Life For Rent

Singapore has seen through 42 years of National Day Rallies, and we are into our mere third Prime Minister. Here are some quotes from the years, starting with our first Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Any guesses to which is my favorite?

1971

‘Everybody likes to be a friendly, nice, pleasant, charitable, helpful minister, particularly the Prime Minister, and everybody will say: ?Nice man’. But to be kind to you and your children, sometimes we have to take a very sharp knife and go through the movements and say: “Look don’t do that or I will have to – you know, this will have to be used”.’Mr Lee Kuan Yew, on the need for unpopular policies
1977
‘I refuse to admit that the Singaporean can get snobbish so quickly. But the signs are that he has gone that way.’
Mr Lee Kuan Yew, on Singaporeans who are picky about jobs deemed to be socially undesirable, even though they pay well

1988
‘Even from my sick bed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave, and I feel that something is going wrong, I will get up.’
Mr Lee Kuan Yew
‘I have made awful bloomers. If only I had a President then who had business experience.’
Mr Lee Kuan Yew, on the advantages of an elected presidency. One of his errors, he said, was to ‘raid’the medical profession for Cabinet ministers

1990
‘The Singapore woman is not so stupid. She knows that white men marry you freely, they also divorce you freely.’
Mr Lee Kuan Yew, commenting on the number of educated Singapore women marrying foreigners

1993
‘At 52 years old, I am spending more than eight hours a week learning Mandarin and Malay. And I can tell you it is tough.’
Mr Goh Chok Tong, empathising with older workers who have to re-skill.

1995
‘We must keep Singapore an open society, with few class barriers, where sons from every family serve national service together; where everyone – professionals, office workers, factory workers, and bus drivers – mixes easily and comfortably at hawker centres; where differences in the way we dress, the way we talk, the way we live, are relatively minor, and do not divide us.’
Mr Goh Chok Tong

2002
‘Has the younger generation of Singaporeans gone soft? Look yourself in the mirror and ask: Am I a stayer or a quitter? Am I a fair-weather Singaporean or an all-weather Singaporean?’
Mr Goh Chok Tong

2006
‘I’m told some young people even get married on the Internet! I don’t recommend it.’
Mr Lee Hsien Loong, on how technology has changed Singaporeans lives
‘So we argue, sometimes we argue fiercely. But we should not take that as a sign that we are not open. Openness doesn’t mean just lovey-dovey. Openness means being prepared to be candid, to be direct, and to discuss very serious things very seriously.’
Mr Lee Hsien Loong

And so it is. The table-tennis girls went all the way to the finals, thereby guaranteeing at least a silver medal. No mean feat, but I will talk about this in detail below. Some of the events I happened to watch had some contraversial scenes. In Gymnastics, one of the female started off her routine while the light remained red, implying the judges were not ready yet. They are to begin only when the light turns greeen. After much deliberation and you can see the judges arguing amongst the officials and all, she was given a 0 for that particular routine, pulling down her average score. Needless to say she finished last, while Korea took Gold and China took Bronze. 4 time Olympic participant from Germany took Silver. She was favored to win this but Korea came out tops as the underdog. I don’t know if it is south or north korea though… Both are part of Korea but have decided to split among themselves and will this count as an idea for Rach’s International Public Law?

Another saw a wrestler dropping his medal onto the carpet after the victory ceremony, and was stripped of that medal as the IOC saw it as an action against the spirit of the games.

Another event saw the team ‘blaming’ the officials for distraction. However they later contented that the participant was prone to being distracted anyhows, but it could have been better.

