Safer and Cheaper in Singapore

For those of us who have money in a bank it is always somewhat reassuring to find that the bank that you trust, is not likely to fall over any time soon.

Good news then for Singaporeans as OCBC has retained its title as the world’s strongest bank for the second year in Bloomberg's latest research.

United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB) comes in number seven and DBS at number eight thanks in a large part to the steady Singapore economy and an aversion to risk.  Mind you, the interest deposit rates for term investments in the Republic are fairly minuscule when compared to other countries, but you can't have it both ways.

Not only are the banks more secure but the cost of living, based on a global index of recognisable US consumables, shows that Singapore is much cheaper to live in than say Australia, the USA or the UK.

Hong Kong has greater purchasing power parity than Singapore.  Mouse over the charts to see the figures.

The Cost of Living

Sunny Side Up

They all laughed at Christopher Columbus when he said the world was round... or so say the lyrics of a popular song.

There was equal hilarity whenever I raised my small umbrella to beat off the Singapore sun. My colleagues used to rib me about this practice but I found it a good way to circumvent 'mad dogs and Englishmen' syndrome.

While certainly not trying to emulate a Tai Tai with her parasol, my small 'brolly with its silvered reflective upper panels worked a treat.

The heat of the noon day sun in Singapore is unmerciful and even the locals wisely avoid it if they can.

I feel totally vindicated today as a recently release study  has shown that 'any fully-functioning handheld umbrella can block more than three-quarters of ultraviolet (UV) light on a sunny day.'

Apparently, and according to the same source, black ones do even better, blocking at least 90 per cent of rays'.  Now I find this somewhat surprising as my rudimentary physics lessons from high school days drilled into me that the colour black attracts heat while white repels it.

The report went on to note that 'the handheld umbrella (HU) is a commonly employed method of sun protection by women in many countries in Asia (45% in China) and the Middle East. In Turkey, hats and umbrellas were found to be the most common photoprotection accessories.

In the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States and in Europe such umbrellas were standard outdoor accessories for women, but by the 20th century sunscreen, hats, and sun-protective clothing had taken over.

As we have become more aware of the harmful effects of UV, the hand-held umbrella is making a comeback.  In both Australia and New Zealand the incidence of skin cancer is particularly high but in both countries it is rare to see a hand held umbrella being used as protection, unless of course it is a new immigrant from Asia.

Large beach umbrella when basking in the sand have been the norm for decades but they hardly qualify as  being 'sun smart'.

I content myself in the knowledge that I was ahead of my time when I first raised my umbrella for a stroll down Tanglin Road!

Related articles

• Umbrellas May Shield You from More Than Rain

Something Rotten In The State Of.......Sport

Amateur Sport the way it used to be

I'm the first to admit it, I think professional sport has ruined sport - full stop! In my playing days (rugby) we were all amateurs what ever grade or representative team we played for.

We didn't get paid for playing but the reward of reaching rep. team status, playing for your province, was reward enough. You might get a free meal if you were visiting another club and of course representative kit was provided by your rugby union. That was the sum total of the 'perks'.

But then rugby went professional and the marketing men and player's agents moved in. Salaries were paid and rapidly spiralled upwards. Now we are in the absurd situation& where the once cherished All Blacks are no longer a team but a 'brand". To compound the idiocy the "brand" has been further diluted so we don't just have an All Blacks team any more, we also have an All Blacks Sevens team.

But this is not the only problem with morphing what were amateur sports into 'entertainment products'. Two very ugly consequences have recently emerged. This past fortnight we have had confirmation of just how corrupt sport betting is.

According to Chris Eaton, ex-FIFA head of security, gambling houses in South East Asia form the foundation for organised crime gangs to generate huge profits from sports match-fixing. Singapore has been fingered as playing a pivotal role the fixing of about 680 overseas football matches says an Interpol and Europol report.

Scarcely had we digested this piece news than the sport-mad Australians revealed that the use of banned drugs in Australian professional sport was rife. The report can be seen here.

" Despite being prohibited substances in professional sport, peptides and hormones are being used by professional athletes in Australia, facilitated by sports scientists, highperformance coaches and sports staff.
Widespread use of these substances has been identified, or is suspected by the ACC, in a number of professional sporting codes in Australia. In addition, the level of use of illicit drugs within some sporting codes is considered to be significantly higher than is recorded in official statistics.
The ACC has also identified that organised crime identities and groups are involved in the domestic distribution of PIEDs, which includes peptides and hormones. ".

