuse to do so. Most would simply cycle their way up or down the ramp. Well, we put up with it. However, it really makes me angry when some of them refuse to get off their bikes and speed all the way up the ramp! Can you imagine how scary it is?

These people go straight from the walkway up the ramp without braking at all. So if you happen to be in their path, you better move away fast. On the other end of the spectrum, you have the slow ones. These cyclists would painstakingly pedal their way up the ramp while we have to walk patiently behind them. The problem with cycling that way is that if they were to lose their balance, they may fall backwards and hit us.

Ahhh! Cyclists! The bane of my existence!

But then again…as we were on our way to work just now a cyclist actually made my day. She was like the role model of all cycling aunties in Singapore! She actually cycled onto the grass when her path was blocked by us at the walkway! No incessant ringing of bells! She wasn’t speeding! And get this…when she reached the traffic lights, she actually got off her bike and pushed it across! She actually did that! Oh my God!

If only every single cyclist was as wonderful as her. Singapore would be a nicer place to live in…for all of us pram pushing parents. Hooray for the nice cycling auntie!  

I’ve never learnt how to use Video Editing programs in my life. Whatever I know about these were gleaned off Windows Movie Maker and Powerpoint. Yes. Powerpoint. I knew what transitions in videos were because I learnt about slide transitions in Powerpoint.

So I was surprised when I was asked to create a Video Editing manual from scratch. I told them that I knew nothing about it. But they asked me to learn. So I said ok. Who knows…it may be helpful one day.

The problem is that I don’t have the software. However, that’s quickly resolved by downloading the trial version. I also looked up the Internet for some resources on training for this particular software. I don’t think that’s enough, so I’ll probably go down the library to find out more about it.

Just thinking about video editing reminds me of this weird uncle-in-law of mine. He’s one of those "empty vessels makes the most noise" kind of people. Talks a whole lot. Brags a whole lot. So how does he tie in to this entry?

Well…he likes to take videos of special occasions such as weddings or engagements. Round about five years ago, he made a big fuss about wanting to take photos of my (back then) girlfriend during our engagement. He told her not to waste money on professional photographers. He said that he could do an even better job than them. Plus…it would be free! An engagement gift from an uncle to his niece.

The photos never came. Fast forward about two years later to our wedding preparations. We decided NOT to have him as our photographer or our videoman. We booked our own photographer and videoman at a wedding exhibition. I told my wife to tell her uncle "Tell him that I insisted on having my own videographer and photographer. It was MY decision, not yours". 

I was right. He did kick up a big fuss. He told her that we’re wasting money unnecessarily. But since he could not do anything about me as I’m not part of his family, he couldn’t stop me from getting what I wanted. However, he insisted on recording our wedding and that his video would be superior to the one I paid for.

The video I paid for came in one week after we wed. Everybody enjoyed it. In fact, I just watched it again with my younger brother, who came to watch it with his fiancee last week.

What about my uncle-in-law’s video then? That superior video? The one that’s free? Well…three years have passed since my wedding. I have a fully furnished house. I have an 11 month old daughter. But the video’s still not completed yet.

Yes its not completed. In fact, I don’t even think that he’s started! Two Hari Rayas ago, when we came to his house, he brought us all to see splices of the video that he was working on. I didn’t see a work-in-action project file. I didn’t see video clips being put together. I didn’t see transitions. There were no transitions! All I saw were a folder, with all the different files. He’d double-click on one file and we’d see one short clip. Then he’d show us another file and we’d see yet another clip. He told us that he almost completed it. Almost. That was two years ago.

I’m not a fool. Maybe he could fool his own brother (my father-in-law) and sister-in-law (my mother-in-law), but I know the difference between a project file and separate video clips. The only thing that stopped me from pointing it out was that I was still new to the family. I told my wife about it when we went home. She wasn’t surprised. Back then…two years ago, she was still waiting for her engagement photos. She told me not to expect anything from this uncle of hers.

And so she was right. No free, superior video. He bragged to my own aunties, uncles and my parents that he had captured lots of videos of my side of the family. They waited until they probably forgot about that promise.

The worst thing is that…this is not the first time that he’s done this. He’d do something and lose interest. Then he’d go scooting off to do something new that caught his eye. In the end nothing gets done.

Some of my wife’s uncles and aunties, who already have two, three children are STILL waiting for their videos. I wonder if this uncle-in-law of mine still has these clips which were probably done over ten years ago. The sad thing was that some of them didn’t get other videomen for their weddings because they trusted their own brother. Memories gone in smoke just like that.