Back to the team. Forum after forum I have seen people literally cursing at the idea that these girls are from China. ie, Imported goods. I am a little mixed. So they are from China, are we not as a majority here? Singapore is a little bit like Australia. We weren’t exactly a ‘prisoner exile land’ but our ancestors come from all over anyway. Ultimately the 4 main racial groups were formed and generations later, we are born right here in Singapore. I feel quite lucky to be a citizen of this country actually. No one has the choice of where he or she is born. Can you imagine I was born in the middle of a war torn country like many others? Life will be tough. I feel blessed, and regardless of how much the system trashes me and how things suck, I still feel blessed. At least, at the VERY least, I do NOT need to wake up each day and walk around in fear wondering if someday a suicide bomber will decide to blast him/herself up next to me. What is the saddest bit? It is to feel unsafe in your very own country. To feel like you are the rat within your own kingdom, always looking left and right. It is evident so many of us are complacent and take loads of stuff for granted. So I don’t think we should say ‘aiyah, china import lah, get gold also it is china’s gold’. Rather, the crux to me is, were they produced and trained by Singapore? The answer is no. The term ‘imported talent’ has a few truths in it. They were trained in China. Li Jia Wei trained in the very same school that produced the eventual world champion. The same champion that she had to face in the finals, and the same champion who eventually defeated jia wei to retain the title and capture the gold medal. The coaches for both teams are brothers. Can you imagine that? The coach for Singapore was quoted as saying something similar to the lines of "silver is enough". That is somewhat the same as throwing in the towel even before the final battle began! I do not like this sort of mentality but perhaps he was misquoted, or he meant something else.

And so, they were neither trained nor produced by Singapore. In fact some said it was a cheap way for them to get PR quickly. I don’t know what the real intentions are behind the girls as I do not know them and I shall not speculate anything, whatever the motive is behind.

But when you see the girls fight, they fight with their heart and soul. It took them almost 4 hours to defeat South Korea. In the match with the world champions it lasted 90 mins. The Chinese world champions never had to endure a match for more than 60 mins previously.

It was a good fight and they deserve the silver medal.

We have a lot of negativity here. Complain complain. Get silver we say aiya not world champions. If they get gold, we say ‘china import what, maciam it belongs to singapore’. If we didnt get anything we say ‘see, waste so much money to get these girls. singapore wont have medals one la’. I believe we need to relook at things. Korea had a Chinese national I believe. And there are quite a few teams out there with members who are not native to the country. The crux again I believe is, did the country produce and train them, or were they ‘bought’ from wherever they were trained. This is a little different from football squads as they do not represent a country, they represent their own team, eg Manchester United or Arsenal. They can buy whoever they want to beef up their squad.

I wasn’t sure that Jia wei should have been given the role of the flag bearer though. It is heavy and at the opening the flag was seen touching the ground. It might have bee unintentional, or even accidental even though they have this sling where the flag pole could rest in. Some said one our legendary sportsmen should have been the bearer. Eg Ang Peng Siong? And it appeared to them that Singapore was too cheapo to send non participating personnel there. Oh well.

So we have our medal now and has met the expectations of the sports authorities I believe. No amount of medals will please our own people I reckon.  They’ll sit up only when a true born Singaporean goes on to take a medal.  They have to remember that this is the olympics where world champions and atheletes compete. This is not some secondary school in the B division fighting out! The girls fought hard, and fought well and they deserve every single congratulary applause one can give.

Good job girls! And don’t ever let anyone else tell you other wise.

I had this pang for chicken gingseng soup yesterday and I decided to go to Soup Restaurant with my dear after hearing recommendations from my peers. So I visited the Suntec branch for a super duper filling dinner.

What we had:

The famous samsui chicken. It is supposed to be dipped into the ginger sauce and wrapped with the lettuce leaf which is how it used to be eaten back then. Come to think of it, it was a dish eaten by the folks in the olden days along with the ‘beggers’s pork ribs’. It seems they had quite a feast??? And we are turning ‘begger’ class food into high end food these days. The irony of it perhaps. So caught up in fine dining that the simple dishes are actually one of the best to have around.

The steamed Sang Yu is also pretty good. Boneless, and succulent fish slices that melt in your mouth with the traditional soya sauce. I remember the sauce as being typical to those you eat fish with and it is nice. Fresh and yeh… mmm.. melts in one’s mouth.

I had the chicken gingseng soup while my dear tried the tong guai black chicken soup. We also had the mushroom and chicken rice, with the chicken and chinese sausage rice. Chicken is great but the rice wasn’t the sort that I like. I would have preferred it with more flavor and a little less ‘wet’. We also had the new dish which is the sang yu belly that came fried and the Ah Gong Fan Shu Ye (translated to sweet potato leaves). This one comes with an astonishing delicious sambal sauce, while the Ah Poh version doesn’t. Sounds so cute! The average diner would pay around 20-40 for 2 people. Our bill came to $88! I guess I was just in the mood to eat and get my tummy filled. Apparently this price exceeds the norm by a hell lot. Ah well. There are set meals for 2 between 40ish to 50ish before tax. They also have course meals all the way for 10 pax.

