RWS: Significant to open at 1218

Singapore's first casino is scheduled for its official opening on the most auspicious day of the lunar new year-the first day of the Chinese New Year (14 February 2010). The Tiger is symbolically aggressive and that has been shown by Genting Singapore's persistence in ensuring the  casino opens its door before Marina Bay Sands which may open sometime in May 2010.

The opening of the doors to Singapore’s first legal casino open on Sunday is an event almost five years in the making.First time visitors will be pleased to find “Gods of Fortune”  roving in their midst. And besides the symbolic characters, who will hand out commemorative items and red packets, a dragon dance performance will add to the gaiety of the celebrations.

It is the single most important event that Resorts World Singapore (RWS) and parent company Genting International had been hoping for. The announcement yesterday that the “auspicious” time will be 12.18pm, on the first day of the Chinese New Year, capped a week of frenzied guessing about the casino’s opening date.In Cantonese,1218 means "It is easy to prosper!" as it is spoken.

The bugbear though is that  Universal Studios theme park will not be open for rides as yet. However,as a teaser, RWS is offering the public a one-week sneak preview at S$10 (RM24.27) to stroll through the grounds.

Restaurants and shops will open from 5pm to 9pm until Feb 21, and the park is expected to be ready in early March.“We’re ready to soft-open the casino but are still fine-tuning the rides and shows in the theme park,” RWS chief executive officer Tan Hee Teck said. “However, since it’s Chinese New Year, we decided to offer Singaporeans ... a special and unique first-to-see walk-through opportunity.”

Senior Minister of State (Trade and Industry) S Iswaran told Mediacorp the casino opening was “good” progress on the part of RWS as it rolls out its facilities.

“The important thing is that the opening of these important additions to our tourism landscape are done in a smooth manner and in a manner that preserves the visitor experience, so that people will ... come back,” he said.

Sales of the preview tickets and casino levy start today at 11.18am. And if the crowds flow from the get-go, the resort says it is ready.

Even taxi drivers, some of whom were given a familiarisation tour, seem prepared. Kelvin Ang, 43, who picked up his first RWS-bound passenger two days ago, said: “You just need to observe the signboards, and it’s easy to drive in.”

Chang Yeng Cheong, general manager of nearby VivoCity, told Mediacorp his mall would be managing its car park to prevent traffic chaos by, for example, restricting entry of taxis to those with alighting passengers and cabs ‘On Call’ and by deploying security guards to facilitate the flow of cars going through the Sentosa Gateway.

Ace Ong, senior shop manager of Haagen-Dazs in VivoCity, is expecting a 20- to 30-per-cent increase in the number of customers and the management will deploy more staff for the first seven days of Chinese New Year.

Meanwhile, staff at The Merlion on Sentosa are anticipating an initial loss of visitors to RWS, but are positive about the spill-over effect in the long-term.

For some Singaporeans, it may be too last-minute to be part of a historic first day.

Sales executive David Loh said: “I’ll want to go to the casino with a large group of friends as it will be more fun. But as everyone is busy with visitations on the first day of Chinese New Year, I’d go on the second day if I were to go.”

When MediaCorp visited RWS yesterday afternoon, staff were buzzing with preparations for the opening. Huge red lanterns hung from the ceiling, pots of brightly coloured flowers lined the walkways. Drilling and hammering sounded from every direction.

Workers were putting the final touches to shop signages, others swept and dusted. Staff huddled at the casino reception for crowd control instructions and rehearsed their duties.

Over at Marina Bay Sands, the resort is working closely with the Casino Regulatory Authority to obtain its casino license and for a soft opening hopefully in April.

Spokeswoman Val Chua said hotel rooms up to the 35th storey have been fitted out with carpets and fixtures.

The construction team is also working on the interior of the Sands Expo and Convention Center.

“The complex wave-shaped roofs on the lower buildings are nearly complete and the Event Plaza at the centre of Marina Bay is nearly finished. Internationally renowned artists are completing work on huge art installations,” said Chua.

Looks like Singapore is the ultimate winner in the end.

The Gift of An Ordinary Day

 Listen to this video. It may transform your life.

Will the Magic of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Return Here?

The story-line of the new movie,"My Name is Khan" is nothing unique.

It tells of a story of Rizwan Khan ,a Muslim child with Asperger's syndrome, a sort of autism.

He grew up with his mother  in Mumbai. As an adult Rizwan now played by Shahrukh Khan, befriends Mandira,  a single mother and fell in love with her. Kajol plays Mandira, a Hindu who lives in San Francisco. 

And as it came to passed, authorities in America arrest Rizwan after interpreting the visible aspects of his condition as "suspicious" behaviour. This is a clever twist, I think.

After his arrest, he meets Radha, a therapist who helps him overcome the his condition and ordeal.