Thank God for MY videoman. Maybe I should contact him and ask him for tips on creating this manual that I’m supposed to be doing…  

Nothing much is happening at work, so I’ve got time to reflect…

Life’s getting better. I’m getting paid less but job satisfaction is high. My family life is also better than ever. I now have the time to spend with my wife and my baby. In the past, I’d be spending nights slogging it out…planning for the next day’s lessons and marking books or papers. By the time I’m done, my wife and my baby’s asleep. By the time I wake up, they’d still be asleep. I only get about five minutes to say good morning and kiss them before I go off to work. It breaks my heart to leave. When you see your kid smiling at you…with her toothless grin. If you have kids, you’ll know what I mean. 

Nowadays, I wake up later. I go to work later. I come back earlier. I have less things to do. I get paid less as I said earlier but I think its a tradeoff I’m willing to take. What’s the point of having lots of money but no time to spend it?

It reminds me of this conversation that I had with someone I know. He lives in a swanky condo. But he works like hell to upkeep his lifestyle. He tells me that he has no time to use the condo facilities. He’s usually at work. By the time he comes back, he’s too tired to use the facilities. He says that his maid probably uses the facilities more than him.  

Money’s important, yes. In fact if I’m given the opportunity, I’d love to earn more. But not at the expense of losing family time. I want to be a part of my family’s memories. I don’t want to be known as a great provider of money, but sorely lacking in the availability department. I’d want to spend my life with my wife. I’d want to be in on my daughter’s life. I want to have memories with them, not just of them.

I can’t wait to get back into her loving arms and I can’t wait to get back home to see that toothless grin  

I’ve been soooo busy for the past week. I had to conduct an IT course for some teachers so I basically had no time at all to surf…much less blog. But I’m finally free now. So here goes…

There’s another Pasar Malam (PM) near my house yet again. And as usual, you would see the same old things being sold. And it amazes me why there’s so many stalls but they sell the same things. Have these guys heard about this thing called competition? Market saturation? I walked around the PM and I think Guiness should come down for there seems to be a record going on down here. This PM could probably win the "PM with the most Keropok Lekor Stalls" world record. 

Seven! Yes…at last count…there were not 1, not 2…but 7 stalls selling the same thing. Competition indeed! 

As a tribute to these people, I’ve decided to have a short writeup about PMs. Its called…

10 Things You’ll See At A Pasar Malam Near You!

#1: Malay Food Stalls
There seems to be some sort of criteria for Malay Food Stalls. If you can’t sell these things:
(a) Keropok Lekor
(b) Goreng Pisang
(c) Roti John
(d) Burger Ramly
(e) Hotdog (Cheese, Black Pepper, Plain)
(f) Cempedak Goreng
(g) Otak-Otak
(h) Ayam Panggang

Then don’t bother setting up a stall. Somehow or other…the stall owners seem to think that everybody in Singapore only looks for or eats these things when they go to a Malay Food stall. As a result of this…they don’t mind setting up as many stalls as they like in a PM. Seven ok…and two of the stalls actually are set up back-to-back!

And if you happen to buy food like the Ramly Burger or Roti John, be prepared to be flooded by a triple sauce combo of plum, chilli and mayonnaise. They pour it over your food like there’s no tomorrow. They’re so good at it that they make perfect curly-wurly swirls on your food, forming some sort of psychedelic colour scheme on your choice of food.

I think the people who produce these sauces are like billionaires by now…judging by the amount they could sell to these 7 stalls alone.

If you happen to not like sauces on your food…tell them beforehand. They normally assume that the whole world LURVES a plum, chilli and mayonnaise cocktail.  

#2: Chinese Food Stalls
You didn’t really see them that much a few years back. But, just like their Malay counterparts, they sell the same things too. They sell:
(a) Chicken nuggets
(b) Fishballs
(c) Chicken drumsticks (These are probably bigger than the ones in KFC)
(d) Water Chestnuts

I don’t really take a look that much at these stalls as I don’t eat Chinese food. But they all look like they sell the same things. How would someone choose one over the other like that?

#3: Customary Drinks Stall
These stalls probably make the most money. Since there’s so many food stalls around, the income received would be spread thin. However, this stall seems to be taking most of the moolah for drinks. After you walk around the PM…or after eating all the food…you’d need drinks. So you get to choose from these:
(a) Soft Drinks (cans): Put in a tank of ice so the soft drinks are always cold…until all the ice melts off. Then you’ll just get lukewarm Cokes, 7ups or Cherry Ades. Yucks!