Verdict – Excellent service, pretty nice ambiance (this comes from someone like me who isn’t one bit cheena!) though u do pay taxes, and for the sweet boiled peanut starter and tea. Oh yes, you pay for the towels too. Everything you pay for basically! Will I go back there again? Yes. I will bring my grandma and dad and all that for a nice meal after I pass my exams as a form of celebration. I had very high expectations going in. The samsui chicken met my expectations while the Ah Gong fan shu ye exceeded my expectations. Very good service, although the language of communication seems to be in mandarin. This place is one notch higher than Hong Kong Cafe, where they charge good and simple food at higher prices as well. The demand seems to be flowing in. A good alternative to my favorite steakhouse, even though at the steakhouse u pay for the premium quality. All in all other than the bill (probably my own fault) the visit has exceeded my expectations which very few places have.

Soup restaurant is also listed on the mainboard of the stock exchange. First time I have gone through the annual report and found an entry for “credit card commission charges” which stood at 257k till June 2008. Wow! Now we know how much credit card companies earn? And this is just Soup  restaurant. WOW!  EPS dropped till 1.91 from 2 the previous year, while NAV increased to 12.88 from 11.97. Their stock is trading in the 20 plus cent region and from what I reckon,  a price below 20c will be a good buy. As a potential investor I also like the fact that their menu while simple and small, is diversified so that even if chickens begin to sneeze, they should be okay, minus their star dish. Operating costs should get higher as wages, rental and food prices increase. They hope to source for lower price ingredients while keeping the menu updated to retain their customers. I will KIV this for the time being and see if opportunities arise for investment.

I am gonna refer to two counters that I have short positions in. Noble and Wilmar. I have others but I wanna highlight these 2 to illustrate price patterns. Now, Noble has been on a downward move, breaking key support areas. The day before the results are due out, it bounces back up with a bullish engulfing candle. A buy signal was also created on the MACD histogram. It rallied all the way upwards breaking yet a couple more resistances. Bull! However before it hit the next major MA resistance, it began to lose steam. Too fast too furious perhaps? But the fact is, the price did not factor in the good result yet, so it did rebound pretty well.

Contrary Wilmar is different. It rebounded strongly way before the results were out.  Now the results were REALLY good. But the price decided to tank today. Why? Looking at the chart, it has a bearish shooting star right on short term MA resistance.  This combi is a pretty good place to have a short position.  

So what is different? Noble did not have the price factored in, but Wilmar did. What is similar is, both have the pump and dump technique done by BBs. Noble and Wilmar at the time of writing has trended down of course. U con retail investors all the way up, only to offload to them. Pretty common. The STI has been hanging onto the support at 2800 for very long. The chart is slowly moving from a double top to a descending triangle with a base at 2800. A crack below this base nonetheless has nothing good for any upside.

I came across this page and I thought it was interesting, cause I violated so many of the 8 rules there. I am the undisputed lousyluver aren’t I? I guess it doesn’t have to be marriage per se, but a relationship for that matter. Are these applicable to you?

Rut #1: Watching TV During Dinner
Why it’s bad: Having dinner together offers valuable face time with your partner. Turning on the tube competes for attention and cuts in on your time to catch up and connect after so many hours spent apart.
How to stop: Set aside 30 to 45 minutes of one-on-one talk time with the TV off every night. This shows your spouse that when you’re not at work, you’re devoted to your home and family. During this time, ignore your phone and leave the BlackBerry in another room. You’ll feel closer within days.

Rut #2: Going Too Long Without Sex
Why it’s bad: If the amount of sex you’re used to having starts to slide, your body and brain can get used to the decreased intimacy, causing you to go even longer without wanting that closeness.
How to stop: Don’t wait until you feel like doing it. Initiate sex when you’re open to doing it, rather than when you have the desire. This will jump-start your feelings so you’ll crave it more often.

Rut #3: Going a Whole Workday Without Talking to Your Sweetheart
Why it’s bad: You’ll start growing apart emotionally after subconsciously feeling like the other person doesn’t think about you (and your needs) during the day.
How to stop: Initiate daily contact by sending a quick “How’s your day?” email. And make the effort to do something nice every day (pick up his fave dessert, call from the store to see if she needs something). It shows forethought and consideration for your partner’s needs.

