High Mile Shooter

Quite an engrossing movie still, though I missed it at the cineplex.

A movie that is quite well edited, the scenes moved in naturally from one to another. Shooter is another movie featuring the US's covert operations using shooters who can shoot from a mile using specialist calibrated gun ware. A pair normally works in a covert operation and they are satellite linked back home.

When things go awry, the shooter and the spotter are left to fend for themselves. In this story, the spotter is shot dead and the shooter returns home disillusioned with his work. However, he is roped in again to help prevent a potential attempt on the President's life. His blind loyalty to the flag puts him into a bind when he is the prime suspect in the attempted assassination where instead of the President who was assassinated, the shot went wild and killed the Archbishop of Ethiopia standing by. From then on, it was Rambo all the way. Mark Wahlberg stars.

Quite a good movie if you have the time to watch oldies.

I Never Knew.....

We had a dinner yesterday.

It was a good opportunity to meet up with old friends who have retired as well as those currently serving or on contract extension.

I was updated on a few things.

i. Seems, right now there is a contract service for those who join the Administrative and Diplomatic Service. We called it earlier on as probation in service before being confirmed. Now, they called it contract and only those who have so-called performed, can then join the service. I guess they save on pension calculations in this manner.

ii. Seems that Chinese generally are not desirous of joining the civil service. I guess too many tales about the lack of promotion as well as working among a majority number of another race must have really demotivated would be applicants.

iii. For those in the higher echelon of service who retired,the annual pension could be considered good as it is equivalent to the interest accruing from a bank deposit of RM1-RM2 million (On current 2.5% current rates). If they should pass away, the total pension will be given to the wife.

But the most interesting thing that I never knew was that it is only in the Malaysian civil service world-wide that health care is provided for the parents of civil servants. This is one up for the government's "Love for the Family" concept.

So, there are some minor innovations here and there but a lot of things can still be done.

Hope the current civil service leaders can think out of the box to bring more equity in the civil service to support the political masters deliver the goods to the rakyat.

Assets Cushion Recession Pressures

This is an interesting way of putting it.

Today, The Straits Times reported that French investment bank BNP Paribas has theorized that the current recession seems less painful than previous downturns could be partially attributed to the fact that Singaporeans are richer this time around because of their asset holdings.

While consumers in the United States and Europe spent with abandon and piled up loans in the boom years, Singaporeans saved, invested and paid down debt. Last year, as the world succumbed to the financial meltdown, Singapore households were sitting comfortably on six times more assets than liabilities, according to new estimates by
This means that for every $$1 (RM2.47) of debt they owed in mortgages or other loans, households owned S$6 in assets such as stocks and property.

This was down slightly from 2007 levels, when assets outnumbered liabilities by seven-to-one, according to Department of Statistics’ data. But it is still an advance on 2000 — before the dot.com bust, when the ratio was five-to-one.

Since then, Singaporeans have seen the value of their asset holdings soar on the back of stock and property values.

And although they became wealthier, Singaporeans refused to splurge on credit, keeping debt at roughly the same level throughout the period.
Between 2000 and last year, Singaporean households’ assets jumped 60per cent to S$1.12trillion, but liabilities rose only 28per cent to S$178.4billion.

Their net wealth — assets minus liabilities — rocketed to S$942billion last year, according to BNP”s estimates. This is more than double the S$450billion Singaporeans had in 1997 before the Asian Financial Crisis.

“What this means is that Singaporean households entered the 2008 recession in very good shape with a huge buffer,” said BNP Paribas chief economist Chan Kok Peng.

A substantial part of this buffer was in cash, with Singaporeans careful to put a large proportion of their assets in the bank — even though property and stock markets have been roaring.

The result is that for every S$1 of liabilities held last year, households had S$1.13 in cash deposits.

In sharp contrast, US households only had 50 cents of cash deposits for every US$1 in liabilities and UK households 73 cents.

Apparently, despite being mired in its worst-ever downturn, Singapore still has a large kitty of cash. Singaporeans are sitting on S$301billion of cash deposits in the bank, in addition to S$67billion in Central Provident Fund accounts that can be used to buy either property or stocks, according to the latest figures for May.

This totals a “staggering” S$368billion — 143per cent of Singapore’s gross domestic product — said Chan.

It is good news for the banking system which, added Chan, depends on household deposits for its main source of funding.

But, he and other economists tempered this upbeat picture by cautioning that the data may not be representative across-the-board, as it does not take into account the different income levels of Singaporeans.

“Those who have recently become unemployed or have mistimed their property purchases at the peak of the cycle and leveraged up beyond their means, are likely to be a source of concern for their bankers,” said Chan.

Citigroup economist Kit Wei Zheng suggested that some of the data could be skewed by foreigners, who may have deposited a lot of cash or parked their money in assets here, but left their liabilities at home.

However, Housing Board residents — who make up 85per cent of Singapore homeowners — are likely to be less financially stressed than others, given that HDB flat prices have held up fairly well in the current recession.

So, what about Malaysia? Is this theory also applicable here?

Just Fancy That!

Something is really wrong with Malaysian youth these days. They just do not know their geography outside of Malaysia.