(b) Soft Drinks (bottled): These are old-school bottled drinks. You have to use a bottle-cap opener to open up these bottles. I remembered that these were around when I was a kid. I don’t know whether they kept them THAT long or they imported it from some country that still uses this kind of packaging. Probably the latter. I hope…

(c) Sugar-Cane: They’d have these authentic sugar-cane drinks making machine. You put the sugar-cane at the top and squeeze out the juice which comes out at the bottom of the machine. I always wonder whether I could get these machines to torture people I don’t like. Just put their fingers through the machine. See whether got juice come out or not heheh…

(d) They’re young. They’re Thai. Your wife or girlfriend won’t scold you if you have them. You want many-many also your wife or gf won’t scold you. You can even pick and choose them…while your wife or gf looks at you approvingly. Sometimes you wife or gf may even want to join in on the action. After you lick the taste of the sweet liquid off your lips, you can even nibble on their white, soft and supple flesh.

Yes. I’m talking about young Thai coconuts. $1 each. So cheap some more….

#4: Cotton Candy Stalls
Cotton Candy used to be freaking wonderful. They’re huge. They’re bright. You could hide your face behind one. You could get your face, hands and sometimes hair all sticky after eating them. You can buy one humongous one and share it with your girlfriend. Can pull off one chunk and feed to one another. Then can accidentally kiss when got no more cotton candy (macam Lady and the Tramp).

But now cotton candies have been caged up in silly little plastic containers. So nice and orderly. They have been domesticated. So boring…and sometimes these stalls don’t even have the cotton candy making machine anymore. We used to be amazed at how the cotton candy materialised right before our very eyes as the Uncle made them. Now…we only see them in plastic containers. Bring back the machines! Bring back the machines!

Eh Government…you want Singapore to be more romen-tic right? Then force ALL cotton candy makers to get back to their roots and use the machines. Confirm we will end up with more babies.

#5: Mattresses and Pillows
I don’t remember seeing these at the PMs in the past. But somehow people think that there is a huge demand for pillows and mattresses at PMs. I think its a GREAT idea. Have you ever bought pillows and bolsters from some swanky shopping mall? Have you ever brought them home from these swanky shopping malls? They never have a plastic bag that’s designed for bolsters. The cashier will probably tie up your bolsters with raffia string so that there’s a handle for your bolsters. Then they plaster one big SOLD sticker there too. Imagine walking around with that. Imagine taking the MRT or bus with that.

So you see…its probably wiser to buy pillows and bolsters at your neighbourhood PM. (Profitable Plots song playing in the background) I did. (Kena nudged by wife) We did. (Kena stare by wife) Ok she did.

It’s the same quality (maybe even better) and you can haggle for a bargain some more.

#6: T-shirts, Baju Butterfly and Towels
Think pirated stuff.  Copyright infringements. A normal mortal’s paradise but Disney’s nightmare.

You can get T-shirt brands of all kinds here. Adidas. Nike. Fubu. No Fear (Is there even an authentic No Fear t-shirt?). Von Dutch. Von Dutch. And more Von Dutch. Quiksilver. Stussy. Last time when I was a teenager, we could only get Quiksilver and Stussy at Flash and Splash. Now at PM can get. Cheaper too.  

Then there’s the fake jerseys. Manchester United. Chelsea. Arsenal. Inter Milan. AC Milan. Bayern Munich. Real Madrid. Barcelona. You want it. They’ve got it. But I think that the quality is not so good. This one I have to admit…they look fake. I’ve never bought these at all. Don’t know whether they look authentic or not. Wait I buy….then if people spot…paisey!

Disney or Cartoon Characters: You can get T-shirts of every cartoon character imaginable. From Garfield to SpongeBob Squarepants. You want to make your wife or gf happy…buy her baju butterfly (the thingie they go to sleep in..eh not ALL women wear baju butterfly ok. Sorry huh ladies!) with their favourite cartoon characters. I got my wife a Strawberry Shortcake baju butterfly and that made her very happy.

And when she’s happy…I also later very happy. Romancing Singapore! Yeah!

#7: Odds and Ends Shops
This shops are like those 1.99 shops and DIY shops combined. They sell everything everything under the sun. If you need anything for your household. Come here. Screwdrivers? Have. Door stoppers? Have. Pins and needles? Check. Pot handles? Have. That metal thingie you can dig your ears with? Got. Cheap batteries? By the dozens. Toys for kids? Have…

So you see…the stall owner cover all bases. There’s something for the kids. Something for the parents too. Its a place for families…these shops. So if you’ve already run out of places to visit in Singapore (e.g. Go Zoo until Ah Meng can recognise you from afar already), then you come to these shops la…Fun for the whole family!

