The Tiger Zodiac

The Tiger year is here once again after leaving a trail of upheavals in the political arena in 1998. Casualties include Suharto, Anwar Ibrahim.


Then it was the earth tiger. This year is the metal tiger. Will it be a mild cat this time ?


The poor tiger is the most hunted animal for its medicinal parts. The bone has been used for at least 1,000 years to treat painful conditions such as arthritis and rheumatism.

Penis

The tail of the tiger is sometimes ground and mixed with soap to create an ointment for use in treating skin cancer, while he tiger's penis is said to be an aphrodisiac.


If urgent and proper measures are not taken, there is a risk that wild tigers will no longer be found on Chinese territory. In the whole of vast China the country now has only about 50 wild tigers.


In India poaching is widespread because of the value of tiger skin. A dead tiger is not worth much so tiger parts are being smuggled out to China.


Medan Sumatra Indonesia , is the main hub for the trade of tiger parts. Tiger body parts are openly sold in towns across Sumatra.


Singapore has ban trading of tiger parts but is known as a main market for tiger parts smuggled in from Indonesia. But like branded Italy goods tiger penis also come in fake versions.

TIGER business is lucrative business.

A Good Heart

For years, doctors' obsession with lowering cholesterol to prevent heart disease is causing more harm than good.


The fact is, your high cholesterol may be protecting you from cancer.


A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology revealed that driving down cholesterol levels actually increases the risk of cancer.


Researchers at the Tufts University School of Medicine found that among people taking "statin" drugs - like Lipitor and Zocor - there was a higher rate of cancer. Although the link between the drugs and cancer wasn't clear, there was no doubt that drastically low cholesterol levels correlated to cancer risk.


The big drug makers continue to sell the notion that the best way to fight heart disease is to lower LDL levels, the so-called "bad" cholesterol.


Yet 75 percent of people who suffer heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels.


It makes sense that low cholesterol levels are linked to cancer because cholesterol is one of your body's basic building blocks. You need it to produce testosterone, to build and repair cell membranes, and to preserve your nerve cells through the formation of the protective "sheaths" that cover them.


As long as you have a high HDL count - 75 to 80, for example - it doesn't matter whether your total cholesterol is 150 or 350. A high HDL will always keep your risk of heart disease extremely low.


Consume natural fats. Avoid processed or fast foods containing "trans" fats - these man-made substances were never meant for consumption, and your body doesn't know what to do with them. They wind up clogging your arteries and putting you on the fast track to heart disease.

Words of Wisdom

All men are created equal, declared Thomas Jefferson in 1776.
In today's high rolling, money talk world the only time man are equal is when they are dead.



Birth, Old age, Sickness, and Death are four events of suffering which humans cannot escape and cannot control.
Venerable Thich Thanh Tu asked "are you afraid of dying ?"
Dying is not frightening because when one dies, one leaves old age and sickness behind – that means one should be happy for one is finally free from them.



A wise man learns by the mistakes of others, a fool by his own.
Wise men are extinct in today's corrupted dog eat dog world. With money they believe they are God.



The man of wisdom is never of two minds; the man of benevolence never worries; the man of courage is never afraid.



God helps those who help themselves.
They certainly did. To the money of course. Nothing but money is sweeter than honey.



Allah will not give mercy to anyone, except those who give mercy to other creatures.
Wonder if the terrorists hear this one.

Economy Watch

Non Oil Domestic Export - Year on Year

-20.8 percent in December 2008 - S$10.47 billion
-34.8 percent in January 2009 - S$10.04 billion
-23.8 percent in February 2009 - S$12.87 billion
-17.3 percent in March 2009 - S$11.88 billion
-19.2 per cent in April 2009 - S$11.32 billion
-12.1 per cent in May 2009 - S$10.94 billion
-11.0 per cent in June 2009 - S$11.38 billion
- 8.5 per cent in July 2009 - S$12.08 billion
- 7.1 per cent in August 2009 - S$12.1 billion
- 7.2 per cent in September 2009 - S$12.81 billion
- 6.1 per cent in October 2009 - S$12.50 billion
+8.7 per cent in November 2009 - S$13.1 billion
+26.1 per cent in December 2009 - S$13.2 billion
+20.8 per cent in January 2010 - S$12.04 billion

Orchard Road Legends

With the passing of Ng Teng Fong, the rag to riches fairytale of some great legends of Singapore is nearing the end.


