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| My new blog address | | Date Created: Mar 11, 2006, 07:51 AM |
I have finally called it quits on BlogWaveStudio. It is a neat program but the person behind it has stopped supporting it and fixing little bugs. I have given up and have moved over to iWeb.
I am keeping all the materials here. But new material will appear on
http://web.mac.com/wowtheworld/iWeb/Site/Blog/Blog.html
Do visit the site and let me know what you think.
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| Tagging along | | Date Created: Feb 22, 2006, 09:50 PM |
I spotted this little girl outside ChinaTown MRT Station sleeping and oblivious to the large number of bystanders enjoying the music played by, presumably, her parents.
The picture is very grainy because I had to increase the ISO to cater to the poor light (I did not have a tripod and thought it would be rude to use flash). |
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| The modernisation of haircuts in Singapore | | Date Created: Feb 21, 2006, 07:07 AM |
I tried to get a haircut yesterday at my neighbourhood barber. After rushing out of office and braving the rush-hour crowds, I arrived at the barber only to find that they had just closed. This was barely 8 pm. I mean who are their clients? The unemployed?
Disgusted, I wandered to Tampines Mall after a quick dinner and found EC (stands for Express Cut) House open till 9:30 pm. This chain is a breath of fresh air compared to the old-style barbers in many housing estates.
For one, the shop is spotless. There was so little hair on the floor I almost thought I and the two other patrons were their first customers for the day. It turns out that each barber adheres to a strict routine of sweeping away all the hair around their workstation after each haircut. To make the sweeping process faster, EC House has mounted the barber chair on a platform which opens up to reveal a compartment where you can just sweep the hair in. No need for dustpans or bins overflowing with hair.
Then there is the payment system. The cost of a haircut is $10, payable to a machine that only accepts $10 notes. No change is given. The machine spits out a card that you hand over to the barber when your turn is called. It is a superb system from the business point of view because it eliminates the need for complex systems to make sure that barbers don't pocket some of the money themselves. Eliminating change also means EC House does not have to carry any cash in cash registers.
After paying you sit on numbered seats that are an indication of how many people are ahead of you in the queue. This is another brilliant stroke because anyone who walks into an EC House will know how long he or she has to wait. Since each haircut only takes 10 minutes, the wait is never very long. This eliminates the need to have a pile of dog-eared magazines to keep the clients busy. The 10 minutes per haircut also maximises the utilisation of each barber and obviates the need for any appointments system, as used in more expensive salons.
Each workstation is meticulously arranged according to a common layout. No hunting around for the correct blade. They even have a container for spectacles.
The only negatives to my experience were the Euro trash they blared, and the fact that the haircut was not very flattering. The barber conspired to highlight my receding hairline and also revealed a growing bald patch on the top of my head. I guess there is a limit to what new business practices can deliver in terms of value.
But EC House also showed me the richness of possibilities of reinventing an established business model, the same way the low-cost carriers have given many medium sized carriers a run for their money. And it is such innovative businesses that will create employment for Singaporeans. On the flipside existing barbers today will find their own livelihoods threatened as I am sure people will flock to places like EC House (their business model does not seem to be irreplicable). This is why any distinction that we might make between exportable and unexportable sectors when looking at employment is ultimately flawed. Even an unexportable sector like cutting hair can be turned literally on its head. |
| Cable wake-boarding | | Date Created: Feb 19, 2006, 11:31 PM |
I was walking along East Coast yesterday when I found the newly-opened cable wake-boarding centre. Instead of being pulled along the water by a speed-boat, you are pulled around a small lagoon by a cable attached to a pulley system. It sounds easy enough but judging by the many people who lasted all of five metres on the water, you actually need some training. This chap amazingly enough stayed on his knees looking completely ungraceful throughout three rounds on the circuit.
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| There were the show-boaters who flew through the air with their little tricks. |
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Unfortunately for this chap, he should have invested in a tighter pair of shorts.