#8: Furniture Shops
This is another amazing thing. Whenever I think of going to the PM, my priorities would probably be (a) Food (b) Food (c) Food (d) T-shirts (e) Food. But furniture???

I’d probably go to places like Courts for that right? Or maybe even more established furniture shops. But PM? PM? Furniture? PM? Can you imagine this scenario…

House Guest: Wah your sofa very nice to sit on. So soft and comfy one! Where you buy huh? Courts huh? I heard their furniture all very stylo-mylo now!

Me: Erm…I bought it at Pasar Malam. 

House Guest: Huh? PM? How come you buy at PM sia?

Me: I dunnola…I was thinking of buying some Keropok Lekor…suddenly I come across this furniture stall in the PM. Then I like the couch. I buy la…

House Guest: Really? Then you pay by cash there and then huh? Or do they have NETS or credit card? Got installments like Courts or not?

 #9: CD Shops
Now these shops don’t only sell CDs. They sell VCDs, Karaoke CDs and DVDs too. The price is not bad. A lot cheaper than the mainstream video shops. You may even find some old favourites. Kids would love the VCDs they sell here.

#10: Shops Selling Handphone Casing
They have all types of casings for all types of handphones here. There’s the silicone (how come silicone can be that flat and thin huh? I thought they’re supposed to be round and…booby?) types and the crystal (crystal ok…don’t play play!) casings. The real handphone shops are lagging so far behind that they don’t even try. I’ve never seen silicone and crystal casings at real Nokia, Sony Ericcsson or Samsung shops. Only the boring old leather casings. Buy handphone so expensive….so stylo-mylo looking…then cover it up in a black casing? You from which year? 1994 is it?

And these shops sell the latest ok. Latest.
I happen to be using the W880i. That’s like a few months back…when the advertisement for it was still on TV. Got it. Not bought it ok. Free. And no contract one. No I didn’t steal it. Father-in-law gave it to me. He got a $500 handphone voucher. He’s got two of these actually. Cos he’s a businessman and he uses two $200 per month lines. At the end of every year he’ll get $500 vouchers for these two lines. He’ll use one for himself and he’ll give the other one to some other family member. It happened to be my turn that time. So he bought the W880i and gave it to me. Apa lagi? Ambik la…Rezeki jangan ditolak. Mahu jangan dicari.

So since its such a valuable item given to me by an important person, I decided to get a cover the moment I got it.  I went to my PM (they had it at another part of my estate that time) and just absent-mindedly looked around for a cover for my handphone. I never expected to see one for my handphone. It was really new back then. But I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that they ALREADY have covers for my handphone.

Crystal some more. But wait…I thought crystal’s supposed to be scratch-proof? Nevermindla…as long as my handphone is scratch-free can already…

THE END

So that’s it. My list of 10 Things You’ll See At A Pasar Malam Near You! So long sia the post. Never wrote anything this long before. See la…one week never blog. Lepaskan geram. Amik kau!  

The Bankrupt Mat

Biar Papa Asal Bergaya

Well…I’ve read them and this is what I think.

Its easy to fall into this consumerism trap. Its easy to get excited with all the hoo-ha of starting a new life. In this new digital age of ours…where everything is instant (from emails to iced tea), we want everything there and then. Instant gratification.

Everywhere you look nowadays, you see someone holding a brochure and inviting you to listen to them and sign up for the newest offer that credit card companies could come up with. I’m always amazed when I see people actually stopping to listen to them. Me? I just wave them off.

Been there. Done that. I put up my hand when they talk about people who are saddled in debts. Yeah…I’m one of them.

Renovation loan. Furnishing loan. Credit cards. Loans for this. Loans for that. You name it. I’ve got it and I’m owing money for it. The only thing I don’t have is a car loan. How come? Cos I really got no money for one.

Now…it really is easy to bring up this matter to the public. Its easy to come up with lists of examples of how the Malay community is ’showing off’ money thats not theirs. But not everyone is doing this to show off. Some of us just want to have the best for our new family. I don’t go around inviting people to my house to let them see my crib.

Instead of being blog critics…let’s all try to find solutions to these problems.

So how? 

Step #1: Stop!
First step is to tell yourself to stop it. No more loans. No more using of the credit cards. The moment you close the gaps in your expenses, you’re getting better already. Yes its not easy. You get bombarded with ads on TV asking you to buy, buy, buy! Newspaper ads from Courts, Dell, AudioHouse and every other company implore you to buy their newest thingamajig. And if you can’t afford to pay in cash, no problem! Courts offer you up to 60 months of repayment plans. That’s 60 months for them to get interest from you. Whoopee!

