Cheap Gifts fom Even Cheaper Colleagues...

My Company or rather my department where I am working has a simple Christmas gathering cum retreat. We were asked to buy a simple gift of around $10 for the gift exchange which was the highlight.

I was so happy when I got mine. Thinking that it was chocolates, I was thrilled that I was about to enjoy a nice Christmas treat. Imagine my horror when I unwrapped the gift. It was nothing more than this:
There's no effort in choosing the gift at all. I am not complaining about the cheap gift but the lack of effort to hunt for an appropriate gift. Guess what? I am throwing it away as I don't know what to do with this.

Food for thought

Minimum wage can cause unemployment....

If you pay people $100 or nothing, unemployment drops to zero but what is the point of keeping people in low wage work to keep unemployment low? So they can work their whole lives, collect workfare and live out a life just above subsistence. Not a very Swiss standard of living.

With a worldclass govt paid the highest salaries in the world, we would like to have our cake and eat it = low unemployment and decent wages....at least we want leaders who will try to achieve this as a goal otherwise how else do we narrow the income gap and inequalities in our society. Why is the PAP govt insistent that it is not do-able when so many other countries have done it. In fact all developed countries have minimum wage policies and even our neighbor, Malaysia, is seriously considering it.

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Minimum wage an 'easy solution', but doing so would lead to firms moving to places with cheaper labour, he says
By Kor Kian Beng


LOW WAGE OR NO WAGE
LABOUR chief Lim Swee Say said yesterday that advocates who want a minimum wage as a way to improve the lot of low-paid workers were opting for an 'easy solution'.

Taking such an step would, instead, lead to higher unemployment rates as companies start moving to more cost-competitive locations, he argued.

'Yes, we can try to reduce the number of low-wage workers by having a minimum wage, but the number of workers with no wage will go up and unemployment will go up,' he said during a panel discussion at a conference to explore ways Asian companies can better attract and groom talent.

It would be more effective to introduce a 'minimum skills' system for jobs and raise the skills level over time through education and training, said Mr Lim, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Office. 'That way, lower-wage workers of today will become better-skilled workers and earn better wages of tomorrow.'

Mr Lim's first public comments on the issue follow a debate last month on the effectiveness of a minimum wage as a way to protect low-wage workers here and boost their incomes.

Making a case for such a move were National University of Singapore labour economist Hui Weng Tat and Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh.

Dr Hui argued that an influx of low-skilled and low-cost foreign labour keeps the wages of lower-skilled workers here stagnant. He believed a minimum wage would encourage bosses to invest more in technology so as to raise productivity.

Professor Koh noted the Government's argument to let the market regulate wages, but said the state should intervene to 'make the world a fairer one' when there is a market failure.

Yesterday, Mr Lim noted that some economies went for easy solutions such as a minimum wage and the restriction of foreign labour supply - thus forcing firms to take on local workers even though there may be a mismatch in the skills level for jobs.

'We can force the mismatch onto companies and force them to pay higher wages,' he said. 'But you can't stop the globalisation of jobs (and) the harder you push, eventually the jobs will go away because if a location is not competitive, they can always go (elsewhere).'

Mr Lim spoke on the issue at the Singapore Human Capital Summit during a panel discussion on the human capital challenges facing Asia in 2020.

Challenges he named include a widening income gap, keener competition for top talent, and a growing mismatch between jobs and skills.

Countries should focus on developing their prime asset - their people - and use this to attract investments and jobs, Mr Lim said. They could do so by beefing up the education and skills upgrading system, keeping foreign manpower supply open, and maintaining social stability by looking at narrowing the income gap.

On the issue of social stability, panellist Lynda Gratton, a London Business School professor, said companies had to stop paying top executives '500 times' more than their lowest-paid employees. This would build fairer societies.

Citing the example of a firm that pays its top management 20 per cent more than its lowest-paid workers, she asked Mr Lim if more companies would do so in future.

Mr Lim's response was that in the real world, top dollar would have to be paid for top talent.

The labour movement does not object to people getting higher pay, he said. But it expects bosses to be more responsible to their rank-and-file workers by ensuring that they too receive a fair wage for the work they put in.

kianbeng@sph.com.sg

Phuket Adventure 2010 - Day 4

Day 4: 18/09/2010

My travelling companion said that I was crazy wanting to go to "James Bond" Island a.k.a Ko Tapu or Nail Island which found fame through the 1974 Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun". The film starred Roger Moore and Christopher Lee (as the three nippled arch-villain Scaramanga) but it was the scenic topography that helped make the film into a firm Bond favourite. It also turned the previously unknown Phang Nga Bay into a major tourist attraction. We left Bang Rong Personal Pier for Panak Island and Hong Island.