Rut #4: Tuning Each Other Out
Why it’s bad: You’re disengaging from each other.
How to stop: Make an effort to do small things such as kissing before saying good-bye, making eye contact when talking, and complimenting each other frequently throughout the week. Does he not seem to hear you talking during certain times (ahem, when ESPN is on)? Don’t try to make conversation while the TV is on. If it’s important, press mute; otherwise, save conversations for dinner or your bedroom, where you’re less likely to be interrupted.

Rut #5: Not Fighting
Why it’s bad: Disagreements are good in a marriage because you’re expressing your individuality. Talking about issues when they first happen makes them easier to fix than if you wait until after they’ve festered.
How to stop: Bring up what’s on your mind in a way that shows your admiration and respect for each other’s thoughts and feelings. Like, “It hurts my feelings when ______. I was hoping we could figure out a new way to handle the situation together.” This will set the tone of the conversation as loving and calm, but you both have to compromise to keep it that way.

Rut #6: Going out More with Friends Than with Your Spouse
Why it’s bad: It sends the message that your friends are more worthy of your time.
How to stop: Schedule nights out with your crew a few times a month, but make sure to let your partner know in advance. It’s important to have these friendships as long as they don’t make your married time sparse. And it’s always best that these friends are people your partner knows and trusts, so there’s less reason to worry.

Rut #7: Being Too Close
Why it’s bad: As much as you think burping, scratching, picking, or farting is funny or cute, it can backfire and cross the line. It may be a reflection of your closeness, but there should be a limit. Otherwise, you’re leaving your partner with a very unsexy image of you.
How to stop: Start a new rule. If you wouldn’t do it in front of your work friends, don’t do it in front of your honey. To get your mate to refrain, say: “I know we’re close, and we can share everything, but I’d really appreciate it if you’d leave the room, or leave me out, when you do that. It’s not very sexy, and I don’t want anything that makes you less sexy to me.”

Rut #8: Sharing Too Much with Your Parents or In-laws
Why it’s bad: This shows a lack of loyalty to your spouse. Your parents shouldn’t have any information that your spouse doesn’t have. And they shouldn’t know anything he wouldn’t want them to know.
How to stop: Be loyal to your spouse even when she’s not present. If you wouldn’t say something in front of her, don’t say it at all. You would want the same in return.

By: Dr. Susan Fletcher is a licensed psychologist in private practice and the author of Parenting in the Smart Zone

Many expected a national day rally, which of course did not occur. Maybe we will have a post nat day rally but I will be watching volume for any upside to see if I should sell into strength and put in short positions, or ride the wave. Will analyse this below.

I bought Cosco on Friday while I released my long position on capitaland. It was a tikam which didn’t work and it hit my cut loss, so off it went. Part and parcel

Cosco on the other hand, I noted a bullish divergence, where perhaps the dumping has ended. It is resisted at 2.44 and there are gap resistances to clear above. So let’s see what happens. If it does manage to cover the gap, a rebound to re-test 2.80 could occur.

STI appears to be within a downtrend channel. Currently supported at 2800 and will be resisted by a few levels as seen. Being in a rangebound could be a good or bad thing. A break out of either side will eventually occur. For the upside, there is a little gap resistance between 2900 and 2920 to cover. If we can successfully do so,  we should be able to re-test 2980 resistance. Or it could tank to test previous low at 2750. 2 scenarios, if it bounces off, it will attempt to form a triple bottom, signaling a rebound. If it breaks to form a new low, it will be pretty ugly.. Let’s analyse that only if it occurs to see how deep we can drop. It will be important to me as I need to decide if I am gonna hold my yield counters, or liquidate and take profits.

The DJIA, Nasdaq and S&P shows the formation of the ascending triangle. This formation is bullish in nature and could prime itself for a breakout. The problem is, on friday, the breaks did not come with high volume, negating the confirmation. So we still need that confirmation, and a retreat will be ideal. Not a strong one, but a pull-back to consolidate a little bit. If the indices continue to rally big time on Monday my opinion is that the bulls will lose steam and the pullback thereafter will be stronger. Good for short positions to be in? The resistance levels are drawn for the upside, while the uptrend-line shows the support levels if the triangle fails and it comes back down.

Notice the gap covering (in blue shadow) for the nasdaq.