Ask yourself. Do you really need it? Or do you just want it? Most of the time its just lust. Yeah we all lust for other things besides humans, you know. Take your time. Never buy something impulsively. If a salesman tells you its the last day for the sale…tell him nevermind. He’s more interested in his commission than in you saving money during the sale. Go home…and be happy cos you didn’t waste money on something you don’t really need.

Step #2: Family Ties
If you happen to be deep in debt over your credit cards…this is the hardest one. The reason is they have the credit card companies have soooo many different ways to charge you. They have the yearly interest. Then they have the late payment penalty. If you take cash advances from your card…they’ll also charge you. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

So…if you don’t have credit cards, good for you! Avoid the credit card people like the plague. You don’t want to be in their trouble unless you are very, very sure that you can pay off all your credit card expenses within the same month. NEVER ROLL OVER YOUR CREDIT DEBTS.

If you already have them…and are drowning in rollover debts, here’s what you can do. Admit your silly mistake. Be humble. Go to your family and ask them for help. Of course…there’ll be some oohs and aahs and some scoldings to endure. But after all that…your parents would want to help. They still have a stake in your life. They want to see you have a happy family and they want to see their grandchildren live happy lives too. Being older and wiser…they’ll be able to help you find ways to solve your problems.

My parents and parents-in-law helped me here. They were disappointed in me. Sure. But they also wanted to help me solve my problems. They helped me close my credit cards. Now I’m paying them off. Instalment free. See? No need credit card also can get instalment free loans.  Thanks Mum, Dad, Bapak and Mak. You helped me retain my sanity.

However…what if your parents can’t get you out of the quagmire you’re in?

If your parents or your other family members can’t help you…then go to a loanshark.

Just kidding

Step #3: Get A Personal Loan
This is the exception to Step #1. If you tried step #2 and you are unsuccessful, try to get the next best thing. A loan like that of James or EzyCash. Although they still have interest, its less than the 24% that credit card companies charge. There are no hidden charges. And the amount you owe the banks will start going down steadily and surely. Use the money from the loan to pay off the credit cards. Kill off the credit cards first, then tackle the others. However DO NOT use this money to buy other things ok! Its strictly for paying off the credit card loans. Nothing else.

Step #4: Get A Repayment Plan
Once you are behind in your payments, the banks will call you everyday until you make payment. They don’t care if you’re working, or if you are busy. They just want to know when you are going to pay them. When this happens, its easy to get overwhelmed. You just want to switch off the phone. But do not ignore them. Tell them the truth. If you can pay them, tell them when. If you can’t tell them that you would like to pay them back but you are not able to do so. Ask them if its possible to have a repayment plan. In this way, you’ll pay a specific amount until you have finished paying for the card and then close it. There will be an interest but usually they will lower it from the 24% per annum. In this way…the debt amount will surely and steadily decrease. As long as you make the payments, they won’t bother you anymore.

Step #5: Counselling
If steps #1 - 4 does not work for you, consider getting counselling. Go to the Credit Card Counselling website to find out more. They have regular talks which brief you on the actions you can take to solve your debt problems…even bankruptcy. I went to one of the briefings and I got the idea for Step #2 from them.

And that’s it! Its not easy at first ok. Its not easy to tell your parents. Its not easy to admit that you have problems. But the problems have to be solved somehow. Swallow your pride. Admit your mistakes and learn from them.

If you are able to somehow avoid in borrowing…then good for you. Just don’t tut-tut other people. Don’t have to predict doom and gloom for the others. Let me know how you buy your HDB flat huh? I’ll be interested to know how you manage to avoid paying interest for that. Oh and banks pay YOU interest for saving money with them. Is that ok too?

Its no good telling people what’s Haram and what’s not. We all will answer to God one day.

If only Vesak Day happened to fall on Friday. Then we’ll all have long holidays. Some people decide to take leave or fall sick on this day. I have no choice but to come to work. Its because my school is having enrichment IT lessons today. I don’t want to leave my kids stranded if I don’t turn up so here I am. Since the kids have finished their lessons early, I let them indulge in a little Web Surfing while I do some blogging.

The truth is…my mind is not really on the enrichment classes today. My PC is being delivered to my home in the evening. I can’t wait to get my hands on it! Gone are the days when I would trawl down to Sim Lim Square and pick up different computer parts to fix. I don’t have the time now. So…I decided to just plonk on a ready made PC. Easy Peasy…

My old PC has been really acting up. It would crawl excruciatingly and when it can’t take anymore processing, it would scream out in endless beeps. Drives me crazy!!! So I’ve decided to retire that damn thing for good.

Oh 5 o’clock…hurry up please come!