Girls discriminated against for the GEP etc,

At least the Japanese know what happened. Medical school adjusted the test scores of women applicants lower so that way more men than women got admitted. We on the other hand are as clueless as ever when even at the level of primary schools, there are way more boys than girls in the GEP. For years I used to tease them. I asked which of you smart kids were actually girls dressed up as boys? Unless of course you believe as 9 year to 12 year olds God has made boys much brighter than girls. I think MOE discriminate against girls in the GEP selection test. At least the Japanese know why. We are still clueless. 

Should we be surprised that girls are paying a pink tax?

The First Trillion Dollar Company

Briefly woke up to learn two things.

1. My order for Facebook still not filled.

2. Apple is now a trillion dollar company, i.e., its market cap is bigger than Indonesia GDP, a member of the G20

We are now in the territory of what is good for Apple is good for the US stock market.

Last day at the office

Last day at this office today. These are parting gifts for them. Nice to eat and easy to remember. The Godivas aren't in the photo because their prices are unforgettable LOL.

Rex stopped the Saudis from invading Qatar?

A sobering thought. Remember we are a small nation as well.

Read story.

Shanmugam habit of stoking fear

English conceived in England but given away and owned by the world. Shanmugam is over reacting. Just ask any of our school kids and they will tell you that ASEAN scholars speak and write better EL than scholars from the PRC. A few years later when in our local universities they have not closed the gap with their ASEAN counterparts. Shanmugam confused high averages against the top down hand picking of a handful for competition purpose.

So what is the meaning of "China has caught up"? This is his cheapskate attempt to proliferate fear and increase pressure. To me he is the most intellectually dishonest minister regularly succumbing to the temptation of convenient arguments and theses, exploiting the ignorance of the masses.

I hope people can see the link between stoking fear among our people and public policy making. Fear is a very useful device for justifying brutal and often painful policies. "We have no choice..." does that not resound and echo inside your craniums? We must not tolerate fear mongering by our leaders. We should demand intellectual honesty first and always.

Update: 4:29 pm

This is a valid fear and not the Shanmugam's nonsense.

See story at Today.

Opportunity Costs of Parking is unacceptable

These are American numbers by Dr. Richard Florida. He is the guy who brought us the idea that creative cities are tolerant of gays. I am not aware if there are any equivalent numbers for Singapore but can easily imagine that year after year of economic growth can only raise the numbers towards the sky. Economically we will eventually pay too much for parking on real estate that is simply too valuable for cars. Society is subsidizing those who drive.

The long term future for car ownership is bleak. It will be a shared asset so that we can release a phenomenal amount of land by taking them away from parking.

Good bye to an ex colleague

Yesterday an ex-colleague sent me this. Yea Yee is the first in our orientation batch from the early 90s to go. May he rest in peace but I think he left us way too soon. I always thought he was our age. Turn out he is a few years older. He was a very nice and helpful guy, a high flyer in the company.