Rizwan then begins a journey to find and meet President Barack Obama to clear his name.

A bit melodramatic,don't you think?

I do hope the chemistry of Sharukh Khan and Kajol still can spellbind us in this new  movie. I would also like to hear more melodies and dance acts from both Sharukh and Kajol.

RWS: No Joint Opening of Casino and Theme Park

Well, you cannot get the best of both worlds. So Genting Singapore is satisfied that they get the casino going first while testing continues for safety at the Universal Studios Theme Park.

As Chinese New Year roars in on Sunday, preparations is underway at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) to open its casino tables on Chinese New Year Day.Those seeking the thrill of theme park rides will have to wait a little longer.

Media reports this week had speculated that RWS’ casino and Universal Studios theme park will open in time for the festive holidays.

MediaCorp understands that Universal Studios Singapore will throw open its gates a few weeks later after it completes the final safety checks.

Responding to queries, RWS spokesman Robin Goh said: “We are on track to opening the theme park in the first quarter of 2010.”

Analysts said that while the ideal situation is for both the casino and theme park to open at the same time to capitalise on the CNY holidays, RWS can still expect to reap dividends from opening the casino first.
Chesterton Suntec International head of research and consultancy, Mr Colin Tan, said: “To hold back the casino means they lose money, so it’s better to open as early as possible to start earning money.

“Chinese New Year is the best time to open. That’s when they get the most publicity. It is also nice to start the New Year with a casino.”

But with the weekend inching closer and no firm date for the casino opening announced, it may now be too late for tourists to fly in to gamble at the RWS casino.

Travel agents told MediaCorp that flights to Singapore over the weekend were full. While there are still hotel rooms available in the city, hotels in Sentosa are fully booked for the weekend.

Alicia Seah, CTC Holidays’ senior vice-president of marketing and public relations, said she expects visitors to RWS this weekend to comprise of mainly Singaporeans — instead of tour groups whose travel plans would have been firmed up for the weekend.

Perhaps Malaysians?

Malaysia: Exemption of 40 Items from GST

There is more than a year to go before tge goods and services tax (GST) is implemented in Malaysia. Certainly there are concerns that it will lead to unnecessary taxation that will burden the poor and profiteering.

Today, the Finance Ministry has assured that some  40 basic goods and services will not be subjected to the new  (GST).These would include basic foodstuffs, residential accommodation, health services, public transportation and domestic consumption of water and electricity up to a certain limit.

The government will also at the same time  introduce an anti-profiteering law to ensure that businesses do not try to gain unjustifiable profits from GST.

The Najib administration is proposing the implementation of GST to broaden the government’s tax base and raise revenue.

In the region, only Malaysia, Brunei, Myanmar and Hong Kong have not implemented GST.
“If 143 countries have done it, why not us?" said Husni, the Second Finance Minister.

There has been some public concern that prices would be much higher post-GST implementation but Husni said that according to government calculations, the consumer price index, a measure of the inflation rate, would be lower.

Dr Zakariah Abdul Rashid, executive director of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), said that GST will not result in higher prices across the board but will be lower in some categories and higher in others.

He acknowledged however that GST will incur higher compliance costs but tax leakages will be reduced through more thorough auditing.

He also said that experience in other countries showed that consumers would stock up on items perceived to go up in prices ahead of GST but it would be a temporary effect.

“Consumption and growth returns to normal after a short period of time,” said Zakaria. “GST will result in a one off change in aggregate price level.”

He also suggested that the government provide rebates to cushion the effects of GST and that through GST, other forms of tax such as corporate and income may be reduced.

Husni said that the government would continuously look at ways to make Malaysia’s tax structure regionally competitive.

“We have reduced our corporate tax and we have shown to be willing to reduce personal income tax in specific instances (Iskandar),” said Husni. “The GST therefore should be seen as an integral part of the country’s economic strategy.”

As usual, it's Malaysia Boleh until it leaves a bad taste in the mouth!

Malaysia: The Tuition Issue

 

From an email I received, it is possible the person may have misunderstood me to be the writer of this news item. I am not.  It was a write up in the STAR on Feb 10. It was written by a reader-contributor to the Readers' Write.

The words in parentheses are mine.

"A few weeks into the school term and I have already received quite a few phone calls from parents regarding after-school tuition. The last few years, I did offer homework assistance and extra coaching after school, but since I am now working in the afternoon session, I decided not to offer that help this year. Work is taxing and can be quite stressful, what with adjusting to the new environment, etc, I feel like I could make do without the extra work tuition will bring me. [ I know it is a big task to teach and do administration duties at the same time. It's now time for the MOE to have more administrative staff to help teachers out].