Am rediscovering the music of Public Enemy --- their loud rapping is somehow dulling my pain after watching Spurs yet again throw away points. |
| Thaipusam | | Date Created: Feb 19, 2006, 11:23 PM |
| I followed the Thaipusam procession (actually I just stationed myself along Tank Road( for the first time last weekend. Like everyone else, I was impressed by the devotees and how they endured what must have been torturous pain. I must admit that I was a tad queasy when I saw some of the helpers re-insert metal hooks that had dropped out into the bodies of devotees. |
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| And if carrying these huge kavadis was not enough, some of the devotees danced feverishly as they neared the temple. |
| Although most of the attention centred on the men who carried the kavadis, the women carrying the shiny metal containers did not have it easy either. Some were in a trance-like state by the time they reached Tank Road. Others were so tired they had to be helped up the steps by their relatives or friends. |
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| After a devotee had finished the rituals in the temple itself, he still had to endure a few more minutes as well-wishers painstakingly removed the many needles and adornments. |
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| The musicians | | Date Created: Feb 18, 2006, 11:13 PM |
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| These two musicians play their instruments for devotees who want to perform a dance before entering the temple. As you can tell from my Thaipusam photos, I have been experimenting with some simple post-processing of RAW images. I can't say I am entirely pleased with the results. Will need much more practice. |
| Indian couple | | Date Created: Feb 18, 2006, 11:09 PM |
I was walking along the route of the Thaipusam procession last Saturday and was struck by the sheer volume of people that turned up. It felt like the entire Indian population in Singapore was there.
Amidst the crowd, I found this Indian couple who seemed to be in their own oasis of calm. |
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| A Beard | | Date Created: Feb 04, 2006, 08:01 AM |
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| I saw this on a lamp-post outside the record shop on Hajj Lane. I love its irreverance and am beginning to appreciate some of the street art in Singapore. |
| Shop window | | Date Created: Jan 31, 2006, 08:20 AM |
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| I took this on the eve of Chinese New Year when I wandered off the main road where the Countdown was being held to a side street (I think it was Keong Saik Road). The atmosphere was much less subdued and peaceful, a far cry from the teeming hordes of heartlanders with a smattering of foreign tourists gathered to watch the Countdown. The irony is that most people only saw the Countdown through large screens because they had placed the stage in the middle of the road but facing one side of the road, and not down Eu Tong Sen Road itself. It was all just a huge waste of time and money. |
| Things I hate about Chinese New Year | | Date Created: Jan 29, 2006, 12:13 PM |
 It's that time again when millions of Chinese all over the world celebrate Chinese New Year and engage in several days of eating and drinking with family, friends and relatives.
I have always hated CNY particularly the inane conversation, lubricated by copious amounts of drinks and New Year sweets/pastries, that takes place among relatives that hardly know one another but go through the motions and breath a heavy sigh of relief once they have fulfilled their quota of visits. At least people have stopped asking me when we are going to have children. Now they just ask me when is GG coming back.
What irks me the most is the blind adherence to tradition that is so wrapped in the Chinese monetary mindset. We eat all kinds of things at CNY only because their names sound like "money", "fortune", "longevity" or other auspicious words. Well there is a reason why we don't eat these things at other times of the year ... they don't taste that good.
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| Calista's feline equivalent of the double chin | | Date Created: Jan 28, 2006, 11:19 AM |
| Calista has grown so large that she has developed a double chin. Must be all the Marks and Spencer cat food that she likes so much. |
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- General > Calista's feline equivalent of the double chin
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| Classic mispronounciations | | Date Created: Jan 24, 2006, 11:30 PM |
I intentionally turned up late for a conference this morning to avoid sitting through a monotonous Guest of Honour speech. Unfortunately, the GOH's speech overran so when I took my seat at the back of the cavernous hall, he was just half-way through.
What kept me awake was the classic mispronounciations. Instead of "three" he said "tree". And instead of "barber", he said "bubble". Don't ask me how these words get tortured in these ways. |
- General > Classic mispronounciations
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| Hands | | Date Created: Jan 24, 2006, 11:07 PM |
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| I took this at the Ministry Senior Citizen's Dinner. The organisers did not choose this photo to put on our intranet even though I thought it was the most interesting of the ones that I sent them. |
| Kiaw Kah | | Date Created: Jan 23, 2006, 10:41 PM |
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| Peeping into someone's shop ... |
| Quiet rest moment | | Date Created: Jan 22, 2006, 11:52 PM |
 The chef completely ignored me even though I was only one metre away taking this and several other shots of him. |
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