So all in all it is a very sad indictment on what sport as we once knew it has become; hardly the motivation to encourage youngsters to take up a physical challenge in a field of their choice.

Related articles

• Wide use of banned drugs in Aust sport
• Drugs in sport rife: probe
• Asian syndicates make millions from fixed football matches
• Live coverage: Doping probe rocks Australian sport

Flying the Way it Used to Be

From Brisbane to Singapore 1937
Refueling at Daly Waters in the Northern Territory

In this day of A380's and Changi's terminals it is easy to forget how far travelling by air has advanced in a very short space of time.

This image shows a refueling stop in  Australia's Northern Territory.  In 1937 when this photograph was taken aircraft has to stop several times on long flights to refuel.  It was only two years earlier, on 7 April that Qantas operated its first overseas passenger flight from Brisbane to Singapore.  It was a  four-day trip in those days and the aircraft (partially pictured at right) was a four-engine DH86.

Demand for the service was such that two years after this journey was captured on film the DH86 was replaced by Short C Class Empire flying boats, which also operated out of Sydney.

1937 was clearly a watershed year in Singapore aviation as the Wearne Brothers launched the first commercial air service between Singapore and Malaya that year using a de Havilland Dragon Rapide aircraft called (quite appropriately) the Governor Raffles. It flew from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

It was also the year that Amelia Earhart departed from Lae in Papua New Guinea en-route to Howland Island. She never made it.

No Frequent Flyer points in those days and only the well-to-do could afford air travel. Qantas has also become an airline consigned to Singapore's history as it recently stopped flying there, preferring instead to go through Dubai.

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• Amelia Earhart's Navigator: The Life and Loss of Fred Noonan
• De Havilland Dragon Rapide
• Qantas base leaves Singapore for Dubai

Today's Print - Pastoral

Pastoral - South Australia
Roger Smith
Click on image to see larger version

This is an image I took in the country outside Adelaide a few years ago. Using special filters I have 'aged' the image to give it a vintage look.

Tuning In

The chances of New Zealand being declared a republic in the near future are slim if the viewing statistics from last evenings Royal Wedding are to be believed.

51 per cent of men and 67 per cent of women watching TV last night tuned in to the royal wedding on free-to-air television according to a report in today's NZ Herald.

The topic on most people's minds this past 24 hours - NZ ringed in red.
Click on the image to see the larger version then click again.

There has also been considerable interest in New Zealand's only professional basketball team, the Breakers, winning the Australian competition.  This is a first for any NZ professional team; beating the Aussies in their own competition.

The Canadians, unlike their compatriots across the border, were more interested in the results of their election than the royal nuptials.

Meanwhile we are tuning into autumn which is something the Canadians would also appreciate.

Autumn Botany Downs - Roger Smith 2011
Click on the image to see a larger version

Related articles

• Canadians more interested in election than royal wedding, polls suggest (thestar.com)

Boring? Moi?

"Singapore is boring, we all know that, but what are the definitive 10 things that will deliver you to snoresville?" so starts an article by Elaine Ee, CNN GO.

Why do we have to put up with such 'Negative Nellies"?  Sure, some of the local's pastimes might seem somewhat passive to outsiders, but the energy-sapping climate has a lot to do with one's energy levels and a preference for indoor pursuits.

Ms Ee's list in count-down order includes the following:

10. Go to the cinema
9. Take a drive
8. Have dinner at the airport
7. Listening up at Speakers’ Corner
6. Day camping in East Coast Park
5. Read the newspaper
4. Watch local television
3. Go for a walk in a shopping center
2. Have a ride on the Singapore Flyer
1. Indulge in a spot of gambler watching

I concede that local Singapore television is a bit of yawn with its numerous Hawker food shows but is the television in other countries much better?

Replace Hawker food shows with Masterchef in Australia or New Zealand and the fare looks pretty much the same; just another helping of cheap reality show programming.

And I should add, traditional hawker food is delicious and I quite happily spent time debating the relative merits of chicken rice stalls with friends and colleagues.