In some of their interviews for jobs, job-seekers were asked a simple question. "If you were given a place to go, where would you choose?"

Most would answer" Bali" as it is a resort island in Indonesia familiar to most Malaysians.

However,one fine day, the interviewer got a earful.

One smart chap answered he would like to go to Paris. When asked further where is Paris; he replied it was in New Zealand. Then, there was this other guy who wanted to show that he was religious. He chose to go to Mecca. When asked where is Mecca, he said it was in Egypt.

Shocking!

How do we develop K-workers if the next generation of Malaysian leaders don't even know their geography!

Stress Humour

Here are 13 great ways to relieve stress.

Laugh yourself to a de-stressful life!

Stress Reliever #1

Wife: You always carry my photo in your handbag to the office. Why?
Hubby: When there is a problem, no matter how impossible, I look at your picture and the problem disappears.
Wife: You see, how miraculous and powerful I am for you?
Hubby: Yes, I see your picture and say to myself, "What other problem can there be greater than this one?"
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Stress Reliever # 2

Girl: When we get married, I want to share all your worries, troubles and lighten your burden.
Boy: It's very kind of you, darling, But I don't have any worries or troubles.
Girl: Well that's because we aren't married yet.
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Stress Reliever # 3
Son: Mom, when I was on the bus with Dad this morning, he told me to give up my seat to a lady.
Mom: Well, you have done the right thing.
Son: But mum, I was sitting on daddy's lap.
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Stress Reliever # 4

Wife to husband: "What's your excuse for coming home at this time of the night?"
Husband to wife: "Golfing with friends, my dear."
Wife to husband: "What? At 2 am ?!"
Husband to wife: "Yes, We used night clubs."
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Stress Reliever # 5

Father to son after exam: "let me see your report card."
Son: "My friend just borrowed it. He wants to scare his parents."
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Stress Reliever # 6

A teacher asked her class for sentences using the word "beans".
"My father grows beans," said one student.
"My father cooks beans," said another.
Then little Johnny spoke up: "We are all human beans."
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Stress Reliever # 7

Interviewer to Millionaire: "To whom do you owe your success as a millionaire to?"
Millionaire: "I owe everything to my wife."
Interviewer: "Wow, she must be some woman. What were you before you married her?"
Millionaire: "A Billionaire"
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Stress Reliever # 8

Girl to her boyfriend: One kiss and I'll be yours forever.
The guy replies: Thanks for the warning.
______________________________________________________________________

Stress Reliever # 9

A husband was asked: Do you talk to your wife after sex?
He replied: Depends, if I can find a phone.
________________________________________________________________________

Stress Reliever # 10

Man to wife on wedding night: Are you sure I'm the first man you are sleeping with?
Wife replied: Of course honey, I stayed awake with all the others as they never allow me to sleep.
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Stress Reliever # 11

Why did they stop printing PAMELA ANDERSON stamps in the U.S. ?
Answer: Because people started licking the wrong side.
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Stress Reliever # 12

A wife asked her husband: What do you like most in me - my pretty face or my sexy body?
He looked at her from head to toe and replied: I like your sense of humour.
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Stress Reliever # 13

Doctor to his lady patient: You look terribly weak and exhausted! Are you having your meals three times a day as I have advised?
Lady replied: Doctor, I thought you said three males a day.

This One Is Funny!

An Arab & A Jew...

An Arab needed a heart transplant, but prior to the surgery the doctors needed to store his blood type in case the need arises.

Because the gentleman had a rare type of blood, it couldn't be found locally. So the call went out to a number of countries. Finally, a Jew was located who had the same blood type and who was willing to donate his blood to the Arab.

After the surgery, the Arab sent the Jew a thank-you card for giving his blood along with an expensive diamond and a new Rolls Royce car as
a token of his appreciation.

Unfortunately, the Arab had to go through a corrective surgery once again.. His doctors called the Jew who was more than happy to donate his blood again. After the second surgery, the Arab sent the Jew a Thank You card and a box of Almond Roca sweets.

The Jew was shocked to see that the Arab this time did not acknowledge the Jew's kind gesture in the same way as he had done the first time. So he phoned the Arab and asked him why he had expressed his appreciation in not a very generous manner.

The Arab replied: "Ya Habibi !!, (Dear Friend) you have to remember, I have Jewish blood now!"

Berjaya Sports Toto-Ex Date Scenario

Berjaya Sports Toto (BST)went ex-all today. The ex-price was RM4.32. As there are many sellers, there are many buyers. I expect the buyers to be acting on the advice of BST Treasury and they are mopping up weak sellers in a seemingly weak market today.

The dividend pay-out of RM300 and the distribution in specie of 1 share for every 14 shares held on 10 July will be paid out on 27 July. Each share was valued at RM4.92 at its cum price.

Today is not a good day to benchmark the potential value of BST but I believe it is resilient enough to weather any storm on the market. With the potential of Power Toto coming on stream soon with a jackpot of a minimum RM3 million, expect more profit from BST which can be translated in to good dividends.

Do not expect any more distribution of shares in specie at least for a couple of years but I believe BST will continue to give good dividends this fiscal year and in the ensuing years.