S&P has met with the 50 moving average resistance. It will be normal for a pullback. The idea of the 3 ascending triangle charts is that the uptrend-line should not be broken. If it can keep up with its higher low formation, it should breakout eventually, else it fails and comes back down. So it will be interesting to watch what happens on Mon and Tues to see where the US is heading. Note that the market overlooked the problems in Freddie Mac and focus on the tank of oil. Will it come back to bite?  Oil has gap covered its support and a rebound should be in the books. Will it come down to $100? But if it does, will the market freak out still cause it suggests supply exceeds demand and people are not driving as much, as oil consumption falls aligned with a falling economy. I aim to try and find a bottom where I can try and catch a rebound in palm oil which has corrected in line with crude oil. Look at how much GoldenAgri and IndoAgri has tanked. Nearly 50% within a VERY short time.

Okay so I guess I need a breather from my studies. Cooped up in a room on a study retreat right now. Just came back from the gym and some tanning (I covered my face!) and swimming. I came across this bit of info on tanning. It is obvious regardless whether one does it indoor (more controlled) or outdoor, it is still sun damage. Many have hyped up the color of a tanned skin to being healthy and all. Perhaps so, but for how long? U could be the envy of people for say, 5 years, 10 years. 20 years down the road I will be laughing when someone comes up and is astonished that you’re younger than someone who is much older in age, but look of the same age, or even older. Unfortunately, no amount of repair will help as it is too late by then.  The damage from UV rays is permanent. Maybe someday someone will come up with a repair but for now, that is the way it is. Moderation is it I guess. My level of moderation is just that lil bit of exposure. No beach vollyball under the sun, no tanning for hours on a routine basis (giving the skin no chance for self repair while it still can). Vit D which is made by the skin with the help of some sun (UV radiation) cannot really be replaced with food, so sun is essential, or we will all die, of natural causes or otherwise. A few mins of exposure a day is enough though. I don’t like to look like a white chicken myself so I am willing to take that bit of tan through everyday life but that is all. Just weeks ago I contemplated signing up for indoor tanning packages. I have since decided to shelf that plan. We are in a country where there is enough sun as it is! It is not like I work at night and sleep in the day so I believe I do have enough. Trade youth for that perfect glow? Hell yeah. 10 years of envy VS  50 years of wrinkled old (and maybe even cancer!) skin? No way! I never used to bother with much and can wash my face with the soap dispensers found in public toilets (I kid you not) but now that I am older, I have been paying more attention not only to my skin, but to my general health.

And for those who are envious of body builders and wrestlers’ tanned body, sorry to burst your bubble. Many are spray ons. They are not natural. U have been conned. As for those who are always in the sun, namely those in construction, sailing and kayaking enthusiasts, you can see the difference even when they are well in their 20s still.

I do not wanna be a white chicken, nor do I wanna be *that* tanned. The other day I took a cab to somewhere and I spoke in mandarin and the driver was astonished cause he thought I was indonesian. And then he asked if I did weights and all cause I have my built and shoulders typical of one who trains. I gotta admit I am probably gifted with my shoulders and honestly I haven’t been to the gym in recent months. Just a lil workout earlier nearly killed me.

So hopefully, unlike those days when I was a competitive swimmer as a kid where the drink-stall auntie will go ‘ boy ah, satu ringgit!’ when I bought a drink, it won’t happen anymore. I know I have  grown older when they don’t call me ‘xiao di’ (lil boy) anymore. boo!

Here’s the article, for your reading:

Aug 6, 2008
A healthy tan?
There’s no such thing, experts tell ESTHER TEO. A tan is a response to DNA damage in the skin and over time it increases the risk of skin cancer, premature skin ageing and pigmentation. Also, self-tanning products should be used with care

A bronzed complexion should not always be the object of envy.

Dr Colin Theng, a consultant dermatologist at the National Skin Centre, said a tan is never healthy and is in fact a response to DNA damage in the skin.

Sun-worshippers should therefore take heed and take along their sunblock whenever they head for the beach or a poolside.

Ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun comes in several wavelengths: UVA, UVB and UVC, the last having the greatest energy level and causing the most damage.

However, UVC seldom makes the news because, fortunately, it is completely absorbed by the atmosphere before it reaches the ground.

UVB is believed to cause damage to the outer layer of the skin, causing sunburn, while UVA rays primarily damage deeper layers of the skin, causing premature ageing.

