What's on PUB's mind lately...

Some good articles on the Orchard Road flooding:
- More on 50-year floods
- Sorry seems to be the hardest word

Foreign Worker Levy

Fann Wong down with H1N1

http://blogs.todayonline.com/stargazing/2009/11/23/ah-jie-ah-choo-poor-fann-wong-has-the-h1n1-flu/

HDB Sales of Balance Flats oversubscribed

12,728 bid for 2,132 flats (straitstimes.com)

Singtel Starhub EPL Prisoner's Dilemma

In business, competition is suppose to bring down prices, right?

Well, not so in this case.

You might have read that Singtel won the bidding war to broadcast EPL matches for the next three years until 2013. In 2007, Starhub paid $250 million for the rights. This time, Singtel paid more than that, obviously.

This competition actually made the consumers worse off. So don't be surprised if you see sports channel getting charged more in the future.

This is also a classic case of Prisoner's Dilemma at work. The basic premise is, if the two parties just look to benefit themselves, they are actually made worse off in the end.

If you've studied Economics, you'll know the standard answer to solving this problem, and come up with a win-win situation for both.

There's a simple win-win solution to this. It's not to have the bidding war and have one of the party pay the other for not entering the bidding war. In this collaborative mode, Singtel can just bid the minimum amount and share the savings with Starhub. For example, Singtel can just bid $200m and maybe pass $50m to Starhub. Both of them can plaster their logos all over the TV. If the minimum sum is even lower, both can save even more. In this example I didn't take account into the potential earnings they can receive from the coverage, which can actually be greater than the savings, in which case, then they should bid anyway.

Of course, business isn't so simple, and people behave as if they don't know Economics in real life. So the consumers are the ones who are really paying for the bids in the end.

Prime Minister Lee on those who serve NS at 30, 40 and 50.

"If we make it a requirement, we would not get the people we wanted. Secondly, if they did serve NS at 30, 40 or 50 years old, I would not like to be their platoon commander." - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long

Source: They are spice in the S'pore mix (todayonline.com)

Reaction:
- PM Lee “would not like” to be your platoon commander if you’re 30, 40, 50 years old (theonlinecitizen.com)
- Ungrateful Platoon Commander, Insensitive Leeder

If you read the response of the online community, you'll understand exactly why PM Lee would not like to be their platoon commander. Just look at all the negative comments and complaints. In this case, he probably won't want to be their platoon commander regardless of their age.

Anyone who has served NS, especially those reservist units, will know the attitude of older soldiers. They have other commitments in life other than NS so the lack of focus on serving NS is only natural, hence the difficulty being their platoon commander.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

Birth rate dips to 1.28

Birth rate dips to 1.28

Any job should do ...Flexibility will impress future employers, Gan tells youth who raise discrimination concerns

I quote from mrwangsayso.blogspot.com:

For example, an impressive c.v. should show how the candidate had carefully chosen each role, had gained good experience in it, and had then used this experience to progress to his next, higher value-added role. The c.v. should show how the candidate consistently secured jobs with the most reputable companies in each field. The job history should demonstrate that the candidate really has the kind of skills, strengths and interests that he claims to have.

In contrast, a poor, "patchwork" c.v. would show a candidate moving from job to job, without any obvious strategy or plan. After all, he's there just for the sake of having a job, not because he's genuinely interested in it. And his jobs don't build on each other in a helpful way. One year he's a MacDonalds waiter; next year he's a primary school relief teacher; after that he joins the SAF; two years later, he's selling insurance.

Gan calls this "flexibility". But sorry, such a c.v. is not impressive to me at all. It is merely what happens when you take the"any job should do" attitude to your own career.

If you take on any job, you at least are doing something productive during the job search period. You are earning some money, even if it's not giving you relevant experience.

If you choose to look for better jobs, you'll be looking for a longer period of time given the current bad economic climate.

So why not hold a part time job during the job search?

Note that you do not have to include your unimpressive (if it is) part time job if you don't want to.

Also note the termination rules for the part time job before you sign anything. It's good to give days advance notice to your current employer should you want to quit. Professional etiquette.

Links:
- Any job should do ...Flexibility will impress future employers, Gan tells youth who raise discrimination concerns
- Learn from the Regrets of the Flatulence Analyst

Bus firms fined over poor service

News source: Bus firms fined over poor service

Online response: PTC fines on transport companies are meaningless

I'm don't like the idea of giving out fines for punishments. The authorities should ask the CEOs to spend a few days doing community service. Or better yet, make them take their own public transport to work!

That will show them.

Also, driving related offenders should be punished by the suspension of driving license. No fines required. Money is cheap. Time is not.