Tuition seems to be a major concern for parents these days. If school teachers offer tuition classes, you can bet that the students will be scrambling to fill up the classes, especially if he or she  is known to be a great teacher. Someone who is a ‘Guru Cemerlang’ (Excellent Teacher) or has been teaching for a long time usually can, and will charge more. Their classes would be much sought after and if the students produce great results, which in Malaysian context means a long string of As, then you can bet your top Ringgit that more students will register for the next school term.[Self-fulfilling prophecies?]

During my first year of teaching, I decided to just wait and see, and learn more before even considering giving tuition. I was after all just a new teacher, and felt that my inexperience and lack of familiarity with the exam formats would not be fair to the students.

So I decided I would make do without the extra work giving tuition would entail. Although the money made from giving tuition can be quite lucrative, I still think I need some time to recover from school since school, if you know it, can be quite a madhouse. [With today's quality of principals,what more can one say?]

And now, since I work in the afternoon session and usually do not come home until after 7 pm, teaching tuition at 8.00 pm would be an almost impossible thing for me. I need my time to rest, have dinner and of course, to prepare for the next day’s lessons. Teaching tuition would not let me have all that.

But since tuition to parents is like water to the thirsty, they usually will keep asking, hoping I would change my mind and maybe reconsider. They want it, they yearn for it, and they will try their best to have me agree to give their child tuition. Some even want me to give tuition to their Year 1 child, which I said no to, because I think a seven old year should be allowed to play and just be a kid and should not be made to work hard.

Of course, parents always want the best for their child, and since they have more resources now, they would pay top dollar to give their child the best. Even if it means paying RM200 per month just for six hours of one-to-one English (like one of my neighbours do), they would do it. And mind you, that is just for one subject. Factoring in all the four subjects they have to sit for in the UPSR exam, imagine how much parents actually pay for their child’s monthly tuition fees alone.[ It is not just the money. The poor student will be dead tired after school, extra curricular and the tuition classes!]

There is another side to the argument: that too much tuition is not good for the child because they work from morning to night and barely have time to rest and play like children should. It also means that maybe they thought my teaching might be so bad that these kids would need extra help with their English!

To some extent, I agree that rather than being at home doing nothing, they could go for extra classes, so they would be doing something worthwhile with their time. But maybe, perhaps, we should allow our children a moment to just rest, to take in the day as it comes, so they could relax and focus on being still for a little while? [ I have just highlighted this in the earlier paragraph.]

Their days are often very long. Our school starts very early in the morning and usually the kids would have homework accompanying them home each day. Every day, watching the kids walk home I often wonder how they feel about all the school work, all the extra work they have to do.

I remember my childhood as being rather carefree. I was allowed space to run around, ride with my bike and play with my friends in the evenings, and still had time to do my homework. Kids these days seem to not like physical activities so much. They would rather do something sitting down which to me seems unnatural. Kids are supposed to love running around and they should not hate sports and physical activities. It is just mind-baffling to me. [Yes, and then there are those who are glued to their PC to play computer games!]

One thing is for sure, things have definitely changed. A long string of As can no longer guarantee a place at the university or a scholarship. The society demands so much more from the younger generation that they now have to equip themselves with a lot of skills just to get ahead.

We want our future leaders to be excellent leaders, to have great soft skills, to be smart and eloquent and to be civic-minded enough to know what the society wants and needs, and to carry out their duties with responsibility and integrity. The society glorifies those with long string of As and so at a very young age, we prepare our kids for the work, so they will someday end up with those long string of As.

Whatever their reasons, I feel for the parents. They are the ones who have to make the choice, whether to send their children for extra classes or not. They are the ones who have to pay the tuition fees each month and make sure their child gets to their tuition classes on time.

Parents do an awful lot for their kids and I do salute them for caring and wanting their kids to have the best, to be the best and to shine in academics, but maybe we should give them some room to breathe and just be kids. After all, all work and no play make Jack a dull boy." 

A Star reader-contributor

So it looks like this tuition thing is a forever thing,don't you agree?

Pantech's Generosity to Minority Shareholders

You have to respect this company. They spared no expenses just to pass 9 resolutions at an EGM that was mainly for the issuance of an ESOS for staff and directors of Pantech Group Holdings.

And if want to know how to treat shareholders well, look what this company has done. Morning coffee was expresso and tea and a fine selection of cakes.

The afternoon lunch at the Sun N Surf was super, to say the least. A full spread of international buffet which would have cost you RM55++ was yours for the taking. It ranges from roasted baby lamb,lamb chops, yee-sang, flower crabs, tiger prawns, fresh oysters,Japanese food, curries and fruits and desserts. There was also two types of soups to choose from-onion soup or asparagus.

Everyone had their feel. We felt good to be the shareholders of Patech. Who wouldn't with such treatment!