Later we proceeded to Talu Island where the sea was so calm that we went canoeing around the sea caves. The Thais are so enterprising that they even had a small boat laden with fruits that tourist might buy.

A visit to the islands is never complete without a sumptous lunch. We were served fried fish, green curry, fried vegetables and some crackles. So this is the sumptous meal I was promised. It's so yucky that if I had a choice, I wouldn't go to this "Restaurant" ever again.

After the "sumptous" lunch, we quickly beat a hasty departure for James Bond Island as the boat captain indicated that bad weather was approaching fast.The sight of "James Bond" Island was not what I had envisage. It is so commercialised that the better part of the island are being taken over by stall holders selling nick nacks of all kinds.

We left our hotel at 8:45p.m. for the one hour trip to the airport. We rushed to the JetStar counter only to be told that the flight was being re-timed to depart from Phuket at 2:20a.m. on Sunday. It was an antagonising wait of almost 4 hours at the departure hall. What made it worse was that there was no shops to while away the time. Finally...the plane left as promised and touch down in Singapore at 5a.m. On the whole it was indeed an adventure.More holiday stories to tell...till then...Adios and vaya con dios!

Phuket Adventure 2010 - Day 3

Day 3: 17/09/2010

I was picked up from the hotel at around 9:30a.m. We were greeted by the Russian delegation who treated the van like their personal suana. I knew they didn't like the aircon but I didn't expect them to turn it off completely. She's Aloe Vera and he's Tornado.

First stop...Tsunami Museum. It's the site where the police patrol boat TOR 813 washed ashore on Petchkasem Road, Khao Lak (Bang Niang)

Elephant Trek is for the Tourist who either loved nature or is facinated with riding on an elephant. For me...I simply wanted to experience the ride. However, the morning was not favourable as the sky opened and out poured the rain. Since I was carrying photographic equipment, I decided to spend the time taking videos and photos of the elephants while my Russian friends went for the trek in the pouring rain.

Not long afterwards we proceeded out and visited the famous Monkey Cave Temple, called Wat Tham Suwankuha by the locals (I think) in Phuket area. This temple is home to hundreds of long-tailed macaques that are more than eager to share your lunch with you. The temple also had a resident monk, who for a fee, would provide you with a blessing and would tie a bracelet around your wrist. At the far end of the cave there was a slippery walkway which led to a further chamber high up behind some rather large stalactites.

Sok River is a perfect place for relaxing canoe ride down the slowly moving stream. Especially if you have a canoe man to do all the hard work and just concentrate to watch beautiful scenery. Paddlers are usually experts in spotting wildlife along the river. Most commonly seen animals include birds, such as kingfishers and herons, snakes, frogs, monitor lizards and if you are lucky, maybe even some wild monkeys. Besides the animals, you can see stunning lime stone cliffs covered with dense jungle and some rural life along the river as locals’ fish, wash laundry and take their daily household water from the river. Definitely one of the most beautiful areas in Khao Sok is the Cheow Larn Lake with its majestic limestone mountains rising hundreds of meters above the turquoise waters of crystal clear lake.The exotic tropical vegetation clinging to the river banks with limestone cliffs and mountains rising up on both sides creates a secret primeval world that very few people ever see.

Stay tuned...the 4th and last day of my adventure coming right up.

Phuket Adventure 2010 - Day 2

Day 2: 16/09/2010
In the morning, this is how Jungceylon would have looked.
We walked around in search of cheap coffee. Finally...we saw McDonalds and we plump ourselves on the seat and called out for coffee.
One of the things any visitor would be stumped is when you drive a rental car. Where on earth is a gasoline station. They sell the gasoline is a very unique way from a roadside stall using recycled bottles and tin cans. At first we went round in circles searching for a gasoline station and then we wised up to the fact that...
We were braver after a few hours of driving. We approached a rubber tapping show and we were treated to a lesson on rubber tapping and the industry built around rubber production. A real eye opener for city dwellers like us.
Later we drove to Wat Chalong, a massive compound of temples with the steeple made from pure gold.
Admiring the beauty of Phuket is never complete if you don't see it from a bird's eye view. This is the view from Cape Promthep Viewpoint.
The Two Heroines monument tells an intresting story of a tactical defense against a Burmese invasion. The presentation of the statue is well indeed, but is something that you can be completely satisfied by if you were to merely just see it as you are passing in a car. The story goes something along the lines of these two sisters leading the women around the city dressed as soldiers, during a Burmese invasion, to make it seem as if they were recieving reinforcements from Bangkok.
A typical kelong along the Bang Rong Personal Pier where tourist would take the speedboats to "James Bond" islands. A variety of fish were reared in the holding nets.
Phuket's three most famous waterfalls are not nearby. The largest in Thailand and in dry season the waterfalls is not worth a visit. The largest waterfall named Bang Pae is only around 18 meters high, not exactly the worlds largest. So you see there is no need to spend a whole day traveling just to take pictures in front of a "big" waterfall.