The Singapore Flyer never attracted me except when I watched stranded passengers abseiling down its guy ropes.  The main problem for the Flyer is that  the recently constructed and nearby Marina Bay Sands Roof Garden is actually higher than their Big Wheel and offers better views (see Image below).

View from Marina Bay Sands looking down on the Singapore Flyer - image chensiyuan

As to Speaker's Corner, this small piece of real estate has largely become obsolete as most opinion is shared through social media and on blogs such as this one.

To be fair to CNNGo they did feature another article on Singapore in 2009 entitled, "50 Reasons Why Singapore Is #1". By my calculation that is 40 more positive reasons than negative if both articles are taken into account.

Related articles

• Shopping and Sightseeing in Singapore - Singapore, Singapore (travelpod.com)
• Following the Singapore Food Trail (shimworld.wordpress.com)

Biblical Proportions

A resident caught up in the Queensland floods has described the flash flood that hit Toowoomba as "biblical".

It was at 500m wide torrent and travelling at least 80 or 90 miles an hour, tossing cars and other man-made objects about like matchsticks.

Some of these cars still had people in them which shows the frailty of human life and how powerless we really are against the fundamental forces of nature.

Flooding is a common occurrence in Queensland and its more benign for is known as "The Big Wet" .  It is looked forward to by farmers as a welcome respite from the drought conditions that blight much of inland Australia.

This week's event though is something else and makes the seasonal flooding of Singapore looks like a child's paddling pool compared to the ocean.  The flooding of the basement levels of Lucky Plaza in Orchard Road is nothing compared to whole suburbs of Australias third largest city being submerged.

The flood has just peaked in Brisbane; a city which is well known to Kiwis as many of us either live in Queensland, visit regularly, or retire there.

Flooding is not uncommon in New Zealand but never on this scale.  We regard the Aussies as kin (even though we may say otherwise on the sporting field) so we are all deeply concerned about the fate of the thousands of Queenslanders affected by these floods.

Watch live streaming video from brisbanefloods at livestream.com

The other thing to remember is that once the floods dissipate, the state then faces a massive task of cleaning up.  I do not know the situation with the state museum and also the library on the South Bank of the Brisbane river but their plight must be dire.

Parks, roads and suburbs which are currently one big lake will become firstly a mud bath and then a dust bowl once the Queensland sun starts to dry things out.

Queensland Fashion - There is always someone on the Net with a sense of humour
(although probably not appreciated by the residents of the state)

Related articles

• Now Australia's killer floods pour into Brisbane (independent.co.uk)
• 78 missing as 'instant tsunami' hits Aussie town (msnbc.msn.com)
• Thousands flee Brisbane, flash floods kill 10 (globaltvbc.com)
• A dam and a prayer (theage.com.au)

Eruptions

News that the Singapore stockmarket wishes to merge with their Australian counterparts has been perceived by the more hysterical elements of the media and left-leaning politicians as a take over with sovereignty implications.

The Australian labour party, clinging to power with a majority of one, have already been told by their Green and independent partners in the coalition that they will not support such a move.

Greens leader, Bob Brown, is quoted as saying that  he could see ''no advantage for this nation having the stock exchange controlled from Singapore''.  He then reverted to type by stating that the government should take human rights concerns into account, citing Singapore's ''appalling repression of freedom of speech and proper democratic norms''.

To be frank, this is the sort of statement one expects from Aussie politicians, short on substance and long on rhetoric.  One even tried to link the ASX merger with the 2005 execution of an Australian Nguyen Tuong Van, for drug trafficking.

More balanced and pragmatic observers have seen huge advantages in having both exchanges combined.  The AusX is a small player in the global market but combined with Singapore the stakes are raised considerably, creating the world's fifth largest exchange.

New Zealand's response  to the possible merger has been generally positive and a further amalgamation of the NZX with the new exchange conglomerate could also be on the cards at some stage in the future.

The other eruption that has occurred in the past 24 hours is volcanic rather than political. 

Mount Merapi in Indonesia has erupted again and it will be interesting to see if the ash cloud debris reaches Singapore?

The earthquakes and tidal waves continue in the region and while Singapore is supposedly outside the danger zone for these phenomena it would be wise to consider the fate of Christchurch which taught New Zealand a salutary lesson; earthquakes can strike in places far removed from known fault lines.