Therefore, ultraviolet radiation from the sun might cause immediate effects such as skin redness, itch and sunburn, while long-term sun exposure might lead to increased risk of skin cancer, premature skin ageing and wrinkling, and skin pigmentation.

People who are darker-skinned also tan faster, since they have more pigment cells to begin with.

Lighter-skinned people, on the other hand, who have fewer pigment cells, are less protected against the harmful effects of solar radiation. Thus, they might get sunburned relatively easily and thus are more susceptible to sunburn, skin ageing and skin cancers.

Alternatives such as tanning beds and self-tanning sprays and creams, although popular, should be used with care.

Dr Derrick Aw, a consultant dermatologist with the department of medicine at the National University Hospital, said tanning beds, although effective, emit ultraviolet radiation and are just as harmful as tanning in the sun.

Thus, regardless of the use of tanning beds or natural sunlight, cumulative and repeated exposures will result in an increase of skin ageing and cancer risks.

Self-tanning lotions, however, are safer since they do not actually induce a pigmentary response.

Instead, they merely stain the skin and give it an artificial tan.

Dr Aw, however, advised care when using such lotions as a person might have an allergic reaction to a component of the lotion such as a preservative or plant-based additive, which might lead to an itch and redness.

The assumption that the use of sun-tanning lotions that come with a sun protection factor (SPF) is safe is also a mistaken one.

‘The protection afforded to the skin is minimal because if there is sufficient protection, a person will not develop a tan in the first place,’ said Dr Aw.

Skin cancer is currently among the top 10 cancers in Singapore and there has been an overall increase in its incidence rate.

An average of 325 people here are diagnosed with skin cancer every year, which is triple the average in the 1970s.

However, it is difficult to attribute this trend to the growing popularity of tanning alone as increased sun exposure from work and recreation also increases the risks of skin cancer.

Someone showed me a chart on MPSF trading under ASX and while I do not have data of their counters I got data for their index.

WOW! Not nice. Descending triangle which is negative. From the start of the triangle based on how I draw it till its support, it is about 500 points. Cracking the support at 4900 will imply a target of 4400 for the ASX. This level also coincides with the fibonacci retracement level.

Only 1 way to breakout of it and negate its bearish formation. Break out of 25MA resistance and the downtrend resistive line. As the days progresses the trendline will of course imply lower prices to break. The 25MA line will also be coming down. It is NOT a 5 star triangle due to its volume characteristics and hence it has a chance to fail. A break of its support need not come with heavy volume. A breakout of the triangle on the upside must come with heavy volume as a confirmation.

Someone sought to provide more details over what I meant by fundamental analysts being rubbish in a bear market. I did say, FA stands for NOTHING in a bear market. All the analysts talking bout valuation blah blah blah on TV and in the print, mean nothing. Why? FA is good in a bull market for valuations, but they are LAGGING indicators. Last quarter, last half of WY etc etc. TA on the other hand, is now, AND forward looking. U can tell me fair value of a price is say… $2. But my TA indicators tell me it has a good probability of going $1.30. So u go ahead and buy, but I won’t be, preferring not to catch falling knives. Another thing I have learnt is not to hold onto a stock for too long. Stocks like to show stunt. Issue rights, this and that. And in a bear market, these are very taboo. Fear is everywhere and u give people any reason to run, they will. Hence my saying “in a bear market, it is a short sell market”. I got burnt twice, by Ausgroup whom I held for too long and then they did a profit warning. Boom. Never recovered that price since. No where near. From a $2 now it is a 50c stock. U tell me. Another one is KS Energy. Boom, decided to issue rights. Gapped down and died. I have enough losses on those to remind me.

So there you go. I maintain my position, FA counts for nothing. Look at Goldman Sachs. Merryll Lynch. What were analyst saying bout the price, and where has the price gone so far? I don’t really care what the company did last quarter, it tells me nothing in the future and this is the part which I dont understand. FA cannot tell what happens in future and it is drilled into everyone’s head already. Technicals can, and I really don’t understand why people stick to one side and don’t go hybrid. I am not a pure technical person as well, else I will be sitting at home and chasing warrants everyday, whereby the more volatility the better for the day trader. I am a hybrid. While FA says ‘fair value’, I use price, pattern and time to find the right prices. There are different ‘PPTs’ for different time horizons so it is not true that trading is for today and tomorrow only. One can hold onto a trade for 6 months, it is just that the strategy must be in place to support the time horizon, be it 2 days, or 2 months. 2 years is way too long so forget bout that.

