Monday, January 16, 2012

2012 Forecast

Master Paul Ng, Canada

The dragon people are in conflict with the year. You would be prone to accidents.

Snake people in trading, sales/marketing would do well. If you are an office worker, just be contended.

The horse person would have plenty of energy this year. You may not favor gambling and speculations.

Money signs are strong for the goat people. You would run into new opportunities and new sources of income.

The monkey would have luck on their side. You would be quite healthy this year.

This is a lucky year for the rooster. Both regular and speculative/investment incomes would be good.

The dog would be prone to losing money. Saving is better than gambling for you.

Fame and power seem to be with the pig. You would experience a breakthrough in your career.

The rat in the dragon is a very lucky year. Your money sign is dominant. There would many money opportunities.

Ox is in conflict with the dragon. There is not much money sign with you.

The tiger would make more money in sales/marketing than desk work. Wealth and travel seem to be inter-related.

Rabbit should beware of people relations. Your money situation would be much better than last year.




Master Lynn Yap, Singapore

The dragon has a unfavourable year. Simply lie low and don't do any changes.

The snake people will have a average, peaceful year. Enjoy.

Horses will have an average year but would find the year with obstacles in everything they do. There is no lottery luck.

The goat will not have a good year. You are advised to lie low and not to be too vocal.

Monkey could see some unfortunate events. Understand these have to happen and all will be well.

This is a great year for the rooster. Everything you do will be smooth.

The dog is in direct clash with the dragon year. It is adviseable to avoid any major investments.

Persons born in the pig year are into pretty good fortunes. You may strike TOTO or lottery.

This is a mix year for the rat. The year will have its up and down. Lie low and all will be well.

This is a fanstastic year for the ox. Grab the opportunities and get rich. There is a pot of gold waiting this year.

The tiger will have an average year. Be cautious and go with the flow. You may lose some money but no real harm.

The rabbit will face obstacles at work. When things turn sour, handle one thing at a time.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Mighty Mouse

1979, Steve Jobs, twenty-four-year-old co-founder of a small computer startup called Apple visit a research center in Silicon Valley called Xerox.

Xerox engineer Larry Tesler demonstrate the cursor across the screen with the aid of a “mouse” and Jobs decided there and then that "This is revolutionary!"




He met Dean Hovey, one of the founders of the industrial-design company IDEO.

Steve Jobs design specifications to Hovey: the mouse needs to be manufacturable for less than fifteen bucks.



Dean Hovey went to Walgreens, bought all the underarm deodorants, because they had that ball in them.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The LED TV Race

Sony first announced plans to introduce a large screen OLED TV in 2009.

But it will be LG that is rolling out the first OLED TV, not Sony.



LG plans to introduce a 55 inch OLED-TV in Q2 2012.

Samsung is also planning similiar size TV for the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 10 to January 13 2012.




Mitsubishi Electric Building at Alexandra Road installed a large screen located in the lobby.

The 3.1m width by 1.9 m height screen is Singapore's first Diamond Vision (OLED) screen.

The latest TV technology is coming your way.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

The Causeway Kids

A 1980s phenomenon where Malaysian parents send their children to Singapore schools.

Every morning, thousands of Malaysian students cross the Causeway in the familiar yellow school buses to go to schools in Singapore, partcularly in Woodlands Town.

Their day starts as early as 4am as they need to beat the traffic congestion.

For this they are called "Incredible Kids" "Sleepy Kids" or the "Pitiful Kids".

Woodlands residents called them "the 4am kids".

It is usual to see the children walk a kilometre to the Singapore side checkpoint whenever their school buses are caught in the traffic jams.



The reason parents do this is for a better education system in Singapore where English is the teaching language. They endure the high school fee whilst the kids have to endure the extra travelling time to school and often reaching home at 8 pm.

Fast forward 20 years on. These students are now parents themselves. Many stayed and work in Singapore. Those who prefered to remain in Johor Bahru now send their children to the same schools they attended as kids. History is repeating itself.

The Johor State Assembly has revealed that 15,000 students from Johor study in schools in Singapore.


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Malay Town

One often heard of Chinatown.

But rarely a Malay town. Well, outside of South East Asia.



In South Africa, it is estimated that there are 250,000 Malays mostly living in Cape Town.

This is the largest Malay settlement outside South East Asia. Bo-Kaap is an area of Cape Town, and was formerly known as the Malay Quarter.

It began in the 1600s when the Dutch East India Company transported slaves from Java and followed later by others from the Southeast Asian regions.



The 'Cape Malay' community generally speak local dialects. They no longer speak the Malay language which their ancestors used. Simple Malay phrases can still be heard in Cape Town, for example: 'terima kasih'. Tradition like Ramadaan is still being observed.