In 1958, Tang Choon Keng bought a 14,500-square feet piece of land at the corner of Orchard Road and Scotts Road at a cost of $10,000 which work out to 70 Singapore cents per square foot.





Ng Teng Fong first foray into Orchard Road was to built Far East Shopping Centre in 1974, then made a fortune with Lucky Plaza in 1978 followed by Far East Plaza in 1983.





Khoo Teck Puat with a few partners founded Malayan Banking (Maybank) in Kuala Lumpur. The bank grew rapidly to more than 150 branches within 3 years. In 1968, he bought over the Malayan Banking's Singapore properties including Goodwood Park Hotel for $50 million.

Joy of Parenthood

For men who wake up one fine morning and suddenly feel nausea with or without vomiting, do not make your way to the GP office, just yet.
You are having the morning sickness symptom known as Couvade Syndrome.


It is thought to be a form of a sympathetic pregnancy in which the husband experiences symptoms of pregnancy without actually being pregnant. Yes, dudes, this means that you have many of the "joys" associated with pregnancy.

Dr. Arthur Brennan, Senior Lecturer in Research Methods and Statistics and Psychology at the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences, St. George's University said the reasons for the sympathy pregnancy are not known. There have been some complex psychological theories written but current thinking seems to be focussing on changes in hormones.

Giving a Speech ?

Preparing and making a speech can be an unnerving event. Facts need to be assembled and scripted. Capturing the attention of the audience is critical in a successful speech.





In a nutshell, a speech is likened to a stag horn. A point here, a point there, and a lot of bull in between.

CNY Tradition

Chinese New Year is a week away and demand for new banknotes is as usual high. Cities like Singapore Taiwan and Hongkong have the tradition of giving lucky money to the singles in the form of red packets.





In Hongkong 300 to 400 million new and used notes are issued to cater for demand in connection with the Chinese New Year. This translate into 20 containers load.



Polymer banknotes were developed by the Reserve Bank of Australia and first circulated in 1988. Today seven countries, Australia, Bermuda, Brunei, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Romania, and Vietnam are now fully using all plastic notes.

CNY

It is the time to stock up on goodies for the chinese new year and one favourite is the cashew nuts.



Many people are not aware that the shell of the nut contains a toxic, viscous and dark liquid, known as cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL), which is extremely caustic. That's why cashew is the only nut not sold unshelled.

CNSL is an important and versatile industrial raw material. It is used as an ingredient for powder for automotive brake linings and clutch disks.




In South America they threw the nuts away and ate the fruit, the flesh is spongy, fibrous and very juicy. They chew it just for the juice, spitting out the fibrous remains.

Happy New Year

The Paper Chase

Webometrics:

1 University of Tokyo
2 National Taiwan University
3 Kyoto University
4 University of Hong Kong
5 University of Tsukuba
6 National Cheng Kung University
7 Peking University
8 National Sun Yat-Sen University
9 Chinese University of Hong Kong
10 National Chiao Tung University


4icu.org:

1 Peking University
2 Shanghai Jiao Tong University
3 Tsinghua University
4 Fudan University
5 Xi'an Jiaotong University
6 Keio University
7 National University of Singapore
8 Nanjing University
9 Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai
10 Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur


QS.com:

1 University of Hong Kong
2 The Chinese University of Hong Kong
3 University of Tokyo
4 Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
5 Kyoto University
6 Osaka University
7 KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science
8 Seoul National University
9 Tokyo Institute of Technology
10 National University of Singapore


Asiaweek:

1 University of Tokyo
2 Tohoku University
3 Kyoto University
4 University of Hong Kong
5 National University of Singapore
6 Seoul National University
7 National Taiwan University
8 Chinese University of Hong Kong
9 University of Melbourne
10 University of New South Wales

Giant Tools

Countries do one up to better the height of the previous "world tallest" building. Infrastructure facilities are designed larger. Machines builders too are going big with enormous tools.


Kroll of Denmark has the biggest tower crane in the world.



Mammoet of Holland built the biggest crane which need 85 trucks and other heavy trailers to transport the crane nicknamed Momo to a site. Maximum Lifting Capacity: 1600 Tonnes



Manitowoc, USA will construct the 31000 crawler crane which will surpass the Momo to become the largest construction crane on the market, with lifting capacity of 2,300 ton.



Not so long ago a 52 metre concrete pump was considered the longest but Sany, China has come up with a 72 metre version.

Emma Maersk, Denmark. Length 396 metre which is longer than the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise which is 342 metre long.
The vessel can carries 15,200 twenty foot containers.