A much better reason is to get away from the beach and sun if only for a day. But why should someone want to do that? It's easy to have a sunburn on the beach, so visiting a waterfall is your chance to let the skin heal and at the same time experience Phuket's only remaining rainforest.

Ton Sai and Bang Pae is located in Khao Phra Thaeo National Park 22 kilometers north of Phuket Town on the way to the airport. Also found at Bang Pae is Gibbon Rehabilitation Project where they try to save pet gibbons that have been abandoned.

Walking up to Bang Pae waterfall from the parking lot takes around 10 minutes. Under the waterfall is a small pond where many people take the opportunity to bath in cool water and jump from the waterfall out in the pond (don't try it yourself if you don't know what you are doing).

Stay tuned...the 3rd day of my adventure coming right up.

Phuket Adventures 2010 - Day 1

DAY 1: 15/09/2010
My friend and I went took the El Cheapo JetStar flying out from Changi Airport Terminal 1. When we checked-in, the staff at the counter directed us to boarding gate D44. For quite awhile, we noted that there was nobody and the gate was deserted. We looked around and saw the departure board indicating that the boarding gate was being changed to B14. Poor communication!!!The boarding was prompt and we were ushered to our most uncomfortable "leather seats". The flight was non-descript and uneventful. The airline didn't allow the passengers to bring their own food and yet had the cheek to sell sub-standard food at sky high prices. E.g. selling a cup of so called premium coffee for $3 in a Styrofoam cup which turn out to be nothing more than a 3-in-1 Nescafe.One hour into my flight, I was getting restless and when I looked out of the window, a beautiful sight greeted me. I took out my camera and snapped away.About 2 hours later, the co-pilot announced that the plane would be landing at any moment.
The landing at Phuket was bumpy. I would award Phuket International Airport a 7/10 for the bumpy landing.
We cleared immigration and customs in less than 5 minutes. On the way to our Hotel, we saw for the first time how some of the locals traveled around town. Hmm... this is a "new" way to get around. After settling down at our Hotel, we took our cameras for a simple sightseeing around Patong area.
We walked aimlessly around Patong to soak in the atmosphere. In less than an hour, we were accosted by some 紅毛猴. Their modus operandi began like this: Hi...you from China? HK? Malaysia? Singapore? Taiwan? We thought that they were tourist so we casually mentioned that we were from Singapore. "Luke" and "Joe" or so they claimed were from UK and California respectively. They shoved some cards in your face and asked you to scratch the foil off the card. You will inevitably "win" something and they will escort you back to their lair where you will be coerced to sit for 90mins to hear the sales pitch on time share holidays. Don't ever fall for this trick. We didn't carry credit cards and neither we had any spare cash with us so obviously we are unable to fall into this kind of con. Avoid them at all cost or misery will befall you throughout your holidays.
After we "escaped" from the lair, we walked back to our hotel. As we didn't have any maps with us, we had to rely on some of the so-called "landmarks" and my trusted GPS. We passed through several streets and soon we forgot our earlier ordeal.
This is the famous Paradise Complex. Unique name for an activity that is carried out openly. It is a place where all gays congregate for sex, massage, eat, sleep etc. You name it...they done it. Be cautious though...it is always wise to be protected if you want to try out the sinful activities.
For the straighter people, there's always the tiger show. Even my mum knows about it so I can feign ignorance. The whole place comes alive in the evening with lady boys gyrating to the latest beat of techno music. It is the place to be if you want to see this for the experience. For me...sleep in my hotel room is more important.
The famed Patong Beach. It is the raining season and dark clouds are always looming. In my four days in Phuket, 2 days were raining and part of holidays were spoilt.
In the evening, we explored Phuket biggest shopping mall. Jungceylon is the hip and modern place to be for foreigners and Thais. I would rate it as equivalent to our Tiong Bahru Plaza. The anchor tenants are Robinson and Carrefour. There's a full digital cinema on the 5th floor showing the latest Hollywood movies in English and Thai. For those who liked musical fountain, there are two performances at 7:00p.m. and 9:00p.m.
Stay tuned...the 2nd day of my adventure coming right up.