The Great Sumatra fault earthquake when it finally comes will be felt in Singapore.  The only question is to what degree?

Related articles

• Brown links human rights to ASX merger (news.theage.com.au)
• Singapore's bid for ASX queried (bbc.co.uk)
• Indonesia's Explosive Geology Explained (livescience.com)
• Mount Merapi Begins To Erupt In Indonesia (news.sky.com)

Systemic Failures

We have been experiencing very strong winds these past few days, or to put it more precisely, equinoxal gales.

As a result of these events our newly installed clothesline has developed the unpleasant habit of lifting like a jet foil, disengaging its support arm and lowering itself against the fence.  Ours is not called the Supafold for nothing!

While this is technically not supposed to be able to happen it has done so nevertheless, the last time coming down on my wife's shoulder and leaving quite a graze.

The Hills clothesline has been the dominant brand in New Zealand for many years but in recent times the solid steel has been replaced by a much lighter weight of metal and there has also been a significant increase in the amount of plastic used.  This means that the frames are no longer rigid and flex alarmingly.

It doesn't help that these lines are no longer manufactured in Australia as, with most products nowadays, they bear a stamp "made in China".

Today the clothesline installer paid us a visit, the obligatory half an hour late as all New Zealand tradesmen seem to be.  

He was clearly skeptical that the wind would actually blow a clothesline down but after we had introduced to our neighbour whose wife had been cracked on the head in a similar rig malfunction, he got the message.

We shall be replacing our retractable support arms with the fixed variety.

During the course of our conversation it transpired that the installer had lived in Bali for several years before returning to New Zealand.  The topic of Indonesia inevitably led to comments on the rife corruption in that country.

I was also reminded how Singapore is experiencing yet another serious cloud of haze pollution from Sumatra, as bad as that which we endured in 2006.

Despite all of the previous promises by the Indonesian government, expensive dinners and friendly ASEAN handshakes the reality is that Indonesia goes its own sweet way, burning off land whenever it feels like it.

Neignbourly considerations do not enter into the Indonesian equation and money given by Singapore in the past to monitor haze and educate farmers has made little or no difference.  I would suggest that the majority of farmers probably never even saw a dollar of the aid money.

Related articles

• Sumatra fires cause Singapore haze (bbc.co.uk)
• Health warning over Sumatra fires (bbc.co.uk)
• Singapore presses Indonesia to act on forest fires (newsinfo.inquirer.net)

How to speak New Zealand

Many of my good friends are Australians and they take much delight in the accent of New Zealanders.  Here then is a quick guide to the NewZild language (as interpreted by an Aussie) :

Milburn - capital of Victoria
Peck - to fill a suitcase
Pissed aside - chemical which kills insects
Pigs - for hanging out washing with

Pump - to act as agent for prostitute
Pug - large animal with a curly tail
Nin tin dough - computer game
Munner stroney - soup
Min - male of the species
Mess Kara - eye makeup
McKennock - person who fixes cars
Mere - Mayor
Leather - foam produced from soap
Lift - departed
Kiri Pecker - famous Australian businessman
Kittle crusps - potato chips
Ken's - Cairns
Jumbo - pet name for someone called Jim
Jungle Bills - Christmas carol
Inner me - enemy
Guess - vapour
Fush - marine creatures
Fitter cheney - type of pasta
Ever cardeau - avocado
Fear hear - blonde
Ear - mix of nitrogen and oxygen
Ear roebucks - exercise at the gym
Duffy cult - not easy
Amejen - visualise
Day old chuck - very young poultry
Bug hut - popular recording
Bun button - been bitten by insect
Beard - a place to sleep
Sucks Peck - Half a dozen beers
Ear New Zulland - an extinct airline
Beers - large savage animals found in U.S. forests
Veerjun - mythical New Zealand maiden
One Doze - well known computer program
Brudge - structure spanning a stream
Sex - one less than sivven
Tin - one more than nine
Iggs Ecktly - Precisely
Earplane - large flying machine
Beggage Chucken - place to leave your suitcase at the earport
Sivven Sucks Sivven - large Boeing aircraft
Sivven Four Sivven - larger Boeing aircraft
Cuds - children
Pits - domestic animals
Cuttin - baby cat
Munce - usually served on toast

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