I came across this and I thought it was hilarious. Over the years there have been a few handbooks here and there but this one has quite a fair bit of info. Some are questionable while others are pretty good advice! So here it is, yet another Was-A-Recruit’s opinion on must dos! I am done with mine of course but it seems quite a few points appear relevant still. Canteen breaks are such a blessing, similar to a prisoner getting a free phone call out perhaps. Things that others take for granted. I gotta blame BMT for getting me hooked onto sweet carbonated drinks! I don’t do those, preferring juice and green-tea all the through my tertiary education and then bam, NS came along and my taste buds have been craving for coca cola since. GRRRR!

PS : I think at the rate things go, recruits can check in their maids too soon. There is a limit to how many sticks of cigarettes one can bring in. But I personally have seen how some have gotten creative and brought in the equivalent of one whole damn bar.

1)Cut your own botak! Or at least cut your hair short before enlisting. For those with long hair and too cheap for a hair cut. Be prepared for a painful hair pulling session.

2)Bring at least 5 hard packs for smokers. (Trust me, during BMT u’ll see cheapos who never buy ciggies but still wanna smoke)

3)Bring along “snake” powder. U’ll learn to love it.

4)Bring extra Hp batts. Chargers will most likely be confiscated and forgotten.

5)U r allowed to bring “DRY” foodstuffs. Do try to bring some biscuits as u’ll always feel hungry during BMT

6)PTP= Physical Training Phase(6 weeks), BMT= Basic Military Training(10 weeks)
STANDARD BMT = 8 weeks(This only applies for enlistees with O-levels and below)
Enhanced BMT = 10 weeks (Anything above A-levels, Diploma)

7)For those aiming for OCS, U can forget it if u anyhow hamtam during the IQ test in CMPB

8)For those aiming to downgrade/OOC/chao keng etc etc. Do it during the PTP phase. Find some outside specialist to write a recommandation letter to the MO (Medical Officer). Best effect if the specialist is from a gahment Hospital

7)Team Players are highly regarded in BMT.

8)Never, never initiate a fight or be instigated into one. No point, no purpose. Easiest way to get thrown into DB

9)The OO (orientation officer) is your tailsman against SUPER UNREASONABLE instructors.

10)Remember!!! The SAF HOTLINE is the most efficient, yet most under-utilised number for u to call despite wad your instructors will tell u.

11)Never set your alarm clock more den 30mins before Fall-in timing. Your section-mates will kill u.

12)Never ever talk back to your superiors. At least in front of everyone. If you feel uneasy abt his judgement. Find him after wadever punishment he throw. (ie push-up, stomach crunches). Give him face, and he’ll give u yours.

13)Before leaving for Pulau Tekong, Visualise your pride, ego and write in onto a piece of paper. Leave it at home. U have no pride or ego there.

14)Try to memorise the SAF 7 core values fast to save u some punishment.
i)Loyalty to Country
ii)Leadership
iii)discipline
iv)Professionalism
v)fighting spirits
vi)ethics
vii)care for soldiers

15)There will be a lesson dedicated into the teaching of the INFANTRY SONG. Learn it. Or at least pretend to know it.

16)During any High-Ranking Officer’s Q&A sessions. U are strongly advised to ask CONSTRUCTIVE QNS only. Never make any stupid complaints.

17)Greeting of instructors is a must-do during BMT. Salute with your right hand, dun be a c0ck and salute ppl with your left. Salutes are offered to Officers(Those with ranks on the shoulders) only.

18)Learn to differentiate between Commissioned Officers and Warrant Officers. Dun salute Warrant Officers.

1)Bring more briefs, u surely need them

2) Buy few more army t-shirt, singlets & black shorts, what they give cfm not enuf

3) buy some red & black tapes

4) Cash (notes & coins) will alllow u to buy things during canteen breaks and after last parade.

5) Bring swimming googles if u cant swim without googles

6) Must get used to cookhouse food.

7) Clothes hangers at least 10. Make sure they are personalise, u dont wan pple to take ur stuff and claim its theirs.

bring marker!!!! to write ur name on all the shirts,pants n even hangers….if dun write than next morning u will find ur things less n less